“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 understand?”
“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 waited 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 either.” Wondering if her husband was the real cause of DeVere’s unexpected 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 believe 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 excuse 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, determined 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 connection, 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.