The earl regarded her with a rapt interest that Diana knew had little to do with the horses. “Do you, indeed, madam? Then I wish you the best of luck.” Diana was certain she could hear Caroline’s teeth grinding as the Lord March’s gaze lingered much longer than proper.
“Ah! There is Lord Derby and Elizabeth Ferren. William, dearest, we must go and greet them.” The duchess tugged on her companion’s silk sleeve.
“As you wish, my sweet,” answered the earl, though Diana noted his reluctance.
“Lady Chambers. Baroness,” the duchess awarded them a brittle smile as the pair departed.
“It didn’t take her long to find a replacement,” said Diana between her own tightly smiling teeth.
“She’ll get nowhere with that one if she seeks a second ducal coronet,” Edward replied in an undertone. “Although he’s next in line for the dukedom of Queensberry, March is a notorious roué with a penchant for Italian opera singers.”
“No doubt she only wished to pique DeVere,” said Annalee.
“Then the effort is truly wasted.” Edward laughed outright. “He was never happier to send a mistress on her way.”
Their moment of jollity was disrupted when Reggie joined them after presumably having consulted with his lover-jockey. His smug expression suggested he had confronted DeVere as well, but also told Diana that he was yet unaware his race-fixing scheme had been discovered. Though she tried to ignore him altogether, his presence alone set her teeth on edge.
“When do the mares run?” Diana asked Edward.
“The stallions will be up first,” he answered. “They are to run a single, two-mile heat, followed by the geldings and then the mares. The top three horses will then run against one another in the fourth race for the grand prize.”
Three thousand. Enough money to get her home back, but not her life. Diana realized with a jolt that her life would never be the same. She stole a sidelong look at Reggie, wishing he would just disappear. Perhaps she should just give him the winnings? Part of her wanted him to run off with his lover as he and Johnson had planned. She would then have grounds for her own legal action, but what if he refused? If he had determined to press matters with DeVere, it would be impossible for him to abscond with his lover.
No, surely he would wait and play out his hand now that he thought he held the trump card. If he carried out his threat as she presumed he would, where would that leave her? Her name would be besmirched in the broadsheets. The scandal would be unbearable. Yet she was even willing to live with a ruined name if she could only obtain a separation from Reggie, but deep down, she knew he would never agree.
To do so would give her freedom—the chance to move on with her life and the option to remarry one day. Though that option was furthest from her mind, it was one of very few alternatives available to any woman in reduced circumstances—to remarry or to live as a dependent relative. Both filled her with dismay. Unbidden, a third unthinkable alternative flashed through her mind, along with images of last night that filled her with an empty ache.
One night in his bed, and she was forever changed.
Diana found herself in an inexplicable, and moreover, inextricable tangle. The only certainty was that her mare would run in the race today. Perhaps she would take the money and simply disappear. She clung to that thought as desperately as to a lifeline.
Although her mind was still preoccupied, she forced herself to return to the present, back to the races. She focused on the leading grooms as they brought out the first group of horses and the jockeys who were mounting up.
“Where is Lord DeVere?” she finally asked, curious that he had yet to show when his stallion, Prometheus, was about to run.
“Ah! There he is!” Annalee pointed. “In the red and black silks. And Hew in the red and gold.”
“DeVere is riding?” Diana asked.
“Did you not know?” Edward replied. “Says his man Pratt took ill this morning. That’s the third last minute change in riders, by the by.”
“What do you mean?” Reggie demanded.
“Hew was to jockey Prometheus, but now it seems he’s to ride Diana’s mare, Cartimandua, and O’Kelly replaced his main jockey as well. I hear he dismissed the man on the spot not an hour ago.”
Reggie’s eyes bulged as he squinted at the field, and Diana thought his color resembled something close to puce.
Diana recalled DeVere’s dead calm in learning of Reggie’s scheme to fix the race and almost laughed aloud. So that’s what he was up to when he said he had matters in hand. Devious devil, indeed! He had managed to relieve the very jockeys Reggie had attempted to bribe. Although his action did nothing to guarantee the outcome in anyone’s favor, it certainly evened up the playing field. Reggie had been a fool to challenge a man like DeVere and an even greater one if he thought to threaten him.
“The mare? What the devil is she doing on the field?” Reggie demanded, his bugged-eyed gaze tracking the horses and jockeys.
“I have entered her,” Diana answered him with a defiant thrust of her chin.