Page 48 of Enticed By an Earl
Everything within Dev wanted to argue, and to beat Seymour into a pulp, but there was a germ of truth in what he said. He did not feel as if it were madness, but the rest of the world would see it as such.
He did not have a chance to make any sort of argument to refute Seymour. Before he could, Lady Everly walked around the corner of the church, a look of concern on her face.
“Is there some sort of trouble here?” she asked, glancing first to Kitty, then at Dev, then Seymour. Her eyes went wide, then narrowed with contempt at the sight of Seymour.
“I’ll say there’s some trouble,” Seymour said. “Do you know who Lord Deveraux has betrothed himself to?”
Dev sucked in a breath, furious that Seymour would bandy something so tender and precious about as if it were a ball in a children’s game. He seemed not to be able to wait to tell the secret and ruin Kitty’s life.
Lady Everly pulled herself to her full height, stared down her nose at Seymour contemptuously, and said, “Yes. Yes, I do.”
Seymour blinked in surprise for a moment, then glanced between Lady Everly and Kitty. His expression shifted to knowing. “But of course you do,” he said. “You and him have been as thick as thieves for years. I would not be at all surprised if you had something to do with this abomination.” He jerked his chin toward Kitty, who lowered her head in shame. “You and my grandmother were always getting into trouble, or so Mother always says. It is no wonder she cut you off when Grandmother died.”
Dev was too indignant over the way his beloved had wilted in the face of Seymour’s callousness to pay much mind to his words. It killed him inside to see Kitty so terrified,and even more so because she had every reason to be afraid.
“You will not tell a soul what you have seen here today,” Dev said, pulling himself to his full height and looking down his nose at Seymour. “You will keep this all to yourself.”
Seymour turned incredulously to Dev. “And why would I do that?” he demanded. “This pathetic waste of time has made my life miserable and denied me what should be mine. I relish the notion of seeing him brought low and locked up in Bedlam.”
Kitty gasped and tensed at Dev’s side and Lady Everly looked mutinous, but Dev smiled.
“That is precisely why you will say nothing,” he said. “The Earl of Castleton is still missing. If he is presumed dead, you would not only be rid of a brother you and your family never cared for, you would become the heir and the new Earl of Castleton without any sort of fuss at all.”
Seymour narrowed his eyes at Dev, clearly considering the idea.
“But if you expose the truth, you resurrect your brother,” Dev went on. “Even if you sent him to Bedlam, you would still be the second son. Christopher would still be the earl, and should your father die before him, he would be the duke, regardless of his residence or state of health. Would you truly risk your own advancement in the world out of spite and a desire to see a man you dislike humiliated?”
A heavy silence fell over the churchyard. Seymour stared sharply at Dev, but it was clear he did not see him. He was likely looking into the future, to his own life as an earl and as a duke.
“I think it would be best for all if whatever encounter has just happened here was forgotten about entirely,” Lady Everly said, moving to stand by Kitty’s other side and taking her hand. “It seems to me that the most favorable outcomefor all would be if the Earl of Castleton was never spoken of again.”
Seymour glanced to her with a look of hatred, but kept his focus primarily on Dev.
“A thousand guineas,” he said at last, standing straighter, a wicked look in his eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” Lady Everly asked, though Dev already knew what the man meant.
“I will hold my tongue and take this sordid secret to my grave if you pay me a thousand guineas,” Seymour said.
“That is an outrageous sum,” Lady Everly said in offense.
Dev held up a hand to calm her, never taking his eyes from Seymour. He despised the idea of paying for secrets to be kept. The practice was never reliable, as the one being paid could easily come back and demand more money time after time. But if he agreed to Seymour’s terms, it might buy them time to devise an alternative plan. They only needed three weeks, until after the wedding, so that he could take Kitty away to the country and remove her from anyone who would seek physical proof of the things Seymour said.
“I agree,” he said in a low, resentful voice.
“Dev, you do not have to do this,” Kitty said, shifting closer to him so that she could grasp his arm. “You know that he will not be satisfied with a thousand guineas. He will not stop until he has ruined both of us.”
“Perhaps,” Seymour said, puffing himself up as though he had already won the game they were playing. “Perhaps not. You will not know unless you give me a try.”
Dev glared at the man again. He was a rank bastard, but he was clever. And in an all-too palpable way, he had the upper hand.
“If you send me the information for your account I will have the money deposited there directly for you,” Dev said. “However, if you go back on your word or tell another livingsoul what you have witnessed here today, including any other members of your family, I will make your life a living hell. And believe me, with the friends I have and the company I keep, justice will be swift and painful.”
It was a terrific gamble to threaten Seymour in such a manner, but it appeared to work. Seymour blanched and took a step back. He glanced to Kitty, then back at Dev.
“I will give you three days to deposit the funds,” he said, as tense as a tiger about to strike. “If you attempt to go back on your word, not only will my father know about this, all of London will know as well.”
“We understand the terms of our deal, then,” Dev said, tilting his chin up so he could look down his nose at Seymour. He was beyond relieved that Seymour had implied he would not share the truth with the Duke of Bedminster, at least not immediately.
