The Devil You Know (16 page)

back, his clever fingers freeing a breast from her stays. He closed his

mouth over it, his hand sliding between her bare thighs. He groaned

as his fingers entered her slick sheath, and she was lost to all brain

activity beyond the unadulterated need to join with him.

Diana’s frenzied hands moved to his breeches, caressing, squeez-

ing, fumbling, and finally freeing his engorged staff. Both his hands

were now under her skirts cupping her buttocks, his arms sliding be-

neath her thighs.

He tore his mouth away, his arms supporting her legs, guiding

them about his waist. “Hands on my shoulders,” he grunted and lifted

her against the wooden door panel. He slid home in one solid thrust,

pinning her to the portal. His tight buttocks began pumping a furious

rhythm, and her conscious reduced to the most primal instincts. She

squeezed her thighs tight, meeting each driving plunge with her own

grinding hips as he pounded into her, hammering her to the door in a

coupling that was both feral and sublime. Her orgasm came upon her

fierce, frantic, and forceful. Tears were streaming down her face when

he caught her cry in his mouth. She swallowed his own shuddering

groan as he withdrew and spent between her thighs before they both

collapsed to the floor.

***

Ludovic was in exceedingly good humor upon rejoining his

guests after the brief but torrid interlude with Diana, but his revelry

was curtailed by the interruption of his head groom.

“Pardon yer lordship, but ‘tis a matter most urgent.” The ashen-

faced jockey nervously twisted his cap.

“What the devil is it, Pratt?” DeVere demanded. “I’ve fifty some

guests at present. Are you certain it cannot wait?”

“I fear not,” Pratt answered his master with a grim face. “Mayhap

it be best you come to the stables, milord. ‘Tis sommat you must see

for yourself.”

DeVere made an irritated sound. “All right, then. Hew, pray see to

the guests. I’ll return as soon as I’m able.”

Pratt led his master down to the stable block housing his guests’

horses.

“Now what has my unflappable Pratt in such a lather?” DeVere

demanded.

“Here, my lord,” Pratt said, stopping in front of the oversized box

which had earlier housed Lord Reggie’s stallion.

DeVere frowned. “Where is the horse? And why did he not run

this morning?”

“The poor beast was in a great agitation when we found him, my

lord. Horses have an innate fear of death.”

“Death?” DeVere repeated. “What the hell do you yammer on

about?”

With trembling hands, Pratt slid the stall door open on its track.

“’Tis a most gruesome sight, but we durst not move the body wi’out

your express leave.”

“Sweet Jesus!” DeVere cried out at the gory spectacle, his stomach

lurching at the splattered blood and brain matter that clung to the

walls. Adjusting to the initial shock, he stepped inside, taking care

not to disturb the remains of Baron Reginald Palmerston-Wriothesley.

“There’s a pistol still in his hand.”

“Aye, my lord. One would think he’d have dropped it.”

DeVere was thinking the same thing. Something was horribly

amiss. He stepped out with an impatient wave of his hand. “For God’s

sake, man, close it! What more do you know of this?” he demanded of

Pratt as soon as the door slid shut.

“Almost nothing, my lord. His lordship’s horses was cared for by

his own groom, Johnson.”

“And what of Johnson?”

“He be in fair sad condition hisself. We found him beside the bar-

on. Looks like he was beaten senseless.”

“Yet he lives?”

Pratt shrugged. “For now.”

“Where is he?”

“Bedded down at me own cottage. Dr. Stone’s been sent for, but

little good t’will likely do.”

“Has anyone yet notified the magistrate?”

“Not yet, my lord.”

“Sir John Gooding is the Justice of the Peace, is he not? Pray locate

him for me, Pratt. And send some men out to make discreet inquiries.

I wish to know who was about during the races.”

“Aye, surely, my lord.” Pratt tugged his forelock.

“And Pratt, you know that the Baroness is amongst my company.

It is my particular wish to shield her ladyship from any word of this.

She had best not hear anything except from my own lips. Do you un-

derstand?”

“Aye. But what of the afternoon race, my lord?”

“Regardless of my personal dislike for the man, one cannot ignore

that a death has occurred under my own roof. There will be no further

racing this afternoon.”

Diana w

***

aited with fretful anticipation for DeVere after learning

of his departure and hearing Hew’s vague explanation. “There was

some commotion in the stables that demanded his attention, but I’m

sure my brother will return shortly.”

“But what of Reggie?” Diana asked. “He has not come back ei-

ther.” Wondering if her husband was the real cause of DeVere’s unex-

pected departure, her unease was rapidly increasing.

“I have seen nothing of Lord Reggie since this morning,” Hew

said. “If you will please pardon me now, my lady, it seems I must

dance attendance on our new arrivals.”

“Of course, my apologies for keeping you.” She gave him a nod.

Diana then took herself out to the back terrace where she would

have a view of anyone approaching from across the park separating

the house from the stables. She wondered if Reggie had confronted

DeVere and how he might perceive the situation. Would he believe

that she had set out deliberately to seduce him to give Reggie grounds

to sue? After all, it was she who had come to him in the dead of night.

Dear God, she was out of her depth!

After a half hour of restless pacing, she’d had enough. With her

skirts in hand, she sallied forth across the park with a distinct sense

of foreboding.

They came together near the yew maze. Although she wanted

nothing more than to throw herself into his arms, she halted in her

tracks at the grim lines that hardened DeVere’s features the moment

he saw her. They faced one another for an interminable moment, each

silently struggling to read the other. Her heart sunk. “You’ve seen

Reggie,” she said, certain now that he suspected her of conspiring

with her husband.

DeVere’s cobalt gaze bore into her. “I’ve seen him all right.”

“I told you earlier there was something you needed to know, but

you never gave me a chance to speak. Please believe me. It’s not what

you think.” She noted with dismay the sudden tension that gripped

his body and the distance he maintained between them.

“Not what I think?” He sounded like he would choke on the

words. “And what precisely am I to think, Diana?”

“That Reggie is a desperate and unprincipled man who would

use anything at his disposal to achieve his ends,” she answered.

“Yes,” he said with an accusing look that made her throat go dry.

“Desperation does, indeed, bring out the very worst in all of us.”

“Please, Ludovic.” She grasped his sleeve, praying he would be-

lieve her. “I have nothing to do with this. I came to you for reasons of

my own.”

“By God, but you’re good! I was completely taken in last night

when you played the reluctant seductress. You would be a credit to

the stage.”

“You accuse me unjustly!” she said.

“Unjust! It’s a bit late now to play coy, don’t you think? I thought

briefly in the beginning that you might have used the race as an ex-

cuse to lure me, to reclaim the deed, not that I really gave a damn

because I wanted my cock inside you so badly. But then another
better

alternative occurred to you, or did you have this planned all along? I

never would have suspected you of such duplicity, such ruthlessness.

Did you come to me last night purely for my protection, thinking I

might actually shield you?”

His harsh words struck her as a blow, yet she pressed on, deter-

mined to make him understand. “I hoped it would not come to that,

but then I imagined how I might never be free of him without your

help. I don’t believe he would ever agree to a divorce, Ludovic. Thus,

I did consider seeking your protection—if it became necessary to do

so.”His gaze hardened. “Then you take much for granted, Diana.”

She looked away with dismay. “After last night, I thought perhaps

you might wish...”

His gaze narrowed, his jaw twitched. “I wished many things after

last night, but matters seem to have taken a rather disconcerting turn.

I may be a libertine but
this?
This, madam, is far beyond even
my
level of tolerance.”

Her lips quivered. “Then I’m a fool.” She had felt such a connec-

tion, such intimacy with him last night, that it had never occurred to

her it wasn’t mutual. But now it was clear she meant nothing to him

beyond an evening’s entertainment.

He laughed, a harsh sound. “No, my dear. Fool is the
last
word I

would use to describe you. I would rather call your solution exceed-

ingly clever. The set up. The timing. The alibi. All of it is quite brilliant,

actually.”

Set up? Alibi
? Diana was baffled. “I don’t understand you, Ludovic.

Are you implying I had something to do with fixing the race? How

can you suggest such a thing when your own brother rode my mare?”

“The race?” It was his turn to look confused. “My dear, the race

is inconsequential at this juncture. I’m only concerned about how I’m

supposed to deal with the dead body in my stables.”

Diana felt the blood drain from her face.”D-dead body? Dear

God, Ludovic, what are you talking about?”

“Y

***

our dead husband’s body!” he snarled. “What the devil other

body could we be talking about?”

Diana looked stunned. “R-Reggie? Dead?”

“Yes, dead.”

“But how can that be? Was there an accident? Is that why the

horse didn’t run?”

“An accident? I suppose one might call it that
if
one could mistak-

enly place a pistol in one’s mouth and pull the trigger.” Her horrified

expression made him instantly regret the blithe remark. He feared she

might collapse.

“A pistol? In the mouth?” she repeated woodenly and sank to her

knees in the grass.

With a groan of frustration abetted by sheer confusion, Ludovic

squatted down beside her. “Do you mean to say you truly didn’t

know?”

“Know?” she whispered. “How could I possibly know such a

thing?”

He clawed a hand through his hair. “Then what the devil were

you saying just a moment ago?
Please believe me, Ludovic. It’s not what

you think.
Bloody hell! What
am
I to think when you just confessed to seeking my protection!”

“Protection as in becoming your mistress! Not as in shielding a

murder! You think I killed him?” she answered incredulously. “How?

How could I have done such a thing? I was with Edward and Annalee

the entire time.”

“Damn it, Diana!” he cried. “I thought nothing of the kind until

you began talking nonsense about secrets and things I should know.”

“I was trying to warn you that Reggie threatened extortion. That

he found out about you and me and intended to take you to the courts

of law.”

“That’s nothing less than I would have expected from that pusil-

lanimous pile of—” He caught himself. “I’m sorry.”

She waved the apology away, but her lips quivered, and her eyes

glistened. He couldn’t tell if it was with grief or rage. “How could you

think me capable of such wickedness?”

Rage then
. He groaned. “What the hell was I to think?”

“But to even imagine for a moment!” she argued.

“Look, Diana,” he retorted. “I’ve just seen a man’s brains splat-

tered on a wall. I may not be in the most lucid state of mind at the

moment.”

“Dear God!” she whispered. “What happened?”

“I don’t precisely know. In brief, my man, Pratt, found two bod-

ies in your stallion’s box. One was your unconscious groom, the other

was what remains of your husband after he took a bullet through the

mouth. The offending pistol was still in his hand.”

“Suicide?”

“A highly suspicious one, if you ask me, but there will, of course,

be an inquest. I have sent word to the J.P. I believe he will take charge

of the entire affair.”

“Reggie’s really dead, then.”

Was it shock or relief in her expression? “No man could survive

what I saw.”

“And Johnson? Has he spoken to anyone yet?” she asked.

“Johnson may never speak again. It’s doubtful he’ll recover his

senses.”

“Dear heavens.” She sat in a protracted silence, her fingers con-

vulsively ripping at the grass.

He gazed down on her with a feeling of puzzlement. “Are you all

right, Diana?”

“What?” she answered blankly. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be fine in a

moment or two. It’s just such a terrible shock.”

He took her hand. She looked into his face. “What now?”

“Now, I think it only appropriate to call an end to the festivities.”

Chapter Twelve