Page 47 of Enticed By an Earl
“Where has Kitty gone?” he asked outright, worry beginning to take hold in him.
“I believe she needed a moment of quiet and calm to compose herself,” Dev’s mother said with an understanding smile.
“The conversation took a turn toward the missing Lord Castleton,” Lady Everly said in somewhat veiled tones. “I believe that topic upsets her.”
Dev nodded in understanding. Of course it would upset her.
He turned to march off in the direction his mother indicated Kitty had gone, cursing himself for letting his guard down too early in the game. He had nearly forgotten that his beloved and the Earl of Castleton were one and the same, but if they were not careful, others would not make that mistake.
Proof of that hit him moments later, as he rounded the corner of the church to find Lord George Seymour standing face to face with Kitty, his hand around Kitty’s neck, growling threats that made Dev’s heart drop to his feet.
Kitty’s brother knew the truth.
“Unhand her at once!” Dev shouted, striding forward like a man who was charging into a battle that could end a war, one he was not entirely certain he could win.
Seymour jerked back, letting Kitty’s neck go, but as soon as he recognized Dev, his look of alarm turned into a sneer. “You!”
Dev ignored him for the moment, rushing on to whisk Kitty into his arms and to widen the gap between her andSeymour. Kitty sobbed in fear and clung to Dev with one hand, touching her throat with the other. In an instant, Dev could see why. The thick ribbon she wore to hide her Adam’s apple had come loose due to Seymour’s grip.
“How dare you manhandle a woman in such a way?” Dev leapt to Kitty’s defense, shielding her with a half-embrace as he glanced over his shoulder at Seymour. “What kind of man are you?”
“I could ask you the same?” Seymour snarled, his mouth spreading into a vicious smile, as if he were the one who had the upper hand. “And I could ask that one as well.” He pointed to Kitty.
Dev clenched his jaw, uncertain how to manage the situation. He turned his back entirely on Seymour for a moment, intent on making certain Kitty was alright first.
“Are you well?” he asked in as tender a voice as he could manage with his temper close to towering. “Has he hurt you at all?”
Kitty shook her head, but she trembled like a leaf as well. “He has not hurt me,” she said quietly.
Dev could see that was not the case. Seymour might not have done any physical damage, but Kitty was clearly suffering.
“All will be well,” Dev said, leaning in and taking the loose ribbon from Kitty’s unsteady hands. “I will defend you until my last breath,” he added in a whisper near her ear as he refastened the tiny hooks on the back of the ribbon that kept it in place.
He had not spoken so quietly that Seymour did not hear, however. The odious man barked a laugh and then snorted. “Do I ever have a surprise for you, my lord,” he said. “This fine, sweet, country lass you’re so enamored of is no lass at all.”
Dev finished with the ribbon then turned to glower at Seymour. “I would watch my tongue if I were you,” he said.
“And you should watch a great deal more than that,” Seymour said with a smirk. “You know your Miss Kitty is not a miss, do you not?”
Dev glared at the man even harder. “How dare you insult my fiancée’s honor in such a way?”
“Your fiancée?” Seymour burst into a laugh. “Has the world truly been turned upside down? You cannot marry that…that thing. The church would never allow it, let alone the law. And do you want to know why?”
Seymour’s gloating look was insufferable. Dev kept his scowl firmly in place, refusing to be led along in whatever moment the man was trying to create.
A few seconds later, understanding dawned in Seymour’s eyes.
“Oh, so you already knew,” he said, nodding slowly. He glanced between Dev and Kitty like he’d suddenly found a pot of gold in the middle of the road. “You knew that this aberration of nature is my missing brother.”
“Lord Castleton is missing and will remain so forever,” Dev said, shifting to stand by Kitty’s side so that he could rest a comforting hand on the small of her back. “In three weeks’ time, the only person that will remain will be Lady Catherine Ogilvy.”
Seymour laughed out loud at the statement. “Are you really so naïve?” he demanded. “What sort of madness has possessed you that you believe you could get away with such a scheme?”
Beside Dev, Kitty lowered her head, as if she had been asking herself the very same question.
“Love can do a great many things,” Dev growled in answer, balling his fist.
Seymour snorted again. “You call it love? I call it perversion.”
