My Lord Hercules (11 page)

Miranda tensed at hearing her
brother’s words. Harry winked at her, hoping to assuage her fears,
then he turned on his heel, bringing Miranda with him, to face the
viscount. “Ah, Marston. It’s been an age.”

“
Indeed.” The new viscount
inhaled deeply. “When I first heard your name mentioned yesterday,
I had hoped you’d be a steady influence on my sister.”

“
Does she require one?”
Harry asked. “She seems perfectly delightful to me.”

Marston rubbed his brow as though to
stave off a headache. “And you always struck me as so
sensible.”

Harry shrugged. “I’d like to think I’m
being sensible now.”

“
By hounding Woodsworth over
Miranda’s unfounded suspicions?”

She sucked in an affronted breath. “He
knows something, Devlin.”

Harry squeezed her hand, hoping she’d
let him deal with her brother. “Gifford agrees that we should hear
what Woodsworth has to say. There’s no harm in asking the man a few
questions.”

“
No harm?” Marston scoffed.
“I’d rather not have my sister accusing a peer of the realm of
committing nefarious acts, if you don’t mind, Casemore.”

Just as Harry wouldn’t want Pippa
doing something similar. At least Marston had his sister’s best
interest at heart, even if he couldn’t keep her from sneaking out
in one disguise after another in the dead of night. “Not to worry,
I’ll be the one asking the questions. Woodsworth doesn’t need to
know about Miranda at all.”

Beside him, Miranda gasped.
Then she slid her hand from Harry’s arm and stepped away from him.
“But Tessie’s
my
friend. I need to be there for her.”

“
Woodsworth will probably be
looser with his tongue if you’re not present, my dear.”

“
But what if you don’t ask
the right questions? I’m the one who’s read all of Tessie’s
letters. I’m the one who—”

“
It’s not up for debate,”
Marston grumbled. “I’m not sure how you coerced Casemore into this
madness—” he looked from Miranda and then back to Harry, his brow
furrowed with concern “—and I’m fairly certain I don’t want to
know, or I’ll be forced to call him out.”

“
Devlin!” Alessandra
Bartlett gasped and a hand fluttered to her chest.

The viscount didn’t seem affected at
all by his sister’s censorious tone. “Just be glad he’s willing to
question Woodsworth for you, Miranda. And don’t look a gift horse
in the mouth.”

Harry didn’t think he’d ever been
called a gift horse before and was just about to say as much when
Miranda cast her brother a mutinous expression, which struck a bit
of fear into Harry’s heart. Who knew what she was capable of when
pushed? Was Marston mad?

“
You can trust me to get the
truth, Miranda,” Harry vowed, dragging her attention from her
brother back to him.

Her expression softened as she met his
gaze. “But, Harry…” she breathed, making him wish they were
completely alone.

“
I do have a vested interest
in getting to the bottom of this.” In fact, if her brother and
sister weren’t in the same room with them, Harry would have pulled
Miranda into his arms and kissed her, reminded her how very
important the outcome was to him. After all, that had been their
deal, hadn’t it? She’d consent to marry him if he got the truth
from the marquess? Woodsworth would tell Harry everything he knew
if he wanted to keep his head attached to his shoulders.

A pretty pink stained Miranda’s
cheeks, which only made Harry smile. After they were married, he’d
have to see if he could provoke such a reaction from her on a
regular basis. He would have such a delightful time thinking up new
ways to make her blush.

“
And just what is this
vested interest?” Marston asked, breaking Harry from his
reverie.

“
Justice,” Miranda squeaked,
placing herself in front of Harry as though to keep her brother
from asking any other questions. She didn’t need to worry that he’d
tell Martson of their deal or of the times he’d encountered Miranda
in disguise. As far as Harry was concerned, all of that was between
the two of them.

“
Justice?” Alessandra
Bartlett echoed, her face drawn up in confusion.

“
Yes,” Miranda gushed, “Lord
Harrison has an innate sense of justice. He wants to make certain
London is a safe place for all ladies. Isn’t he
wonderful?”

What a ridiculous stream of drivel.
Marston must have thought so too because his brow rose in question
as his gaze settled on Harry. “Innate sense of justice,
hmm?”

Harry shrugged. What else could he do?
“I want to make certain London is a safe place for all ladies.” He
managed to echo Miranda’s words without laughing.

“
Only certain ladies concern
me,” Marston replied dryly. Then he closed his eyes, pinched the
Wood above his nose, and said, “I assume you plan on setting up an
appointment with me to discuss a certain lady.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile. “Just
as soon as I get the truth from Woodsworth. You know, making London
safe and all that.”

Marston shook his head as though
trying to sort Miranda out gave him a headache. “Word of advice,
Casemore.”

“
Yes?”

“
If you start off dancing to
her tune, you’ll be done for the rest of your days.”

Probably. Harry couldn’t wait. “But I
do like the sound of her tune.”

“
Don’t say I didn’t warn
you.”

Following Devlin, Lousia, Alessandra,
and Lord Puttenham into the St. Austell ballroom, Penny linked her
arm with Miranda’s and whispered in her ear, “You did hear about
Lady St. Austell kissing the earl right in the middle of Rotten Row
for the whole world to see, didn’t you?”

A footman intoned their names as they
stepped over the threshold.

Heavens! They were in the man’s
home.

“
They weren’t even married,”
Penny continued, though not quietly enough, “And you know the sort
of reputation
he
has.”

Devil glanced in their direction and
mouthed the word, “Enough.”

Though Miranda could have
done without Devlin’s notice, at least he put a stop to Penny’s
blathering. Miranda didn’t need to hear one more word about Lord
and Lady St. Austell’s scandalous courtship or anything else about
the pair. They were going to be her in-laws rather soon, after all.
Besides, no one’s courtship could be quite as scandalous as hers
and Harry’s had been, and she hoped no one ever learned all of the
details. Thank heavens Harry had driven her to a less populated
area of Hyde Park to kiss
her
senseless.

Unaffected by Miranda’s annoyance,
Penny grinned. “Ah, there’s your Sir Galahad, now.”

“
Sir Galahad?” Miranda
looked in direction Penny was staring to find Harry crossing the
floor toward her. Just like the first time she saw him in that
hell, her belly flipped. He truly did steal her breath, and soon
he’d be hers for all time. “I’ve always thought he’s much more like
Hercules, don’t you think?”

“
With his lion skin and
gnarled club?” Penny laughed. “Don’t know how I missed the
resemblance.”

Before Miranda could give her little
sister a proper set down, Harry stood before her, the picture of
raw masculinity adorned in fashionable, black eveningwear. His
green eyes twinkled as he smiled down at her. “My dear.”

“
My lord,” she returned,
sounding breathless to her own ears.

Penny promptly rolled her eyes.
“Hercules, indeed,” she muttered, though everyone heard
her.

“
Miss Penelope, good to see
you.” Harry’s brow furrowed as though he was trying to sort out why
she’d said such a thing, and Miranda sent a glare in her sister’s
direction. Blasted Penny and her big mouth. Then he turned his
attention to Devlin and the others. “So good to see all of you. I
was hoping to tempt Miss Miranda into taking a turn about the room
with me. Do you mind if I steal her away?”

“
Only if you promise to
return her before your inquisition starts,” Devlin
replied.

“
Inquisition?” Puttenham
frowned.

The last thing Miranda needed was her
sister’s dullard fiancé involving himself in the situation. So she
slid her arm through Harry’s and quickly glanced back at her
family. “I’ll be back before any detentions or tortures take
place.” Then she tugged Harry away from them before Devlin or any
of the others could call her back.

“
Detentions or tortures?”
Harry asked, his voice pitched low as they started toward the back
wall.

“
You know… the
Inquisition
.” Then she
scoffed. “Devlin thought he was being clever, that’s
all.”

“
And what about
Hercules?”

Oh, that. Miranda managed to keep from
stumbling. “That was just Penny being annoying.”

“
Oh, do tell,” he
prodded.

If the heat stinging her cheeks was
any indication of her complexion, her face must resemble the
reddest poppy ever grown.

“
Miranda, are you blushing?”
He pulled her closer to him as they navigated the sea of people in
their path. He dipped lower as though to see her better.

Blast Penny for mentioning Hercules.
She couldn’t possibly tell Harry she thought of him in such a way.
She’d die of embarrassment.

“
You must tell me now,” he
urged. “My interest is more than piqued.”

Miranda cleared her throat. “Don’t you
want to know what was in Tessie’s letters before you speak with
Woodsworth?”

“
Does it have anything to do
with Hercules?”

“
No,” she bit out. “But I
think…”

“
I think I’d much rather
hear about Hercules.” He led her past dancing couples in the middle
of the room, directing her around the perimeter.

“
Harry,” she complained. “We
haven’t much time.”

“
On the contrary. Gifford
hasn’t yet arrived with Woodsworth. We have all the time in the
world.”

“
But he could arrive at any
moment.” Her gaze flashed to the main entrance, where new guests
had just stepped into the ballroom.

“
Then you shouldn’t waste
your time, Miranda. Tell me about Hercules before they
arrive.”

Blast him, he was difficult. Would he
be this way all of their lives? “You,” she grumbled under her
breath.

“
Me? What about
me?”

She clamped her lips closed. She could
be just as stubborn as he was. Especially as she’d really rather
not tell her future husband that she thought of him as a demigod.
Such a statement might make him difficult to live with in the
future.

“
Miranda.” He halted his
steps and spun her to face him. “Why are you being so
secretive?”

“
I’m not,” she protested.
“Who knows what Penny meant? She’s always prattling away about
something.”

He chuckled. “But had that been the
case, you would have said so when I first asked.” A rakish grin lit
his lips. “No, you’re keeping something from me on purpose. So you
can either tell me the truth of it, or I’ll ask Penelope. I wager
she’ll tell me. What do you think?”

That blasted Penny would
tell him everything, and that would be even more embarrassing than
telling him herself. Miranda scowled at him. How did he always seem
to get what he wanted from her? “You. From the moment, I first
saw
you
, Harry,
you made me think of Hercules.”

A rather satisfied expression settled
across his handsome face. “Do I really?”

Perfect. He was going to be
an arrogant male about the whole thing. Miranda retrieved her hand
from his arm. “And that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. Now you’ll
be very smug from here on out, and
I’ll
have to live with you.” She
started to walk away, but he caught a handful of her sleeve and
pulled her back to him.

“
Oh, I think you’ll like
living with me.” His green eyes danced with merriment. “So, my
dear, tell me how I may serve you. Shall I kill a nemean lion or
destroy a hydra for you? What labor might I perform in your name,
my fair maiden?”