A Devil Named DeVere (The Devil DeVere)(50)

"Preposterous! That's damned reckless, dangerous, and altogether absurd!"

"That may be, my lord." The groom laid a hand on his heart. "But 'tis also God's honest truth."

"You mean the little wretch endangered her own life in a fit of jealous pique?"

"Aye, my lord."

"You knew this and failed to expose her fraud?"

Pratt regarded his master with a plaintive look. "Ye should have seen the little vixen! 'Twere some 'o the best ridin' I ever seen. There be few men with the bollocks to do what she done. Mayhap Cap'n Hew be one o' the few. So ye understand, my lord, I hadn't the heart to peach her."

"So you say the entire escapade was just a fit of passion because Hew was making up to the baroness?"

"Aye. That be the way I seen it." Pratt nervously twisted his cap while he awaited the master's verdict. "Your pardon for the breach o' trust, my lord?"

"Don't get into a lather, Pratt. I'm not about to dismiss you," DeVere said. "Indeed, I have a more fitting punishment in mind."

"How's that, my lord?" asked the worried groom.

"Given that you're already complicit with the scheming little baggage, I intend to put you completely at her disposal. From this moment on, Pratt, you are to answer solely to Lady Vesta. Not the baroness. Not Captain Hew. Whatever the girl's whim is to be your command. Without question. Without hesitation. This injunction is to be superseded by no one but myself. Do you understand me, Pratt?"

"Aye, my lord."

"Shameless little hussy." DeVere chuckled under his breath as he departed his stables, his former black mood utterly forgotten.

***

"I can't imagine where she could have gone." Diana worried her lower lip. "We've looked everywhere."

"It surprises me she should have ventured out alone, but I can't imagine she has gone far," Hew said. "She struck me as such a timid child."

Diana regarded him with an incredulous look and then laughed outright. "Vesta? Timid? I fear you are sadly mistaken in your first impression, Captain. Vesta is a willful, highly spirited, and intrepid girl who has been accustomed to running wild since her mother's passing. I fear her father indulges her every whim, and I am as much to blame. It is all we can do to keep a rein on her."

Hew frowned. "The child wants for discipline. Yet you chose to conduct such an ungovernable hoyden to London?"

"There were circumstances, changes that made things vastly uncomfortable for her."

The butler appeared with an apologetic look. "Beg pardon, madam, but a message is arrived from Lord DeVere's running footman."

"From Lord DeVere?" Diana accepted the missive. She opened it with rebelliously trembling fingers, cursing herself for overreacting at the mere mention of his name. Hew strode to her side when she scanned the contents and then collapsed in a chair. "Thank God! She is safe!"

"She is with my brother?"

"Yes. He has taken her for a drive."

"Then you know Vesta is safe."

In only seconds, fury replaced Diana's relief. "That is small consolation considering the company she is in. Mighty high-handed of him, don't you think? To have absconded with the girl without so much as a by-your-leave!"

"Yet he shows you considerable favor in having sent the dispatch." Hew gave a wry smile. "For my brother generally answers to no one."

"He is an abominable man!" Diana declared with a scowl.

"Inarguably." Hew chuckled but then suddenly sobered. "You were speaking only a moment ago of your reasons for coming to London. Am I to suppose it was due in part to Ned's remarriage?"

"Yes. Vesta is vastly displeased about it. One can hardly blame her for being unsettled, given the suddenness of it."

"I pray you would indulge my impertinence, but might I assume the marriage made you uncomfortable as well?"

"Perhaps," Diana answered evasively.

"You have feelings for Ned?"

"Only of a platonic nature," she said. "I have known Edward for half my life. He is a good and kind man. I think sometimes had he asked, I might have been persuaded to assume a legitimate, rather than surrogate role as Vesta's mother, but now there is no longer a need. She is grown."

"But what of yourself? Do you not desire security?"

"What woman does not?" She laughed. "Yet, I have a home for as long as I wish and an income sufficient to my modest needs."

"What of companionship?" he asked.

"I have had that with Edward and Vesta."

"And affection?"

Diana briefly met his inquiring gaze and turned away. "Surely every woman desires all those things, Hew, but they are not always to be." Yes, she had once dared hope. She was a fool to have done so.

"I shan't hedge any longer," he said. "You must know I wish to pay my address to you, Diana. I can offer you security, my affection, and utmost fidelity."

"Priceless gems," she answered with a sad smile. "But do you not also seek passion in a marriage?"

Hew's face flushed. "I would expect that to follow."

"There you are wrong, dear Hew. Affection may spring from mutual respect, but passion can never be willed. It just is." She added softly, "Sometimes whether we desire it or not."