Heart of the Diamond (3 page)

The butler's mouth tightened as though he had just bitten into a particularly sour lemon. “I am certain I would not know, my lord.”

“At any rate, we shall be seeing a good deal of the duke and his daughter.” Catching sight of a shiny object on the faded carpet, Blake bent to retrieve a lady's hairpin. “I have gotten myself engaged, Chester. The Langley girl certainly is attractive.”

“Congratulations, sir. Lady Nicki was ever a pretty thing and she does have an appealing enthusiasm for life.”

“Is that what you call it? I was inclined to find her reckless and somewhat foolhardy, but then I have not had the pleasure of her acquaintance for as long as you have. How long have you known Lady Nicole, Chester?”

In the light of the dip Chester held, his austere features seemed to soften. “Lady Nicki's mother, bless her soul, brought the girl to Rosewood from the time she was a babe. If I may be so presumptuous, my lord, Lady Nicki has an aversion to being referred to as Lady Nicole. When she was but four years old, I thought it unseemly to use the abbreviated version of her name, but the little thing held her breath until she turned blue. It was then the duchess assured me that everyone was to call her Nicki, including the servants.”

“Interesting. So Lady Nicole came to Rosewood with her mother?”

Chester continued. “Until she was seven or so. When the young miss was but four or five years, she took it in her head to follow Master Teddy about. Most lads of ten would have sent her packing, but not Master Teddy. He treated Lady Nicki like a sister. When he went to school at Oxford, she was devastated.”

At the mention of the university, Blake clenched the cool metal hairpin in his hand. “She must have been twelve or thirteen by that time.”

“Why, yes, I believe she was thirteen. Ah . . . when the young master came home from school, those were joyous times. Wherever the pair of them were, trouble soon appeared. So full of life, those two.”

Blake scowled, unclenched his fist and turned to place the hairpin on the polished surface of the bureau. “I believe you called it enthusiasm. I should think Lady Nicole well beyond the age of such foolishness. As my wife, she must learn to carry on in a dignified and decorous manner. This sneaking into second-story windows will stop.”

“As you say, my lord. Forgive my prattling. It must be the lateness of the hour. If you have no further need of my services, I shall retire.”

“Off to bed with you, Chester. We shall both need our strength for the days ahead.”

“Of course, my lord. Have a pleasant sleep.” Chester bowed stiffly before he backed from the room and closed the door.

Blake returned to his vigil at the window, bracing his hands on either side of the glass. How could he sleep now?

Visions of slim hips and thighs provocatively revealed by those outrageous trousers raced through his mind; as did her hair of palest gold which tumbled in curls to the tantalizing curve at the base of her spine. Once having looked into her eyes a man would never forget their color—like the sea where it fades from the shore, a curious blend of deep blue tinged with green. When those beautiful eyes drew a man in, he would not be satisfied until he had tasted her full mouth with that pouting lower lip, soft and pink, moist where her tongue had touched . . . 

Good God, had it been so long since he had been with a woman? This was Billington's daughter, not a bloody siren.

Blake pushed himself away from the window, stalked to the bureau, and doused the lamp. He had come here for a purpose and he could not allow an intriguing little firebrand to distract him.

There would be time to fully savor the sweetness of that adorable mouth at a later date—after he had exacted his revenge.

Nicki squirmed on the bare back of her horse. She had always thought side saddles horrid contraptions, but now realized they had their uses.

She risked a peek at her father. He rode just ahead, his countenance stiff, annoyance bristling from him. If he had his way, she would most likely be on her feet and tied to his saddle so he could drag her all the way home to Langley Hall.

When she compared that scenario to her recently accomplished engagement to a man her father labeled a “fiend from hell,” Nicki thought she would prefer being dragged behind her father's horse.

How could matters have gotten in such a tangle? When the note arrived, she had forced herself to remain calm and not rush immediately to Rosewood. She had set out this evening filled with such high hopes, certain that with Teddy's help she could extricate herself from an intolerable engagement to the odious Duke of Melton. If anyone could assist her out of such an untenable position, it was Teddy.

Nicki nibbled her lower lip. Now she was free of the Duke, but she had not meant for the engagement to transfer to another. At times, her plans simply failed to go forward as she imagined.

Still, this disaster could be laid entirely at her father's door if one truly thought it out logically. If he had not burst into the room like a madman, she could have returned to Langley Hall with nothing more than injured dignity. No one would have been the wiser, and Blake Dylan would have failed in whatever cruel scheme he had concocted.

Much as she hated to admit it, Nicki knew her father's reaction stemmed from his love for her. Of that she had no doubt. She sighed. Her own feelings must be put aside for the moment.

“Papa, I am sorry. Truly I am.”

His shoulders stiffened and he drew himself up. “I've warned you about carrying on in such a careless manner, girl. Now look at the pickle you've landed us in. The Duke of Melton is a powerful man. It may not have been the best marriage, but it was a fitting one. He could make trouble for me.”

Nicki urged Adonis forward until she and her father rode side by side. She stole a quick glance at his face as she attempted to gauge his mood. “You seemed to know that wretched man who has stolen Teddy's inheritance. Surely you can convince him this was an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

“No, Nick. There'll be no reasoning with him. The man hates me. Besides, he went to the trouble to bring this incident about. It doesn't bode well for either of us.”

“Why would a man who dislikes you purposefully get himself engaged to your daughter? It makes no sense.”

Her father reached up and batted the tassel of his nightcap aside. “Blake Dylan has never behaved as expected. He must be in England because of his father's death. Now he's got the title, the Earl of Diamond.” Her father shook his head dolefully. “They're known for their coldness. What the devil were you about sneaking into his bedchamber in the middle of the night?”

So Blake Dylan was an earl. Nicki tightened her hold on the reins, causing Adonis to jerk his head in protest. “I thought I was to meet with Teddy.”

“Even so, you had no business behaving so recklessly. And just look at you! Dressed like a boy and riding astride. I've raised a hoyden. It's a miracle Dylan went through with his plan. That man's getting more trouble than he knows.”

She bit back the retort that sprang to her lips. Her father did not understand—would never understand. He would never know how stifled she felt by the ridiculous restrictions she was forced to endure as a woman.

Most likely he would have preferred that she climb Teddy's trellis in a proper gown. She prided herself on her cleverness in wearing her brother's trousers, as the foresight had most likely saved her from serious injury.

“There now, don't go sulking on me. Truly, Nick, what am I to do with you? You charge off without a thought to your reputation—or mine, for that matter. I shudder to think what might've happened if I hadn't shown up when I did.”

“Heaven forbid that I might have gotten myself engaged or something equally as dreadful!”

“Nicole Langley, I'll have none of that!” Her father scowled in her direction. “You've put me in a devilish position. Melton was quite taken with the idea of having you for a bride. And what of Mina's Season? Melton agreed to finance your sister's coming out. I'll not be getting tuppence out of Dylan!”

Chagrin replaced Nicki's ire. She had forgotten about Mina's Season. If she were any sort of sister she would have quietly accepted the marriage to Melton, if only for the financial stability the match meant for her family. Her thoughts flashed to her stepmother.

Her desire for martyrdom dissipated.

“I will do my best to make the situation turn around, Papa. Mina will have her Season. I swear it. Even if I have to spend my inheritance from Grandmama to see that she does.”

Her father reached over and pressed her hand. “That money's to be yours upon your marriage—only yours.”

“But I would gladly give up every shilling for Mina, Papa.”

He sighed and ran his finger inside his collar. “You are my oldest, Nick, and my brightest. I know you'll behave as a good daughter should. Besides, marriage isn't so bad, girl. I don't know why you've got such an aversion to it.”

The full moon ducked behind a cloud and Nicki silently praised its discretion. How could she tell her father that it had been his marital experiences that had soured her forever on the matrimonial state?

She had been ten years old, one year younger than her brother Shelby was now, when her mother died. Her father had told her and Mina that Marguerite's heart had failed, but Nicki had known the real truth.

Nicki turned her thoughts to her father's wedding three short months after Mother's death. The woman her father married so swiftly had been the same he kept as his mistress. Angelica Dalton, the youthful widow of a baron from Yorkshire. Beautiful, elegant, charming . . . and Nicki hated her.

“Nicki? Are you sulking?”

Hiding the torment carefully from her father—from the world, she lifted her chin. “I am not afraid of marriage and I am not sulking. Do not worry, Papa, I surrender. If I do not marry your Earl of Diamond, it will be through no device of mine. I give you my word.”

His face brightened immediately, just as she had known it would. “That's my girl.”

Nicki glanced at the dark silhouettes of trees on either side of them and the moonlight flitting through the branches, as nebulous as the fairies of her favorite childhood tales. She would honor her promise to her father and not plan any more daring escapades.

Still—there were a great many natural occurrences that could interfere in a courtship. It was her duty to see to it that as many as humanly possible took place. She had avoided marriage for four years, struggling against her father's many attempts to get her engaged. She had made a vow long ago. A vow she could not break.

Then with the delivery of two notes, a man had successfully entrapped her into a second engagement. Disastrous!

Yet if there was one thing Nicki had learned in her twenty-two years on this earth, it was how to make use of a disaster.

She shivered, recalling those silver eyes. Nicki feared she just may have met her match in the Earl of Diamond.

“What is he like, Nicki? Is he horribly old?” Mina, wearing a gown of rich magenta that set off her black hair and fair skin to perfection, paused next to Nicki's canopied bed. With exquisite grace, she straightened the corner of the rose coverlet before she crossed the room to sit on the delicate stool in front of the dressing table.

Nicki thrust her hands into the sleeves of her ice blue day gown while their maid, chubby red-headed Lucy, valiantly maneuvered the cloth to keep the seams from splitting.

“He did not seem so very old, but it was somewhat dark.”

“Heavens, Nicki! You could have been ravished! If Papa had not arrived when he did . . . ”

Nicki snapped her brows together in the manner her stepmother deplored. “Papa says he is an earl. Men of high birth do not go about ravishing young ladies . . . do they?”

Mina's perfect oval face took on a concerned expression. “But you
were
wearing Shelby's trousers of all things! And you
did
climb in his bedroom window in the middle of the night. Perhaps he thought you meant to involve him in a romantic tryst.”

“That is utter nonsense! He is the one who sent the note.”

Nicki waited for her sister to vacate the stool before she dropped onto the velvet cushion. “Can you believe it, Mina? He has taken Rosewood away from Teddy—and over a game of cards, of all things! Teddy must be devastated!”

Concern fled Mina's expression to be replaced by disdain. “It was gambling that caused Teddy and his father to leave England one step ahead of their creditors. I'm truly amazed they kept Rosewood as long as they did.”

“That is extremely ungenerous of you.”

Lucy picked up a shiny gold brush and began to drag it through Nicki's tangled hair while Mina fussed with several bottles and jars situated in a jumble atop the dressing table.

Nicki watched her sister absently. “Teddy was brokenhearted when he and his father left for America. He swore to me he would return one day. This Earl of Diamond must have tricked him, as he tricked Papa and me.”

Mina unstopped a bottle, dabbed the lid against her throat. She rolled her eyes heavenward. “Teddy was always a spineless boy who assisted you in all sorts of pranks, and then stood silently by while you took the blame and the punishment.”

Nicki shook her head in denial. The movement jerked a strand of her hair temporarily from Lucy's fingers. Mina simply did not understand. No one did.

“I was not nearly so clever as he, and so I was caught.”

“Devious, you mean. He never once stepped forward to protect you. Heaven knows you've never been able to maintain a straight face in a lie, and you were just too honorable to try to protect yourself. Teddy knew that and he took advantage.”

The words hit too close to the mark, but what Mina did not know was that it had been Nicki's choice to protect Teddy. For reasons no one else knew, she had dared not allow Teddy to get into trouble. He was her best friend—her only friend—and she would have sacrificed much more than punishment to keep him safe. That was the way of their friendship.

She sighed. “Discussing Teddy and the past does not help me out of the situation I have gotten myself in.”