Page 2 of Chloe and the Devil (Regency Spinsters Alliance #2)
CHAPTER TWO
Only five words, with that initial C to identify the sender. Except no attempt had been made to disguise this perfectly written cursive inside the letter.
A handwriting Lucien immediately recognized.
He surged to his feet, at the same time as he instinctively crumpled the letter in his hand before glancing at the man who had been his best friend these last thirty years since they had met as eight-year-old boys newly arrived to attend the same boarding school.
Gabriel was still watching the dancing of the flames, the smile on his face indicating he was thinking of the young lady who was soon to become his wife. The woman he loved with every obsessive part of his heart and soul.
No one could have been more shocked than Lucien when Gabriel, a widower these last nineteen years, had fallen irrevocably and possessively in love with the beautiful Lady Lily Tremayne, a friend and peer of his own daughter.
But Lucien had only to see the couple together to know that Lily was as deeply in love with Gabriel as he was with her, despite the eighteen-year difference in their ages.
When Lucien had asked Lily whether the years between her and her future husband caused her any concern she had replied, “They are only numbers and bear no relevance to whether or not love flourishes. As mine has for Gabriel and his has for me.”
Lucien could only admire Lily for her wholehearted belief and certainty in both Gabriel and their future together. A trust that was well-placed, Lucien felt sure, aware of Gabriel’s utter devotion to his future wife and hers to him.
Still, he somehow doubted Gabriel would approve of a similar age-gap in a match for his beloved daughter.
“Bad news?”
Lucien forced the frown from his face as he turned to face the other man. “I have to go out within the hour, I am afraid.”
Gabriel’s brows rose. “On official or unofficial business?”
His jaw tightened. “Unofficial.”
His friend’s lips tilted up in a smile. “I apologize for having been so busy of late, assisting Lily in organizing our wedding after she told me she did not wish for her parents to be involved in any of those arrangements, that I appear to have neglected to make enquiries regarding events in your own life.” His mouth had tightened briefly when he spoke of his future in-laws.
The Earl and Countess of Truro were not a particularly pleasant couple, nor were their two sons, making it doubly surprising that they had managed to produce a lady of such splendid character as Lily. Or perhaps they had paid so little attention to their daughter and her younger sister that they had not been of any notable influence in their life. Whatever the reason, the beautiful Lily Tremayne, soon to be the Duchess of St. Albans, was a delightfully forthright and very capable young lady.
“I have definitely neglected to inquire,” Gabriel continued, “as to whether there is currently a particular lady in your own life. Perhaps one whom you would wish to bring as your guest to our wedding?”
“No!” Lucien instantly denied vehemently. “I— No.” He forced himself to calm. “It is not that sort of…relationship.”
Gabriel studied him for several seconds before nodding. “Fair enough.” He rose to his feet before moving forward to briefly clasp Lucien in an uncharacteristic hug. “I am not sure I have ever said this to you before, but I wish to thank you for having been my friend all these years,” Gabriel stated warmly before releasing him to step back. “Without you to remind me I had a newborn daughter in need of my love and attention, I would not have survived as well as I did after Mariah died in childbirth. I was grateful for your friendship then and in the years since, but even more so now that you are going to stand beside me as witness, and as a show of your approval, at my wedding to my beloved Lily.”
“I will always stand beside you, my friend,” Lucien assured gruffly.
Gabriel’s smile became teasing. “And now I will take my leave so that you are free to go and meet your own lady.”
“She is not—” Lucien broke off his second forceful denial and instead drew in several calming breaths before allowing an insincere smile to curve his lips. “Thank you,” he accepted stiffly.
His mouth was a thin and disapproving line, his expression grim, as he waited until he heard the front door close behind Gabriel before he unfolded and flattened the creases from the letter he had minutes ago crushed in his hand.
The content was no less damning on the second time of reading it.
Indeed, it caused Lucien to decide that the first thing that might happen to “C” when the two of them met in his rose garden at midnight was what he considered to be a long overdue and well-deserved spanking!
* * *
Chloe huddled deeper inside her cloak as, according to the ringing of the church bells on the three-quarters of the hour some minutes ago, midnight drew ever nearer.
She was sitting in the darkness of the arbor at the center of a rose garden that was already showing signs of early blooms. She knew that in the summer, those flowers would be a riot of different colors and enticing perfumes.
It was a little cold, being only early April. But the main reason for her huddling inside her cloak was the anticipation of the expected arrival at any moment of the chilling Lucien Lyons, the Duke of Hellsmere. Or, as Chloe occasionally referred to him inside her head, the Devil. She did not believe she was alone in referring to that cold and sarcastic gentleman in that way.
Lucien was exceedingly tall, which allowed him to tower over almost all other gentlemen in the ton. His body was deceptively muscular beneath his always perfectly tailored clothing. His dark hair was fashionably styled and without a single strand of gray, despite his age of eight and thirty.
His eyes— Oh God, Lucien’s eyes were the palest and coldest gray Chloe had ever seen. And so full of disdain, they could rip a person to shreds with a single glance.
He had an austere but unforgettably handsome face: an aquiline nose, hollowed cheeks, sculpted lips that rarely smiled, and a jaw so sharp, it looked as if it might cut glass.
Chloe had been in love with him since she was old enough to be able to put a name to the emotions that roiled about inside her whenever she saw him or was in his company.
But she also knew him well enough to realize he would not appreciate the abruptness of her summons. That he would not appreciate being summoned at all, by her or anyone else!
Nor would she have done such a thing now if the situation she found herself in was not one of such great urgency.
Indeed, it was a situation so dire, Chloe did not believe there was another living soul she might turn to who could help her to successfully resolve it as swiftly and decisively as Lucien Lyons could.
Except for her darling Papa, of course, but this problem was so personal, so potentially scandalous, that she preferred not to involve him and, as a consequence, Lily too, in the endeavor.
She viewed her closest friends and fellow conspirators in the Spinster Alliance, formed with the idea of none of them ever marrying, with that same consideration for their reputations.
She knew they would all gladly have listened to her tale of woe if she had chosen to share it with them at their meeting at St. Albans House earlier today. Truth be known, they met most afternoons. Because the seamstress and her assistants were calling this afternoon, Lily had also spent the afternoon with her five closest friends.
But Lily’s impending marriage to Chloe’s father had made it impossible for Chloe to talk of her problem, even if she had wished to do so: it would have placed Lily in the position of either withholding information from her future husband or betraying Chloe’s confidence. She chose not to place her friend and future stepmother in such an untenable position.
Truth be told, Chloe did not believe the other ladies of the alliance were any more capable of dealing with the blaggard who had dared to steal from her than she was.
Miss Juliet Chalmers and her cousin Miss Amanda Styles relied deeply on the continued financial and societal support given by their shared maternal grandmother.
Miss Rose Appleby’s presence in Society was even more precarious in that her family’s fortune had now dwindled away to naught, helped along considerably by the continued gambling of her older brother, Lord Richard Appleby. Which meant Rose’s betrothal since birth to the Earl of Kingswood must not be put in jeopardy. Least of all by something Chloe had done.
Lady Georgiana Stapleton was currently in mourning for her recently deceased father and should be left to come to terms with that loss in whatever way she saw fit to do so.
Because of these circumstances, Chloe did not feel, for the moment, that it would be right to involve any of those ladies in this situation.
She might have to rethink that decision at a later date, but for now, she chose not to involve any of her friends in what was potentially a scandal of her own making.
Which was why she was willing to accept the displeasure she knew would have coursed like wildfire through the Duke of Hellsmere’s usually cold demeanor when he had received such a terse but ambiguous missive from her.
Her heart leaped into her throat, her mouth going completely dry, when the brightness of the moon allowed her to see the man himself striding along the grass pathway that separated the rows of roses. His cloak billowed around him, his handsome face a cold and disapproving mask beneath his top hat.
Chloe rose quickly to her feet, despite knowing that being only two inches over five feet tall, she was no match for Lucien’s imposing three inches over six feet in height.
A height he used to his full advantage when he arrived in the arbor to look down the arrogant length of his nose at her.
Those stern features were clear as day in the silver light of the moon overhead, revealing his displeasure with the situation. “What on earth did you think you were about sending me a note of such urgency at this time of night?” he demanded icily. “At least, I am assuming it is a matter of urgency; otherwise, I shall consider adding another five to the ten you have already earned for your previous reckless and shockingly inappropriate behavior.”
Chloe wrinkled her nose in concentration. “Another five of what?”
“Hard spanks to your plump derriere!”
Chloe drew in a sharp breath of outrage at Hellsmere daring to speak so crudely to her.
But that emotion was quickly replaced by another, as warmth exploded in her belly before spreading to her breasts and then moving lower still. It settled and grew stronger in that swollen nubbin of pleasure which Chloe had some months ago discovered lay hidden in the folds between her thighs. An exploration and realization which had coincidentally followed finding herself to be very aroused by having been alone in Lucien’s presence during this last Christmas.
Which in no way meant that she intended to appear as if she approved of Lucien’s threat to spank her. Instead, she lifted her chin to challenge. “You would not dare!”
His haughtily aristocratic features remained unyielding for several long seconds before a slow and confident smile curved those sculpted lips. A humor Chloe recognized he was feeling at her expense.
“There is very little I would not dare,” Lucien drawled. “Nor any pleasure I would deny myself. Administering a spanking to your arse is definitely something I believe I would find great satisfaction in carrying out.”
Chloe held her cloak more tightly about her. “You might try,” she scorned.
His snort of derision told her that if he tried, he would most certainly succeed.
His gaze narrowed. “Did you know your father was with me in the library in Hellsmere House when you had your letter delivered?”
This, Chloe realized from the return of the coldness to Lucien’s eyes, was undoubtedly the main reason for his displeasure.
Because her father, Gabriel Lord, the Duke of St. Albans was, and had been, Lucien’s very best friend these past thirty years.