The Devil's Match (6 page)

“I am not in love with anyone,” Diana protested,
“least of all that...that...reprobate!”

“He does have lovely blue eyes,” Vesta said.
“And I daresay he’s quite handsome for one so old. But I suppose he
is the right age for you. You could be a viscountess, you know. But
what a conundrum that would be! What should I call you then?” She
gave Diana a puzzled look. “Would you be godmother, cousin, or
sister?” Vesta clapped a hand to her mouth with another burst of
mirth.

“Ludicrous!” Diana stood with a scowl. “I
would
never
have such a
man!”

“But why not, Aunt Di? Surely you could convince
him. It only takes a bit of laudanum...” Vesta grinned and then
suddenly grew serious. “Don’t you ever get lonely?”

“Of course not! I have you and Sir Edward—”

“and now Phoebe?”

Diana grimaced. “I doubt she and I shall ever
become bosom beaus.”

“But what shall you do when Hew and I wed and I
move away? What then, Aunt Di?”

It was a question Diana had not yet considered.
Her life had been intertwined with Vesta and Edward’s for so long
that it was hard for her to fathom a future alone. “I don’t
honestly know, Vesta,” she replied. “Perhaps, I should come and
live in town.” But that option would also mean she would inevitably
encounter Lord DeVere. He had made his renewed interest clear.
Wisdom and experience told her the sooner she put distance between
them, the better.

“Have you never considered remarriage?” Vesta
asked. “Don’t you miss”—she gave Diana a sly
smile—”you-know-what?”

“I am sure I don’t
know what!
”

“Come now, Aunt Di,” Vesta cajoled. “Won’t you
tell me? I found it positively lovely. In truth, I don’t know how I
will endure it until Hew and I can be together that way again.”

“Vesta! A young lady should never confess such
things!” Diana scolded.

“What? That we did it? Or that I
liked
it?” Vesta grinned.

“Neither! Both! Botheration! It’s never a proper
topic of conversation for a young lady.”

“Did you not like it too, Aunt Di? Being one
with a man? Please, tell me the truth,” she begged. “I have no
mother to discuss these things with.”

Retrieving one of the miscellaneous fans
that littered the room, Diana attempted to cool her heated face.
“Yes,” she confessed with a great sigh, knowing that with Vesta,
the sooner answered, the less need be said. “There was, indeed, a
time,
very briefly
, in my
life that I thought the joining of a man and woman was the most
wondrous thing in all creation. But a relationship between a man
and a woman must rise above the physical realm to endure, Vesta. A
marriage should be based on more than passion and animal
lust.”

Four years ago, in the depths of desolation,
Diana had abandoned all caution and good sense by seeking comfort
in the devil’s own arms. Giving herself up to a frenzy of passion,
DeVere had taken her to unimaginable heights. She had experienced
an intimacy of body and soul she had never known with another and
had thought it a beginning of something more. But he had broken it
off with callous indifference, incinerating her unspoken hopes to
ashes.

“Wedlock should be founded on mutual respect and
genuine affection. It is also helpful if you share one another’s
likes and dislikes or at the least understand them.” All of which
had been lacking with DeVere. She neither liked, trusted,
understood, nor respected him, but still he had charmed and seduced
her, body and soul.

“I respect and admire Hew immensely,” Vesta
said. “And we have a surprising number of likes in common. There is
much we will enjoy together—horses, hunting, hounds, and
especially, you-know-what.” Vesta giggled.

“But do you respect him enough to obey
him, Vesta? For when a woman weds, she is no longer a person in her
own right. As Hew’s wife, you must permit him to guide you in all
things. By law and nature, you will
belong
to him.”

“Hew would never be unreasonable,” Vesta
said.

“How can you know that? You may have quite
different opinions on what is reasonable—your manner of courtship,
for example. I wonder, did Hew think drugging and kidnapping him
perfectly reasonable?”

Vesta pouted. “The circumstances required
drastic measures. He has since agreed that the ends justified the
means.”

“How surprisingly conciliatory,” Diana
remarked with a dry smile. “I’m simply pointing out that
if
you wed, you must allow him to
govern you, or you will both be miserable.”

“But surely you did not always agree with Lord
Reggie.”

“In over ten years of marriage, I deferred to
him in all things...until his actions brought us to the brink of
ruin. It was only then, when I knew all was lost, that I chose to
make my own decisions. My dear, are you certain this is what you
want?”

“Yes, Aunt Di. Above all things. Papa has agreed
as long as we call the banns, and he even promised not to mortally
harm Hew when he departed.” Vesta knelt beside Diana and clasped
both of her godmother’s hands in a plaintive gesture. “Please,
won’t you give your blessing, as well? Don’t you think Mama would
have done so?”

“Yes, Vesta,” Diana reluctantly agreed. “Your
mother was inordinately fond of Hew, and I am certain she would
have been the most delighted of all. Of course, you both have my
blessing.”

“Oh, Aunt Di!” Vesta threw her arms around
Diana’s neck. “Then you must be my matron of honor! Uncle Vic will,
of course, be Hew’s best man. To have both my godparents stand up
with us will be a dream come true.”

Diana’s heart sank. The prospect of reuniting
with DeVere in such intimate circumstances might be Vesta’s dream,
but it was Diana’s worst nightmare.

***

“There is a female
creature
wishing to see you, my lady.” Polly
gave a sniff of disdain.

“Oh?” Diana raised a finely arched brow. “Have
you a name or a calling card for this so-called creature?”

“She says she’s a salmon, an acquaintance of
Lord DeVere. I say she looks right fishy, indeed.”

“You say Lord DeVere has sent her?”

“She ain’t the least respectable, my lady—paint
on her eyes and lips and wearing some outlandish, heathenish dress.
Shall I turn her away?”

“Is she alone?”

“Nay, but her footman’s equally queer—a behemoth
beturbaned blackamoor!”

Diana frowned. “That’s peculiar indeed. No,
Polly. Tell her I am at home, and please show her to the drawing
room.”

A few minutes later, Diana paused on the
threshold to study her unexpected caller. The woman was, indeed, as
exotic and incongruous as Polly had described her. She was garbed
in diaphanous Turkish trousers and a silk tunic in jewel tones with
an exquisitely embroidered girdle about her waist. Rings covered
her fingers, and gold bracelets jangled on both arms. Her hair was
black as sable and coiled in a braid atop her head with a cap and
scarf secured by a jeweled clip draping from her coronet of hair to
partially conceal the left side of her face. Dark, almond-shaped
eyes lined with kohl regarded her with overt curiosity and more
than a hint of hauteur when Diana advanced into the room.

“I am Salime,” she said, the bells on her kid
slippers softly jangling as she rose to her feet. She sized Diana
up with a languorous but unreadable gaze, as if she was appraising
her worth.

“And who is this?” Diana inclined her head to
the giant who hovered at the window with arms crossed over his
massive chest.

“Pay no heed to Mustafa. He is but a
eunuch.”

“A eunuch?” Diana repeated dumbly.

“A man with no—”

“I know what a eunuch
is.
I just don’t understand why he is
here.
”

“He is my servant,” Salime answered
matter-of-factly. “Eunuchs are common where I come from.”

“And where is that?” Diana asked, indicating her
guest should sit. Salime did so, reclining with casual indifference
while Diana stiffly settled her voluminous skirts. Despite herself,
Diana’s curiosity and fascination regarding this woman was growing
by the minute. “Do you care for tea?” Diana offered.

Salime made a face. “An insipid drink. Have you
coffee?”

“I’m sorry, I do not drink it,” Diana
replied.

Salime waved a dismissive hand. “No matter. The
English method of preparation is tasteless. The English senses are
bland and dull. It is what I miss of my home. The food. The spices.
The scents.”

“And where is home?”

“A land far away, a place in the East you call
Constantinople.”

“You are a Turk, then?”

“I was born a Spaniard but raised as a Turk. I
was an odalisque in the Imperial Harem at Topkapi Palace.” She gave
a proud jut of her chin.

“An odalisque?” Diana repeated. “It is a kind of
female servant, is it not?”

“An odalisque is a slave to the concubines of
the Imperial Harem.”

“You were
a
slave?
”

“Yes, taken from a Spanish convent school when
very young. I don’t remember much before that.”

“You were actually raised in a harem? A
serail?”

“Yes,” Salime answered. “But it is not as
westerners imagine it. A harem is not a private brothel but the
residence of the most venerated women in the empire, the wives and
concubines of the sultan. It is also a place of training for young
women.”

“Fascinating,” Diana said.

Salime shrugged. “I was given to the harem
at a young age and like a hundred other girls, educated by a
Kalfa,
a senior maid. I was taught
many things—to read and write, to sing and dance. And when I proved
to be the best of the dancers, I found favor with the
Valide Sultana
who selected me to be
presented to the sultan. I might have been chosen as his concubine
or may have been married off to a government official, but the
harem is a dangerous place, full of intense rivalry and petty
jealousies. One night while I slept”—she released the veil from the
left side of her face to reveal a long, jagged scar—”my face was
cut. And when my beauty was no more, I was cast out.”

Diana felt her heart move with pity. “How did
you come to be in England?”

“It is another long story and not relevant
at the moment. I have a purpose in coming here,
Khanum.
”

“I don’t understand. Polly said you are
an...er...
acquaintance
...of
Lord DeVere. What brings you to me?”

The woman’s mouth formed a subtle smile.
“I bring instruction,
Khanum.
To be chosen
Iqbal,
the
favorite of such a man as my lord, is a great honor. Thus, I am
come to prepare you.”

“Prepare me?” Diana asked, puzzled.

“Yes. And for this, you must come with me.”

Diana balked. “Go with you where?”

“To a private place. I cannot teach you
here.”

Diana’s eyes widened. “Just what is it you
intend to teach me, Salime?”

The woman’s smile broadened in a show of
pearly white teeth. “The most valuable and treasured secrets of the
erotic arts,
Khanum.
How to
bring my lord utter rapture melded from mind, body, and
soul.”

“He sent you for this!” Diana shook with
uncontained rage. “Of all the unmitigated gall!

“Efendi
does not
send me.” Salime scowled.

“No? Then why have you come?”

“Has he not chosen you above all others?” Salime
asked.

Diana emitted a scornful laugh. “He
may
choose
whomever he likes,
but I will have
none
of
him!”

Salime’s brows drew together, and her
mouth puckered with an air of disdain. “You would
refuse
the honor to become
the
Iqbal,
his
favorite?”

“Yes, I refuse
him
altogether.”

Salime rolled her eyes and expelled air in a
sound of disgust. “How dull of understanding you English women are!
Do you not realize the power a woman may wield with her hands, her
mouth, her sex? In my land, the woman who pleases the sultan
commands the key to his kingdom. For a satisfied man is but wet
clay in her hands.”

“I assure you there are some English women who
understand that concept well enough. As for me, I have no desire to
command his kingdom or anything else.”

Salime appeared skeptical. “I think
not,
Khanum
. When you came to
him that night, your face may have been hidden by your veil, but
your fire was not. I think mayhap you
do
desire the key to his heart.”

“You are misguided if you believe he has
one.”

“Are you blind as well as dull
witted,
Khanum?
” Salime
asked.

“I am inclined to accept our differences with
reasonable tolerance, Salime, but I shan’t bear your insults,”
Diana snapped.

“The truth offends you?”

“The truth? The man is shallow, self-absorbed,
and devoid of integrity. He is incapable of deep feeling.”

Salime shook her head with a scowl. “He is also
a fool to care for one who does not even know him.”

Diana was befuddled. “I know him well enough and
am confounded why you should defend him so.”