Lord Lucifer Page 6

  “Diana,” he rasped. “The way you look at me. It’s like—”

  “Hush!” she whispered, the word aimed more at herself than him. Such thoughts were inappropriate to a married woman. But more importantly, they only brought pain in their wake. She had not indulged that night, and she could not do so now. Her marriage to Oscar wasn’t perfect, but they had grown to respect each other. She would not cuckold him. She had too much honor for that.

  She pulled away, or she tried. Lucas would not release her, but he allowed her to rest her fingers lightly on his arm as he escorted her back to the box. They maintained a polite distance, which he did not fight. And for that, she was grateful.

  Until the moment she saw who else had come to join their party. Geoffrey, her horrible stepson, lounged at the entrance of their box as he sipped on a glass of wine. He wore no costume, but his evening attire was new and of the finest cut. And he grinned as he watched her approach, the expression making her feel like she’d been touched by a vile brush.

  “Dearest, Mama,” he drawled.

  She sighed. She had wanted one night of fun, one night’s escape from Oscar’s sickroom, and the ugly battle with Geoffrey. Clearly, that was not in the cards.

  Chapter Seven

  Diana felt a change in Lucas. He said nothing, but suddenly he seemed sharper and a great deal more menacing. Yet all he did was stand beside her as she confronted her stepson.

  “Good evening, Geoffrey. I hope you are enjoying the party.” Then she turned as if to move past him, but the man straightened up, effectively blocking their entrance into the box.

  “I would like a word, Mama.” As usual, he sneered the word Mama. Years ago, that had hurt. She’d had no choice in becoming his stepmother and saw no reason he should hold it against her. Now it merely bored her.

  She sighed. “Very well, what is it?”

  “A family matter,” he said as he glared at Lucas. “Call off your dog.”

  Strangely enough, Lucas didn’t stiffen at the insult. In fact, it made him smile, and for a moment, Diana was struck by the differences between the two men. Geoffrey was all too aware of his dignity, spending and gambling exorbitant amounts of money just to maintain an image. Lucas, however, did not dress to his station and certainly didn’t rise to any taunt. Except to poke back in the mildest of ways.

  “Shall I growl at him?” Lucas asked her. “Would that amuse you?”

  “A little,” she had to admit, but then she shook her head. “Perhaps another time.”

  “Do not toy with me,” Geoffrey snapped. And there was his prickly ego lashing out. “Family matters should be discussed in private.”

  “Then you should not bring them up at a party,” she said. But sometimes, expedience was the better choice. And she definitely wanted to be done with this unpleasantness expediently. So, she turned to Lucas and gave him a curtsey. “I thank you, Lord Lucifer, for a delightful dance and your wonderful fare, which my stepson definitely seems to enjoy.” She gestured to Geoffrey’s now empty wine glass. “I will not detain you when so many other guests beg for your attention.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone with him,” Lucas said, and now his voice was a low growl.

  “But I am not alone. There are guests everywhere. And we shall sit here and converse like civilized people.” And with that, she did brush past Geoffrey, though he made sure one of his hands clutched her thigh as she went past. It was too low for Lucas to see and hidden by her skirts, but the skin-crawling violation was clear.

  She ignored it, though it made her stomach clench in fear. The man had no shame. And she quickly sat down at the front edge of the box before her knees gave way to their trembling.

  Meanwhile, Lucas studied her and then Geoffrey. Then he said, “I think I shall watch the dancing.” Then he moved a few feet away—far enough to give her the illusion of privacy—without leaving her alone. And then, contrary to his words, he stood with his back to the dancers as he stared hard at Geoffrey.

  “Salope,” Geoffrey said under his breath. As if calling someone a bitch in French made it any more appropriate. Especially if he was referring to her and not Lucas. Either way, it made her angry.

  “Is this who you wanted to be, Geoffrey? When you were a boy and thinking of your future. Did you want to be someone who terrifies women and wastes his life in meaningless games?”

  The words had come out spontaneously. They were borne of frustration from looking at a man with all the advantages who still decided to waste his life. Her words must have hit him hard because his face purpled in rage.

  “How dare you—”

  “How dare I?” she scoffed. She was never this bold with him. It was too dangerous, and yet knowing Lucas watched from a few feet away made her reckless. “Forget your father and me,” she said with a slash of her hand. “You are destroying yourself. He would be very generous with you if only you would show him something. The tenants need a landlord who will help them.”

  “You want me to go slop pigs alongside the unwashed, un—”

  “So farming is not for you,” she interrupted. That was no surprise. “Surely there is something you care about. Something worthwhile that is not endless gambling to no point. Show your father anything, and he—”

  “He is the one who made me who I am,” Geoffrey rasped. “Constant criticism. A blind eye to my pleas for help. He is to blame.”

  She threw up her hands. “Blame anyone you like, Geoffrey. Only find some way to make a future for yourself. After all, you are the one who has to live it.”

  It was a reasonable argument and the most generous offer she had given him so far. Before she had told him to make good on his commitments to the estate. Now she would happily pay him to pursue any kind of worthwhile endeavor.

  But again, his pride prevented anything she said from getting through. His eyes narrowed, and he threw his wineglass such that it shattered against the table. “Last chance,” he growled. “Release my funds now or suffer the consequences.”

  How many times had she heard that threat from him? And she answered as she always did. “What consequences, Geoffrey? You have already hurt your father as much as any son could. You have threatened me inside my own home such that I have had to surround myself with guards. What can you do to me that is worse than you have already done? This is not the way to change your circumstances.”

  He leaned close enough that his breath was foul in her face. “I can tell one and all what a whore you are, and I can slip into your bedroom and be upon you before you scream. I can puncture my father’s lung with a knife between his ribs and blame the crime on you. I can poison your drink, turn your servants against you, and set the Watch to demand your arrest.” He lowered his voice. “I can send footpads to kill you tonight, and no one would be the wiser.”

  His words were so clear that she could tell he meant everyone. He’d obviously spent a great deal of time thinking of how he could hurt her, but she had been dealing with him too long to crack under threats no matter how menacingly he spoke.

  She might have said something back to him. She wanted to but feared her voice would crack. She couldn’t show any weakness. He was a bully who would pounce on any weakness. So, she held his gaze and said nothing more. She would give him nothing.

  It was the hardest thing she’d ever done. She held firm until he realized his threats would not sway her.

  “So be it,” he said.

  Then he spit on the ground by her feet before quitting the box. He even whistled as he strode away, the insolent sound scraping against her raw nerves. The man was a spoiled child. Thank God she was numb to his threats. Numb, she repeated to herself. She was not afraid. Except her hands were shaking, and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

  She’d barely gasped twice before her brother appeared at her side, gripping her shoulder as she steadied her breath. Amber joined her a moment later with a glass of sherry in her hand.

  “Drink. It will help,” the woman said as she pressed the g
lass into Diana’s hand. “Lilah and Gwen have gone to find you something to eat. Lilah thought it would settle your stomach.”

  It probably would, as did the sherry. But even as she sipped, her gaze went to the place where Lucas had last stood. His dark silhouette was gone. Had he abandoned her?

  “He’s following Geoffrey,” her brother said. “Wants to be sure the man leaves.”

  She looked at Elliott. “He’s what? But Geoffrey’s furious. He’ll strike out at the nearest target—”

  “Lucas can handle him,” he said quietly. “He also prevented me from joining you earlier. Afraid I would punch the blighter right here.”

  “And get locked up for it,” Amber said. “Lucas was right. Geoffrey was hoping one of you would punch him because any fight would increase the pressure on her.” Amber gently urged Diana to drink more sherry. “Did you promise him his funds?”

  Diana shook her head. “If I crumble to his tactics now, he will never learn that he has to behave better if he wants any kind of money from his father.”

  Elliott snorted. “There comes a time when a man is too old to learn.”

  Diana shot her brother a sad look. “Surely you don’t believe that.” She swallowed the last of her drink. “He has to learn. He has to.” She could not stand much more of this.

  Her brother merely looked grim. It was left to his wife to voice the words everyone was thinking. “You can take a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.”

  “He will learn or go to debtor’s prison.” She blew out a breath. “Why will he not simply apply himself to something? Anything! I would release his money if he showed the smallest signs of control.”

  At that moment, she saw Lucas return to the main path. His dark figure appeared like an avenging angel as he strode up the way. A few tried to catch his attention, but he moved with too much purpose to stop them. And he headed straight for her.

  Damn her traitorous heart. Her spirits rallied with every step that brought him closer to her. But her sister-in-law sat where he might, and her brother hovered over her as if she were a lost child. Neither of them moved as Lucas came near, and she saw a quick flash of frustration tighten his jaw, but it was covered quickly. Instead, he crouched down across from her such that he could speak to her eye to eye. Or rather eye to masked eye. He still wore his costume as Lord Lucifer.

  “The blighter has left,” he said softly. “And I have instructed my men to watch for him, but I doubt he’ll come back.”

  She shook her head. “No, he’ll go home to threaten Oscar.” Geoffrey had made a habit of catching her husband alone and saying all manner of horrible things until he got the money he wanted. Oscar had always been lost when it came to his son, and it wasn’t until he’d given Diana control of the money that any type of discipline had arrived. But it was a hard thing to put restraints on a dissolute man in his thirties.

  “I have men there at the house as well. He will not be allowed in.” His gaze was somber as he looked at her. “I heard what you said to him, Diana. It was the bravest thing I have ever seen.”

  She jolted. “You heard? But…” She looked to where he’d been standing. She’d thought he’d been too far away.

  “I have very sharp ears, and neither of you took pains to be quiet.” He blew out a breath. “It was very brave—”

  “It was foolish,” her brother snapped. “You are under siege, Diana, and it is impossible to stay safe all the time. What does it matter to you if he gets his money now? Come live with Amber and me. We will keep you protected and—”

  “And Oscar will be completely vulnerable. Geoffrey will burn through the money, and his tenants will have nothing, and our servants will be terrorized. Oscar will live his last days in misery. Is that what you would have me do?”

  “Yes!” her brother huffed. “I would have you safe. The matters between Geoffrey and his father are not of your making.”

  Diana closed her eyes, feeling the weight of her responsibilities as never before. She daily fought for her husband and the people he cared for—servants, tenants, and even his grandchildren, who might one day inherit the estate. The last thing she wanted was to fight her brother as well. But before she could voice any of that, Lucas rose up in her defense.

  “Don’t you think she already knows that?” he said. “That she hasn’t considered minute to minute that she could ditch everything and run to your home? The fact that she stays and fights is a credit to her strength. That she is a woman and has little responsibility beyond vows forced upon her make her the bravest, truest person I have ever known. You belittle her by suggesting otherwise.”

  Her breath caught at his words. How was it that Lucas saw what even her own brother did not? It melted her. From inside to out, her rigid muscles gave way until she heaved a breath as if for the first time in ages. It was embarrassing, the sounds she made as her body shuddered in reaction.

  Lucas dropped down before her. His hands grabbed hers, and he merely waited while she found some control. And since he did not demand anything from her—no words, no answers, just his solid presence—she found the strength to weather the storm. In time, her shoulders relaxed, and a shudder rolled through her entire body. She disentangled one of her hands and swiped at the tears that were drying on cheeks. And where she wiped one side, she felt his thumb caress the other. Then she took a deep breath that brought her heartbeat back to its usual steady rhythm.

  “Diana,” he said softly, “tell me what you would like. Do you want to go home? Do you want food, drink? Name it, and it shall be yours.”

  She wanted things that could never be. She wanted to step back in time, never marry Oscar, and have the Season that she had been denied. She wanted her father to have lived so she and Lucas could have courted in the normal way of things. She wanted children with a father who would care for them and not allow them to become spoiled, angry boys that grew into men who threatened those around him. But most of all, she wanted someone to walk with her and perhaps ease her burden for a time.

  She lifted her chin and looked Lucas in the eyes. “I should like you to take off that ridiculous mask and perhaps take a turn with me through the pathways here.”

  Amber shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure you want to stay? There’s Gwen and Lilah with plates for everyone. They’ll be here in a moment. Or we can all go home—”

  “Pray do not shorten their fun on my account,” Diana said. “Or my fun.” She smiled at her sister-in-law as she tried to explain. “This is the first night I have gotten away in…” She couldn’t remember how long it had been. “Don’t force me back into the sickroom just yet.”

  Lucas straightened up to his full height and held out his hand. “If you should like a stroll, then I would be honored to accompany you.”

  Elliott shifted uncomfortably. “Of course, we will all take a stroll.”

  Thankfully, his wife tapped him on the arm. “She is perfectly safe with Lord Lucifer. If we walk, my husband, let us walk to the refreshment table to help your other sisters. They cannot carry all that themselves. Leave Diana and Lord Lucifer to their own amusements.”

  Diana could feel Elliott stiffen. He did not like abandoning her even in so little a thing as a stroll about Vauxhall. Ever since Elliott had grown to manhood, he lived with the guilt that her marriage had allowed for his freedom. And that guilt—well-intentioned though it might be—tended to stifle her at the worst possible moments.

  “You hired Mr. Lucifer to protect me,” Diana said. “Do you say now that I am not safe in his care?”

  Elliott blew out a breath. “No, of course not.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Amber cut in. “We shall help Gwen and Lilah, and you shall go where you wish. Though—Lord Lucifer—it would ease my husband’s mind if you would remain on the more popular paths? One where—”

  “He can keep an eye on me,” Diana interrupted as she pushed to her feet. It galled her that she was the shortest one here and had to look up at the men, and perhaps that ga
ve extra stridency to her tone. “I am a grown woman, Elliott. And Lucas will see that I am safe.”

  She was so focused on facing down her brother’s overprotection that it took her a moment to realize what she’d just said. Lucas would keep her safe? She had only once put her faith in Lucas, and he had failed her. In her mind, she knew that she’d set him an impossible task. She was always going to marry Oscar, and two naïve teenagers could not have stopped it.

  And yet, until this moment, she hadn’t acknowledged the anger she still harbored against him for failing her. It was irrational, but it was there. And yet, she felt safe with him. The warmth of that thought burrowed into her bones. He would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

  She looked up at Lucas. “Geoffrey is gone,” she said firmly, “and I would like to take a stroll with you.” What she really wanted was to take this time to acquaint herself with the man Lucas had become, not the teenager who had failed to save her years before. And she counted an evening stroll in Vauxhall an excellent way to begin.

  “As you wish,” Lucas said with a bow. Then he extended his arm to her, and she took it. What would come now was up to the two of them, and only them.

  Chapter Eight

  “Would you please take off that silly mask?”

  Lucas sighed as he escorted Diana down the main Vauxhall walk. The musicians were behind them, the lanterns illuminated them, and everywhere people speculated on his identity. “I cannot let people know who I am.”

  “Why not? Lucas, you cannot wish to be hidden from your family. They think you’re dead.”

  “I absolutely can,” he said softly. “You know my mother. How can you think—”

  “No,” she interrupted him. “Your mother is a lovely woman. A bit high in the instep, I suppose. I hear that if you cross her, she does not forgive. But you are her son—”

  “She once directed the gardener to drop me in a well and not retrieve me until morning. All because I had appeared before her in dirty clothes. I was seven and had escaped my nanny.”