The Devil You Know (The Devil DeVere #3)(32)

“Shut up, Reggie! Just shut up!” Diana jerked away with a look of abhorrence. “Leave me now,” she commanded. “We have nothing more to say.”

“For the moment,” he agreed. His laughter rang with a hellish echo as he departed through the connecting door.

Diana was trembling, shaken to the depths of her being. She bathed and dressed in a speechless daze, myriad questions searing her brain. How did DeVere come by the deed to Palmerston Hall and why? Was he confederated with O’Kelly all along to ruin Reggie? But why, when they were barely acquainted with one another? If he had acquired the deed, what did he intend to do with it? Was it for the stud, as Reggie suggested? Their horses were the only thing she could think of that might hold the slightest appeal to DeVere, the stud being the only thing of value.

Unless? Diana recalled their very first meeting but immediately shook the notion away. It was outrageously vain to think he might have intended to use the deed to get her into his bed. If that was his intent, would he not have mentioned it when she first sought his help?

Now Reggie thought to turn the tables. Although he believed he had the upper hand, his avarice would surely be his undoing. Diana knew DeVere would never submit to blackmail, yet there was nothing she could do to prevent a legal action. A judgment could help her secure a separation and thus freedom from the travesty of her marriage...but at what cost?

She descended to breakfast with a feeling of dread at the thought of meeting DeVere so soon after sharing his bed. Although only knowing each other a matter of days, they had parted that morning on terms of intimacy she had never experienced with anyone. It was both breathtaking and terrifying. They had become lovers, but then Reggie’s revelations had followed. Diana still wasn’t sure what to think or how to react.

As it turned out, there was no opportunity at all to speak of the concerns that plagued her or to warn him about Reggie. DeVere and Hew had broken their fast early and left almost directly afterward. In the few minutes they might have had to talk, Edward and Annalee had been present.

DeVere’s reaction upon seeing her, however, the secret smile he bestowed, melted her insides and promised more of what they had shared the night before. It also told her he knew nothing of Reggie’s blackmail. She was partly relieved. If only she could find a way to speak with him first.

A crowd of hundreds w ***

ere gathered along the racecourse when Diana, Ned and Annalee arrived on the down. They took their places apart from the rabble upon the raised dais erected for the owners and aristocrats. Her spine stiffened when the Duchess of Beauclerc joined them on the arm of the Earl of March.

Edward bowed to them both. “Duchess. And so good to see you, my Lord March,” he addressed the earl and then introduced Annalee and Diana, both of whom dipped in a brief show of obeisance. “Have you a horse in the running?” Edward asked the noted turf man.

“Aye,” said the earl. “A fine mare in the second race.”

“Is that so?” said Diana. “Then I promise you a great challenge as I also have a horse in the running.”

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.