Page 18 of Enticed By an Earl
Castleton jerked to a stop as if someone had fired acannon near him and searched around. As soon as he spotted Dev, he jerked again, then broke into a smile.
Something about that smile tickled Dev’s brain and had his heart beating faster.
“Lord Deveraux,” Castleton said, changing directions slightly so that he met up with Dev and James just off the path. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Dev said. He pivoted to gesture to James. “You know my brother, of course. Lord Chalfont.”
“Yes, of course,” Castleton said, tipping his hat slightly.
James greeted the man in turn. “Lord Castleton,” he said, smiling.
“I missed seeing you at the ball the other night,” Dev said, remembering the other thing about the ball that had stuck with him. He’d been sorely disappointed not to see Castleton there.
“Oh. Yes. I am terribly sorry,” Castleton said, immediately flustered. “I intended to come, but, you see….” The man glanced over his shoulder as if expecting demons to be following him.
“Think nothing of it,” Dev said, pretending not to care. “The invitation was sent late at any rate.”
“It is not that,” Castleton said, turning back to him with wide eyes. “It is only that…er…I was taken ill at the last moment.”
Dev frowned slightly. He was not certain he believed the man’s excuse. As he had worried the week before, when he’d rescued Castleton from his attacker, Dev wondered if Castleton was entirely safe. Something might have transpired that had made him fear to leave his house. He certainly seemed to be on edge now.
“Would you care to walk with us?” he offered. “That is, if you do not have other business to attend to.”
“No!” Castleton said too forcefully. He cleared his throat, peeked at James, and lowered his head a bit before continuing with, “That is, no, I have no other business. I should like very much to walk with you.”
When he smiled again, Dev felt as though he’d done something right.
He also felt a deeper tickle of something familiar.
“I shall leave the two of you to it,” James said, taking a step back from them, a hint of knowing in his eyes. “Amelia wanted me to return to the house as early as possible today. She has an invitation to a tea in Queen Victoria’s honor, and for some ghastly reason, she wishes my help in deciding on a gown.”
“Give her and the babies my best,” Dev said, sending his brother a sly look as he stepped away.
Once James was gone, Dev turned his full attention to Castleton.
“Have you been quite well since last we met, my lord?” he asked, narrowing his eyes the way his mother did when she studied someone, though his sight was perfectly unaffected.
“Yes, quite,” Castleton said breathlessly…and unconvincingly. “How…how was your mother’s ball?”
Dev gestured for Castleton to walk with him, though they ended up turning and walking back the way Dev had come, since Castleton seemed reluctant to retrace his steps.
“It was splendid,” Dev said. “Mother spent extravagantly on the decorations, the musicians, and the refreshments. Father took to his bed in agony upon seeing the bill yesterday morning.”
Castleton laughed airily, like he believed the jest to be amusing but was too anxious to fully appreciate it.
“There was no shortage of female dance partners either,” Dev continued, clasping his hands behind him as they walked. “Mother was certain to find every unattached younglady she could to dangle in front of me as incentive to marry.”
Castleton nodded and hummed, almost like he was well aware of the fact.
Dev glanced at him, eyes narrowed once more. The back of his brain prickled as if he were on the edge of touching something that would give him a spark.
“I suppose your mother is the same way, wishing you to marry and throwing young ladies into your path,” he said.
Castleton made a wry sound. “She has tried, but to no avail.”
More prickles raced through Dev. He had guessed long before that Castleton was not the marrying type, to put it gently. That did not mean, as heir to a dukedom, that he would not be required to marry and somehow force out an heir. Plenty of men of his proclivities had been made to do their duty to their family and their country before, and plenty would be asked to do so in the future.
“At least you know the singular embarrassment of being presented with marriageable misses as though your tailor was presenting you with silks for a neckcloth,” Dev said.
