The Lady Plays Her Ace (The Langley Sisters) (6 page)

"For pity’s sake, Thea, will you stop doing that!" Joe snapped.

"I’m testing out the theory that a friend told me," she said in reply.

"Oh, God, I’m almost afraid to ask."

"When we discussed my aversion to sighing, my friend said that I should try it a time or two and see the effect it has on people…namely, men."

Her brother’s brows drew together as he studied her.

"You’re spinning me a yarn Althea Ryder, and do you know how I know that?"

"Enlighten me." Thea waved a hand about as she yawned, then cast a glance out the window.

"You would never participate in such a conversation because, like Will and I, you have an aversion for the trivial and boring."

He was right, of course, but she did not answer, instead poking out her tongue and looking out the window once more.

"Do you know Mr. Dillinger, sister?"

Dear God, had he found out about the boxing match?
She kept her features composed as she appeared to think about his question.

"Large man with long hair. I believe he is friends with Luke?"

"The very one," Joe said.

"I met him one day when I was with Bella. We were looking at a flower display in the park near where she and Luke now live. Why do you ask, Joe?"

"I met him last night and we shared some time over a few ales, and I found him an astute, intelligent man with a great vision for the future."

"How so?" Oliver Dillinger intrigued her, and if Joe had information about him, she wanted to hear it.

"His building developments, the empire he has created and is still expanding," Her brother waved a hand about. "It is quite amazing that a man from such humble beginnings can have achieved so much."

"Because he has humble beginnings does not make him any less intelligent than you and I, brother."

"I know that." He flicked his wrist again. "What I meant was that he has obviously learnt to read and write as an adult or much older than we did, Thea, and then gone on to learn what else he has needed to become the man he is today, and that cannot have been an easy task."

"No, indeed," she said, thinking about the man that was Oliver Dillinger. She had not thought about what he had overcome to rise above his beginnings, but now it seemed she must, and in doing so, she realized that he was an even more impressive man than she had originally believed.

"He is not a man I would like as an enemy," Joe added before he returned to his reading.

The first time Thea had met Oliver Dillinger, she'd felt as if someone had knocked her off her feet. She’d been out walking with her dearest friend, Bella Fletcher, when her husband Luke and Mr. Dillinger had approached. Of course she hadn’t shown her reaction, treating him as she did everyone else, but she had felt it.

He was big, his body hard and muscled beneath the expensive material of his clothes and she’d thought he had such grace as he prowled towards her, his movements fluid and certain. Hatless, the sun had brushed his dark hair that had been tied back in a leather band, to hang between his shoulder blades. His eyes were a deep, intense brown, and when they had settled on Thea, she'd felt her pulse flutter.

She remembered thinking that day that, for the first time in her life, a man had made her aware of his presence, and she'd had the urge to throw herself at him just to feel all that strength and power pressed against her. It had been an instant and physical attraction that had disturbed Thea, as she had until that day believed herself a woman who would never find a passionate, fierce love, but a comfortable one.

She’d seen him a few times since that, and had even sat next to him once, when she’d dragged Bella out to view an exhibition he’d been attending also. Thea tried to analyze what it was about him that so intrigued her. Was it his past? Did the fact he was not born of her world rouse her interest? She did not like to think she was that shallow, yet could not dismiss the notion.

But now there was that kiss. Dear Lord, when he’d taken control of it she’d melted against him. All rational thought had fled with the feel of his lips on hers.

"We have arrived in London, sister. So if you could please gather your scattered wits and refrain from further sighing, we shall soon reach Luke and Bella’s where I shall open the door and hurl both you and your luggage from the carriage, as I have no time to stop."

"There is no need to hurl me, brother. I am quite capable of jumping as you very well know." She gave him a cheeky smile, which he answered.

The carriage slowed minutes later to a stop, and she stepped from it outside the house of her dear friend. It was in a row with many others and rose three stories high. white-trimmed with black windows and door and an iron fence that ran along the street, behind which it sat. Like soldiers in uniform, each house had the same pristine façade.

"At least it is warmer in London," Joseph said, coming to her side.

"Ah, but I would rather look out at the fields of our home than the multitude of houses stuffed together here in London, Joe."

"True," he grunted, placing a hand in her back and urging her forward as the door opened.

"Thea!"

"Bella!" She ran up the steps and into the arms of Isabella Fletcher, once Isabella Langley. They laughed and hugged each other, both talking over top of the other, and at their feet Eddie, Bella’s dog, yapped loudly, enjoying the excitement.

"It is the only time I see Thea like this. With others, she is quite composed, but your wife, Fletcher, makes her silly."

Thea ignored her brother, who was speaking with Luke, Bella’s husband, and held her friend close until they were both ready to let go. Only then did she pull back.

"I’m not silly. I’m excited," Thea said, moving to embrace Luke. "There is a difference, Joe, as I have told you before."

"I stand corrected."

"Still the mouthy girl who used to annoy me whilst I was trying to clean out your father’s stables, Thea?" Luke said, releasing her to slip an arm around his wife’s waist and pull her into his side.

Luke and Isabella Fletcher were childhood sweethearts, born into different worlds. Theirs had been a long and arduous journey, fraught with sadness and disappointment, but through it all they had never stopped loving each other, and finally, five months ago, they had married with the blessing of their families.

Tall and lean with brown hair and blue eyes, Luke seemed happier than Thea had ever seen him before as he looked down at his wife. Before their marriage, his eyes had been shadowed, his smile fleeting, but no longer. Marriage to the woman he loved had changed him.

"Thea is not mouthy, she is confident, husband," Bella said giving her husband a gentle smile. Blonde with green eyes, Isabella Fletcher had transformed since her marriage into a beauty that rivaled her sisters.

She felt an unworthy stab of jealousy that her friend had found what she had not, A love so strong it encompassed them in a warm cloak for two. She was small and petty to feel such emotion, but it was there inside her nonetheless.

"Hello, Eddie. I see your manners have not improved." Thea dropped to her knees to pat the little dog, who put his paws on her dress and licked her cheek.

"He is a heathen, but as Bella will not let me discipline him I see no change in the foreseeable future," Luke said.

"I will return with Lord Collette, as he is coming to London for a few days to do some work on a bill I am proposing, Thea, and we shall move to the Stratton Town House and await the rest of the family there. You and my Penny will then both shop and bankrupt me," Joseph added as he prepared to leave.

"Oh, I shall be shopping whilst you are away also, brother."

"Minx." He kissed her cheek and left.

She was ushered inside out of the cold and took tea with Bella and Luke while they caught up on all their news. It was warm and cozy in the little parlor. Pushing thoughts of Oliver Dillinger and Lord Howarth from her head, Thea relaxed in the company of the two people who had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember.

"We have been invited to a small gathering this evening, Thea. It is with an associate of Luke’s, Mr. Merriam. You are invited, but if you are tired then we can offer your apologies."

Bella looked uncertain as she spoke, and Thea realized there was something she was not saying.

"What Bella is not telling you, Thea," Luke added as he squeezed his wife’s hand. "Is that there may be a few titled people present but not many, and most will be businessmen."

"And you think this would concern me, Bella?" Thea felt hurt her friend thought that way. "I have never given you reason to believe me a snob, therefore I cannot see why you should think that way now."

"No!" Bella’s eyes widened. "Of course I don’t believe that, but I wanted to tell you as these men are not like noblemen, Thea. They can be gruff and sometimes say coarse things, but to be honest, they are far nicer and kinder."

She felt mollified at the genuine look in her friend’s eyes.

"You are a goose, Bella, to think my sensibilities would by wounded by a few curses and gruff words. Have I not shown you many times over the years, that it takes a great deal to unsettle me and in fact, I can be coarse and gruff myself," she added. "Perhaps it is Mr. Merriam and the other gentlemen that you should caution about me."

"Now, there’s a thought," Luke said, getting to his feet. "And on that note, I must go out for a while, but return in time to escort the two most beautiful woman in London out for an evening of entertainment." His lips clung to Bella’s before he left and then the two friends were alone.

"All right, now he has gone you can tell me what has happened?"

"Pardon?" Thea looked at Bella. "What do you mean, what has happened?"

"Althea Ryder, I know you nearly as well as I know myself, therefore I know when something is bothering you. Now I will call for more tea, and then you will tell me at once."

So she did. Slipping off her boots, Thea curled her feet underneath her as across from her Bella did the same. She then told her friend about the proposal from Lord Howarth and the fight she attended, and how Oliver Dillinger had rescued her. She did not mention the kiss—that was something she would mention to no one.

Bella laughed when she had finished. "I can imagine Ace’s expression when he realized it was you in that barn with all those men. For a man with his birth, he is very correct. In fact, Luke and I often say he is more a stickler for the rules that run society than many of noble birth.

"Yes, it is fair to say he wasn’t too happy about me being there, and even more so when I felt ill with all that blood." Thea shuddered at the memory. "And then there was the other altercation which erupted before us when we started to leave. Thankfully, he is a big man and was able to get us outside before we encountered any further trouble."

"You are unhurt, Thea? You are not hiding anything from me?"

"I’m well, Bella." Thea waved away her friend’s concerns. "But I fear I made a fool of myself. At least I did not cast up my accounts. We can be thankful for that one small blessing."

"Well, I’m sure Ace will say nothing about the incident this evening. He is too much of a gentleman for that."

"He’s going to be attending?" Thea felt the thud of her heart beating hard against her chest as she thought about seeing Oliver Dillinger again.

"Yes." Bella frowned. "Is that a problem, Thea? Did he say something to upset you?"

Thea waved a hand about in denial. "No, of course not. It is just that I made such a fool of myself," she said quickly. "But I must face him sometime, so it may as well be sooner rather than later.

"Are you thinking seriously about accepting Lord Howarth’s proposal?"

"No, but Joe is," Thea added. "And part of me wonders if I should as he is a good man and I am not sure that love is for me, Bella. Therefore, perhaps I should marry a man that at least I respect." Oliver Dillinger slipped into her head, but she pushed him aside.

"Take this time away from your brothers to think, then, Thea. Work through all the options, but promise me you will not do this just to please the duke."

"I promise," Thea said, glad that she was here with her friend. She would take this time to contemplate Lord Howarth’s proposal, and she would also take this time to decide what it was she really wanted from her future.

Six hours later, she was regretting the decision to accompany her friend and the thought of seeing Mr. Dillinger again was making her so nervous she almost asked Luke to turn the carriage round as it traveled through London towards the home of Mr. and Mrs. Merriam.

Luke and Bella sat across from her, Bella radiant in a gown of deep blue velvet over which she wore a matching cloak lined with satin. Her blonde curls were swept high and dressed with tiny pearls. Beside her, Luke looked handsome and content in his evening clothes, the deep green jacket and pristine white shirt and necktie accentuating his looks.

"We are here, Thea." Bella said the words as the carriage rolled to a halt. Seconds later, they were on the street outside a large, white-pillared house. The butler opened the door as they reached the top step and soon, after handing over their outer clothing, they were making their way through the house.