Secrets of a Wedding Night

by Valerie Bowman

Five hours later, Devon eyed Winfrey across the sooty, smoke-filled room. All of the other men had long since lost every shilling they’d come with. Devon himself had lost thousands. The only two players still in the game were Devon and Winfrey. Devon’s glance slid across the table to Winfrey’s hand. A garnet and gold ring blinked at him through the smoke-filled room.

  It was time to end this.

  “One more hand,” Devon said calmly. “Give me one more hand to attempt to win back my money.”

  Winfrey smirked at him. “Just like a bloody Colton. Don’t even know when ye’s been bested. Ye’ve only got ten quid left, ain’t ye?”

  Devon nodded. Once. “One more hand.”

  Winfrey shrugged. “Ah, why not? It’ll be me pleasure takin’ that last ten from ye, yer lordship.” He tossed a ten-pound note on the table. “There ye go, Colton. I’m bettin’ all ye got.” He laughed.

  Devon slowly shook his head back and forth. “So, you are worried about me after all, are you, Winfrey?”

  Winfrey sat up straight. “What do ye mean? I ain’t never been scared o’ a Colton. Yer father would still be payin’ me off, if he weren’t six feet under right now.” He laughed a sickening laugh.

  Devon squeezed the tablecloth so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Seems you’re scared of me, however. Otherwise, you’d bet everything you’ve got.”

  “Why should I bother? We both know who’s walking out o’ ’ere a winner.” He smirked again, and beside him Monty chuckled.

  “Then you shouldn’t mind giving me a chance to win back my money. Unless you’re scared.”

  Winfrey’s eyes narrowed on him. “I said, I ain’t ne’er been scared o’ no Colton.” Winfrey pushed the entire stack of money forward. “I bet it all.”

  Five thousand pounds. The entire pot.

  Devon nodded. The dealer set the cards out and Devon and Winfrey gathered theirs. Devon eyed his hand. So did Winfrey.

  “Well?” Winfrey spat onto the dirty floor next to him. “What say ye, yer lordship?”

  Devon played two cards. Winfrey played two. Four more were dealt.

  Devon kept the game moving quickly. The faster the play, the greater advantage he would have. Two more cards discarded, two more accepted. Winfrey wiped sweat from his forehead.

  Four more discards.

  Then two more.

  One.

  Devon tossed his hand on the table. “I win.” He smiled at Winfrey.

  Winfrey stared at Devon’s hand in disbelief. He blinked repeatedly, muttering a string of expletives that would singe the hair off a drunken lout’s ears. Winfrey crumpled his cards in his fist and threw them to the filthy floor. “Blast it. How did ye do it?” He gave the dealer an evil stare. The dealer shrugged and loosened his cravat, looking decidedly nervous.

  One of the other men pushed all of Winfrey’s money across the table to Devon.

  Without saying a word, Devon pulled the money into his satchel and stood to leave.

  “It’s been a pleasure,” Devon said, nodding at Winfrey.

  “Blast it all, Colton,” Winfrey shouted. “I don’t know what dark magic ye just used but ye’ve got to give me a chance ta win me money back now.”

  Devon inclined his head toward the man. “My pleasure.” He paused. “Do you have ten quid?”

  Winfrey growled. “Ye know I don’t.”

  “Very well. Again, my pleasure.” Devon turned to leave and Jordan moved to follow him.

  “Wait! Wait,” Winfrey called. “I’ve got this.” Devon turned and Winfrey pulled the garnet and gold ring from his finger. “I’ll use this as me voucher.”

  Winfrey tossed the ring on the table. It rolled across the pockmarked wood and came to a stop in front of Devon. His eyes sealed to it.

  His father’s ring. His ring. His family’s signet ring. The one Devon had worn as a small boy and dreamed of owning one day. The value of the piece, its gold and garnet, might have been worth five hundred pounds or vastly more, but Devon had never cared about its monetary value. The piece had been a symbol of his ancestry. It was meant to stay in the family, to be treasured and protected and given to … his own son one day. Not to be tossed on a dirty wooden table by the likes of Gilbert Winfrey.

  “How do I know that trinket is even worth anything?” Devon managed to say evenly.

  “Take a look,” Winfrey replied. “I won it in a tournament. From yer bloody loser o’ a father.”

  Devon’s knuckles cracked.

  * * *

  Half an hour later, Devon stood to leave again. He pulled the entire pot of money back into his satchel. He eyed Winfrey with excruciating distaste.

  “We’re even now, Winfrey, you and I.”

  Winfrey’s eyes nearly popped from their sockets and his mouth had a fine sheen of froth around it. He spat his words at Devon. “’Ow the devil do ye think that?”

  Devon hefted his bag of winnings to his shoulder. “You cheated when you played my father and everyone knows it. You stacked the cards, had ringers in the game with you. I’d venture to say you’ve never played an honest hand of cards a day in your life.”

  All of the other men around the table turned to stare at him with wide, anxious eyes. Winfrey’s face turned a mottled shade of purple.

  Devon tossed his next words at the crowd. “It cannot be news to all of you that this man is a cheat.”

  No one answered. They were all suddenly concerned with looking at their torn, dirty boots or examining their filthy fingernails.

  There was a sharp scrape of a chair against the floor and Jordan stood up, his cloak billowing behind him. “To hear it said out loud and directly to the man’s face is shocking to these fine gents, no doubt,” he said. “I’d venture to guess none of them have ever heard anyone take on Master Winfrey this way before.”

  “What about ye, Colton?” Winfrey sneered. “Do ye deny cheating me tonight? Ye’ve never won before. And suddenly ye cannot lose?”

  “Cheating? Hardly,” Devon retorted. “I merely allowed you to win the few times we met before. Make you think you were better than you actually are.” He smiled at the blackguard and watched as Winfrey’s pockmarked face fell.

  “’Ow dare ye!” Winfrey screamed, his face purpling further. “’Ow dare—”

  Devon stepped up to him. He spat his words through clenched teeth. “My father was never particularly good with numbers, but I am. You’ve been playing someone actually worthy of your skill at deception, Winfrey. How does it feel to be bested by a Colton?”

  Winfrey frothed at the mouth and looked as if steam might billow from his ears.

  Devon chuckled. “Before you say anything you’ll regret, I’ll be taking the rest of my winnings.” He grabbed the gold ring from the dirty tabletop, tossed it in the air, and caught it in his palm. He slipped it onto his third finger.

  “This is for my father,” he hissed to Winfrey. “Your filthy hands will never touch the Colton signet ring again.”

  Winfrey shook with rage, his fists clenched at his sides.

  Jordan moved next to Devon. He bowed from the waist to Winfrey. “Can’t say it’s been a pleasure.” Jordan eyed the crowd and the place. “Your housekeeping skills are sorely lacking. Thankfully, my friend and I won’t be returning. Will we, Colton?”

  “I have what I came for,” Devon said, rubbing his ring with his thumb.

  They turned to leave. The floorboards cracked as one of Winfrey’s cohorts rushed toward them. Jordan quickly stuck out a booted foot and tripped the man, who fell to a heap on the moldy floor. Jordan stepped on the man’s back and ground his boot into his coat before whipping out a pistol and glancing around. “Any other takers?” His voice was casual.

  Their hands raised, the other men backed away slowly. Two of them ran from the room.

  The giant, bald man in the corner eyed Devon and Jordan with ill-concealed animosity. The giant cracked his knuckles and shuffled restlessly on his massive feet.

  Winfrey held up his hand. “Not now,
Monty,” he said through clenched teeth. “We’ll be seeing Lord Colton and Lord Ashbourne again soon.” He cracked his own knuckles menacingly. “They can count on it.”

  Devon and Jordan quickly made their way out of the broken door and into the streets where the urchins still huddled and begged. Devon tossed his small change purse to them to sort out themselves as he and Jordan climbed into the carriage.

  The coach took off at a good pace and Devon rapped his knuckles along the cool glass of the window.

  “Was it worth it?” Jordan asked, expelling his breath and relaxing against his seat.

  “There was only one thing I wanted.” Devon held out his hand and stared at the ring. He slipped it off his finger and hefted it in his palm. “Only one thing I ever really wanted. And I’ve got it.”

  But even as he said the words, Devon knew they weren’t true.

  The one thing he ever really wanted had probably just finished packing her bags.

  CHAPTER 34

  Lily eyed herself in the looking glass. She still looked tired. The bags under her eyes had not been alleviated by leaving the city. She pinched her cheeks.

  It had been a sennight. One week since Lily and Annie had appeared on Cousin Althea’s doorstep and she still felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest.

  She sighed. It merely required time. Coming to Northumberland had been the right thing to do. Hadn’t it? She bit her lip. The last words Devon had uttered repeated themselves over and over in her mind. “It seems we both must do what we both must do.”

  And that’s exactly what she had done. Very well. It was true that Lily was in love with Devon, but the man couldn’t give her the one thing that would make her feel secure. His promise to stop gambling. And if he couldn’t do such a simple thing as that, she couldn’t ever fully love him. Open her heart to him completely.

  But she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him either. Him and the entire messy situation. No doubt by now, Devon had told the entire ton they were not actually married. She regretted that he would have to deal with the consequences. But it was only fitting. He’d been the one to tell the lie.

  So be it. She couldn’t live with his secrets and his addictions. He had a son, a child she’d never known about. No, she couldn’t live with his secrets. But why was it proving to be so difficult to live without him?

  Her cousin’s many children were charming and intelligent. She enjoyed spending time with them. She could see herself living a life here among them, watching them grow. But they would never be her own. That wistful thought crept into Lily’s mind whenever she had a moment to herself. She would never have her own children. She couldn’t stop herself from wondering what Justin was like. Did he have his father’s dark hair? His eyes?

  Lily shook her head. Turning from the mirror, she grabbed up her bonnet and cloak and hurried from her room and down the staircase.

  Annie and the four oldest children were waiting in the foyer.

  “Ready for our walk?” Lily asked with her nearly perfected false-happy voice.

  At the chorus of nods, Lily led the little group out the front door, across the courtyard, and into the meadow beyond.

  The children soon scattered through the field like colorful little bees, and Annie caught up to Lily.

  “You’re looking worse and worse,” Annie said, lifting her skirts to navigate through a particularly high patch of grass.

  “That’s terribly kind of you.” Lily looped her arm through her sister’s. She couldn’t even bring herself to smile at her own sarcasm.

  Annie squeezed Lily’s hand. “I would have thought the country air would do wonders for you, but you’re so melancholy, one would think you were pining for your lost love or something.” Annie cracked a smile.

  “I am doing no such thing,” Lily shot back too quickly.

  “My, my, my. Touchy, are we not? I was only jesting.”

  Lily watched the children’s tiny blond heads bobbing through the willows. She let her own feet drag. “I wonder why you seem so happy here,” she said to Annie. “Weren’t you the one who refused to come to Northumberland no matter what?”

  Annie sighed. “Ah, what a difference a few days makes. Arthur wasn’t sufficiently coming up to scratch, and I thought his attitude might benefit from my absence for a bit.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “Well. Dare I say you’re becoming more savvy, Miss Anne? You’re learning the art of keeping a man waiting.”

  Annie winked at her. “I’ve learned from the best, dear sister.”

  Lily furrowed her brows. “You mentioned a few days. You do realize we’ll be here indefinitely, don’t you? Cousin Althea has agreed to let us stay.”

  Annie nodded sagely. “There was another reason I came, Lily. I thought the journey here would be good for you. You were so insistent on leaving London. I thought you’d finally realize what a mistake you were making trying to leave your troubles behind.”

  Lily stopped walking and turned to face her sister. She let out her breath in a long, weary sigh. “If I was trying to leave my troubles behind, it hasn’t worked. It hasn’t worked at all.”

  Annie nodded again. “I know. You are madly in love with Lord Colton, my dear sister, and the two of you will not stay apart for long.”

  Lily plunked her hands on her hips. “What in heaven’s name makes you say such a thing?”

  Annie rolled her eyes. “Do you deny you love him?”

  Lily bit her lip, dropped her hands to her sides, and began walking slowly again. “No,” she whispered.

  “There, you see? And it’s obvious to anyone who’s seen the two of you together that Lord Colton loves you to distraction as well.”

  Joy leaped in Lily’s belly. “How do you know?”

  “He simply cannot keep his eyes from you. You have that man twisted completely around your little finger and you don’t even know it.”

  “Annie Andrews! Now I know you have gone mad!”

  “I have not. Anyone can see it. You cannot see it because you are too busy trying to punish him for what he did to you five years ago. You’re not even interested in the happiness that’s right within your grasp now.”

  Lily bent over and plucked a daisy from the ground. She twirled the white flower around in her fingers. “Punish him?” Her voice drifted away, as she watched the children playing.

  “Yes. It’s quite frustrating, really. You’ve received a proposal of marriage from the most perfect man for you, and you don’t even realize it.”

  “He only asked me to marry him because he’s under the mistaken impression that I’m wealthy.”

  Annie tossed her hands in the air. “You cannot honestly believe such a thing? The man is a handsome marquis. He could take his pick of wealthy young ladies. And believe me, there are plenty who would give their eyeteeth to marry him even after they read your scary pamphlet.”

  Lily groaned. “But he’s a gambler. He’s a rogue. He put himself in danger on a regular basis and he has a son who—”

  “So what?” Annie pulled the daisy from her sister’s limp fingers and pressed it to her nose.

  “So what?” Lily echoed, blinking.

  “You heard me. So what?”

  “Annie, what are you talking about? You’re speaking in riddles and making no sense.”

  Annie tucked the flower behind her ear. “You’ve always been so concerned with propriety and rules and responsibility, Lily. But where has it got you? Destitute and unhappy, that’s where. You’re obsessed with controlling everything, but what has that left you with? A defiant sister and a broken heart. You’ve tried it your way for quite some time now. May I suggest trying it my way, for once?”

  Lily furrowed her brow, her sister’s words not forming coherently in her brain yet. “And what exactly is your way?”

  Annie winked at her. “Why, following your heart, of course. You love Lord Colton desperately and everyone knows it but you. Go to him. Tell him you’re sorry. Let him explain. Would you rather ha
ve a life filled with the knowledge that you were right, or a life lived with the love of your life? Lily, you’ll be fine. But you must learn to let go.”

  Let go. The words echoed through Lily’s mind. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Annie was right. Her sister, her little sister whom she’d always found foolish and in need of guidance, was now the one pointing out the obvious and making everything seem so simple. Lily loved Devon. She had always loved him. She didn’t want to lose him.

  Lily pulled Annie into her arms and hugged her. “Oh, Anne, when did you become so wise?”

  Anne smiled a knowing smile. “When you weren’t looking, dear sister.”

  The children had dispersed like so many fireflies across the meadow. Lily clapped her hands. “Children, come quickly. We must get back to the house.”

  “Why, Cousin Lily?” one of the girls called back from across the field.

  “Because your cousin Anne and I must return to London immediately!”

  CHAPTER 35

  “The first few days of your rampant drinking spree were amusing, Colton. I might even use the word ‘droll,’ but it’s been a bloody sennight, and I fear I might have to hang you on a drying line to sober you up.”

  They were sitting at Brooks’s, and Jordan rolled his head back and forth against the back of the leather chair where he was propped.

  “You’re more than welcome to leave, Ashbourne.” Devon’s voice was clipped.

  “No. I intend to see you through this bloody awful drinking binge. I swear I haven’t seen you this bad since your father died. In fact, I’d say this time is a sight worse. Your recklessness is a bit refreshing, actually. I’d thought you’d given it up once you became a father.”

  Devon growled. “Justin is safe. I’d never allow him to see me in such a state.”

  Jordan nodded. “Now, that I would never question.”

  Devon scrubbed his hands across his face and took another drink. “I finally did it. And this is what happens.”

  “Did what? What are you mumbling about?”

  “Asked her to marry me. Again. Like a bloody fool.”