Her Devilish Marquess (7 page)

“
He received an injury that
didn’t receive a doctor’s attention right away.” Even thinking
about it upset him. His brother and his foolish pride. It wasn’t a
weakness to seek help when one needed it. “Nevertheless, I promised
him I would do right by him and honor the title he left
me.”

“
That’s a wonderful
gesture,” Danette said, her voice almost so soft he barely heard
the compliment.

“
It’s what he requested on
his deathbed,” he replied.

“
I’m sure you miss your
brother,” Mrs. Everson spoke up. “Danette’s father and I wanted to
give her a brother or sister, but it wasn’t meant to be. She’s an
only child. We’ve always been proud of her.”

Though Danette blushed, Derek caught the
pleased smile on her lips at her mother’s words. Derek was glad for
her. Not all parents thought so well of their children. He didn’t
often envy anyone anything, but in this one regard, he couldn’t
help but feel a twinge of regret at displeasing his parents.
Danette was very fortunate, indeed, but not knowing anything else,
she didn’t understand the significance in her mother’s
statement.

“
Lady Cantrell is the
closest lady Danette has to a sister,” her mother continued. “The
two did everything together while growing up, and even as grown
ladies, they are close. You’ll be seeing Lady Cantrell at the
wedding.”

“
I’m looking forward to
meeting her next week.” Then, as an afterthought, he asked Danette,
“Is next week all right with you, or would you prefer we read
banns?”

“
I’ve read banns with two
other gentlemen,” Danette said. “I’d rather not this
time.”

“
She’s a bit superstitious,”
her mother added. “But I assure you, the broken engagements weren’t
her fault. She was a lady at all times.”

He offered a comforting smile. “I have no
doubt she was. She’s been that way since I came into this room. You
did a good job in raising her.”

Her mother grinned in pleasure. “Flattery
will get you everywhere, my lord.”

“
In that case, I’ll make it
a point to offer lots of flattery in the future,” he teased. “I
want to make sure I stay in your good graces.”

She giggled and waved his comment aside. “I
bet you have a bit of mischief in you.”

“
Not too much. I want to
make sure I don’t do anything to embarrass your daughter,” he
promised, just in case either of them worried about it. He glanced
at Danette. “You mentioned that you enjoyed watching people. Would
you both be interested in going to Hyde Park? We could sit and
watch people stroll by. If you feel inspired, we could even guess
what people are talking about.”

“
Guess what they’re talking
about?” Danette asked, a hint of intrigue in her voice.

“
Don’t you ever guess what
the couples dancing are talking about when you watch them at the
balls?” he replied.

“
I hadn’t thought to do
that,” Danette said. “I mainly overhear what others are
saying.”

“
But wouldn’t it be fun to
make up things they might be talking about?”

Even as he asked the question, he caught the
spark of interest in her eye. Yes, she was shy, and she most likely
was insecure about her worth. But he suspected she had a bit of
mischief hovering beneath the surface of her controlled
exterior.

“
I don’t mind doing that as
long as they don’t know we’re doing it,” Mrs. Everson
said.

“
We’ll be discreet,” he
assured her.

“
Why not?” Mrs. Everson
looked at her daughter. “It sounds like an enjoyable way to spend
the afternoon. What do you think?”

Danette didn’t answer right away. Though she
seemed very interested, Derek caught that part of her which held
her back. He was about to suggest they go to the museum instead,
something that would be a safer, albeit boring, choice.

But then Danette said, “I don’t see the harm
in it. Let’s go to the park.”

“
Splendid!” Derek thought
this would be a game she’d like once she started playing
it.

Plus, he was anxious to see if it would help
her get to know him better. He was definitely looking forward to
getting to know her. He just hoped the feeling was reciprocated.
It’d be nice if they might be one of the few couples who enjoyed a
love match.

Chapter Five

D
anette hadn’t seen Derek since that day he took her and her
mother to Hyde Park. Granted, he was a doctor and he had a lot of
patients who needed him, but she had hoped to see him again before
their wedding day, which was in two days. The time seemed to drag
on, however, as she waited to see whether or not he’d end things at
the last moment.

She went to the Duke of Rumsey’s ball in
hopes she’d see him again. Surely, there wouldn’t be patients to
tend to so late in the evening. But he wasn’t anywhere, so maybe he
did have someone to visit after all. People did get sick at all
hours of the day. Though she kept telling herself this, she
couldn’t deny how disappointed she was.

Of the gentlemen she’d been engaged to, he
seemed the most promising. Not only was he much more interesting to
listen to, but he seemed to genuinely care for her.

A silly notion, she chided herself. She
wanted him to care for her, and as a result, she fancied the idea
he returned her new feelings.

Despite her disappointment, she turned her
attention to the couples dancing. She decided to play the game
Derek had taught her. She imagined what they might be saying, and
while the game was amusing, it was much more fun when she’d done it
with him and her mother. Having them add their comments had made
the thing a lot more fun. So she stopped doing it, and instead, she
turned her attention to the people talking nearby.

Most of it was the usual. The ladies fretted
over which gentleman might ask them to dance or tried to figure out
ways to get the attention of the most viable bachelors in the room.
This alone made Danette grateful the Duchess of Ashbourne had a
service helping people find their ideal matches.

Danette had never been good at the whole
courting thing, nor did she enjoy the process of trying to attract
gentlemen. It had been much easier to let her father do the work
for her. This time, the duchess had done it. Hopefully, the duchess
was better at pairing couples up than her father had been.

“
Once again, you’re sitting
at a ball all by yourself,” a familiar voice said, breaking her out
of her thoughts.

Danette grinned and turned her attention to
Regan as she sat next to her. “I’m surprised you left your husband
to talk to me.”

Regan shot her an amused smile. “What kind
of friend would I be if I left you alone all evening?”

“
I know you don’t believe
me, but I enjoy sitting here and watching people.”

“
So you keep telling me.”
After a moment, Regan asked, “Have you met your betrothed
yet?”

Despite her best intentions, she felt heat
rise to her cheeks. “I did. It was a couple days ago.”

“
And you didn’t tell
me?”

“
I tried, but you were hard
to reach.”

“
You’re right. I’ve been
distracted. Malcolm and I have been spending time with his parents
so they can get better acquainted with me and Leonard. Then I had
to attend one of Lord Steinbeck’s boring dinner parties. And when
we were home and I thought about paying you a visit, Malcolm found
ways to distract me.”

“
How? Did he start telling
you all about his business plans?” Danette knew Regan was trying to
get Malcolm to open up to her by asking him questions about his
business dealings, but she didn’t think those would truly be of
interest to her friend.

Regan giggled. “No. He had a much better way
of distracting me.”

“
Really? What way is
that?”

“
I think I’ll let your
soon-to-be husband show you that on your wedding night.”

That was the first time Regan hadn’t ever
come out and answered her question. Why was her friend being so
mysterious about this? And if Danette was right, she caught a
mischievous spark in her eye, as if her friend was excited that
Danette would soon learn the very thing she was being so secretive
about.

“
Tell me,” Regan continued,
not the least bit disturbed she’d withheld information from her,
“how did your visit with the Marquess of Dodsworth go?”

Just hearing Derek’s title made Danette’s
skin tingle with excitement.

“
Ah, I see it went much
better than you thought it would,” Regan said.

It wasn’t surprising Regan could read her
expression so well. Danette didn’t know if Regan was able to do
that because she was so transparent in her emotions or because
Regan had known her since childhood. Either way, no one understood
her better than Regan. She was beginning to suspect Regan pushed so
hard for her to get married because she knew, deep down, Danette
wanted a husband.

This was something Danette had kept a secret
from everyone. She’d kept it such a good secret, in fact, that even
she hadn’t been aware of it. It wasn’t until Derek teased her about
gentlemen lining up to dance with her that she realized she’d hoped
someone would venture over to her during one of the balls, whisk
her off her feet, and spend the rest of his life with her. She’d
rather die than admit such a thing to anyone, even Regan, and she
shared everything with her friend.

“
Is he handsome?” Regan
asked. “Were you attracted to him?”

Danette chuckled. Leave it to her friend to
think of the physical side of a relationship. “Yes, I was. He’s
very good looking.”

“
That’s a promising start.
It’s hard to kiss a gentleman you’re not attracted to.”

Danette couldn’t argue that. She’d tried
with all her might to kiss Lord Simpleton when he asked for one,
but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she’d made up an
excuse about not wanting to kiss a gentleman until she married him,
thinking, of course, that it would buy her some much needed time to
gather up the strength to do so. She bit her lower lip. Perhaps
Lord Simpleton had realized that and decided to end the engagement.
Maybe that one was her fault.

“
What does Lord Dodsworth
look like?” Regan pressed.

Forcing her attention back to their
conversation, Danette said, “He’s tall with dark hair and a
well-trimmed beard. I don’t usually like any facial hair on
gentlemen. I think they look much cleaner without it, but in his
case, it makes him all the more…” Unable to think of the right
word, she shrugged.

“
Sexy?” Regan filled
in.

Though Regan had kept her voice low, Danette
glanced around to make sure no one else overheard her.

Regan laughed and clapped her hands. “I just
knew the duchess would do a marvelous job.”

“
There’s more to marriage
than attraction.”

“
I’m well aware of that, but
attraction always helps. Now, tell me what you think of him as a
companion? You’re obviously taken with him.”

“
This will probably sound
wrong in some way, but in many respects, he reminds me of
you.”

Regan’s eyes grew wide. “Why would that be
wrong? I happen to think I make a delightful companion.”

“
You are. As a friend. But I
never thought I’d want to be with a gentleman who has a sense of
humor.”

“
He makes you laugh, does
he?”

“
Yes. Just as you do.
Really, it’s uncanny. One would swear you two were separated at
birth.”

“
In that case, I adore him
already. I must send the duchess a gift to thank her for making
such a good match. You could use someone like him. It wouldn’t hurt
you to laugh more and worry less.”

“
I know. My mother says the
same thing.”

“
Your mother is a wise
lady,” Regan replied with a twinkle in her eye. “What did you and
your handsome betrothed discuss?”

“
Now that I think about it,
we talked mainly about me. I mean, he told me he made a promise to
his dying brother he’d do well with the title. I thought that was a
lovely thing for him to do. He must have thought very well of his
brother to do such a thing.” Even as she thought about it, her
heart warmed. “He has a caring soul. He wants to do what’s right
and noble. It’s hard not to like a gentleman like that.”