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Chapter Twenty-One

The decoy…

T hey were closeted in the study before the dinner hour, Devil brooding at his desk as she paced the floor. Willa turned to him. “What have you discovered about him? Anything that would give you pause about permitting the match?”

Devil raised his head to meet her gaze. “Nothing. It seems as though he is precisely whom he appears to be… There’s no indication that he has any vices of note, no scandals in his background. The business enterprises that he is part of are reportedly sound and legitimate. On the face of it, my love, we could not have chosen a better match for her. In truth, I have no objection beyond the fact that she does not love him. Do you have objections? You have a remarkable instinct about people, Willa. If you have concerns—”

It was that which bothered her as well, the remarkable speed at which everything was transpiring. Of course, she’d had misgivings about Stanford Williams that had gone well beyond simply the expedited courtship. There had been something about him that had seemed cold to her, calculating. But he’d been handsome, attentive, seemingly without fault. Still, it was obvious that something had occurred. Contrary to what people might say, Marina was not fickle or flighty. Her niece would never have agreed to Stanford’s proposal if she hadn’t been fully committed to the notion of becoming his wife. Now, with Marina’s admission about what she’d overheard, all the pieces had finally fallen into place for her. She understood why Marina had called off the wedding. She even understood why Marina had kept the secret. Devil would have done something terribly reckless.

Thinking of the Earl of St. Aiden, Willa realized she did not have any of those same misgivings about the earl. Despite the strangeness of how it all came to pass, he seemed to be trustworthy. Honorable. But was that enough?

Marina was the child of her heart, after all. She could not have loved her more even had she given birth to her. And her future was now hanging in the balance. She shook her head. “As she said, she does not him love him yet . What a gamble it is to marry first and hope love will simply occur! There is so much more to it than that… I do not wish to see her hurt.”

Devil rose and closed the distance between them, taking her hand. “She will be hurt if the marriage fails. She will be equally hurt if it does not take place at all. There is, much as I am loath to admit it, only one way where there is the possibility of a desirable outcome. She’s willing to take the risk and is of an age where we have no sound reason to prevent her from doing so—not when the stakes are so high otherwise. And now that I know what Stanford Williams was truly about, his presence in town is of great concern to me. If she marries the earl… perhaps he can take her someplace that we will not have to worry so much about what Williams’s intentions are.”

“She’s invited him to dinner. He sent round a note earlier but I’ve no notion what it contained. Respecting her privacy is torture,” Willa admitted ruefully. “He should be arriving momentarily, I imagine. I looked for him to arrive earlier, in all honesty,” Willa mused. “If we’ve seen the gossip rags, no doubt he has as well and feels compelled to act.”

“As he should,” Devil conceded. “He’s acquitted himself quite well throughout this nonsense. And it is nonsense, Willa. There seems to be no basis in reason for any of it! And there are far too many unknowns. Lady Crowden, Nutter, Elizabeth Whitmore, and now Williams?”

On that point they were in agreement. Willa brought his hand up to her lips, kissing his knuckles, savoring the strength in him as always. “I cannot fathom why it is happening either, Devil. Marina, barring her animosity with Miss Whitmore, has never done anything to incur such wrath! Even her collapse on the morning she was to wed Williams was not something she could control. She fully intended to marry the man despite what she knew about him just to spare the family any scandal. This seems to be coming from every direction—the physical attacks, the gossip and rumors—Perhaps our mistake is in thinking we are dealing with only one foe? The gossip and the attacks may have been initiated by different perpetrators.”

Devil raised his eyebrow, considering the possibility. “It’s possible. Hell hath no fury, Willa. I do not think Miss Whitmore has anything to do with the attacks. The gossip? Perhaps, though that seems far more likely to be Lady Crowden’s work. And I mean to take care of that particular threat myself. With a bit of help, of course.”

“Highcliff?” she asked.

Devil grinned. “Of course. The man may be retired, but the lion still has his teeth so to speak.”

“And the other? These physical attacks can’t be laid at Miss Whitmore’s door, I should think. And it hardly seems that it would be worth the risk for Lady Crowden.”

“That remains a mystery,” he said. “But I mean to get to the bottom of it as well.”

*

Arriving at the Ashtons’ home, Caleb was shown not to the drawing room but to the study. That choice indicated from the outset that there were sensitive matters to be addressed. Upon entering the room and noting the dour face of Lord Deveril and the worried expression marring the lovely face of his wife, that was even more apparent.

“I presume that Miss Ashton informed you of the sabotage of my phaeton in the park,” he said, forgoing any formal greeting.

“Indeed she did. And you’ve seen the gossip rags and the drivel they have printed?” Lord Deveril demanded.

Caleb nodded. “I have. And I think the only solution is for Miss Ashton and myself to marry with haste… immediately, even. I came here tonight to suggest just that. I understand you have misgivings, and rightfully so. To that end, I would not take her to Yorkshire just yet. There is an estate in Northampton where we may stay for the remainder of the Season—near enough that you can visit easily—and frequently—to be reassured of her welfare.”

Lady Deveril breathed a sigh of relief. “How thoughtful! We should be very glad to keep Marina at least reasonably close by when you are wed. And frankly, given recent revelations, having her out of London and away from those who would harm her is something of a relief.”

Lord Deveril remained quiet for a moment. “Do you possess the necessary connections to obtain a special license?”

Caleb nodded. “I should be able to obtain it with little difficulty. If problems arise, I will certainly ask for assistance.”

The dinner gong sounded just then, preventing further conversation. They moved en masse toward the dining room just as Marina descended the stairs. Rather than the pale gowns he’d seen her in previously, that evening she wore a deep-blue velvet, her eyes gleaming like the most brilliant of sapphires. Every time he saw her, he was struck anew by her beauty. But he’d seen something else in her, something that he would never have suspected with only that fleeting glance in Lady Crowden’s ballroom.

Marina did not know her own worth. Oh, without question, she knew she was beautiful. She had eyes to see after all and no shortage of mirrors in the home. But seeing it and feeling it were very different. Understanding that there was more to be valued in her than simply her face and form, that was a different matter still. That was the root of her vulnerability, of her doubts. Whatever nasty things had been whispered about her due to the circumstances of her birth—those things had grown inside her, twisting like vines, choking out the rose that should have long since bloomed.

The nature of his thoughts startled him. He was not a man given to poetic phrasing or such flowery thoughts. Practical and pragmatic. Those were the traits most people would ascribe to him. Certainly they were things he had always strived for. His attraction to her was unprecedented for him, but he was not some lovesick swain writing odes to her beauty. Theirs was an arrangement that benefited them both. He would obtain his inheritance; she would retain her reputation. The attraction, the fact that he had some degree of admiration for her, that was all simply a stroke of good fortune. A foundation from which they could build something that might offer them both some degree of at least contentment, if not happiness.

Even as he said those things to himself, they rang false. Hollow. Because there was a sense of inevitability about all that had transpired—like a clockwork mechanism, all of them tiny cogs in the wheels. It felt as if they had been set on this path and were fated to follow it to its end.

“My lord,” she said, acknowledging him with a slight smile, though it was tinged with some bitterness. “Thank you for coming.”

“Miss Ashton,” he replied, inclining his head. “I’ve spoken with your uncle—and your aunt—now you and I have some decisions to make.”

“After dinner, we can walk in the garden. It will afford us a bit of privacy to speak freely… without servants listening and reporting on our every word.”

*

They made it through dinner. Each course seemed interminably long, especially as her nerves were so great that the thought of food was positively nauseating. That was quite an unusual event in and of itself as she normally had a very hearty appetite. Of course, her nerves were fraught. After all, she was about to suggest running off to elope with a man she barely knew.

She knew that her aunt would hate to see her married off in such a fashion. There would be no orange blossom bouquets, no perfectly fitted, embroidered gown, or elaborate veil. There would be no church pews filled with guests to watch her be married off.

As dinner came to an end, the boys left the dining room with their parents. Willa and Devil did not separate everyone by sex after dinner. The women were not relegated to the drawing room while the males were sequestered in the billiard room or library. For herself, she walked to the double doors that opened onto the terrace, throwing them open to the cool night air. “We can access the garden from here,” she explained.

Marina stepped through the doors and out onto the stone terrace that ran the length of the rear of the house. Caleb followed wordlessly behind her, shutting the doors after them.

Shivering in the chilly air, she turned to face him. “Let’s elope. Now. Tonight. Immediately.”

“Because you wish to marry me or because you’re afraid of what might happen to you if we do not?”

“Both are equally true,” she replied. “I am not without enemies, Caleb. Elizabeth Whitmore detests me. But she isn’t trying to kill me. Mr. Nutter? Perhaps. His perception of the events that transpired at the Crowdens’ ball could have driven him into some sort of jealous rage, I suppose. But the way this villain has gone about it… it’s cold and calculating. And cautious. Someone who wishes to remain hidden in the shadows. That leads me to believe they have something to gain… and that could be Stanford Williams.”

“And what does he have to gain?”

“Revenge,” she relied. “I humiliated him publicly. It was not my intent. When I walked into the church, I simply couldn’t go through with it… not after what I learned.”

“And what is that precisely? I know that you’ve been withholding information. I simply don’t know why.”

“Embarrassment, I suppose,” she said. “I felt like a fool for having been gullible enough to believe his lies.”

He laughed softly, without any real humor. It was almost bitter, she thought. “We’ve all been gullible,” he said, “believing in someone we should not. Be it a friend, a lover, a family member… That doesn’t make you a fool, Marina. You’d only have been a fool if you’d ignored the truth and married him regardless.”

“He and Lady Crowden were lovers. He courted me, then proposed to me because he wanted the fortune that my Uncle Devil has set aside for me. And once he had it, he intended to do away with me. Well, the last part is presumed. The first part is fact. I received an anonymous letter two days prior to the wedding informing me of all this—not the identity of his lover, but that he would meet them at the Fairingtons’ ball… The truth was that I was simply a means to an end to him.”

“And now you feel I am marrying you because you are a means to an end,” he mused.

“We are that for one another… but we aren’t only that,” she insisted. “Are we?”

“No. No we are not,” he replied softly. “I can’t say what we are to one another precisely, not yet, at any rate. But it is more than I anticipated. Certainly more than I was prepared for.”

“I feel the same. All the more reason to act now,” she said. “We need to marry quickly before anything else can go wrong.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I’ve reached much the same conclusion. We do need to marry quickly. And given what I now know, I do believe that you are the target entirely. Initially, I thought perhaps you had been targeted because of me. Yet, even if I fail to meet the terms of the will, the money will simply go to various charities and causes my great uncle supported during his lifetime. I find it difficult to believe that hospitals for veterans and benevolent societies for widows and orphans have resorted to murder for their funding.”

In spite of their dire situation, she laughed at that. “It does challenge one’s ability to stretch the imagination, does it not?”

He reached out, taking both of her hands in his. “Some of it seems intended to drive us to the altar while other things that have occurred appear to be much more sinister in nature. Revenge. Wounded vanity. Jealousy—there is no one more dangerous than a covetous man.”

“Or woman,” she said. “Perhaps it is jealousy. But that doesn’t eliminate Lady Crowden, Elizabeth Whitmore, or even your companion, Mr. Danvers. We have no proof that they aren’t somehow involved.”

“I spoke with your aunt and uncle upon arrival and told them much the same as you just told me. That we needed to marry quickly. I had suggested by special license, but I am not opposed to elopement. Assuming, of course, that they would not disapprove too terribly… They are very worried for you. For both your safety and your future happiness.”

“I know they are. I can feel the weight of their concerns quite keenly… but I have concerns of my own. I fear that my presence here in this home may be placing them and my young cousins in danger.”

He nodded. “That isn’t an unreasonable assumption. They are clearly not above sabotaging a vehicle which would have endangered us but also anyone else on the road.”

Another shiver raced through her, this one having nothing to do with the falling temperature. When he stepped closer to her, his broad frame blocking the wind, she had to fight the urge to simply lean into him. Her aunt and uncle were just inside the house after all and were very aware that the two of them were on the terrace alone. But even that knowledge could not prevent her from giving in to all of her many temptations. Tipping her head up, she rose on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, feeling the rough whiskers beneath her lips. But only for a moment. Because he turned his head and captured her lips. Marina leaned into him savoring the strength of his arms around her, the heat of his body against hers. His arms closed around her, pulling her closer still as his lips moved over hers, his tongue teasing her lower lip until she parted them, granting him entrance. It was as divine as it was terrifying. Because it consumed her entirely. And in that kiss, the entire world simply fell away. All the worries and fears, for at least that moment, simply faded into nothingness.

*

He wanted her. Desperately. In a way, he thought, that he had never desired another woman. The intensity of it was shocking. The relentlessness of it was, in a word, unsettling. It challenged everything he’d ever believed about himself.

Despite breaking the kiss, he did not let go of her. Instead, he continued to hold her close. “I will take the necessary steps to obtain a special license for us to marry by week’s end,” he said.

“Do you think we can afford to wait that long?”

“No,” he replied. “But I also do not wish to see you cheated of having a wedding with your family present. God willing, Marina, this will be the only wedding either of us have. I wish we had the luxury of time to give you the wedding you deserve.”

“I don’t care about that. I wish we could marry tonight,” she admitted. “I’m so terribly afraid that something will happen to stop us.”

“What could go wrong?” In truth, many things could, but she sounded so terribly anxious that he didn’t wish to worry her further. “We will be discreet in our movements. No one need know that we have altered our plans and are wedding sooner than anticipated. We shall both be careful until then. And after we are married, we will settle outside of London. It’s a small estate not very far from town. It will be a safe and secure location for us where we can focus on the important things… one another.”

She nodded. “I suppose we should go inside… though in truth, I would much rather stay out here with you.”

“As would I,” he agreed heartily. “But I fear your uncle would do me bodily harm.”

“Hypocrisy,” she scoffed. “He was, by all accounts, a terrible rake. And Aunt Willa worked for him as my governess!”

“All the more reason. He fully comprehends the wickedness conjured in a man’s mind… and you do make me think very wicked thoughts, Marina.”

She shivered against him. “I fear I am too ignorant to think truly wicked things. But I have no wish to remain ignorant. I think I’m rather looking forward to a bit of wickedness.”

God help him, she had no notion what she was doing to him with such a candid confession. Unable to resist, he pressed another kiss to her too tempting lips before firmly setting her away from him. “Inside. I’ll follow momentarily.” Once he’d managed to regain control over his anatomy.