The Devil Rogue (4 page)

“Hmmm?”
Angela
had
barely heard a word
.
Did he say
friends
?
She had no friends, other than Rosemary
.
Her father wouldn’t allow it
.
Friends would mean visitors, and visitors would ruin the façade of wealth he was trying to maintain
.
There were no signs of wealth in their home
.
Every spare pen
ce
was gambled away by her father
.

Angela knew she had the reputation of a cold,
indifferent
woman
, bu
t she had to maintain that image
.
Not only did she have to keep up the pretense of wealth, s
he
fear
ed
becom
ing
close
to anyone, feared they would
also
discover
her secret.

“I said
do you understand
?
”
he repeated
more firmly
.

“Yes, my lord, I understand.”
She’d say a
nything to get him to stop talking
.
Her head was going to explode any minute, she was sure of it
.
If
only she
could lie down for a
while
.

Ian studied the woman across from him
.

Her
earlier
words had taken him by surprise.
“Yes, I’m still coming with you. I gave you my word.”
And then she’d pulled away from him, making it more than obvious his touch was distasteful to her.
Oh, she was going to get used to his touch
.
He’d s
oon have her begging for it.
Then he would throw her away, like the trash she was.

Ian Moreland, the Viscount Blackridge, had nothing against women in general.
In fact, he quite enjoyed their favors when the mood struck.
He’d never physically hurt one, and he’d certainly never had a reason to hate any of them – until now.
Let her fear him.
It would serve much better to control her.

He had yet to see her face
. It was hidden
by the hood of her cloak
.
But he didn’t need to see her face to remember her beauty
.
Why would she want to wear such a garment in this warm weather
?
He assumed she was pouting over his rules
.
A
spoiled
young woman such as Angela Hopkins
was used to
getting what she wanted,
doing as she wished
. She probably
had a whole pack of giggling, frivolous friends
.

Ian suppressed a smile of triumph.
Wait until she
discovered
what else he had in store for her.

5

Villarreal / The Devil Rogue
                                     

Chapter 3

WHEN THEY ARRIVED
at his home
, Angela
allowed
him
to take her good arm without protest as they entered the front foyer
.
Gathering all the strength she could muster, she was able to stand on her own when he released his hold on her
.
She thanked the
G
ood
Lord her knees didn’t buckle,
sending her
crum
b
l
ing
into a pathetic pile at
the viscount’s
feet.

Keeping
her head lowered,
she
listened as
Blackridge
spoke to a servant, giving him instructions to have a bath brought to her room, and to send someone named Mrs
.
Brown up immediately.

“Come with me, princess, I’ll show you to your new
living quarters
.”

Angela
could have sworn
she
’d
heard
a note of
amusement
in
his
voice
.
She followed
him up a
wide staircase to the second floor
.
When he continued on to another set of stairs leading to the third floor, she hesitated
.
The guest chambers were usually located on the second floor,
while
servant’s quarters
were either belowstairs or
on the third floor.

“Don’t fall behind,
Miss
Hopkins, we’re almost there.
”

H
e stopped and t
urn
ed
to peer down at her
, one booted foot resting on the next stair
up
.
“You didn’t think you would be sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms, did you
?
”

His smile was patronizing. “
Of course you
did
, didn’t you
?
”

Obviously, the question was rhetorical, since he didn’t wait for an answer. “
You need to remember that you are, in essence, my employee
–
a servant, if you will
.
Therefore, y
ou
’
ll sleep in the servant’s quarters,
except,
that is, when you’re not sleeping in my bed.”

He
turned and
continued up the stairs, not
bothering
to see if she followed.

She did
.
She had no choice
.
She was too tired to fight him, in too much pain to care at the moment
.
Tomorrow, she would give him a piece of her mind
, b
ut for now, she just wanted to make it to her room before she collapsed
in front of him
.

He finally stopped at the end of a long, narrow hallway,
pivoting toward the entrance of
a small bedroom
.
He waited
patient
ly for her to join him.
The sight of the cramped confines of th
at
space had her halting at the threshold
.
A feeling of dread covered her like a suffocating blanket.
She’d never
been fond of
enclosed spaces.

“T-th
is is to be my room, my lord?” S
he
despised
the way her voice came out sounding like a little girl’s
.
She was too
tired and
vulnerable
and
no match for him in
her current
state.

“If you have a problem with it, I can always have you sent home
.
Is that what you want, princess?”

“As I told you before, my lord, I gave you my word,” Angela replied with more strength this time.

She
waited
in the hall while two servants carrying a brass hip bath and buckets of water entered the room
.
Blackridge
stepped aside
, allowing the
servants
to pass
, watching as the
y
set down the tub
and
f
ill
ed
it with
steaming
water
.
She wanted to cry
like a baby
as her wish for a long soak in a full
size bathing
tub was dashed away.

Why was he being so cruel to her
?
Her feeling that she’d made a deal with the devil came back full force
. It
almost sen
t
her
bolting
for the stairs
.
But for twenty thousand pounds, she would endure anything, even this man’s cruelty
.
She’d lived with
that kind of cruelty
her entire life
.
Three more months
should be as easy as
a carriage ride in the park.

The two servants retreated
just as a short, plump woman bustled
down the hall
toward them
.
Her ample bosom heaved as she gasped for air from her trek up the stairs
.
Her pudgy arms were loaded with towels, wash cloths, and
what looked like
a white cotton nightdress
.
“My goodness,” she said between breaths
.
“Those stairs get me every time
!
Oh, good eve to you, master Ian, I didn’t see you right off.”

“Good evening to you, Mrs. Brown
.
Here, let me take these off your hands.”
Blackridge
took her bundle and placed it on the narrow bed.
“This is
Miss
Angela
Hopkins.”

“
Yes
, my lord
.
” Mrs. Brown
’s
tone was respectful, her
expression
kind, but
it betrayed
her curiosity.

“
Miss Hopkins
finds herself in a peculiar position, so to speak,” he
said
.

His gaze raked over
Angela
in an entirely inappropriate manner
, making
her heart flutter
madly
.
Her
body’s
re
sponse
caught her completely off guard
.

“She has agreed to the terms of this engagement, which is to last no longer than three months
.
Is that not correct,
Miss Hopkins
?”

The man
was too handsome, by far
.
“Yes, my lord, that is correct,”
Angela
said
.

“
Miss Hopkins
wishes to learn the ways of the common folk, Mrs. Brown
.
Y
ou will be kind enough to help her with her lessons, will you not?”

“Of course, my lord, you know it will be so,” Mrs. Brown pledged
.

“If you don’t mind, Mrs. Brown,
Miss Hopkins
has brought her maid
.
I’m sure
the young woman
could also use nightclothes, as well some toiletries
.
You can have one of the others bring them to her, as you’ve trudged up and down those stairs enough for one day.”

“Thank you, my lord
.
I’ll see to it immediately.”
She gave a creaky curtsy
,
and
then
hobbled back down the hall.

Angela had
a sinking
feeling
Blackridge
had not yet sprung all
of
his surprises on her
.
“What did you mean?”

“Pardon?”

“What did you mean when you said that I wished to learn the ways of the common folk?”

“Why, your chores, of course
.
”

“
I don’t understand.
”

“Oh, didn’t I mention it
?
You’re to earn that twenty thousand pounds, my dear, by doing a few chores
in
between our time in the bedroom
.
Sex is easy and enjoyable, too easy for that amount of money
.
You’re to earn your keep beginning tomorrow
at first light
.
I’ll give you this one night to settle into your new
quarters, but tomorrow
night
, you’ll be in my bed, servicing me
.
I’m sure you
’
r
e
no novice to that activity.”

“
What
?”

“Come, now
,
”
he said, his sensual mouth twisting into a sneer.
He must think her an imbecile.
“
A woman of your advanced age of
six and
twenty
, possessing such
rare beauty
,
can hardly be a virgin.
”

“B-but, I—
”

“Enough,” he
said
, holding up his hand
.
“I’ll check on you
first thing
tomorrow
.
Good night, princess.
”
He
bowed, and
then turn
ing
on his heel
,
left the room
, the echo of his footsteps fading down the hall
.

Princess
?
What was he about
?
Why did he act as though he hated her very existence
?
Angela’s
head hurt too much to give
his
odd behavior
more than a fleeting thought
.

She peered into the room.
The tub of steaming water beckoned to her aching body
. It may not be large enough to sit in, but she’d enjoy it just the same.

She forced herself to enter the
tiny
room
.
Somehow, she would persevere – she always did
.
Since the room was
located at
the end of the hall, perhaps she could leave the door
ajar
.
There was no reason anyone would come down this way, and s
he wouldn’t feel so closed in
.

Damn that man!

Mrs. Brown came
back
to ask if there was anything else
Angela
needed
.
Obviously, she didn’t always
follow Blackridge’s instructions
.
That discovery gave
Angela
hope
.
“A needle and some thread would be much appreciated, Mrs. Brown
,”
she
said
.
“
I seem to have torn my dress
.
If you
would
tell me where I might find them, I can get them myself
.
I truly
wouldn’t
want you going up and down those stairs for me.
”

“
Nonsense
.
My room is just down the hall
.
You get yourself into th
at
tub and I’ll bring you your needle and thread.
”

Her motherly kindness brought the sting of tears to Angela’s eyes. “Thank you
.
”

After Mrs. Bro
wn left the room, Angela
clos
ed
the door behind her
.
She removed her cloak,
hanging it on a peg on the back of the door. Sighing in resignation, she removed her dress, t
aking care not to tear
it further
.