His Dark Enchantress (Books We Love Regency Romance) (2 page)

“There is perhaps no reason that you should.”

Lucius continued to pace behind the chair where Emmaline sat. She showed no distress at his restlessness, no curiosity at his silence.

Damn Tubb, he thought savagely.

Had it not been for his butler’s remark that his sister’s visitor was ‘somewhat pretty’, he would have supposed her to be one of Juliana’s totty-headed friends and ignored her. But Tubb never voiced opinions on visitors to the house, and for him to consider this visitor worthy of comment roused Lucius’ curiosity. And Tubb’s assessment was an understatement.

At his entrance, she looked at him with an unhurried, cool ease.
For a moment his vision was sharper, more clear. The colours around him appeared brighter, more richly hued. An instant and unexpected tug of desire swept over him and took his breath away. His grip on the door handle tightened while he recovered himself.

Her eyes were blue.

Not a sapphire or cornflower blue, but a most astonishing shade of deep, velvet-soft violet.
The promise of passion he saw in those depths stirred a long held memory, one that still stung with betrayal and was instantly dismissed.

It was lust, pure a
nd simple lust, he told himself. But he felt himself laid bare all the same by the sensations that raged through his veins as he studied her.

Slightly above average height, her half boots scuffed and down at heel, the hem on her pelisse frayed and a plain fabric reticule hanging from her wrist, she had little to commend her.

And yet, and yet... There was an aura of quality about her he could not quite grasp, could not put a name to and which completely
intrigued him.

Black curls peeped from beneath the brim of her dusty bonnet and framed her face. Her skin tone, the colour of coffee with a hint of cream, gave her an air of the exotic.

Why had Juliana never mentioned this fascinating young woman? And how much more could he discover of her before his sister made her appearance?

“Well, Miss Devereux, I have to tell you that I am quite shocked to find a young lady of your stamp abroad in London unaccompanied by maid or chaperone.” The look he gave her would have quelled someone less bold and her unabashed gaze evinced in him a twinge of admiration. “I would have hoped that my sister’s friends would observe all social proprieties.”

“I do entirely agree with you, which is why I am here.” She looked up at him
from under a sweep of thick black lashes and Lucius caught his breath. “My maid turned her ankle as she stepped from the kerb in Jermyn Street. The only conveyance I could procure to take her home had seating for just one. It would have been quite unconscionable of me to keep her standing while we awaited another. Knowing your Lordship’s address and that Juliana is not only your sister but also your ward, I thought it likely she would be under your roof. I came straight here to beg her assistance.”

“And how do you suppose Juliana might be able to assist you?”

“By favouring me with her consequence,” Emmaline replied promptly. Her eyes still held his and Lucius had the troubling sensation of sinking, of being swept by unseen currents into an endless ocean. “If she and her maid, or perhaps her chaperone, could accompany me home, all town proprieties will have been met and I will not be considered,” she paused, “a female of uncertain lineage.”

To regain his composure at the defiant light in her eyes, Lucius covered his
sudden amusement by pretending a light cough behind the shield of his hand.

“Do I conclude from this statement, Miss Devereux, that when you are at home you do not aspire to meet those same proprieties?”

“Indeed, my Lord, for when I am at home I am used to walking and doing much as I please, whether I have someone to accompany me or not.”

From what he had seen of her thus far, Lucius could well imagine it. Inexplicably reluctant to leave her, he went to the door and opened it but looked back over his shoulder.

“Please, Miss Devereux, remain seated and I will send Juliana to you.”

Th
e sound of the front door hastily opening and closing echoed through the hall and Lucius recognized the swift patter of his sister’s footsteps.

He stopped in the doorway.
“Juliana? Is that you?”

“Oh, pooh!” his sister exclaimed, vexation at being discovered clear on her face. “Now I am scotched.”

She clutched a colourful, softly draped shawl around her shoulders, which did little to conceal the crumpled ball gown she wore beneath.

“
I am distressed to hear such cant comments from your mouth,” Lucius said.

“Are you?”
Juliana grinned saucily up at him. “I can’t think why, since I mostly learned them from you.”

“Hoyden,” Lucius growled softly, taking her arm. “Come with me.”

He led her into the library before releasing her. Juliana took one look at the visitor and gasped.

“Emmaline? Oh, Emmaline, my dearest friend!” She sped across the floor and flung her arms around Emmaline. “It is so good to see you. But what are you doing in London? Come, tell me all.”

Juliana pulled up a lyre backed chair and sat beside Emmaline, but Lucius quickly interrupted them.

“Before Miss Devereux regales you with her situation,
I
would like to know why you are only now entering my house rather than exiting it.”

Juliana gave him a disarming smile.

“Well, Lucius, it was the most frightful inconvenience,” she said, shaking out her shawl. “Aunt Meg, as you know, felt a little unwell when we left for the Knightley’s rout yesterday. During the course of the evening she became quite agitated and even harts horn and burnt feathers gave her no relief. Lady Knightley sent her to bed and called for her doctor.”

“And what ails her?”

Emmaline deduced from the expression of tired resignation that settled on Lucius’ face that Aunt Meg was something of a liability.

“
Poor thing, she is suffering an attack of the ague and is to stay abed for at least two more days,” Juliana told him. “There was nothing for it but for me to stay the night as well. And I am happy to tell you, dear brother, that I would much rather have been at home.”

“And why would that be?”

“Because Peregrine Styles was also a guest.”

“Sir Peregrine Styles?” Lucius started so violently that Emmaline drew back in her chair. His harsh features
twisted into a grimace as he struggled to contain himself.

Juliana drew herself to her full, and impressive, height.

“I refuse to do him the honour of recognizing his title. I also made quite sure that he had left before Lady Knightley’s housekeeper showed me to my room. She called up her carriage to bring me home this morning.”

“And did it not occur to you to send word to me?”

Anger brought an edge to Lucius’ voice and Emmaline watched, fascinated by the mobility in his features.

Juliana simply tossed her head, apparently impervious to her brother’s temper.

“Send word where, Lucius?” she asked. “You would have been out on the town with your latest chit, or gaming or carousing or some such thing and I thought I would be home before you were about this morning.”

“Well, you thought wrong, and now we have more of a predicament than we did before.”

“Why?” demanded Juliana.

Lucius briefly explained Emmaline’s situation. “Now that Aunt Meg is indisposed I see no other solution, Miss Devereux, than I drive you home.”

“Oh, no, my Lord,” countered Emmaline hastily. “I had no intention of being a bother to you. That would never do.” She pressed her fingers to her lips as if to prevent more words from spilling out.

“Yes, it would,” interrupted Juliana. “It would be famous. And,” she added, a smile curving her lips and a mischievous sparkle lighting her eyes, “it would be an opportunity for
my brother to air his new team of Hungarian horses of which he is so proud.”

Before Lucius could respond, a thunderous hammering on the recently closed front door startled them all. Tubb could be heard remonstrating with the new visitor, who loudly insisted all was as it should be and he was expected.

“This house,” Lucius ground out between clenched teeth, “becomes more like Bedlam by the minute.”

The newcomer, his morning attire enlivened by a
lemon yellow and white striped satin waistcoat from which hung several fobs, advanced into the room and slapped Lucius on the back in the most familiar way.

“Avondale, just the man I was wanting to see!” he said in greeting.

Lucius inclined his head.

“Good morning to you too, Beamish, but please do not forget your manners.” He indicated the two young ladies. “Juliana, you of course know but may I also present Miss Emmaline Devereux. Miss Devereux, this is my good friend Mr. William Beamish.”

Beamish bowed to the ladies and stepped forward.

“’Pon my soul, you grow more lovely every time I see you,” he said as he took Juliana’s hand and performed another bow. Juliana acknowledged the greeting with a warm smile, then he turned to Emmaline. “Miss Devereux . . ?” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Not
the
Miss Emmaline Devereux?”

Lucius frowned. “How so, Beamish, would you know her name?”

Beamish smiled and bowed to Emmaline. “This, if I am not mistaken, is the Miss Devereux who rode Tunstall’s grey. Delighted to make your acquaintance, if I may say so.”

“Rode Tunstall’s grey?” The tone in Lucius’ voice conveyed his disbelief. “That beast is seventeen hands if he is an inch and
built like the side of a cliff.”

He tried to imagine the slim figure sitting before him perched atop a horse with the reputation of unseating everyone who tried to ride it.

“With Emmaline anything is possible,” said Juliana.

Casting a sideways glance in Juliana’s direction Emmaline gave a quick shake of her head, which Lucius did not miss.

What did she not want Juliana to divulge?

His lips compressed with concern.

Miss Devereux sat demurely, like a schoolroom miss, apparently impervious to his observation of her but what did she conceal behind that sun-kissed complexion and exotic blue eyes?

Her dress did her no credit but he was now sure that was by design. Her interactions with Juliana hinted at
some secrecy.

His head told him to beware. His heart
had still not recovered from his first sight of her. But what of those almost indefinable flickers of unease he detected in her?

What did she have to hide?

CHAPTER 2

A smile transformed Emmaline’s features as she looked up at him. Her plump lips were a little moist and eminently kissable.

Kissable? He started. What would those lips taste like? Would she be willing, giving? Lucius quickly diverted the thought even though his wayward mind wanted very much to further it.

Her eyes sparkled but were quickly shielded by the downward sweep of her lashes.

“Oh, Misty is but a sweetheart if handled with sympathy.”

“Misty?” Lucius countered. His eyes widened in surprise. “That brute has a name?”

“Of course.” Emmaline glanced at each of her companions. “Lady Tunstall told me that when she and Lord Tunstall were staying with the Allison’s in County Sligo, she took an early morning walk. On hearing hoof beats she looked up and there he was, coming out of the mist. So that’s what she named him.”

Juliana clapped her hands. “What a delightful story!”

“But not, from
what I hear, a delightful mount.” The frown had not yet left Lucius’ face. “So, how did you manage him?”

“Indeed, Miss
Devereux that is something we all would like to know.” Beamish pulled up another chair and sat down.

“Well, it was no clever thing.” Emmaline dipped her head as if shy about her accomplishment. “It was simply a matter of observing how each of the gentlemen who tried to ride him would be the master of him, and that is something Misty won’t have. So, when I had the opportunity to ride him, I didn’t
try to control him. and found he needs just the lightest tough on the bridle to be biddable.”

A faint flush bloomed in her cheeks. Instantly suspicious, Lucius observed her more closely.

“How came you to this ‘opportunity’, Miss Devereux?”

Under his steady grey eyed gaze, Emmaline shifted slightly on her chair before looking up. Her lips thinned and defiance gleamed in her eyes as if his question had offended her. He caught the exact moment when something in her finally gave. Her eyes slid away from his as she lowered her lids and her lips remained firmly pressed together.

Juliana looked on, a small smile playing on her mouth.

“Oh, Emmaline can be very resourceful,” she teased.

“Indeed?” Lucius’ expression did not waver as he continued to watch her. “Might you have bribed the grooms, Miss Devereux? I collect that would be something of which my sister would be capable.”