Devil in Her Dreams (9 page)

He arched a brow and narrowed his eyes.

Really, did that man not witness what just happened? She saved his hide. Did he honestly think she still needed protecting? Though, her legs were a bit weak. It was a good thing he was holding her.

“
I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.” He bent and took her lips with his.

Louisa sighed and leaned into him. Marston needed to feel he was in control, be the protector and shelter her. Was it really so bad to let him think he was all of those things. It was very quiet pleasant being in his arms.

He broke the kiss, and together they turned and followed John and the others back to the house.

As they reached the sitting area outside the library, Elizabeth rushed out, gun in her hand. “Is everyone all right?” She slipped on loose gravel, and her hand came down of a delicate cup sitting on a table. It splintered and she brought her hand up. Blood gushed from her palm, streaming down her wrist.

Everything began to go dark.

“
Someone catch her,” Elizabeth yelled from a place far away.

Louisa woke to the sound of voices but kept her eyes shut. What had happened? There was a wet cloth on her brow. Oh dear, she must have fainted. Elizabeth cut her hand. Louisa immediately blocked out the image.

“
I’ll think of some story she’ll believe,” Marston said.

“
A mad intruder?” John suggested.

Did they really think she was so daft that she would believe there was a mad Frenchman wandering the area who just happened to choose this estate to take people hostage, looking for a Lisette and Jean Pierre? Really, it was too much. “You know, Elizabeth, when I learned you were a spy—” Louisa took the cloth from her head and sat as they gasped “—I thought it sounded all very exciting.”

“
Spy?” Marston questioned. “You are a spy?”

“
As is John, as you well know,” Louisa answered.

Marston seemed even more shocked. The man really should be on the stage.

“
How do you know?” Elizabeth finally asked.

“
I listened at doors, of course.” Louisa grinned.

Elizabeth groaned. “I had forgotten how apt you were at eavesdropping.”

“
I am shocked,” Devlin protested, a hand over his heart.

Louisa leveled her eyes on him. “Really? Weren’t you in Paris with them?”

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, but no words came out. At least he wasn’t going to tell her an outright lie.

“
I could see you from the window that first day, when you sat on the terrace talking with Elizabeth and John.”

“
She also has excellent eyesight and can read lips,” Elizabeth explained.

“
You thanked them for the warning. If Elizabeth and John hadn’t had their backs to me, I would have known everything that was said.”

Marston walked to the sideboard.

“
You no longer think it’s exciting?” Elizabeth asked.

Marston poured a glass of wine and handed it to Louisa.

“
I am sure it is.” She took a sip. “But I have no wish to ruin a dress, or another pair of shoes. And if I injured someone and they bled, it wouldn’t go well for me, I am sure.”

“
You kept your head when you bloodied the Frenchman’s nose,” Marston reminded her.

That was true. “I was about to faint when you yelled at me. The urgency must have kept me conscious. But I promptly fainted when Elizabeth cut her hand. I think I will stick to the more genteel pursuits.”

“
I won’t be returning to the Home Office,” Marston announced. “Warning Elizabeth and John was my last assignment.”

“
Are you still in danger?” Louisa looked at all three of them, trying to gauge their reaction.

John laughed first. “No.”

“
But this Savary, he sent that man after you?”

“
Savary has issued a warrant in France. The man today, and another in London, took it upon themselves to come after John and Elizabeth,” Marston explained. “They wanted to prove themselves to Savary and gain favor.”

“
Well, he didn’t seem very bright,” Louisa mused. “Who would believe a tale about wild boars?”

Marston grinned. “If I wouldn’t worry myself sick, I would suggest you offer your services to the Home Office. With your fluent French, eavesdropping, and shooting ability, you would be a valuable asset.”

John and Elizabeth both looked at him as if he had gone mad.

Louisa’s face warmed. It was the nicest compliment she had ever received. “So you admit that I don’t need a gentleman to protect me?”

“
I didn’t say that.” He took a drink. What should she have expected? Marston would always view women as if they needed to be sheltered, despite the compliment he just delivered.

Elizabeth stood. “Let’s get you upstairs to prepare for dinner.”

“
What will become of that man?” Louisa put her wine glass on the table and came to her feet.

“
I will be taking him back to London tomorrow,” Marston answered.

Her heart lurched, but instead of asking him to stay longer, she forced a pleasant smile. “I wish you a safe journey.”

His eyebrows drew together as if her words confused him. She didn’t wait to be questioned and followed her sister out the door.

Devlin sighed and thrust his fingers through his hair. Safe journey? That is what someone said to an acquaintance, not a man who kissed you senseless earlier in the day. Had he misread her somehow? He tipped the glass back and drained the brandy. It burned down his throat.

Marching to the sideboard, he poured another. It didn’t matter that it was his third. He was angry from being caught today and mortified that it was Louisa who had to save him and bring down Savary’s man without any help from him. Now she acted as if he were no more than an acquaintance. Had the fact that he had been the one tied to the tree while she delivered the disabling blows made her think less of him? It should have been the other way around. He should have been coming to her rescue.

Damn and blast.

He turned to find John staring at him as he leaned against the closed door, a curious look upon his face.

“
What exactly are your intentions toward my sister-in-law?”

Bloody hell, he didn’t want to have this conversation now. “I don’t know what you mean.”

John straightened and walked toward him. “You would worry if she were with the Home Office. You’ve worked with other women and it never seemed to bother you.”

“
That was different.” They weren’t Louisa. “And I didn’t like it.”

“
I think it’s more.”

Did he dare tell John the truth? They had known each other for years, and if anyone would understand, it was John. “I wish to court her.” There, he said it. “However, I can’t until my sisters are settled. I can’t be distracted by a lady.”

John laughed. “Whether you are courting Louisa or not, you will still be distracted by her.”

“
No, I won’t,” Devlin insisted.

“
If you say so.” John grinned into his glass before he took a drink.

Louisa looked up from her seat by the window. Marston walked toward her when the gentlemen filtered into the drawing room after dinner. He stopped before her chair.

“
Would you join me for a turn in the garden?”

She hoped he would ask. They had barely spoken since she left him to dress for supper. Without a word, she rose and placed her hand on his arm, and he led her outside into the star filled night. They turned down a path bordered with roses still blooming and stopped at a small bench. Louisa took a seat, and he joined her.

He didn’t utter a word but drew her close for a kiss. Louisa melted into him. All would be well.

His lips were gentle, nothing like the passion of this morning. How many different kisses were there? She hoped to experience them all with Marston.

He pulled back and cupped her cheek. “I leave tomorrow.”

“
Yes, I know.”

“
I will see you in London?”

“
Yes.”
And often, I hope.

“
Might I ask a favor?”

What could he possibly want? “What?”

“
Don’t allow another man to court you.”

She drew back. “I don’t understand.”

He sighed and took her hands in his. “I think you know that I have come to care for you.”

Was he going to propose? “I care for you as well.”

“
But I am not free to court you right now.”

Of course he couldn’t. He was leaving tomorrow to take that Frenchman back to London. “I’d hoped you’d wait for me until a time when I can court you properly and, if we suit, speak to your father.”

Giddiness bubbled up in her. This was what she wanted.

“
I am afraid it may not be this year, or even next Season.”

The happiness died.

“
You are too much of a distraction.” He smiled, leaned in, and kissed her again. “Will you wait until I am free?”

“
But you may not be free for months, or maybe even years.” As much as she wanted to be with him, it wasn’t fair to ask this of her.

“
I will do my best to get them married off as quickly as possible.”

So he wished to simply push his sisters off on some gentlemen. “I am afraid I can’t wait.” She stood and smoothed her skirts.

Marston jumped to his feet. “What do you mean?”

“
First, I don’t approve of your idea to marry each of your sisters off to the first gentleman who asks.”

“
I didn’t say that, exactly.”

“
What of their happiness, their wishes? Would you ruin theirs so you could have what you want?”

“
No, I didn’t say that.” He grasped her hands in his.

She yanked them back. She couldn’t think if he touched her. “Then you plan on giving them all the time they need to find the gentlemen they want, who will make them happy.”

“
As long as it doesn’t take too long.”

Louisa anchored her fists on her hips. “Exactly how long is that?”

He stared at her and then blew out a frustrated breath. “A year, perhaps.”

“
And if it takes longer, will you choose a husband for them?”

“
Of course not, but I will encourage them to settle on someone.”

She relaxed for a moment. “I am glad you are at least going to let them have a say.”

“
You still haven’t explained why you won’t wait.”

“
Because, Lord Marston, whether it is you or some stranger I have yet to meet, I can assure you, I will be married before Twelfth Night.” With that she turned on her heel and marched back toward the house.

“
Wait.”

She stopped and turned.

“
What of us? There is a connection. I know you feel it.”

Louisa blinked back tears. “Yes, I do. But as long as you insist on waiting for your sisters to be settled, I cannot wait for you.”

“
Then I will marry them off quickly.”

Louisa simply shook her head. “I will not have you sacrifice their happiness so you can court me. It is unfair to them. It is unfair to you, and it is unfair to me.”

“
But there is nothing else I can do.”

A sad smile pulled at her lips. Marston would not be hers, and it pained her to admit it. But she could not wait for him. Grandfather would never allow it. “I am glad I made your acquaintance, Lord Marston. I am sure we will see each other in London. Have a pleasant trip.” Turning, she strode for the house. This time, she didn’t look back when he called out.

Louisa entered the drawing room, nodded to those present, and kept walking until she was in the foyer, then up the stairs and into her room, where she threw herself on the bed and let the tears flow. “How long does it take to mend a broken heart?”