His Dark Enchantress (Books We Love Regency Romance) (14 page)

Captain Kellen nodded. “Aye,
Lady Olivia. It was a sight to make any man weep. Even the rain couldn’t wash the blood away.”

The bleak expression on Emmaline’s face tore at
Lucius’ heart. The conversation had undoubtedly stirred something in her memory, something painful and best forgotten and he wished he could know it. He turned to his hostess.

“You have to stop this, Rosemary,” he hissed under his breath.

“Stop what?” Expertly slicing a small section from her peach, Lady Darnley smiled at him but the picture of innocence she tried to portray only served to veil the malice lying beneath.

“This baiting of Miss Devereux.”

“This is not baiting, Lucius. I am merely attempting to make Miss Devereux comfortable by discussing subjects of which she has knowledge.”

“And which obviously cause her extreme discomfort.”

Lady Darnley cast him a green eyed, indolent look, a small smile twitching on her lips.

“So where did you go after Badajoz, Miss Devereux?” she persisted.

“With my father to Salamanca.”

“And what did he do there?”

Emmaline placed her hands in her lap and looked down, her discomfiture plain for all to see.

“My father died of his wounds at Salamanca.” Her tone was soft and
laden with sadness.

Lucius cast an anxious look her way, but she did not see it so lost was she in her own thoughts.

The sound of Sir Peregrine’s knife clattering against his plate caught everyone’s attention.

“So you were all alone?” he asked.

“Not quite.” Emmaline cast him a sideways glance. ”My mother’s family took me in and we all did what we could to help.”

“But not before you were spirited away by a French officer. Ain’t that right, Mr. Hooper?” The smirk on Sir Peregrine’s face stretched into a wide, malicious smile.

Lucius turned to look at Hooper, who now looked very uncomfortable and ran a finger around his cravat where it sat against his neck as if to cool himself.

“Well, yes, I did see the young lady with the
Frenchie but I saw ‘er with lots of people, me being one of them,” he said gruffly.

Emmaline, shocked,
and about to protest, stopped when Mr. Hooper held up his hand.

“Don’t worry, Miss,” he assured her. “You wouldn’t remember me. I was wounded and in a bit of a mess in the
‘ospital. You brought me water and changed my dressings. I thank you for that. Many of us did.”

Olivia
’s eyes opened wide and Lady Darnley gasped as if in shock that Emmaline could have done such a thing. At the end of the table Miss Blair squealed “Oh, surely not!”

“You mean Miss Devereux actually worked in the hospital?” Lady Darnley’s eyes glowed with satisfaction.

“Well, y-yes,” stammered Mr. Hooper. “She were there every day. ‘Elped the surgeons, looked after whoever she could, tidied up after those she couldn’t.”

He cast a worried glance Emmaline’s way, clearly concerned that he had
revealed something better kept quiet.

“But who was this Frenchman that Sir Peregrine mentioned?” Lady Darnley asked him.

“Ah, well, milady, not altogether sure about that.” A frown drew Mr. Hooper’s abundant brows down over his eyes, partly concealing the expression of uncertainty in them. “I was quite turned around for a little while after recovering from my wounds, ya see.”

“Oh, come now, Hooper.” Sir Peregrine’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the man. “Did you not tell me that after
having been seen with this Frenchman, Miss Devereux vanished from Salamanca?”

The implication was clear.

With a grim expression on his face, Lucius looked at his hostess and her guests. To their credit, Captain Kellen and Mr. Hooper looked somewhat discomfited. The Peakes were clearly enjoying their dinner and Miss Blair and Olivia simply looked confused. Emmaline got to her feet and pushed her chair back.

Her face was white, her eyes blazed with an inner fury. It was clear she was holding her temper, but not her tongue.

“Think on this, Lady Darnley,” she said, her tone cold, “had it not been for the fighting troops and those who helped them, you may tonight have been entertaining French officers at this table and not English lords and ladies. Now, if you will excuse me, the hour is late and I believe I should make my way home.”

Lucius watched her leave the dining room. Her back was straight, her head high, but he could feel her pain. He turned to Lady Darnley.

“Oh, well done, Rosemary,” he said, his voice low and full of sarcasm as he got to his feet. “Should you decide to serve me such cold fare, remind me to decline any invitation from you in the future.”

“I say,” Sir Peregrine butted in. “Tha
t ain’t called for. My aunt merely wanted. . . “

“Believe me, I
know exactly what your aunt ‘merely wanted’,” Lucius ground out. He flung his napkin on the table, said a gruff goodnight to the rest of the party and left the room.

Emmaline’s carriage
rumbled away as he stepped out of the front door. The footman came forward with a raised hand, but Noble had already seen his employer and brought his carriage to the kerb. As Lucius reached for the door handle, Captain Kellen approached him.

“My Lord?”

“What is it?” Lucius had no inclination to show the man a friendly face.

“I just want you to know, sir, we, that is Mr. Hooper and
I, thought we were invited this evening to talk about horse coping. That’s our trade, you see. We had no idea they would try to shame the young lady. I don’t know what she did after, but both at Badajoz and Salamanca there were men who would have died if not for her care.”

Lucius calmed himself as best he could. “Thank you for the endorsement, Captain Kellen. I will contrive to convey that to Miss Devereux.”

Captain Kellen nodded and Lucius watched him and Mr. Hooper walk off down the pavement before turning to Noble and giving the order to take him home.

He settled himself in the corner of his carriage deep in thought. The evening had been a disaster.

First, he had allowed his feelings for Emmaline to over-ride those of common sense. What had he been thinking when he told her he wanted her in his bed? He did want her. That much he knew.

How was he going t
o solve that error in judgement? If she never looked his way again he would well deserve it. And then, in trying to discredit Emmaline in his eyes, Lady Darnley had succeeded in discrediting her in society. News of the dinner party debacle would surely be circulating before morning.

As the carriage swayed
along in the darkened streets, two things became very clear to him.

One, her view of London’s society had sound reasoning behind it. And two – ah, there was the rub.
However much it irked him, however much he had sworn never to love again, he had to admit it.

He loved her
beyond all reason.

***

In the close quarters of her carriage, Emmaline covered her face with her hands, but it was no good. The expression of hate she saw in Lady Darnley’s eyes and the pleasure in her discomfiture on Sir Peregrine’s face all added up to a feeling of utter misery.

Miss Stevens touched her arm. “Are you quite well, Miss Devereux?”

“Just a little overcome by the Prince’s attentions this evening, Miss Stevens.” Emmaline closed her eyes and leaned back against the padded squabs, wishing she were alone to indulge her heartache.

“I quite understand
.” Miss Stevens patted her hand in a most familiar way that made Emmaline want to grind her teeth. “I declare I would have been quite overcome myself had I been favoured by Royalty. Perhaps my smelling salts may help revive you?”

Emmaline took the vinaigrette offered to her, if nothing more than to prevent further conversation. Inhaling deepl
y, it surprised her to find the sharp aroma of the salts did indeed help clear her head. She handed the little bottle back to Miss Stevens.

“Do you feel better now?”

Emmaline inclined her head. “Much, thank you.”

“And if I may so,” Miss Stevens continued as she tucked the vinaigrette back into her reticule, “I think the way
Lady Darnley treated you this evening to be quite outrageous.”

“You heard?” Emmaline whispered, aghast.

“Persons such as myself are on the perimeter of society, but that does not mean we do not observe what goes on or approve of it,” Miss Stevens told her. “My place this evening while you were dining was on a chair in the hall, so I could not help but hear. And if it means anything to you, my brother was at Salamanca, so I understand a little of what you went through.”

The carriage came to a halt but before alighting, Emmaline
reached over and clasped Miss Steven’s hand. “Thank you for your kind words. Goodnight.”

She crossed the pavement and sped up the steps and into the house. Giles closed the door behind her, but the tears she had so bravely been holding back were now streaming down her face. Not wanting Giles to see her distress, she ran upstairs to the sanctuary of her room.

Tonight, on her instructions, Annie had not waited up for her and no fire burned in the hearth. She threw herself face down on her bed, her cheeks burning with humiliation, and let the tears flow. In the midst of her misery several thoughts became clear to her.

Her whole history was about to become common knowledge and could only unfairly impact anyone to whom she was connected. Because of that, any ideas she may have had to lure Lucius into marriage would have to be abandoned. She recalled his whispered words
that he wanted her, saw again the teasing expression in his eyes and closed her own as if to shut out all memory of him.

Tomorrow she would go to
him. She would tell him her story and then she would go home to Devon.

CHAPTER 11

She did not sleep well. In the morning, heavy eyed and heartbroken,
Emmaline went down for breakfast.

Annie greeted her with the news that Mrs. Babbidge remained in bed with a fearful headache and intended to stay there for the rest of the day
, instantly oversetting Emmaline’s plans.

“Thank you, Annie. Is t
here anything I can get for my aunt?”

“If there is, Miss Em, I’ll let
you know.” Annie bobbed a curtsy and scurried away.

Emmaline picked at her toast but managed to drink her tea. As she poured herself another cup the events of the previous evening paraded through her mind.

What had she done to incur Lady Darnley’s wrath? She had never before met the woman, yet it was obvious from the moment she set foot in the drawing room that Lady Darnley intended nothing more than her total humiliation.

And Lucius was there to see it. Chagrined even now, Emmaline dropped her face into her hands.

I am not just out of the schoolroom, she told herself. Why did I not insist that I only attend the recital at Countess Esterhazy’s home?

She could not deny the obvious answer
. Her fondness for her aunt meant she could not disappoint that lady. She sighed and rose from the table, not sure what she should do with herself.

She was startled by
steady thumping on the front door. Following the sound down the hall she saw Juliana, white-faced and in a state of great agitation, rush past Giles.

“Juliana!” Emmaline caught her friend’s hands, alarmed at her pallor. “Come upstairs.”

She turned and led the way up to the drawing room. Juliana at first sank onto the sofa but immediately sprang to her feet to pace the floor, fanning her face with her hands.

Emmaline watched
, bewildered at her friend’s distress. After a moment Emmaline caught Juliana’s hands and halted her.

“Juliana, stop this!” Her
sharp tone made Juliana blink away the tears brimming in her eyes. One tear spilled over and hung on her lower lashes. “Now, come and sit with me and tell me what has happened.”

Emmaline guided her to the sofa again and sat down beside her. For a moment Juliana was silent, swallowing quickly as she composed herself.

“It’s William, Mr. Beamish,” she blurted, wringing a lace trimmed handkerchief between her fingers. “He came to see me this morning and asked me to marry him.”

Emmaline hugged her. “But that is wonderful, is it not?”

Juliana shook her head. “No, because he has not yet approached Lucius. It was most improper of him to ask me so I could not in all conscience give him an answer.”

“But you love him!”

“With all my heart, but without my brother’s consent I cannot say yes.”

“No wonder you are so upset.” Emmaline put her arm around Juliana’s shaking shoulders. “But what prompted Mr. Beamish to take such a precipitous step?”

Juliana sobbed into her handkerchief.