Page 10 of The Devil and the Heiress
It was time to put his plan into motion. Thanks to Ware, he knew just what to say to her. Stepping into the room, he closed the door behind him.
Chapter 4
The stakes were high, but Rose was prepared for the game. One kiss would not alter the course of their lives. One weakness did not a sinner make.
V. Lennox,An American and the London Season
The Earl of Leigh came into the salon as if her salacious imagination had conjured him. Dispassionate and casual, he walked with a smoothness that belied his slight limp. His rich, dark hair curled a bit near his collar, and the eyes she knew to be gray were darkened in the low light of the room. Violet was too stunned to react as he closed the door behind him. Logic told her that it would be best to exit the room through the opposite door because being caught alone with him could be disastrous, but her burgeoning fascination with him kept her in place.
“Good evening, my lord,” she said, forcing her voice to match his calm exterior. The truth was that her heart had started pounding the moment she set eyes on him, and her palms were sweaty.
“Miss Crenshaw.” He inclined his head while holding her gaze.
Had she thought him dispassionate? His eyes were anything but that. The expression within them roiled with anintensity that held her rooted in place behind a sofa. And then he smiled. A tiny upward tilt on the left side of his mouth that promised wicked thoughts were accompanying it. Or were those wicked thoughts merely a reflection of her own? Her fictitious heiress, Miss Rose Hamilton, was known for coveting Lord Lucifer’s distinctive smile. Violet simply had to work harder to separate herself from her character.
Coming to a stop, he left the length of the sofa guarding the distance between them. His powerful, gloved fingers flexed around the hawk’s head grip of his cane. Butterflies came to life in her belly as they usually did when he was near. It was why she was always so atrociously sharp with him, she realized. She had been fighting her natural attraction to him, because it had been unfaithful to Teddy. A man who it seemed had little faith and had hardly deserved hers. Now that her relationship with her fiancé was over—she’d worry later about why it had been so easy to let him go—she didn’t have to feel guilty anymore.
“I feel that I owe you an—”
“Hereford left rather—”
They both began at the same time, and then paused, awkwardly assessing the other. He inclined his head, indicating that she should speak first.
“I am glad to have a moment in private with you. I want to apologize for my short temper on our previous two meetings.”
He didn’t respond right away and simply continued to watch her as if he were trying to read her expression. His perusal drew a nervous smile from her. Another thrill of awareness shot through her belly when his gaze darted to her lips. He found her attractive at least. “I have no good reason for my behavior, except that I was angry with Rothschild and perhaps a little unsettled...” She swallowed thickly to stop herself from saying more. Saying more when less would do had always been her downfall.
“Unsettled?” He prodded.
Giving her head a quick shake, she said, “Unsettled to find you in my home unexpectedly.”
She would not tell him how he was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on and that alone was enough to fluster her. She would not. Being around him made her realize how unworldly and inexperienced she really was when it came to men. Her infatuation with him was nothing like the sloppy kisses she had exchanged with Teddy. They had been experiments, while her thoughts for Lord Leigh bordered on incinerating passion.
A grin curved the perfect bow of his lips. “No apology is necessary. You were right to be unsettled by my presence in both cases.” He looked at her as if he knew the truth. Perhaps the blush staining her cheeks had told him as much. “Besides, I did say that I enjoy fireworks.” A subtle challenge flashed in his eyes.
Those simple words made something clench deep inside her. Something visceral that hovered on the edge of painful longing. He liked their verbal sparring. He had seen her at her worst that day, and he had approved of her. She didn’t really know what to do with that. Almost everyone she knew disapproved of any sort of display of emotion. Teddy had frowned and changed the subject when challenged. Lord Ware would certainly disapprove of her sometime wayward tongue.
Her cheeks burned hotter, and when she glanced down, she noticed she had been worrying the length of a silken thread that had broken free from the sofa. When she dared to glance back up at him, his grin had fled to be replaced with concern.
“Hereford did not seem particularly pleased when he left. I hope he did not upset you.”
She only debated for a moment how much she should tell him. Despite his reputation, he was a good friend of the man who would soon become her brother. He was also theonly one outside of her immediate family who knew that Rothschild had followed August to that ship, and there had been no hint of gossip about it. If Rothschild trusted him, then so could she. “It isn’t me that I’m concerned about. It’s Camille. He treats her poorly, and she has no recourse.”
“No recourse?” he asked, dipping his head infinitesimally. She likely wouldn’t have noticed had she not been so attuned to him.
“No, at least not here, not so far away from home and everything she knows. She belongs to him, and the fact of the matter is that he can do with her as he will and hardly anyone would intervene. He treats her like a rebellious stepchild—withholding her visitors, keeping her locked inside—and he is well within his rights to do so. It all seems so grievously unfair. She is a lovely person who has a wealth of affection and warmth to share, but it is all wasted on him. He only cares that she brought him money.” She stopped, realizing that she had said far too much to someone who was essentially a stranger.
He took a breath, and his chest rose on the inhale. Had she noticed how broad his shoulders were before? She must have. He wasn’t overly brawny, but his lean physique was solid and strong. His chest and shoulders were thick, and she didn’t think it was from padding.
“It is the way of Society marriages.” His voice was soft, but strong. “It seems as if you do not prefer such a marriage for yourself?”
“I don’t care a whit for Society. I think people should only marry someone who can offer them some bit of affection. I am not so naive that I believe in the sort of romantic love and devotion that Miss Austen touts.” Though what August had found with the duke seemed very close to that sort of love, and if she was honest, she actually wouldn’t mind very much if she found that for herself. But that was far too complicated a subject to discuss with Lord Leigh, a man she should not be talking to at all, much less going onand on like she was. “But there should be some sort of mutual respect and consideration.”
“Affection is important to you.” His gaze dropped down to her mouth.
She licked her lips and then pressed them together to stifle the nervous tick. “Affection is important to everyone. People are much happier when they are in family units where they are supported and valued. It has been proven to be true.”
He grinned, an attractive dimple forming in his left cheek. “You are a bluestocking like your sister.”
