Her Devilish Marquess (18 page)

Regan frowned and turned to their husbands.
“Is something wrong?”

“
No, nothing’s wrong,” Derek
said as he sat in a chair next to Danette. “I missed my wife and
wished to return to her. Your husband has been a gracious host,
Regan.”

Danette glanced at Malcolm, and if she was
right, he appeared somewhat bewildered, though it seemed he was
struggling to hide it. Her gaze went back to Derek. Did they have a
good conversation? By the smile on his face, she gathered they had.
But then, if they had enjoyed talking, why did they feel it
necessary to join her and Regan so soon?

“
I’m not much into sitting
around and talking,” Derek continued. “I’d rather be doing
something. Does anyone feel like joining me in a game?”

Since the settee was the only place left to
sit, Malcolm sat there. “I don’t mind a game. What kind did you
have in mind? I take it chess is out of the question since there
are more than two players.”

Regan got up from her chair and settled
beside him. “We could play charades.”

“
I don’t know,” Derek
said.

“
You don’t like the game?”
Danette asked.

Derek shook his head. “It’s not that. I love
the game. It’s just that I have my own interpretation of certain
notable people, and it’s likely to upset some in this room.”

Though he didn’t come out and mention
Malcolm by name, Danette wondered if he was referring directly to
him. Regan would have no trouble making fun of some of the elite
members of the Ton.

“
We could make up rhymes,”
Regan suggested.

“
Yes, I suppose that would
be safe enough,” Malcolm said.

Danette bit her lower lip. Was it her
imagination or did Malcolm’s voice sound strained?

“
Rhymes would be fine,”
Derek replied. “Danette, why don’t you start?”

“
Don’t we need a list?”
Danette asked.

“
We could do this without a
list,” Derek said. “Why don’t you come up with a sentence, and
Regan can rhyme it? Then Malcolm will do the next one, and I’ll
rhyme what he says.”

“
That sounds like a lot more
fun than using a sentence already written out,” Regan agreed. “Go
on, Danette. Come up with a sentence.”

Danette straightened up in her chair and
cleared her throat. “All right, but I’m not very clever at this
kind of thing.”

“
I doubt that,” Derek told
her with a smile that made her believe she was capable of anything.
“You have a great sense of humor.”

She doubted she could come up with anything
funny, but since everyone was waiting for her to start the game,
she ventured, “I once read a book about a swan.”

“
That was so boring, I had
to yawn,” Regan filled in.

She looked expectantly at Malcolm, who
thought for a moment then said, “Despite trying to trudge through
it, I fell asleep until dawn.”

“
And when I woke up, I had
no clothes on,” Derek blurted out.

Regan burst out laughing, and Derek shot
Malcolm and Danette an apologetic smile.

“
It was the first thing that
came to mind,” Derek said. “I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t be sorry,” Regan
replied. “That was a good one. I enjoyed it immensely. It was
funny. Danette, you want to start the next one, or shall
I?”

The butler came into the room, followed by
Malcolm’s mother who was holding four-year-old Leonard in her arms.
The boy groaned.

Though both Regan and Malcolm got up, it was
Regan who rushed over to him. “Is Leonard sick?”

“
He has a stomachache,”
Malcolm’s mother said. She turned her attention to Malcolm. “It’s
our fault. Your father and I let him have too much dessert.” She
gave Leonard to Regan, and he settled in his mother’s arms. “We
knew we should have stopped after he had four gingerbread
cakes.”

“
How many did you let him
eat?” Malcolm asked.

His mother winced. “I think ten.”

Malcolm’s eyes grew wide. “Ten? After he ate
dinner?”

His mother shrugged. “He insisted he wasn’t
full, and he was so adorable.” She glanced at Regan, her eyes
pleading with Regan to understand. “When Malcolm was a child, he
looked at me with the same woeful expression, and I couldn’t say no
to him either. I’m weak when it comes to children.”

“
Father had no trouble
telling me no,” Malcolm said.

“
He’s gotten soft in his old
age,” she replied. “He didn’t have the heart to say no to Leonard
any more than I did. I’m sorry, Regan. I didn’t mean to give him an
upset stomach. I would have kept him overnight as planned, but he
kept asking for you.”

“
It’s all right,” Regan
assured Malcolm’s mother. “Leonard has a hard time understanding
that when he’s full, he needs to stop.”

“
Well, I feel terrible about
it,” his mother said, wringing her hands. “I’m old enough to know
when to say no to a child.”

“
There’s no need to fret,”
Derek interrupted as he went over to them.

Even as he spoke the comforting words,
Leonard groaned in a way that indicated he didn’t believe him.

Derek chuckled and patted the boy’s head. “I
assure you, a simple upset stomach is easy to mend. You’ll see soon
enough.” He turned to Regan. “Is there any peppermint or ginger in
this place?”

“
We have peppermint tea,”
Regan replied.

Curious, Danette rose from her chair and
approached them but kept her distance so she wouldn’t get in their
way. She hadn’t seen her husband performing his job before.
Already, she was intrigued to see the sudden change in him. He’d
gone from being laidback to being serious almost immediately.

“
Good,” Derek told Regan.
“Have the butler bring half a cup. Not hot. Just warm.” With a
glance at Malcolm, he added, “We don’t want to burn the poor lad’s
tongue.”

With a nod, Regan had Leonard lie down on
the settee and then hurried out of the room.

“
Is it all right if he
removes his shirt?” Derek asked Malcolm. “Sometimes if a person
gets too hot, it only makes them feel sicker. I find cooling
someone off helps their stomachs settle faster.”

“
Yes, that’s fine,” Malcolm
replied.

“
Maybe we should also bring
in a cool damp cloth to place over his head,” Derek added as he
removed the lad’s shirt. “It might speed up the process.” He urged
Leonard to lie back down. “Is that any better?” he asked
Leonard.

“
No,” Leonard
muttered.

Derek fanned the lad with his hand. “Any
better, or is it the same?”

After a moment, the boy said, “A little
better.”

“
Is there a fan around
here?” Derek asked Malcolm.

“
I have one,” Malcolm’s
mother spoke up. She moved closer to Leonard, opened the fan, which
had been clipped to the side of her belt, and began fanning him.
With a pointed look at Malcolm, she playfully admonished, “And you
think purchasing extra fans is a waste of money.”

Noting Malcolm’s sigh as she proceeded to
fan the boy, Danette inwardly chuckled. Regan had told her he
couldn’t understand a lady’s insistence on shopping all the time on
frivolous items like gloves and fans when they already had enough
of them. Well, maybe this would prove having a spare or two of an
item wasn’t a waste.

Regan returned to the drawing room with a
small cup. “I have the tea.”

“
Thank you.” Derek took the
cup and propped Leonard’s head on a pillow. “Only a sip,” he told
the boy. “Any more than that, and things will get worse.
Understand?”

The boy nodded and took a sip.

“
Good,” Derek said, his tone
soothing. “That’s the right amount to take each time your mother
offers you a drink.” He turned to Regan and handed the cup back to
her. “I think he’ll be fine in twenty minutes. If he falls asleep,
just carry him up to bed.”

“
Is it really that simple?”
Malcolm’s mother asked.

“
Yes,” Derek replied. “Most
people want to roll onto their stomachs or sit through it, but I
find this technique is the quickest way to get through it.” He
glanced at Leonard. “Are you any better?”

Leonard nodded, and Malcolm’s mother
breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Derek gave her a reassuring smile.
“Grandparents have a natural tendency to spoil their grandchildren
in all matters, especially food. You’d be surprised how often I’m
called in for these things.”

“
Really?” Malcolm’s mother
asked.

“
Really.” Then he turned
back to Leonard and gasped. “Well, I can see you’re telling the
truth, Leonard. Look at this.” He reached behind the boy’s ear and
produced a coin. “This is proof you’re getting better.”

The boy’s eyes grew wide, and he took the
coin. “How did you do that?”

“
I didn’t do it. You did. I
suspect when you are back to your old self, you’ll have a lot more
of them. Making money is a sure sign your health is improving. When
you wake up in the morning, you might find a pile of them beside
yourself in bed, and then you’ll know you’re all
better.”

At that, the boy smiled as he turned his
gaze to Malcolm. “Are you proud of me, Father? I’m making
money.”

Malcolm returned his smile. “You don’t need
to make money for me to be proud of you. I already am.”

Derek glanced at Danette. “I think we should
leave. The lad will do better if there’s not a lot of activity
around him.”

“
Of course,” Danette
replied, taking that as her cue to go over to him.

But he didn’t head out of the drawing room
as she expected. Instead, he went over to Malcolm, whispered
something in his ear, and gave him a few coins, making sure Leonard
didn’t see the exchange.

“
Thank you, Derek,” Regan
said when Derek turned to Danette.

“
I’m happy I could make
myself useful,” Derek told her. “Are you ready?” he asked
Danette.

Danette accepted his arm, joined him in
saying goodbye to everyone, and left with him, thinking her husband
had to be the sweetest and kindest gentleman in all of London.

Chapter Fourteen

“
F
inally, you came,” Christopher called out as Derek walked into
White’s a week later. “Ethan and I thought you’d forgotten we voted
you in.”

“
I didn’t forget,” Derek
replied, glancing around at the fine furniture, gaming tables, and
abundant supply of liquor. Only when he was with his brother and
father had he seen such excess. “I take it all gentlemen do here is
play games and get drunk.”

Christopher gasped and put his hand to his
chest. “Most assuredly not! We conduct important business
here.”

“
I don’t know if I consider
wagers over ladies and estates all that important. You forget that
I read the
Tittletattle
.” And as it seemed, so did the gentlemen at White’s since
there were copies of the scandalsheets on a nearby
table.

“
I’ll have you know we take
this club very seriously. It’s a place where we can say and do
whatever we want without reproach from the Ton.”

Derek’s eyebrows raised. “Freedom from the
Ton?” Maybe this place had some merit, after all.

“
I know what you’re
thinking, and you’re right. Any place we can be ourselves and not
suffer for it is worth being at. This is why Ethan and I thought of
you. We would have tried to get you in sooner, but it was far
easier to convince the gentlemen to vote for a marquess than a
doctor. Some are so particular about titles.”

“
I understand. A title, or
money, gives a gentleman an advantage.”

“
And if you can have both,
which you do, then it’s even better.” Christopher nodded toward a
group of gentleman playing a card game. “We should start over here
and make our way around the establishment.”

Derek followed his friend and stopped next
to him. Christopher proceeded to introduce him to everyone at the
table, and though Derek didn’t recognize most of them, he did
recognize Lords Davenport and Reddington since he tended to their
families during his duties as a doctor.

After the pleasantries from the introduction
were made, Christopher asked, “Are there any notable wagers going
on at the moment?”

“
No,” Davenport replied.
“We’re playing for entertainment.”

Christopher grimaced. “Playing for the sake
of playing is not entertaining.”