Her Devilish Marquess (16 page)

And as it turned out, Robert let out a sigh,
indicating that he was going to tell them. “All right. But you
asked for it.”

Malcolm fully expected Robert to direct that
last statement to him, but he gave a pointed look at Warren
instead.

“
You’re starting to upset
me,” Robert told Warren.

Warren blinked in surprise and pointed to
himself. “Me?”

“
Yes, you,” Robert said.
“I’ve been seeing Miss Carlisle quite a bit lately. Do you remember
her?”

Warren paused for a moment and then
shrugged. “I recall hearing the name.”

“
She’s a good friend of Lady
Iris.” When Warren’s expression remained blank, Robert added, “Lady
Iris is the Duke of Hartwell’s daughter.”

“
Oh. The Duke of Hartwell!
Yes, I know him. He’s a wonderful gentleman. I could talk with him
all evening and not get bored.” Warren glanced at Malcolm. “He’s
not as good as you when it comes to making money, but he has plenty
of it and has kept abreast on the things happening in
Parliament.”

Robert groaned. “I’m not talking about him.
I’m talking about Lady Iris.”

“
Really?” Warren asked.
“Why?”

“
Miss Carlisle was right.
You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

“
Pardon me?”

“
Do you even remember the
evening I brought Miss Carlisle to your townhouse for a dinner
party? Malcolm and his wife were there, and so was Lady Iris.
Through the whole evening, you ignored Lady Iris.”

Warren’s draw dropped. “I did not!”

“
You most certainly did. I
admit I was too stupid to realize it at the time, but Miss Carlisle
assured me it was the case. More than that,” Robert gestured to
Malcolm, “his wife saw the whole thing, and urged Lady Iris to
never speak to you again.”

Malcolm didn’t know this. Why didn’t Regan
tell him?

Before Warren could say anything to Malcolm,
Robert continued, “You were fortunate Lady Iris didn’t take his
wife’s advice right away. It’s not every lady who’ll give someone
who treated her so rudely another chance, but she was willing to do
that. And how did you act at the next dinner party? Just as
abhorrently as you did before. Except, this time it was worse
because I noticed it.”

Warren’s jaw dropped, and it took him a full
thirty seconds before he could reply. “I don’t believe what I’m
hearing. If Lady Iris wasn’t happy, she should have said
something.”

“
If she had, I doubt you
would have listened to her.”

Malcolm shifted in the chair. This
conversation had been going poorly as it was, but he had the
sinking feeling it was going to get worse.

And he was right.

“
If you feel I’m such a rude
gentleman, then why do you talk to me?” Warren asked.

“
You bring up a good point,”
Robert said then rose to his feet. “Until you can start treating
people like Lady Iris with respect, I don’t have anything else to
say.”

Robert headed off to the other side of the
table and sat next to Lords Roderick and Clement.

Warren huffed and straightened his cravat.
“What did he expect me to do with Lady Iris? Carry her out of the
room and have my way with her?” He shook his head. “If he had such
a problem with the way I was acting, he should have mentioned it at
the dinner party. And honestly, it’s not like there’s not much one
can do with a lady at a dinner party. Once the meal is over, the
gentlemen go into one room and the ladies go into another.” He
looked at Malcolm, as if expecting him to agree.

Thankfully, Lord Clement chose that moment
to stand up and clap his hands to get everyone’s attention. “It
appears that we’re all here,” he began as soon as everyone grew
quiet. “As it turns out, we have two openings.”

“
Two?” Ethan
asked.

“
Yes. Lord Garrett decided
to stay in India. In light of the fact that he won’t be returning,
we’ll be giving his slot to someone else.”

Warren glanced at Malcolm. “This could be
good or bad. Lord Garrett wasn’t much of a member, but at least he
didn’t get into trouble.”

“
Think of it this way,”
Malcolm began, “you have a better chance of getting Lord Worsley
into the club.”

At this thought, Warren’s worried frown
relaxed. “That’s true. I just know Ethan and Christopher are going
to try to get some scandalous cad in. The most we can do is balance
it out with someone decent.”

“
All right,” Lord Clement
said. “If no one has any objections, we’ll start nominating
gentlemen we want here.”

Chapter Twelve

E
than and Christopher stopped Derek the next day as he was
passing by the marketplace on his way to a patient’s
residence.

“
We have good news,” Ethan
told him.

“
The best,” Christopher
added, looking as if waiting to tell Derek was killing
him.

“
All right,” Derek obliged,
gesturing for them to come out with it. “What is it?”

“
You’re the newest member of
White’s!” both exclaimed in unison.

Derek’s jaw dropped. Surely, he couldn’t
have heard them right. “What?”

“
The vote was in your
favor,” Ethan replied, “and you’re now a proud member of
White’s.”

“
Thank goodness, too,”
Christopher said, “because the Viscount Worsley also got voted
in.”

“
B-b-but I thought there was
only one opening,” Derek stammered, tripping over his words as he
struggled to make sense out of all they were saying.

Christopher grinned. “As it turned out,
there were two. Worsley is just as bad as Steinbeck, so we need
someone like you. If it was up to Steinbeck, we’d only discuss
money and the Parliament all day.” He gagged. “Can you imagine
anything more boring?”

“
No, I can’t,” Derek
admitted. He’d spent enough time listening to his brother and
father while growing up, and those were the only things they cared
about. He used to sneak off to spend time with the servants’
children in order to have something interesting to do.

“
You need to come by White’s
soon,” Ethan told him. “The sooner we introduce you to the others,
the better. Steinbeck is bringing Worsley over today.”

“
Are you going to be there
when he does?” Christopher asked.

Ethan grimaced. “I’d rather suffer
unbearable torment. That’s why I offered to go shopping with my
wife.”

Since Ethan gestured to one of the tables in
the marketplace, Derek glanced over and saw Ethan’s wife. At the
moment, Catherine was selecting pencils and drawing pads. Next to
her was Christopher’s wife, Agatha, who seemed more interested in
studying a nearby table with reticles and gloves.

“
I’m not here because I like
to come to the market,” Ethan added, turning his gaze back to
Derek.

“
Oh come now,” Christopher
admonished. “You’re spending the day with your wife. What could be
more relaxing?”

“
I do enjoy spending time
with my wife,” Ethan said. “It’s just that when those two get
together, I barely get a word in edgewise. It’s like I don’t
exist.”

Christopher chuckled. “It’s good our wives
get along so well. It means we get to have a lot of dinner
parties.”

Realizing the two were going to start
rambling, Derek said, “As much as I hate to end this conversation,
I need to get to my next patient.”

“
We won’t keep you,”
Christopher said. “But please get to White’s as soon as you can.
Let one of us know when you’ll go, and we’ll be there to introduce
you to the gentlemen there.”

“
Yes, do come soon,” Ethan
added, a hint of desperation underlying his pleasant tone. “I don’t
know how much longer I can bear with Steinbeck. That gentleman
doesn’t know when to stop.”

“
I’ll see when there’s an
opening between appointments and carve out a time to come.” Then,
before they could say it again, Derek promised, “I’ll do this as
soon as I can.”

Noting they relaxed, Derek bid them a good
day and continued his walk.

***

On the evening Danette and Derek were due to
go to Regan and Malcolm’s dinner party, Danette thought she just
might throw up. It took all of her strength to sit still while her
lady’s maid worked on her clothes and hair. Finally, when the lady
was done, Danette was able to pace back and forth in her
bedchamber.

What if Derek and Malcolm didn’t get along?
The two were so different. She didn’t know if they’d find any
common ground. What would this mean for her and Regan? Would it be
awkward to see her if their husbands didn’t get along? Or would she
and Regan have to only see each other when their husbands weren’t
around?

She rubbed her stomach. Her mother wouldn’t
be at all pleased with her for worrying so much about this. Her
mother was right. She looked for the worst. She needed to be
positive about things. But even as Danette took a deep breath and
willed herself to calm down, her stomach churned in protest.

The knocking between her bedchamber and
Derek’s made her sigh with relief. It was easier not to dwell on
all the bad scenarios playing in her mind when she was with him.
She crossed the room and opened the door.

Her breath caught in her throat. He was good
looking as it was, but when he dressed in his best clothes, he was
magnificent.

“
I heard ladies take longer
than gentlemen to get ready to go somewhere, but it looks like I
made you wait,” Derek said.

“
Oh, I don’t mind waiting,”
she replied, stepping aside so he could enter.

“
Well, my father used to say
the reason ladies take so long is because they need to make
themselves beautiful. In your case, you’re already beautiful. It’s
no wonder why you had to wait for me.”

Pleased by the compliment, she got ready to
thank him, but he brought her into his arms and kissed her. Without
any prompting, she relaxed in his embrace and kissed him in return.
It was easy to forget all about scandals and trying to please a
friend’s husband when it was just the two of them.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t freeze time. All
too soon, the kiss was over, and he was leading her to the door.
She tried to keep up with his pace, but on their own accord, her
steps slowed.

“
Is something wrong?” he
asked, turning to her.

She hesitated to tell him, but something in
his tender gaze prompted her to answer. “You’ll think it’s silly.”
Taking her eyes off of his, she pretended to be distracted by some
imaginary lint on her gown. “I’m worried this evening won’t go
well.”

He put his hand over hers and clasped it,
his touch gentle and reassuring. “I know what the Ton expects. I
can play the part of the perfect gentleman. You have no need to
worry about this evening.”

She turned her gaze back to his and realized
he was going to do it for her. She should have felt relief, but
instead, she experienced a twinge of guilt. Was it really fair to
ask him to be someone he wasn’t for the sake of appeasing other
people?

“
Come,” he softly
encouraged. “We don’t want to be late. I’d like to get better
acquainted with your friend and her husband.” When she didn’t make
a move toward the hallway, he smiled. “You have nothing to worry
about. This evening will go well. I promise.”

***

“
This evening won’t go well
at all,” Malcolm told Regan as he tapped the edge of his chair in
the drawing room fifteen minutes later. “I just know
it.”

Regan glanced up from the tea she was
pouring. “Why do you say that?”

“
Because Warren’s been in a
bad mood ever since Danette’s husband got voted in White’s. He
worries Lord Dodsworth will influence the gentlemen into moral
depravity.”

At her husband’s mournful sigh, Regan
laughed. “Oh, that’s absurd. One gentleman can’t have such an
impact on an entire group. Besides, who cares what Warren thinks?”
Recalling how much her husband idolized the gentleman, she offered
an apologetic smile. “I know you respect Warren, but his opinion is
only his opinion.”

“
You think I put too much
emphasis on it?”

“
Would you like me to tell
you the truth?”

He frowned, seeming to weigh the pros and
cons of hearing it. Finally, he nodded. “Very well. Tell me the
truth.”