Chapter 4
“What?” Alys was apparently too shocked by his declaration to offer any objection when Devil turned her slightly so he could refasten the buttons on the back of her gown.
He could feel the trembling of her body as he did so. Whether it was out of anger at the situation she suddenly found herself in or the fear he had offered marriage rather than a monetary settlement she and Newcomb must have hoped for, Devil could not be sure. As he was unsure as to Alys’s involvement at all.
He stepped away once the gown was fully refastened. “What is your answer, Newcomb?” he demanded.
“Teddy, I do not want—”
“Be quiet, Alys,” Teddy Newcomb interrupted her icily. “You will remain here in your bedchamber while Deveril and I go downstairs to my study to discuss reparation for this slight on your reputation.”
She frowned. “What sort of reparation?”
“Unless I am mistaken, I am to offer a monetary settlement to your brother in order to avoid a scandal,” Devil grated, his narrowed gaze fixed on the younger man rather than Alys.
“Teddy, I cannot marry the marquis—”
“I have no intention of allowing you to do so,” her brother dismissed before turning to Deveril. “We will talk about this matter downstairs in private.”
Devil had now realized, too late, that Newcomb had to have been set on this course from the very beginning. That this was the only reason for the other man having invited him to Newcomb Manor. At the time, Devil had thought only that it fell in perfectly with his own plans to investigate Alys. An oversight which had caused him to completely miss the fact Teddy Newcomb had his own agenda regarding Devil’s presence here.
An agenda of which Alys was fully aware and had helped to facilitate?
Oh, Devil had no doubt she meant it when she said she did not wish to marry him. But he could not be so sure she was as averse to the monetary settlement her brother was going to demand for the silence of himself, his butler—and Alys?
He had already noted Alys’s change in circumstances since Peter Newcomb’s death. A change Alys might hold Devil completely responsible for, in view of her belief he had killed her father.
Was the lure of the Deveril’s fortune enough for her to be willing to deliberately set out, in collaboration with her brother, to entrap Devil with a view to blackmailing him?
Given the choice between Alys being a part of her brother’s duplicitous behavior or her being a spy for Napoleon, Devil would prefer she be the former. Treason would result in her being hung by her pretty neck until she was dead. Attempting to blackmail him would only incur Devil’s wrath.
But if Newcomb and Alys believed they were to have all this their own way, then they were mistaken. Devil now had every intention, despite the objections of both brother and sister, of making Alys his wife.
He nodded. “Alys, you will remain in your bedchamber while your brother and I go to his study to discuss terms. I suggest you use that time to begin packing up your belongings, because you will not be remaining here for much longer.” He turned away.
“Sebastian!”
Devil frowned as he glanced back at Alys. He had been Devil for so long, he doubted any but his most intimate circle of friends even knew his given name was Sebastian. Alys was the only woman he had ever invited to use such familiarity. She was now adding to the illusion of intimacy between the two of them by using his given name. Deliberately so? Again, Devil could not be sure.
“Do as I have instructed and remain here, Alys,” he told her coldly. “You and I will talk again once I have settled matters with your brother.”
When Alys rose from her bed this morning, she would never have guessed she would find herself in a situation such as this one before the morning had even ended.
Although Teddy’s conversation at breakfast regarding Deveril being a good catch certainly gave her pause for thought…
Had her brother planned for something like this to happen all along? Maybe not this morning specifically, but at some time during Deveril’s stay?
It certainly seemed that way.
Obviously, Deveril believed so too from the way he had looked at both Teddy and Alys with such contempt.
She had absolutely no idea why her brother had returned to the house when he was supposed to have gone out shooting with his friends half an hour ago. But she had no need to question Teddy as to his motive for having done so.
Teddy wanted money.
A factor in this situation Deveril seemed to have realized long before she had.
Why Deveril was allowing himself to be blackmailed at all, let alone insisting he intended to marry her, was a complete mystery to her. Yes, they had been caught together in an intimate situation, and her gown had been unfastened and her breasts bared, but it was not as if the two of them had actually been found in bed together.
Whatever the marquis’s reasoning, Alys had no intention of marrying him. Any more than she would allow herself to be used as a pawn by Teddy merely as a means of extracting money from the older man.
With that decision in mind, she decided there was no point in arguing the matter further with either of the two men. If they would not listen to the voice of reason, then she must make her own arrangements to circumvent this situation.
“How much do you want?” Devil demanded the moment he and Newcomb were alone in the other man’s study.
The younger man held up a decanter of brandy, pouring some into a glass for himself when Devil refused with an abrupt shake of his head. “How much do you think my sister’s reputation is worth?” He moved to sit in the chair behind the desk that dominated the room.
The fact the desktop was completely empty spoke volumes and was an indication of why the estate had been allowed to deteriorate so badly since Peter died. An estate manager was only as good as the man who employed him, and Teddy Newcomb’s lack of interest in the estate, other than to supply him with the necessary funds, was obvious.
Aware the other man had deliberately seated himself behind the desk, literally at the seat of power, Devil deliberately chose to make himself comfortable in the chair across the room and next to the unlit fireplace. “I am sure you already have some figure in mind,” he invited disgustedly.
“Thirty thousand pounds.”
Good God… “Fifteen.”
Newcomb grinned his triumph. “Then we’ll settle on twenty-five.”
In the grand scheme of things, twenty-five thousand pounds would not even put a dent in the Deveril fortune. As a matter of principle, however…
“We will settle on twenty,” Devil bit out. “But only as part of a betrothal and marriage contract, to be drawn up by my lawyer, whom I intend to send for immediately, along with a Special Marriage License granted by the Prince Regent.” He had no doubt Prinny would give him such a license.
The younger man eyed him coldly. “I believe my sister made it more than clear she does not wish to marry you.”
“Marriage to Alys is my price for giving you the twenty thousand pounds,” Devil insisted.
The other man sneered. “You wish to marry the woman who holds you completely and solely responsible for the death of our father?”
Devil forced his expression to remain impassive and not to let the younger man know his barb had hit home. Alys had made it very clear she still believed he was responsible for killing her father. That, along with Newcomb’s blackmail, did not bode well for wedded bliss between himself and Alys. “That did not appear to deter her in our lovemaking earlier,” he shot back.
Teddy Newcomb’s nostrils flared. “An impetuosity of nature I fully intend to curb at the earliest opportunity.”
Devil did not at all care for the malicious glitter in the younger man’s eyes, would not put it past Newcomb to use the physical chastisement Devil so abhorred in regard to a woman. “When Alys becomes my wife, I shall be the one to curb any of her character faults. As I see fit. And I will marry her, Newcomb, or you will not receive so much a penny from me.”
The younger man smiled confidently. “Society might have dismissed Alys’s accusation that you killed our father, but I doubt they would look on you so favorably if you were now accused of ravishing that same gentleman’s daughter.”
Which, Devil knew, was precisely the reason Newcomb believed he had the upper hand in this matter. He could even admire the younger man for his audacity. At the same time, he reviled Newcomb for having used Alys in this despicable manner, with or without her agreement. “Accuse away, Newcomb,” he invited without concern. “I believe you will find I have influence in Society you are not privy to.”
“Even the Prince Regent might frown upon such behavior as this,” Newcomb challenged.
“I have the complete trust of the Prince Regent,” Devil assured him confidently. Prinny’s only interest at the moment was in finding the woman who had acted as spy for Napoleon. “Make your choice, Newcomb. Alys marries me, and you receive twenty thousand pounds. Or she does not marry me, you receive nothing, and the people who matter in Society will hear of your trickery today.”
Newcomb’s eyes narrowed. “You drive a hard bargain, Deveril.”
Which was why Devil’s estates were all in good order and the Deveril fortune added to since he became marquis, rather than depleted as the Newcomb estate seemed to have been under Teddy Newcomb’s management these past three years.
Devil arched a brow. “Well?”
“Take what is on offer while it is on offer, hmm?” Newcomb scowled. “I will want the money as soon as the betrothal contract has been signed rather than when the marriage takes place,” he added slyly.
“As I fully intend to marry Alys within the week, I see no problem in agreeing to that.” Devil gave a terse inclination of his head. He wanted this unpleasant business with Newcomb out of the way as soon as possible so that he and Alys could make the arrangements for their wedding.
Wedding.
The full import of the past half an hour hit Devil with the force of a hammer blow.
What was he doing?
Newcomb was not demanding Devil marry Alys, only that he receive payment for his silence. So why was Devil insisting on marrying her?
One possible reason could be because the only time Devil had so much as given a thought to matrimony had been three years ago. To Alys. But Peter’s murder had put paid to that idea, and no other woman had tempted Devil to contemplate the parson’s mousetrap since.
Newcomb might have thought he was being clever in manipulating this situation to his advantage, but Devil’s reciprocal demand meant he was entering into this marriage with his eyes open and under his own terms.
He might not believe in physical punishment for a woman, but there was more than one way to achieve suitable retribution for the events of today. Once she was Devil’s wife, Alys would become his property, to do with as he willed.
He was not a vengeful man, nor a violent one, but he did intend his marriage to Alys to be a real one. It might have come about because of blackmail and extortion, to be sure, but it ultimately meant Alys would finally become his. He had barely begun to touch her today, could not wait to taste her everywhere—
A knock sounded on the study door, causing the intimacy of Devil’s thoughts to cease as both men turned expectantly to look toward that door. Devil would not be pleased if it was Alys, having ignored his instruction for her to remain in her bedchamber.
“Enter,” Newcomb instructed tersely, obviously assuming the same.
It was the butler, not Alys, who appeared in the open doorway. “I am sorry to interrupt you, Sir Edward, but I thought you would wish to know Miss Alys has gone to the stables and is saddling her horse. From the small leather bag she tried to hide beneath her cloak, I believe it to be in readiness for departing Newcomb Manor.”
Devil drew in a sharp breath. Not only had Alys disobeyed him by not remaining in her bedchamber, but she was actually thinking of leaving Newcomb Manor while he was otherwise occupied with the unpleasant business of dealing with her brother.
With what purpose in mind?
Because she really had underestimated Devil and had not thought today’s trickery would result in his deciding she was to marry him?
If that was the case, then Alys had seriously underestimated him. Devil might not be known for his temper, but that was because it never made an appearance in public. In private, it could be a totally different matter, if a situation warranted it. This situation most certainly warranted it.
“Stay where you are,” he instructed Teddy Newcomb as the younger man would have stood. “We have concluded the terms of our agreement.” Devil rose to his feet. “Alys is now mine, to do with as I wish.”
Newcomb frowned. “I would need the funds before that is the case.”
Not the marriage, only the funds. This man really was a complete and utter bastard. “You doubt my word as a gentleman?” The threat could clearly be heard in the iciness of Devil’s tone.
The younger man’s eyes widened as he seemed to realize for the first time that he did not have the upper hand in this situation after all. “No, of course not.”
Devil nodded tersely. “Then you will leave me to deal with my future wife.”
Newcomb still appeared nonplussed. “If that is what you wish.”
“It is,” he bit out.
“Very well. But you and Alys will remain here until your lawyer has arrived and the funds have been transferred to me.”
Devil did not deign to so much as make a reply but instead raised a brow at the butler as indication the man should get out of the doorway. That the butler had been a party to Newcomb’s plan, Devil had absolutely no doubt. In fact, he would not be surprised if the butler was not responsible for Newcomb having known the exact moment to return to the house so that he might find Alys and Devil in a compromising situation in her bedchamber. The timing of that, at least, could not have been Alys’s doing.
But the rest of it?
No doubt Alys would have seen blackmailing money out of Devil as a suitable revenge for her mistaken belief he was responsible for killing her father. An event that had led to the unhappy circumstances of her life now. The fact Devil had offered marriage as well as money must have been as much as a shock to her as it had her brother.
So much so, she had seen leaving Newcomb Manor, while Devil was otherwise occupied, as her way of delaying, perhaps avoiding that outcome completely?
Napoleon’s spy be damned.
Devil’s only purpose now was to apprehend Alys and render appropriate retribution for her having thought he would ever let her escape marriage to him.