Must Love Dukes (12 page)

“My brother has been busy. I am always surprised to learn how many arrangements he has made on my behalf.”

“Yes, you are very fortunate to have a brother like Mr. Phillips.”

“I think that same thought so often that I can’t recall the last time I thought it.”

He looked confused by her response for a moment before replying, “Don’t think too many thoughts. It could wrinkle your brow. It wouldn’t do to mar your looks with such activity.”

“Quite.” She dropped her hand from his arm as soon as possible and took a step away from him. “Thank you for the waltz.” She gave a quick curtsy and turned to Solomon. “I must return to my friend. I fear that I have abandoned her completely. Solomon, we will talk soon.” She shot him a stern look of business before leaving in search of Sue.

Lillian swept the ballroom but did not dare to stay a moment longer or she would be forced to dance with another lecherous gentleman. She turned into the side parlor where she had hidden before and walked straight into a gentleman’s broad chest. She felt his hands close around her upper arms as she looked up into the duke’s face.

His eyes held concern within their stormy depths as he asked, “Are you well? You look a bit ashen.”

“I am perfectly well, thank you. I have completed my task and danced with Hingsworth. I believe I will need a glass of something stronger than lemonade to recover, as well as hundreds of baths to wash his gaze from my person, but it is done.”

“The vision of you taking hundreds of baths will give me sweet dreams tonight. Therefore, he has my thanks.”

“Pleased to accommodate, Your Grace. It seems I am to be the object of several unsavory dreams tonight. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to find a place to sit and wait for this dreadful evening to end.”

“Did you do as I asked?”

“Yes. I told you so. There is no need for you to torment me any further this night.” She moved to slip past him, but he caught her elbow to halt her progress.

“You cannot disappear now. This will be the best entertainment of the night. Come with me.” The grin spreading on his face held her fascinated for a moment. It transformed him.

She allowed him to escort her out the door. Glancing back over her shoulder, she witnessed the widened eyes of a few of the matrons in the room. Clearly they never saw that boyish grin on the duke’s face, either. The duchess caught Lillian’s eye for a split second, and she saw the glimmer of hope and encouragement in his mother’s eyes.

Was it so rare that he smiled? Or was she the source of their amazement? She would have to ponder that further when she was alone, but now she needed to have her wits about her. Her experience with this gentleman’s company proved that she never knew what he might do next.

He was leading her back toward the terrace doors. “Give me your gloves,” he said softly.

“My gloves, why?” she asked glancing at her hands.

“Trust me. Just give me your gloves.”

“What if someone notices I’m not wearing any gloves?” She wasn’t even going to mention to him that the gloves were new. She frowned and began to tug on the white tips of her fingers.

“No one will notice a thing in a moment.” He held out his hand and waited for her to strip her gloves from her hands.

She handed him her gloves with a “Humph.” Not understanding any of his actions this evening was beyond frustrating.

He leaned in to instruct her, “Wait here. You will have the best view of the spectacle from this location.” When she turned to ask what spectacle he was referring to, he was gone.

Devon left Lily standing by the terrace doors and casually walked toward the garden stairs. Once darkness cloaked his movements, he increased his pace, anticipation driving him to hurry down the garden path. The task ahead of him was really quite simple. He chuckled to himself as he approached Lord Geddings’ dog kennel in the rear of the garden. The howling of the dogs pierced the night.

He crouched low and held out a hand through the fencing. “Shhh. I’m not going to hurt you. Who wants to have some fun?” He felt a few licks against his fingers and a nudge of agreement against the side of his hand. “You want to hunt? Who wants the fox?”

The hounds began to dance in the moonlight, their excitement building as they pushed at the gate of their kennel. He waved Lily’s gloves before their noses, listening to them sniff. “Are you ready?”

He flung open the gate and watched as five dogs barreled forward. “Get the fox! Go find him!” he called after them as he hurried back up the path to the terrace. He balled up Lily’s gloves and tossed them into a bush as he passed. He would have to buy her another pair. He topped the stairs just after the dogs and rounded the corner at a casual pace into the ballroom.

Shouts of surprise and tittering laughter filled the ballroom as the hounds darted around the dance floor. Slipping into the crowd of onlookers, he found Lily and saw she bore a look of wide-eyed amazement. She gazed back at him with accusation in her eyes but said nothing.

“Wait, here comes the finale. You have to watch.”

“The finale?” she was in the process of asking when her question was answered.

Three of the dogs closed in on Hingsworth where he stood on the dance floor. The hounds circled and took turns sniffing him and barking. The man twisted and turned, attempting to shield himself while the circle of empty dance floor widened around him. His pale face had grown red. Whether this was the result of anger or embarrassment wasn’t clear.

The dogs growled for a heartbeat before one leaped forward, pouncing on Hingsworth’s chest like a hungry jungle cat. The orchestra stopped playing, and the musicians were all hanging over the balcony for a better look.

Hingsworth let out a high-pitched squeal as he attempted to push the dog away. The dog, however, was trained not to lose sight of his prize until his master arrived. Another dog dove at the man while the rest of the pack barked and circled him.

“Get this mutt off me!” Hingsworth screamed as one of the animals attached itself to his coattails and began tugging him to the ground.

Devon looked around to see the reaction from the crowd. There was a range of winces to open laughter. Giggles could be heard all through the crowd, along with inarticulate cries involving mutts and some quite colorful language from the man on the floor of the ballroom.

Most ladies hid their smiles behind open fans, as Hingsworth had warmed the beds of more than half of them in the room at some point and then fled when things got complicated. The edges of the ballroom became steadily more crowded as people flowed out of card rooms and parlors to see what the fuss was about.

“Oh my!”

“Is that Lord Hingsworth?”

And one comment that “The punishment seems rather apt, dog that he is” could be heard around the room.

Devon looked at Lily, an amused smile still on his face. This entire ruse had been worth it, if only to see the look of disbelief on Lily’s face. Her lips formed a perfect circle and her eyes were bright with amazement above pink cheeks that were twitching in an effort not to smile.

“You did this,” she mouthed as she hit his arm with the back of her bare hand in reprimand.

He grinned. “Not without your assistance.”

Lily leaned closer to whisper, “He could be seriously injured.”

“Would you shed tears over the loss?”

She blinked in surprise at his comment. “No, but he could be hurt for life.”

“He’ll be fine.” Devon began to chuckle, unable to stop himself.

“You’re laughing! It’s not amusing.”

“It’s a little amusing.”

“It is not.” She glanced back to where the man who had fawned over her less than an hour ago lay on the floor weeping as a blustery old man tried to pry the prancing dogs from him. She tried to contain a chuckle and had to bite her lip to do so. “All right, it’s a little amusing.”

He looked down into her lovely face and laughed aloud. The sound of his laughter seemed to loosen her rein on her amusement, for she began to chuckle with him. There was now such an uproar in the ballroom with giggles, barking dogs, Hingsworth’s cries, and the wails of Lady Geddings at the ruin of her ball that no one noticed the two of them slip from the room onto the terrace and collapse in shared laughter.

A few minutes later, Devon was leaning against the terrace wall listening to the continued mayhem inside with a feeling of pride. It was a rare day when society got what it deserved. Those same people hadn’t had any issue with ripping his life to shreds, so why shouldn’t he return the favor on occasion? And it had all gone to plan.

Lily had played her part to perfection. A small pang of guilt over forcing her to be near Hingsworth in order to make the plot take shape bit at him, but he brushed it away. Glancing over at Lily, he watched as she tried in vain to pull herself together, still fighting bursts of giggles. It was a lovely sound, light and airy like a bird’s song in the morning.

“Did you see his face when he couldn’t get that dog away?” Lily asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Did you hear him scream like a little girl?” Devon returned with a single bark-like chuckle.

Lily turned toward him and tilted her head to the side in thought. “Why did the dogs single him out? Was something on that handkerchief?”

“The dogs have been trained to follow the scent of a fox. In this case, they were under the impression that the fox resided in Hingsworth’s coat.”

He reached out and ran the back of a finger down the side of her cheek, freezing her movements. “Thanks to your assistance.”

The noise of the ball disappeared. There was only the two of them.

Her breasts rose and fell with her quick breaths under the thin lace of her fichu. He wanted to rip the damned thing from her neck to reveal the real Lily under this prim exterior. Was he falling into the same trap again a year later? He needed to get away from her. He needed time to collect his thoughts. He needed to stop touching her.

His rebellious fingers did not listen but tucked a fallen strand of golden hair behind her ear. Finally, managing to rein himself in, he let his hand fall to his side, gripping the wall to keep from reaching out to her again. A minute ticked by in silence as he ripped his gaze from hers and stared unseeing into the ballroom windows.

Lily cleared her throat before saying, “I can’t believe we did that.”

Devon had to jar his brain into functioning, realizing she was speaking of the chaos in the ballroom, not anything that existed between the two of them. She had called it nothing today after all. His jaw clenched. “I can. Now, I must leave. Until next time, Lily.” He lifted her hand, placed a kiss on her bare knuckles, and left her standing on the terrace watching him disappear into the crowded ballroom.

***

“Lillian!”

Lillian laid aside her book on aquatic discoveries of the southern Atlantic and looked up at the sound of Nathaniel’s excited voice echoing up the stairs outside the drawing room. Just then, the door swung open and he bounded into the room.

“Lillian, you must come downstairs at once!”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, something is marvelous! You received a bouquet of flowers the likes of which I have never seen. You made quite the impression on someone last evening.” He pulled her to her feet and began dragging her from the room. “Who is he? There was no signature on the note. You must tell me all, but first let us go bask in the beauty and fragrance of your gift.”

“Flowers? Oh, dear. I only danced with Lord Hingsworth last night. You don’t think he sent them, do you?”

“No, darling.” He paused at the top of the stairs to look at her as if she were losing her mind. He patted her hand and gave her a sympathetic smile. “I don’t believe sending flowers is at the top of his list today since he’s currently at the center of the most delicious on-dit this town has had in years.”

She followed him down the stairs, still thinking of poor Hingsworth.

“Fret not, darling. Most of my acquaintances are in agreement that justice was served last night.”

“Nathaniel,” she reprimanded. “He is horrible, but we should not speak ill of him when he’s in such a condition.”

“That’s the dead we are not to speak ill of, darling. And I believe he is very much alive, although I’m sure he wishes otherwise at the moment.”

Lillian chuckled at the memory of his girlish screams and flailing about. It was true. He most likely wished to be dead this morning from the embarrassment of it all. London would not soon forget that scene. Lady Geddings was the real victim in all of this. Her lovely annual ball would never be the same after last night.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lillian no longer wondered who the flowers were from. “Lilies,” she muttered to herself. The flowers were bound together in a large vase with their white heads leaning in every direction. There had to be around fifty flowers, all blooming in perfect snowy white unison. The foyer was already thick with the smell of the blossoms.

Should she send them back to him? That would let him know in no uncertain terms that she wanted nothing to do with his antics in the future. He had forced her to delve into a gentleman’s pockets last night. And now that gentleman was the subject of the
ton
’s ridicule. Perhaps Hingsworth did deserve it, but that was not the point of the matter. What would the duke have her do next? She was afraid to think about it. Yet the lilies were lovely…and hers. No one had ever sent her flowers before. She felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth and quickly controlled the impulse to be pleased.

“I should return them.”

“They were left at the door. There was only this note.” He handed her a small card. “There’s no way to know where to return them, and why would you want to? Enjoy this, Lillian. It’s your come-out season. Flowers and callers are a good thing.”

She looked down at the card only bearing the words “For Lily” in scrawled writing. She flipped it over, but the back was blank. How was she to explain this to Nathaniel? “I know who sent them and I do not wish him to think I condone his behavior, even if I was amused at the time. It was wrong.”

“Oh, now you must tell me all!” He pulled her into a side parlor made for receiving guests and shut the door behind them. “Who is he?”

Lillian sank onto a settee. “You needn’t get that look of glee on your face. He’s a pest, an arrogant, manipulative, vile, and horrible creature. I don’t know why he is involving himself with me,” she lied.

“Did you dance together? I only saw you dance with Hingsworth.”

“No, but poor Hingsworth. Things for him will never be quite the same, will they? And he only danced with me, nothing more. It is not as if his crime justified that punishment. He is mad!”

“Who is mad? You have me a bit lost, darling.”

“The Duke of Thornwood, of course!”

“Yes, they do say so, yet I’ve never agreed. What does he have to do with Hingsworth? Or the flowers?”

“The duke sent the flowers.”

“Why would you think that? There was only that card.”

Her fingers traced the lines of ink on the card. He had terrible penmanship. She would add that to his list of unfortunate qualities. “I think that because it’s the truth. They have to be from him because…well, because they’re lilies.” Lilies for Lily was a clever thought. Although she would never tell him so.

“Ah, I see. Actually I don’t, but that is neither here nor there. When did you meet Thornwood?”

Lillian colored at the thought of how they met a year ago before saying, “We danced at the Dillsworth ball.”

“He danced with you? Why didn’t you say so?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to think about it, I suppose.” Her fingers kept sliding over the writing on the card.

“I didn’t see you dance with him last evening,” Nathaniel mused.

“No, we spent the supper hour together.”

“I never saw either of you during the supper hour. Lillian! You didn’t!”

“What?” Her eyes snapped up to meet his gaze. “No! I didn’t do anything with the duke other than chat on the terrace.”

“Oh, I am so relieved I won’t have to duel with him over your virtue. But you were alone with him? Someone could’ve seen you. This could have been the latest on-dit. Lillian, you must be careful in London. It is not like Whitby, where you manage the lands and have not a care for your image. Here, image is everything. Do be careful to act the lady.”

“Am I not refined enough?” She straightened her spine at the accusation.

“Certainly, darling. I simply don’t wish any harm to befall you. And London ballrooms are vicious places. Now you must tell me of Thornwood. Is he to be a suitor?”

“I can’t imagine so. The flowers were only sent as a thank-you for some silliness I assisted him with. It was nothing, really.”

“You are a terrible liar, Lillian. Fear not. I won’t pry into your personal affairs. Whatever is between you and Thornwood is none of my concern.”

“Truly, there is nothing between Thornwood and me. He is mad. He follows me everywhere I go and enjoys tormenting me. It is quite miserable, actually. He owes me those flowers for what he put me through with Hingsworth last night.”

“What he put you through? Solomon was the one who required you to dance with him. You don’t mean that you and Thornwood had something to do with…Oh, but this is rich!”

“I don’t know what you’re speaking of,” she returned, raising her chin.

“Indeed, darling sister. Indeed. Well, I must go out to take care of some business now. I’ll leave you to your thoughts and your flowers. Perhaps when I return, you will be in the mood to regale me with the tale of last evening’s events. I do miss so much by milling about the card room.”