Deceiving the Duke of Kerrington (Ladies of Deception) (18 page)

            Noelle ground her teeth
together in frustration, clearly she wouldn’t be able to follow through on her
plans this day. “Please have Geoffrey saddle my horse while I go retrieve a
bonnet then we can be off.” Then turning to Esther, “It appears you won’t get
the chance to learn to ride today, I won’t be needing your assistance now.”  She
stalked off back towards the house, irritated beyond belief that she couldn’t
go track down Hope and beg her to come back and marry Lord Kerrington.

            Though initially Noelle had
regretted Devon’s presence that morning and the ride she was being forced to
take through Hyde Park, she found as they rode along, the sun beating down on
their backs, that she was actually grateful for the opportunity the ride had
given her to think through her plan more thoroughly. She found that her initial
idea of running off to find Hope and begging her to come back and marry the
duke was incredibly flawed—once Hope came back and became her, what was she
supposed to do? Where was she supposed to go?

            She had always been quite
impulsive, one of the traits she possessed in great abundance. It was that same
impulsiveness that had prompted her to run off with Soren, but now that she had
time to think through her actions more clearly, she knew that there was no way
she could bring Hope back and force herself out on the streets once more. She
felt her throat clog with frustrated emotion as she thought of the predicament
she was in. She silently cursed Soren for having the audacity to die on her,
leaving her in this position. Next she turned her anger towards her father, for
if he hadn’t so foolishly arranged for her to wed the duke, she would never
have been in this position in the first place. She was so dratted mad at anyone
and everything that she could hardly focus on the plethora of people who had
stopped to greet the pair on their ride.

            Noelle remained aloof the
entire outing and by the time they had returned home she was once more in a
deep melancholy. She felt so hopelessly frustrated and depressed when she
thought about her future.  Even knowing that she would soon be a duchess
couldn’t brighten her mood any. She thought of the kiss Lord Kerrington had so
unwelcomingly bestowed upon her and wanted to retch. It wasn’t that he wasn’t
attractive, because she could admit that he was dangerously so, it all came down
to the fact that she wasn’t in love with him. She was still helplessly,
maddeningly in love with Soren, or the memory of Soren since the man no longer
existed.

            Her thoughts kept whirling
around in the same never ending cycle of pity. The only solution she could come
up with was not satisfactory but seemed to be the only way—she’d simply have to
learn to tolerate the duke and make the most of the marriage, for she could see
no other way around her inevitable future.  

Chapter 22

            The next morning Esther had
barely finished arranging Noelle’s hair into a loose Grecian knot on the top of
her head when there was a light tapping at her door. Esther scurried over to
answer and was informed by the butler that Noelle had a caller waiting for her
in the drawing room.

            Noelle felt a fresh wave a
trepidation wash over her, for surely it was Lord Kerrington coming to call and
the last person she wanted to see was him. She contemplated ways she could
avoid having to see him before deciding that having to spend some time with the
man was inevitable, for surely once she was his wife she’d have to spend more
time with him than she’d like.

            Entering the drawing room,
Noelle was shocked to see that it wasn’t Lord Kerrington at all but a man she
had never met. She assessed the man, from his dark head of hair that was just
slightly longer than what was fashionable, to his contrasting pale blue eyes
set in a well sculpted face. He was dressed in fashionable clothes that had an
excellent cut making his overall appearance quite striking. She walked forward
and waited for him to make introductions, which he never did.

The stranger
just stared at her coldly before she managed to mumble, “May I help you?”

“I certainly
hope so. I want to know what you did to Pierce.”

She was
momentarily caught off guard by the use of the duke’s given name. She had never
used his given name before or even thought of him by it but she decided it was
fitting. “What do you mean? I haven’t done anything to the man.”

Without waiting
for her to offer, the stranger took a seat on the settee, all the while
managing to glare at her as if she had done something horribly offensive.
“Maybe that’s the problem,” he muttered crudely.

“Beg your
pardon, if you’ve come here to insult me than you’ve achieved your purpose and
may gladly take your leave.”

“I’m not leaving
until I figure out what you’ve done.”

“I already told
you I haven’t done a blasted thing to your beloved Pierce!”

“
My
beloved Pierce? Last time I checked he was your beloved. When you left Ridgecrest
Manor, you had the poor fool practically eating out of the palm of your hand he
was so besotted, and when I ran into him at White’s last night he was
practically despondent, definitely not my idea of a man in love. I deduce that
you had something to do with the sudden change in his mood and came here to
warn you.”

“How kind,” she
said acerbically.

The man leaned
back on the settee, his arms crossed tightly against his chest, “I thought it
only fair to warn you that if you break his heart, you’ll have to answer to
me.”

Noelle laughed
mirthlessly at his absurd threat, “What goes on in my relationship is none of
your concern. I think it’s time you left.”

The man rose and
stood inches away from her, peering his pale blue eyes that looked as cold as
ice down at her dangerously, “I’ll not leave until I get the information I came
here for and I want an honest answer—do you love him?”

Noelle averted
her eyes guiltily and swallowed hard. There was no way she could lie and say
she did so she racked her brain trying to come up with an acceptable answer. 
She looked straight ahead at his cravat to avoid looking into his eyes as she
said flippantly, “Since when is love a requirement for marriage?”

The man reeled
back as if she had slapped him. He shook his head at her disgusted before he
turned and made to leave. Right before he got to the door he turned back and
hissed, “You don’t deserve him,” before turning on his heel and leaving,
slamming the front door behind him as he went.

***

Elliot was still
fuming when he reached Pierce’s townhouse, the encounter with Noelle had caused
his blood to boil and it still hadn’t cooled to its normal temperature. He
lifted his arm to knock just as the heavy wood door was flung open revealing a
startled Pierce.

“To what do I
owe this surprise visit?”

Elliot grabbed
Pierce by the shoulder and forced him back into the entryway and continued
dragging him to the parlor before he finally released his arm.

“What’s this all
about man? I haven’t seen you this incensed since Felicity disappeared.”

Pierce knew that
something was truly bothering his friend when he ignored his comment about his
lost love completely and instead began spewing off at him, “There’s no way in
good conscience I can allow you to marry that shrew.”

“Allow me? Since
when do I seek your permission for anything I do?”

“Never but it’s
about bloody time that you start. You’re life would’ve been hell had you
married Eliza and you’re about to make a similar mistake by marrying that
selfish wretch. I beg you, cry off while you can.”

Pierce was
standing uncomfortably close now, towering several inches over his friend, his
black eyes flashing dangerously, “Don’t you ever speak of Noelle that way
again. You do not even know her and besides, I couldn’t cry off now and you
bloody well know it, it would ruin both of us. I couldn’t care less about my so
called reputation but I would never do that to her. Not to mention the fact
that I love her.”

“And for that
you are a fool.”

“I think,
Elliot, that you are jealous. Ever since Felicity disappeared you haven’t taken
anything seriously, including relationships. I think it pains you to see me
settling down and truly happy while you are still pining away for something
that can never be.”

“Stop trying to
turn the tables. I’m just worried that you’ll get your heart broken again.”

“I thought I
didn’t have a heart.” Pierce said wryly.

            A small smile flicked on
Elliot’s face before he said, “I’m not entirely sure that you do. But back to
Noelle, you haven’t known her for very long—how can you claim that you love her?
I mean she’s quite the enigma; one minute she’s making doe eyes at you and the
next minute she can’t even tolerate your presence. It’s like she’s a completely
different person here in London than she was at Ridgecrest Manor.”

            Pierce plopped gracelessly
into a wing backed chair and huffed as he propped one booted foot on his knee.
His eyes took on a faraway look as he rubbed his chin. “I do appreciate your
concern and I see what you mean. I’m not convinced her sudden moodiness means
she doesn’t love me anymore, but I would like to know what is going on.” After
a minute his eyes came into focus and he looked sharply at Elliot, “Wait, what
do you mean she’s different here in London, have you seen her?”

            Elliot abruptly turned and
walked over to stare out the window to bide his time and avoid looking into
Pierce’s eyes, “I just assumed she was acting differently by the way you’ve
been acting.”

            “You’ve seen me one night
and suddenly you’re an expert on my moods and demeanor?”

            “I’ve known you long enough
to read you fairly accurately and I haven’t seen you so despondent over a girl
since Eliza. Since when did you start letting women affect you so? It’s
completely out of character for you.”

            Pushing to his feet, Pierce
rose, “I’m not about to sit here and debate my character flaws with you. My
relationship with Noelle is none of your concern. Now if you don’t mind, I have
somewhere to be.”

            Elliot twirled to look at
him, “Please tell me you’re not going to see Noelle.”

            “That’s exactly where I’m going.”

            “Something tells me she won’t
appreciate a visit from you,” he warned.

            Pierce called out over his
shoulder as he walked to the door, “Stay out of it Elliot.”

            The minute Pierce slammed
the door behind him and stood out in the smoggy London air he let his
frustration slowly drain from his body. Staying away from Noelle was killing
him and it was time he remedied the problem. He instructed his driver to take
him to her house then waited impatiently for her butler to answer the door.
When he was let into the drawing room he spotted the pink roses he had sent
sitting on an end table and smiled to himself. He went and stood before the
only window in the room facing the street and watched in silence as the
carriages and phaetons drove by.

            After what felt like an
abnormally long time he turned his head to glance at the clock sitting on the
mantle and out of the corner of his eye saw movement. He turned to greet
Noelle, this time reluctantly keeping his distance. He waited as she walked
slowly into the room as if every step was a painful drudgery. When she finally
stood a few feet before him she stopped and looked up into his face with the
same disinterest he had witnessed on their last encounter. His heart sunk and
he felt instantly hollow inside.

            Pierce eyed her wearily, not
sure what exactly was different about her, but knowing that something was. When
she finally spoke, he regretted his decision to come.

            “Well are you going to stare
at me all day or are you here for a reason? I have better things to do with my
time than to be ogled by you.”

            By some miracle Pierce hid
his frustration at her words, “I know you must be extremely busy planning our
wedding, but I came here hoping you’d indulge me. I have a surprise for you.”
He keenly tried to ignore the painful stab he felt in the region of his heart
at her boorish reception and instead tried desperately to recover even a spark
of the former Noelle.

            Noelle contemplated him for
one long minute before slumping her shoulders in defeat and accepting the fact
that she would have to indulge him. She couldn’t avoid the duke forever, for if
she could, she’d certainly find a way to do so. “Very well, but this better be
good.”

            They silently walked to his
carriage where he assisted her inside, eager for any opportunity to touch her,
not matter how brief, though he noted with some disquiet that when he touched
her he didn’t feel the usual sparks.  They rode in silence the entire way back
to Grosvenor Square; she looking out her window and him watching her, trying to
decipher what had happened to cause such a change in so short a period. The
entire drive he couldn’t help hoping fruitlessly that she would turn her
graceful neck and look him in the eyes and that they would share that familiar
current of electricity that always seemed to be charging between them, even
from their very first encounter, but much to his regret she never looked his
way.

            When his driver let them off
in front of his townhouse he quickly alighted and turned to help assist Noelle
down. Neither of them spoke as they silently walked into the house. Pierce led
her to the drawing room where he had instructed to have her writing desk
delivered. He was so anxious to give it to her that he knew he wouldn’t be able
to wait until they were back at Ridgecrest Manor to present her with her gift.

            Nervously he walked her over
to the far side of the room where the desk was sitting, a red satin ribbon tied
into a bow on top of it. He turned expectant eyes on her and said, “This is for
you,” and waited for her reaction.

            Noelle eyed the desk
skeptically, not completely sure why she should be so flattered to be given a
piece of furniture, one that she could hardly envision herself using. She ran
her fingers over the finely polished mahogany before looking up at Pierce, “Uh,
thanks. It will be lovely to sit here and answer all the invitations we will
surely get to balls and routs and the like.”

            Pierce stared at her, his
mouth open in an unbecoming fashion. Surely she was jesting. “Ever since you
mentioned your writing I’ve wanted to get you a desk, something nice. We can
have it placed anywhere in Ridgecrest Manor you’d like. I was thinking it could
go in the room we will share overlooking the gardens that way you can have a
lovely view as you write.”

            It was Noelle’s turn to
stare at him quizzically, “You mean to tell me that you expect us to get a
considerable amount of invitations, enough to warrant an entire desk devoted to
the cause?”

            Pierce slowly inched closer
to her, his eyes narrowed doubtfully. The only choice Noelle had was to inch
her way back from him at the same pace he pursued her. He was silently glaring
at her and she wished he would say something, anything to break the awkward
silence. Before she had realized it, she was backed up completely into a wall,
her shoulders hitting the papered walls with a dull thud. Her eyes widened as
she realized that she had run out of room to retreat but that he was still
inching closer, stalking her then pinning her against the wall. As he got
within a foot of her she reached out her arms to stop him, placing both palms
against his chest.

            Pierce watched as Noelle’s
eyes darted back and forth, anxious to look anywhere but at him. He reached up
and almost painfully clutched her wrists pulling them down and pinning them to
her side. “Who are you, and what have you done with my Noelle?” he growled
dangerously, fully convinced that the woman standing in front of him could not
be the same woman he had fallen in love with.  He wasn’t sure how that was
possible, he just knew.