Page 34 of The Allure Of Lord Devlin
She didn’t even wait for his reply. She turned and fled the room.
He had to grip the back of the chair to stop himself from dashing after her, but she spoke the truth. He had relinquished all hold on her and what was left of his heart fractured. The past few days had taught him something. He knew how to love. He loved his family, and this was for them. His sacrifice was so his family could live the life he wanted for them. The life they deserved.
Rosemary could marry Hawthorne. His brothers would stop trying to prove to the world how upstanding they were and come home where they would be safe, and his mother could take her place in society once more.
As he took his leave, he wondered if one day Dharma, when she had children and a family of her own, would realize and understand he had no choice.
* * *
“What did he want?” Dharma loved how Rosemary’s voice conveyed such hope.
She shook her head at her friend and tried to stop tears from welling as she flopped down on the bed in Rosemary’s bedchamber. “He came to warn me to stay out of his affairs.”
“So he hasn’t changed his mind? My brother is a stubborn fool.” Rosemary looked at Dharma while sitting at her dresser, adding the finishing touches for her ride with Hawthorne. “So, what are we going to do? Tobin has the parchment and is trying to decipher it. Fencourt is our only avenue if we want to help Devlin before he makes the worst mistake of his life.”
Dharma replied, “He’s already decided. He’s given his word to marry her. He won’t renege.”
“Then let’s hope she had some part to play in all of this, which allows him to renege.”
Dharma swiftly sat up. “He forbade me to talk with Fencourt, but he didn’t say I couldn’t talk to Mrs. McTavish.”
“Oh, no, that’s not a good idea. She’s not a nice person, and she could be dangerous. Besides, why would she confide in you? She knows how Devlin feels about you. She won’t want to help you.”
Rosemary was right. Blast it. “If she’s involved in this, I bet she has someone in London to help her. Someone she’s not told Devlin about. We should spy on her.”
“How would we do that?” Rosemary asked as she stood and looked at herself in the cheval mirror, giving a little twirl.
“You look lovely. Hawthorne won’t be able to take his eyes off you. We could invite her on some outings and see if anyone follows, or if she slips away for a moment to talk with anyone.”
Rosemary got this dreamy look in her eyes at her mention of Hawthorne. “Why don’t we organize an outing to Montague House? The museum has many places that Mrs. McTavish could orchestrate a secret meeting, or at least slip away from us and meet someone in secret.”
“Sometimes I could kiss you. That’s a wonderful idea. It will give us a chance to learn more about her. But Tobin will insist we take someone with us.”
Rosemary clapped her hands. “Let’s ask Hawthorne and Fencourt to accompany us. Then we can watch how Fencourt interacts with her. If she knows Longton, then she might know his son. Perhaps they aren’t clever enough to spend the afternoon with us without letting something slip. If we can see a link between them, then Devlin would have something to use to see that his honor would not be at stake if he backs out of their arrangement.”
“Your brother will not like Fencourt’s involvement.”
“He doesn’t have to know.”
Dharma scrambled off Rosemary’s bed. “Go. Have a lovely afternoon. I’ll send a note to Montague House to acquire tickets for tomorrow afternoon. Then I’ll send an invitation to Mrs. McTavish, inviting her to join us. I know Devlin is busy. Tobin mentioned they were off to Tattersalls. He wants Devlin’s opinion regarding Fencourt’s stallion.”
“But didn’t he also want Fencourt there too?”
“Leave Fencourt to me. He’ll join us, I’m sure.”
“This is so exciting.”
“The ride with Hawthorne, or us becoming spies?”
Rosemary laughed gaily as she headed to the door. “I want to say us becoming spies, but Hawthorne’s lips are so delicious.” With that, she flounced out the door.
Dharma ran her fingers over her lips, remembering Devlin’s kisses. His were delicious too.
She returned to her room and drew out some writing paper. She wasn’t about to let a woman like Mrs. McTavish have everything her way. It’s time Dharma did one thing she was very good at. Sticking up for her friend. That’s what Devlin was—he was a very good friend.
She wanted to make things right. Devlin may not love her, he may not even choose to marry her if he was free, all right, yes, he would. She wanted him to have the choice for a change. Too long he’d lived for duty and for his family.
As she wrote to the museum, she kept repeating in her head she wasn’t doing this for her. She wasn’t being selfish. She was doing this for him, not for her.
