The Devil Rogue (40 page)

Angela realized several things at once: the music had stopped, the other couples who
remained
on the
dance
floor were looking at them as if she and Ian had each suddenly grown another head
,
and Ian was lowering himself onto one knee at her feet.

The entire room had grown silent, no one wanting to miss the spectacle taking place on the dance floor
.
The other couples quietly moved to the outer edges, leaving Angela and Ian as the center of attention.

“Ian, what are you doing?” Angela
whispered harshly
.

“What does it look like
?
I’m proposing
.
Now hush, and let me get on with it
.
”
He took her cold, clammy hands into his own large, warm ones
.
“
Angela Maria Yevdokia Fedorovich, Princess of Moldova
—
”
H
is voice
was
loud and clear in the hushed silence.
H
e must have memorized her new name.
“—w
ould you do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage?”

No one in the entire
building
seemed
to breathe or
ma
k
e a sound
.
As quiet as the place was, a feather hitting the floor would have
made a
racket
.

Hesitating for only a moment in order to dislodge the lump in her throat, Angela answered in a voice just as clear, “Yes, Lord Blackridge, I accept.”

A thunderous applause, accompanied by cheers loud enough to wake the dead erupted when her answer was heard
.
Tears coursed down her face as Ian rose, taking her in
to
his arms
.
The orchestra began to play, and they waltzed together
in celebration.

“I’m so relieved I don’t have to leave the country, princess,” Ian said
,
chuckling
.

Angela laughed with him, her cheeks glistening with moisture
.
“When we get a moment alone, there’s something I must tell you.”

Ian glanced around
, looking for an escape route
.
As each dancing couple came within earshot, congratulations were offered with beaming smiles
.
“Come with me,” he said, grasping her hand
,
leading her away from the crowd.

He walked quickly, Angela trailing behind him, ignoring anyone who attempted to stop them for conversation
.
He halted
when he found a secluded spot
,
out on the terrace,
hidden in darkness
.
Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her, his mouth covering hers with unrestrained passion
.
His lips were warm and firm, his tongue demanding as it delved inside to taste her.

He raised his head, giving her a much needed breath of air
.
“Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?” he asked, his voice husky.

“It would be most prudent to marry as soon as possible,” Angela began.

“I agree
, most emphatically,”
he
said, placing little kisses over her forehead, cheeks, and nose.

“Because we wouldn’t want there to be any questions.”

“Questions
,
definitely not.”
He continued kissing her chin, moving lower, to her throat.

“It should look like it occurred on our honeymoon.”

“Yes, of course,” to the tops of her breasts.

“
Just for the sake of propriety, mind you.”

“Mmmm.”
Her exposed nipple begged for his attention.

“Oh
!
My Lord
. . .
that feels
—
”

“Indeed.”
His tongue circled the hardened point.

Angela gasped.
“W-what were we
talking about?”

“I haven’t a clue.”
He
released her
other breast
, rubbing the nipple with his thumb, while continuing to suckle its twin.

Angela grabbed the thick hair on both sides of his head and pulled
.
“Ian
!
”
she hissed.
“There’s
something important y
ou must know.
” Stuffing her breasts back into her bodice, she blurted, “I’m pregnant
.
You’re going to be a father.”

Stunned, Ian asked, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure
.
Y-you don’t mind, do you?”

“Mind
?
My God, it’s wonderful!”
L
ifting her off the ground
, he
twirl
ed
her in a
dizzying
circle.

“Ian, please stop!” she begged
.
“
If you don’t I’ll cast up my accounts all over you, I
vow
!”

With great gentleness and concern, Ian settled her feet back on the ground
.
“I’m sorry, are you all right
?
Is the baby
—
”

She laughed.
“The baby’s fine
.
It’s me I’m worried about
.
Just about everything makes me sick these days.”

“Is it very bad?”

“Not so bad
.
Rosemary tells me it should pass in a couple of months.”

“And how does she know about these things?” Ian asked with skepticism.

“She comes from a large family
.
Besides, she was a servant, remember
?
She hears
the very best gossip
.”

“Is that where you learned your vocabulary?”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Angela inquired innocently.

“Never mind
.
It won’t bother you to become a lowly viscountess
?
After discovering you’re a princess, it would be a step down.”

“I don’t care if I were a scullery maid as long as I had you,” she
said, kissing him tenderly on the lips.

“If you don’t desist with your wayward behavior,
”
he growled.
“
I’ll have to throw you over my shoulder and
ravish you like a scullery maid.
”

“Are you saying you’ve ravished scullery maids?”

“As a matter of fact, I haven’t, so close that beautiful mouth, you vixen, or I won’t be able to wait until the wedding.”

“Why wait?”

With a
nother
growl, he kissed her
with all
the pent up emotions of the last week
s
.
Angela’s knees weakened and she melted into him, delirious from the intensity of his passion.

He
broke away from her
and said,
“Let’s move to a more advantageous location
.
”
The huskiness in his
voice convey
ed
the tight control he held over himself.

Angela felt his urgency with an answering need to be with him, to feel his strength surround her, skin to skin, their bodies joining in the ultimate consummation of their love
.
“Yes, quickly,” she breathed.

He took her by the hand, leading her down the shallow steps,
and
onto the stone patio separating the house from the lawn
.
Picking her up, cradling her in his arms, Ian briskly walked through the thick carpet of grass.

“Why are you carrying me?” Angela asked, although she didn’t mind in the least.

“
The grass is wet
,” he said, and then grinned
.
“
If you’re to return to the ball,
the dampness of your h
em will reveal a telling tale.”

“What about the guests
?
What about my father
?
Won’t they miss us?”

“There are so many people in there we could be gone for hours and no one would notice,” he replied, side-stepping around a row of low shrubs.

It was dark back here, the only light coming from the almost full moon peeking out from behind a thin string of clouds
.
Ian had no trouble finding the gazebo, set back
in a secluded
oasis of leafy trees and fragrant, climbing rose bushes.

He gently set Angela down on the bench, and then sitting beside her, pulled her into his arms
.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said quietly
.
Running his hands up her back, one sliding up to cup the back of her neck, he looked into her eyes
.
“My life means nothing without you, Angela
.
I love you.”

They were simple words, but Angela felt the deep sincerity of them
.
Her heart filled and then soared to the heavens, so enraptured she was by this moment in time
.
She wished she could freeze it
, put it in her pocket, to take out and cherish it when she was old and gray and her memory failed her
.
Blinking back tears of joy, she wrapped her arms around his neck
.
“Oh, Ian! I love you so much, and I’m so happy I could just cry it out to the night sky!”

“Don’t do that, sweet angel,”
he
said with a chuckle
.
“We don’t want
all of
London
to witness our private reunion.”

“No, we definitely wouldn’t want that,” Angela said, feigning seriousness, but then ruin
ed
it
by laughing
.

Much later,
they returned to the ball,
Angela
wearing a
mysterious smile,
and
looking thoroughly kissed
.
Only the
gently swaying
trees and the
singing
crickets
surrounding
that
deserted part of the gardens
were witness to what
had taken place.

5

Villarreal / The Devil Rogue
                                     

Chapter
2
4

IAN AND ANGELA
stood together
,
circled by her father, his mother, Rosemary, and a few other acquaintances, when an approaching man caught his attention
.
At first he dismissed it as a trick of his imagination, but as the gentleman
drew
nearer,
Ian
thought for sure he was seeing a ghost.

The man
walked directly toward the
ir group
, accompanied by a dark-haired woman
.
She was tall and slender, resting her elegant hand on his arm, and she was smiling with warmth
.
They were a stunning contrast, with his pale blonde coloring and her pitch-black hair.

“Blackridge!”

Ian turned his body to fully greet his friend
.
“John?” To say it was a shock to see
John Winston
back
from the dead would
have been an understatement
.

Angela gasped
, as everyone in their group slowly ceased conversing with one another to focus their attention on the newcomers.

Ian clasped John’s hand shaking it vigorously, and then damning convention, wrapped him in an affectionate bear hug
.
“Jesus, John, I though you were dead,”
he
said, his voice filled with emotion
.
His friend seemed thinner and paler than he remembered.

John stepped back
, returning to the woman’s side
.
“It’s good to see you too, my friend,”
he
said, laughing
.
“There’s much to tell you, but first I want you to meet my wife, Blossom.”
His grin reflected his happiness
.
“This is my closest friend, Ian Moreland, the Viscount Blackridge
.
Ian, Blossom Winston.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Winston,” Ian said, bowing over her
outstretched
hand
.
She nodded her head gracefully, and smiled at him with genuine pleasure
.
“May I introduce my fiancé, Angela, or rather, Her Royal Highness, Princess of Moldova.”
Ian then introduced his mother
and
Angela’s father, along with the rest of their group.

“Mr. Winston,” Angela said
.
“I can’t tell you how incredibly happy I am to see that you’re alive and well.”
He did look well, but there were shadows under his eyes, and a slight pallor to his complexion that revealed a recent illness – or injury
.
Could it be that her
step-
father was responsible?

“Dear Princess Angela,” John said, looking into her eyes with sincerity
.
“I can only say that if you’ve snared this rogue’s heart, than you’re more worthy than ten Baron Eberlys
.
But now isn’t the time for that discussion
.
Perhaps we could move to a more private location?” His eyes sought Ian’s, conveying
much without saying another word.

Ian took Angela’s hand and placed it over his arm
.
“Let’s go, my dear, and find a quiet place to hear my friend’s tale.”

Together, the four of them maneuvered their way around the maze of people, forced to stop often so Angela and Ian could accept congratulations on their engagement
.
Either that, or John was confronted with an acquaintance who wished to express their pleased surprise that he was, indeed, not dead.

Finally, they made it to a
small
library located in a secluded wing of the mansion
.
To Angela, it seemed to have taken a day and a half, and as soon as they entered, she found a comfortable sofa, and plopped down on it with a sigh of relief
.
Since she’d become pregnant, she tended to tire easily
, and after their tryst in the gardens, she was especially worn out.
She wished, almost to the point of violence, that she could remove the tight-fitting corset pinching her ribs
be
neath her gown
.

“My apologies, but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment,” she said as an excuse.

“Don’t
mind her, she’s just had too much excitement this evening,” Ian said with a wink in her direction
.
He adored the way she blushed in response to his words, proving that she was thinking of their interlude in the gazebo earlier.

“Quit flirting with your fiancé, Blackridge, and pay attention,” John said good-naturedly
.
He assisted his wife to a comfortable seat near Angela.

“Okay, John, tell us what the hell happened,” Ian said, suddenly impatient to hear the details.

“First of all, I owe the princess an apology,” John began.

“Please, call me Angela, it would be so much easier, and I’m still not quite used to
the title
.
”

“Angela,” John continued
.
“I must apologize for the deception I played upon you.”
At
her
startled look, he explained, “I was working under cover, investigating your father, or at least we all thought he was your father at the time.
”

“Undercover
?
” Ian blurted. “
You’re a spy?”

“Not really a spy, but I’ve done some investigative work for the
Home
Office over the last several years.”

“My God, John
, w
hy didn’t you tell me?” Ian tried to understand, but it still hurt that his friend hadn’t confided in him.

“I was going to tell you
. . .
eventually,” John said sheepishly
.
“The opportunity just never
seemed
to
c
o
me up
.
”

“Can we hear the rest of the story?” Angela cut in.

Blossom sat quietly throughout their conversation, content, it seemed, only to listen.

John took a deep, fortifying breath
.
“Yes, well, anyway, I was investigating
Eberly
.
We suspected him of a blackmailing scheme, and
—
”

“I was a suspect, as well,” Angela finished for him.

Ian jumped in
.
“She was completely ignorant of
Eberly’s
criminal activities.”

“I knew that,” John said
.
“It was obvious after spending time with her, that she had no knowledge of what her father – pardon me –
Eberly
was up to.
”

“And how did you come up with this deduction so easily?” Ian asked with a spark of jealousy
.
How could he feel that way when his friend obviously loved and adored his wife, and he had no doubts that Angela loved him?

“It was her straightforward manner,
” John said, “
her lack of guile, and the way her servants treated her with such respec
t and affection.”

Ian’s expression turned stormy
.
“Is that so?”
He couldn’t help
but
be reminded of the awful way he’d treated Angela when she’d first arrived at his house
.
He stood silent for a moment, brooding over his thoughts, and then looked over at Angela
.
For some reason, he needed her reassurance that she had, indeed, forgiven him
.
When she smiled at him with all the radiance of a woman in love, his chest filled with warmth.

Looking puzzled, John
gazed from Ian to Angela
.
“How did you two meet
, anyway
?
It’s not like you mingled at the same functions.”

“It’s a long story,” Ian said
.
“We’ve yet to hear the rest of yours
.
Eberly
confessed to me that he’d sent a couple of ruffians after you, that they
’d
bungled the job.”

“He did send those two buffoons to try and persuade me to pay
him
,”
John said,
and then
hesitat
ed
.
“
The whole thing turned nasty,
I’m afraid.
I was
, well, stabbed several times.”
It appeared he
found it difficult to recount the incident
.
“Obviously they took my ring, leaving me for dead
.
I have no idea what happened to t
he one who was found in the r
iver
.
Apparently he was mistaken for me.”

“How did you survive it?” Ian asked in amazement.

John’s expression showed his own amazement
.
“I really don’t know, or at least I don’t remember
.
Somehow, I made it out of the city and
,
miraculously, landed on Blossom’s doorstep.”
He looked over at
Blossom
, giving her an affectionate smile
.
“She’s the one who saved my life
.
If it hadn’t been for her kindness to a complete stranger, I’d be dead.”

Ian turned to Blossom
.
“I thank you, madam, for saving my friend’s life.”

For the first time s
ince
they’d arrived in the room
, Blossom spoke.
“There’ve been moments when I’d wished I hadn’t been so kind.”
She said this with a mischievous
grin.

John laughed at her statement
.
“I know it’s hard to believe that I’m not always the charming gentleman, but she’s had a lot to put up with these last weeks.”

“Have you just arrived back in town, then?” Angela inquired.

“We arrived yesterday, only to discover the spectacular news of your true identity,” John said, looking at Angela
.
“An Inspector Krenshaw tracked me down, all the way to Blossom’s home, and filled me in on most of what
had been
going on
during my absence
.
”

John
proceeded
to tell Ian and Angela how it was that Inspector Krenshaw was able to
find him and
solve the case.
When the body
had been
pulled from the
Thames
, Krenshaw noticed, u
pon closer inspection,
the
ring
on the unidentified man’s
right hand.
What
had
made that discovery significant
in Krenshaw’s mind
was the fact that it hadn’t been stolen.

Th
at
ring
had been
his only clue
. It was
a heavy, solid gold piece
, and in the inspector’s way of thinking
, too expensive for just your average, low-born citizen.
But
he
had
notice
d
one thing that would narrow his search considerably: a unique design bearing a deeply etched
W
, which
had
eliminate
d
a large number of wealthy famil
y names
.

Even though t
he
victim
’s demise
had been
summarily
dismissed as a robbery gone awry
, Krenshaw
had
refused to give up
.
He also notice
d
something
that apparently
no one else had
:
t
he victim’s clothes were not of the quality one would expect a person of wealth to be wearing.

He
’d been
convinced
it
was no ordinary robbery
.
His diligence
had
paid off when he was able to identify the owner of that ring.
He
’d
told no one of his suspicions, quietly making inquiries and following leads on his own.
Eventually, the trail of clues
had
led him to Blossom’s home and
,
subsequently, to John.