Unmasked By A Devil (The Deville Brothers Book 5), page 21
“Francine said she called at the house and was told she could have this other girl, Julia’s room as she had left and never returned. She said the man was very angry about that. The offer he gave her was if he wanted either a woman or money, she must provide it. He would also have things he’d need her to do. Notes to deliver and men to meet,” Mary added.
“She got no name?” Zach asked her.
“No. She was to call him ‘sir’ only. Francine said he scared her, so she did not go back or take the room.
“I feel like the Falcon’s stench is all over this, which should be impossible considering where he is,” Monty said.
“Agree,” Gabe agreed. “But I also think there is a nobleman in league with him.”
“The Alexius traitor?” Monty asked and the Devilles all nodded.
“What part did you both play in Falcon’s capture?” Zach asked.
“Enough to ensure the man was imprisoned” was all Monty said.
“We need to find this Julia,” Michael said.
“If she is still alive,” Zach said.
Mary nodded. “I told Francine to send word if she finds anything to my maid’s father. He owns a pie cart.”
“Have you told Geraint this information?” Forrest asked her.
“I sent word as soon as I could,” Monty added.
Mary listened to the men, and spoke when she had something to say. They asked her questions and actually listened when she talked, which she had not expected. It made her feel good that they believed she had something to contribute to the conversation.
Tea and food was consumed and then it was time for her to leave, or her family would start asking questions.
“I’m sure it will not be long before Geraint summons us when word reaches him that we now all know about each other.” Gabe regained his feet.
“Most things reach his ears eventually. It will not take long for this to do so if we do not tell him first,” Monty said.
They all nodded.
“As it stands, your family may ask questions about why you left the house early, but hopefully seeing you arrive home with Dimity and I will alleviate some of their worry,” Gabe said. “Come, Mary, we must leave.”
“They will not be overly worried.” Mary shrugged.
“And I’m sure with your fertile mind you can come up with a compelling story,” Monty added. He then bowed and said, “Veritas scutum tibi erit.”
They all replied in kind.
“I will see you all tomorrow night at the Latham readings. I am to speak, you know, and I have also been writing my own poetry,” Monty said in his best Plunge voice.
“God have mercy on us all,” Nathan said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
How Zach was supposed to walk into a poetry reading as if the world was the same as it was two days ago, after he’d learned Mary was part of Alexius, he had no idea. He now knew irrevocably that he cared for her and was terrified at the thought of her being placed in danger. Clearly there was nothing he could do about this, but he wasn’t sure it would ever sit well with him.
He’d wanted to visit her, but his brothers had cautioned him to wait and let things settle down. As if they ever could.
This was why he’d avoided messy emotions with women. It turned sane men into idiots. Case in point, his brothers. They were often idiots around their wives.
“Smile,” Dimity hissed out the side of her mouth. “What is the matter with you lately? All this scowling and sulking is unbecoming, Zachariel.”
“I am not sulking. I am attempting to be more mature.”
“Well, I liked you as you were.”
“Stop haranguing my little brother, love,” Gabe said, taking his wife’s hand and raising it to his lips.
“I am not haranguing him. I am showing concern.”
“Forgive me for getting that wrong then,” Gabe added.
Zach had thought about making a commitment to a single woman a few times. After all, he was surrounded by men who had done that successfully. But no woman had ever inspired that kind of depth of emotion inside him… until now.
What he felt for Mary was fierce and fiery. He wanted to strangle and hold her all at once. She was like some kind of insect that had burrowed under his skin and stayed there. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t stop wondering what she was doing. Was she out there working for Alexius?
He had no right to tell her she couldn’t be part of the organization, but he wanted to.
Were she and Viscount Montgomery more than fond of each other?
That thought had been circling around inside his head since the day he’d encountered them in the park. They were certainly familiar with each other.
Does the stabbing sensation in my chest mean I love Mary Blake?
“Have a care, brother. You nearly fell down the stairs.” Nathan’s large hand clamped on his shoulder.
Zach hadn’t realized they had turned and were descending into the ballroom.
Love? Surely not.
“Thank you.”
“Zach, are you all right?” Beth said, moving to his side.
“Perfectly, thank you, Beth.”
“I’m not entirely sure you are, and I wonder if it’s a certain woman disturbing you.”
“What woman?” He shot her a look and then concentrated on making it down the stairs without tripping again.
“That will do, Beth,” Nathan said. “Zach has things on his mind this evening, my love. We shall leave him to his contemplation.”
“Zach is never contemplative,” Beth whispered to Nathan.
Reaching the bottom, Zach moved behind his family toward the seats that had been placed out. Where was Mary?
“La, it is the handsome Devilles!”
Dimity snorted and then held out her hand to Plunge. He took it and bowed deeply.
“Good evening, Lord Plunge. How radiant you look tonight. If you’ll excuse me, we must get good seats for the performance.” She then grabbed Beth and Freya and hurried away, leaving the men with Plunge.
“I am, of course, reading,” he said in that pompous tone he’d perfected.
“Lord Plunge.” Gabe bowed.
“Did you hear what I did with your name, good sirs?” Plunge cried. “Handsome Devilles!” He yelled as if they were hard of hearing.
Zach dutifully winced. The man was a wonderful actor, now they knew that was what he was doing. How he’d managed to keep the charade up for so long was quite a feat.
“Good God, Plunge, are you wearing powder and a patch on your cheek?” Gabe asked.
Plunge preened. “You noticed! Is it not wonderful? It’s my hope that others will follow my lead and bring them back.”
He wore a silver jacket with lavender stitching this evening. He was the only man in knee breeches and a pink satin waistcoat. The outfit was ridiculous and made him look out of place, just as he’d always wanted to be. Hiding in front of everyone.
“Idiot,” Zach said under his breath but loud enough for those around him to hear.
“Yours is a magnificent bone structure, Lord Raine. A patch would be perfection on you!”
The Deville brothers schooled their features in disgust.
“Excuse us,” Michael said in a chilly tone, and they moved on.
“Playing that role must be exhausting,” Nathan whispered to Zach.
“Agreed.”
“Have you seen her yet?” Nathan asked.
“I haven’t.” Zach didn’t ask who his brother meant. He’d been looking for Mary since he arrived.
“She’s over there with Caldwell, Moulin, and her sister,” Michael said.
Zach followed his brother’s gaze and found her. She wore a pale lavender dress that had no flounces or rosettes, and a matching satin band around her head. Zach thought she looked sweet and disturbing.
“You need to tell her what you feel, little brother,” Michael said softly.
“What?” He dragged his eyes from the vision that was Mary Blake.
“You love Mary, so tell her before it is too late.”
“What? No.” He shook his head. “That’s not true,” he lied. “How can you believe such a thing when it was not long ago that we couldn’t stand to be in each other’s company?”
“And yet not now…” Michael left the sentence hanging and then walked away with Nathan and Gabe. Zach stood there alone reeling as he wondered how it had happened that he could have fallen so hard and fast for Mary.
Well not fast. He’d known her for years, but still, it felt like his heart had capitulated with speed as soon as… what? He’d kissed her? Really seen her?
What did that say about him? Did she care for him? He had to believe she would not have kissed him if she didn’t.
Pressing a finger to that place between his eyes that had started to throb, he wondered when life had become so difficult. There he was, one of society’s favorite bachelors, swanning through life with enough danger and female companionship to satisfy him. His family loved him as he did them, and of course there were his niece and nephew and the imminent arrival of more.
“When I am laid low with a headache, I take to my bed in a darkened room and have lavender water dabbed regularly to my temples.”
“Yes, thank you, Plunge.”
The man was now before him, blocking his view of Mary. He leaned in as if to examine Zach.
“She is a complex and wonderful woman, Deville. Try to see that and not only her beauty, which you have finally noticed since you stopped arguing with her. She is deserving of your respect for her intellect and what she has achieved.” Plunge then wafted a handkerchief in his face before stuffing it into Zach’s hand.
“Lavender water, sir. You mark my words!” he then roared before walking away.
“I am surrounded by madness,” Zach muttered, heading to where Mary stood. What he would say when he got there, he had no idea.
Like a doe being hunted by prey, Mary’s head shot up when he was still a few feet away, and her eyes widened. Clearly there was something other than friendly courtesy in Zach’s eyes, as hers narrowed.
That gown seemed to float around her, and he cursed Dimity for deciding she needed a new dressmaker and Gabe for paying for it. Zach could not believe he was thinking it, but he wanted to see her in those horrible dresses that hid her body again.
He didn’t want her revealing so much of herself.
Caldwell had better not be leering at her. Zach would bloody his nose and damn the consequences.
“Sir.” The sharp-faced Frenchman bowed, as did Caldwell. Phillipa dropped into a curtsey as she gave him a simpering smile.
Zach nodded before focusing on Mary. “Mary,” he said with an enthusiasm he was far from feeling. “How are you?”
“I— Pardon?” Her eyes grew wider.
From his vantage point above her, he could see down that bodice. It would not do, because if he could, then likely Caldwell and Moulin had.
“Dimity said you were feeling a little off today, so I have come to collect you as she has saved a seat, for fear you would be forced to stand.” As far as tall truths went, it wasn’t a bad one, considering he was thinking on the hoof.
“Oh… well, my head is vastly improved, thank you, sir,” Mary said, instead of refuting his obvious lie. Of course, lying was something she was now very good at, considering what she’d been doing for Alexius. He would need to be on his guard around her.
“I did not know you had a sore head.” Phillipa frowned.
“Alas, allow me to offer my sympathies, madam,” Moulin said.
“I rested, and it was fine,” Mary said, avoiding Zach’s eye.
“Caldwell, how is your septic toe?” Zach added with yet another falsehood. The man spluttered.
“What? I do not have a septic toe.”
Mary pressed a gloved hand to her mouth, which Zach was sure meant she was hiding a smile. He felt quite good about that.
“Right, sorry, I must have the wrong person. Ready, Mary?” He held out his arm to her.
“Save me a seat please, I shall be along shortly,” Phillipa said.
“And us,” Caldwell added on behalf of him and Moulin. “And I will say again, my dear lady, you look beautiful this evening.” He then bowed to Mary.
Zach and Phillipa both growled.
Mary placed her hand on his arm, and he started walking.
“What was that about?” Mary said out of the side of her mouth. “And I was quite happy chatting with Mr. Moulin. The man is very knowledgeable about poetry, and especially Wordsworth.”
“I liked your old dresses,” Zach said, moving to the right. “And what fool actually likes Wordsworth?”
“Me, and don’t be ridiculous, no one liked those.”
He’d reached the door before she realized and nudged her through it.
“Did you know Mr. Moulin is Caldwell’s distant cousin on his mother’s side?” She was babbling now. “This is his first season in London.”
“Shut up, Mary.”
“I most certainly will not! Where are you taking me, Zach?”
He took her wrist and walked.
“The seats are that way.”
“Be quiet.”
He opened a door that led into a hallway. Once there, he continued walking. Reaching another door, Zach opened it to find a parlor. Entering when he had checked it was empty, Zach dragged Mary in behind him. As luck would have it, there was also a lock. He turned the key.
“Zach,” Mary warned.
He faced her. She backed up a step, but he followed.
“What is this about? Have you had word from Geraint?”
“Mary, do you care for me?” His hands cupped her cheeks.
“Wh-what?”
Her lips were inches from his now, and Zach gave up the fight and kissed her. Just a brush of his mouth over hers, and fire ignited inside him.
“Do you?” he whispered against her lips.
“Why are you asking me this?”
“I’m kissing you, Mary. I’ve touched your body, and things have changed between us. I need to know that whatever madness this is, it is not my madness alone.”
Her dark eyes softened, and then he felt her fingers brush his cheek.
“I care for you.”
His kiss was harder this time. He took her mouth and devoured it. His hands moved down her sides, one sliding lower to caress the curves below. She moaned into his mouth as he pulled her into his hard body.
His Mary was no shy wallflower, but he knew that. She was a brave warrioress—it had just taken Zach time to realize that.
“I don’t know why it took me so long to see you.” He said the words into her neck.
“We were always fighting, and you were flirting with every other woman.”
Mary would certainly never flatter his ego.
“And you were ignoring me and treating me like something stuck to your shoe.” He sank his teeth gently into her shoulder. She shivered. Everything between them had always been fiery, and this would be no different.
“We need to return, Zach.”
“I want to stay in here with you.” But he stepped back and away from her. “But you are right.”
He let his eyes trail over her flushed features and down her body, her eyes were a bit dazed, lips swollen from his kisses.
“We will finish this another time.”
Her chin went up. “Will we?”
He smiled and held out his hand to her, and she did not hesitate to take it. “Yes, we will.”
They sat with his family, and he ignored the knowing looks sent their way and instead moved his leg slightly until it brushed Mary’s.
She jerked in her seat, which made him smile.
“I’m hoping for some Wordsworth,” the Duchess of Yardley said from in front of him.
“Why?” Zach asked her.
“Because he is one of the best poets,” Mary said.
“Surely you jest?”
“You tell him what an uncultured buffoon he really is, gal,” the duchess said.
“Gladly.” Mary turned in her seat to look at him, her eyes sparkling with laughter. “You are a fool, sir. It is clear you are uncultured with an inability to see what is obvious. Wordsworth has a radical and direct approach to poetry. His use of the lyrical prose is unequalled.”
Zach scowled but knew his eyes were laughing right back at her.
“Lyrical prose? Please,” he scoffed.
“Oh now I protest,” Mr. Moulin said from two rows in front of them.
“For a brief shining moment, I thought they may have formed a truce,” someone behind them said. “It appears I was wrong.”
“If I may have your attention,” Lady Latham called from the stage.
Mary muttered something rude under her breath and then faced forward once more. Zach lowered his hand, caressing her leg on the way.
“First, we have… ah, we have Lord Plunge. I have convinced him to read poetry I have selected rather than his own words tonight.”
The audience clapped loudly at Lady Latham’s words. Beside Zach, Mary coughed behind her hand.
“Lord Plunge.” Lady Latham waved at the man, who was seated in the front row conversing with Lady Beckham.
He quickly got out of his seat and clipped the leg of the chair, pitching sideways. It took several hands to right him.
“Now that I know, I can only watch and admire,” Zach whispered to Mary.
She nodded, eyes on the man, who he now knew she cared for as a friend, therefore he could like him too.
“Is your maid’s father by any chance named Bobby?”
“Pardon?” Mary asked out the side of her mouth. A mouth he wanted to nibble on again.
“Bobby of the exceptional fruit pies who has a cart on Thimble Street?”
“I should have guessed you had frequented it.”
“I’m a growing lad.”
She snuffled but said nothing further.
“Good evening.” Plunge bowed perilously close to the end of the stage. He then started to wax on about a great deal of nothing.
“Get on with it, man,” Zach yelled.
“Exactly. We do not have all night,” Gabe added. Dimity elbowed him in the ribs, as Mary did the same to him.
