The Luck of the Devil
Barbara Metzger
Rowanne was not about to let any practiced flirt cause her one more ounce of anguish.
"I am minded to steal another memory to take back with me to cherish," Carey declared.
Rowanne did not want another scene, and she did not want him staring at her with that devilish gleam that made her toes curl in her slippers.
"It's only a kiss I want to steal," he murmured, matching action to words like the military man he was, taking her gently in his arms and bringing their lips together. It was a moment of such bursting radiance that Rowanne forgot her toes, forgot that she was spreading more raspberry stains on his unmentionables where they were touching her body in the most interesting manner.
Only a kiss…?
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
The Luck of the Devil copyright © 1991 by Barbara Metzger
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. The Luck of the Devil was originally published by Ballantine Books in 1991.
This one's for all my heroes, but especially Steve for all the years, Skip for all the roses, and Gene for no reason I've ever understood.
H
eavens, child, you are as nervy as a fox on opening day of the hunt season. I do not understand you, Rowanne. It is not as if you were some green girl never out in society before."
"Yes, Miss Simpson." Her governess-turned-companion was correct, of course. Rowanne Wimberly had been hostess for her widowed father for two years before his death and for her older brother Gabriel during the year of mourning since. The younger woman nodded, but still she remained at her mirror, twitching uncertainly at the tendrils of soft brown hair framing her face.
"Do you think all these curls make me look childish, ma'am?"
"Gracious, Rowanne, Monsieur Henri assured us they were all the crack. You wouldn't want to appear as a matron, would you?" Before her charge could start tugging up the
décolletage of her gown again, a neckline cut lower than any Rowanne had ever worn, revealing more of Miss Wimberly than anyone but her maid had seen, Miss Simpson reassured her on that score also. "No more would you want to be considered one of the infantry. Now come, my dear, this is not like you. Your gown is superb, your hair is charming, and your brother is waiting."
Rowanne stood, however reluctantly. "We mustn't keep the horses standing, not after all it took to convince Gabe to accompany us." She gathered up her beaded reticule, her fan, and her courage, and headed for the door. "But are you sure about the pearls?"
Miss Simpson clucked impatiently. They had discussed the pearls twice too often for her taste. "Yes, dear, the pearls are eminently suitable for a young lady in her first Season. Even if you are above the usual age, all of nineteen, your mama's diamonds would appear coming and the emeralds would make you look like a painted woman, with the color of your gown." The deep-rose satin was far more attractive to Miss
Wimberly's honeyed coloring than debutante white would have been, if she were indeed a giddy seventeen-year-old. The ivory lace overskirt kept the gown from being too sophisticated for one not officially out. "The pearls are just the thing. Now shall we leave? Remember, they close the doors at eleven."
Miss Simpson was talking to Rowanne's back. "One minute more," Miss Wimberly called, rummaging in the velvet-covered chest atop her dresser. "There," she declared triumphantly, coming up with a small brooch, a pink coral cameo, which she held out to her ex-governess. "Mama gave it to me when I was barely six or so. See, it has her miniature inside." Rowanne flipped the tiny catch to show Miss Simpson the portrait that could have been Rowanne herself, so similar were her looks to her deceased mother's. She closed the locket and fixed the pin right at the vee of her neckline. She touched the cameo. "For luck. Now I am ready."
"Fustian," declared Miss Simpson, straightening her own gray silk gown and checking the neat bun at the back of her head. "Luck has nothing to do with it. You are the granddaughter of an earl and sister to a rising Parliamentarian. You are a substantial heiress, a charming-looking and well-figured young woman with, if I may say so who shouldn't, an excellent education and pleasing manners. Now do cry halt to all of these vaporish musings, Rowanne, before I get the headache in truth. After all, we are only going to Almack's."
"Only Almack's," Miss Wimberly echoed, trailing her companion down the hall.
There were three major hurdles in the frenzied steeplechase of a young girl's comeout: her curtsy to the queen, the most lavish ball her family was able to provide in her honor, and her acceptance at Almack's.
Miss Rowanne Wimberly sailed over the first fence with ease. Hadn't she been trotted around foreign courts all her life in the wake of her parents, when her father was with the diplomatic corps? She had been dandled on the knees of many an eminence, and Prince George himself had once carried the brown-eyed moppet on his shoulders, neighing in horse fashion to her childish delight. Her brother Gabriel had only to present Rowanne's name to Prinny's secretary and Miss Wimberly was summoned to the queen's next Drawing Room, hooped skirts and all. Rowanne neither blushed, stammered, fainted, nor fell over, so she was declared a pretty thing, whose parents would have been proud. Prinny pinched her, which Gabe assured Rowanne meant she was a success.
The debutante ball was another minor obstacle to overcome. The Wimberlys had no close kin in Town to demand a major crush to puff off the family's latest bud. Their uncle Donald, the Earl of Clyme, never came to London, so his niece and nephew had free rein with Wimberly House, Grosvenor Square, where they made their home. Most hopeful parents invited as many of the upper ten thousand as they could fit in their homes to their daughters' comeouts, and then some, in an effort to impress the ton with the family's financial worth and the chit's possibilities as a bride to some equally as well-born and well-breeched scion. Most times these crushes resulted in long waits on the carriage lines, no room to dance, insufficient refreshments, and too much noise for conversation. Instead, Rowanne and Gabriel invited only a select hundred or so guests and treated them lavishly. Feeling the awkwardness of being hostess for her own comeout, Rowanne invited mostly her parents' closest acquaintances and Gabriel's political associates.
She did write to Uncle Donald, just as she dutifully wrote him every second month, plus Christmas and his birthday, informing him of the event. Lord Clyme declined, to no one's surprise, but he did send her a small diamond tiara to wear, and a check to underwrite the expenses. Rowanne thought she could like her uncle very well and regretted the estrangement that had kept her father and Uncle Donald apart. As she later wrote to the earl, her ball was a grand success. The supper was delicious, the orchestra excellent, the talk elevating and intelligent. Even the prince regent stopped in for a moment and kissed her hand, then her cheek. Rowanne's reputation as a discerning hostess was secure.
But the third hurdle was Almack's. Now that was going to be a rough ride.
Rowanne had no intention of making a splash in polite society. She hadn't the least desire to become the Season's Incomparable or even a Belle. Her looks were passable, she knew, her fortune respectable, her ambitions modest. She decided she would hate the butterfly existence of her parents, flitting in constant travels, filling every moment with the social rounds. Miss Wimberly saw herself more as a humble inch-worm, all feet on the ground, finding pleasure in small things, moving at a much slower speed. Occasionally she thought she might be happier in the country than in the city, although she hardly knew the rural life since her parents had disdained it so well. But her brother Gabriel was fixed in Town, scholarly, dedicated Gabe, waiting to take his seat in the Lords when he came into Uncle Donald's title. Meantime he was working with the Under Secretaries, researching policies, polishing speeches. Even Lord Castlereagh had commented that the boy had a good future ahead of him. Rowanne could not leave dear Gabriel to fend for himself, even if he was her elder by five years. The bookish Gabe would forget to eat if left to his own devices, and would certainly have no idea of making the right connections for a political career. Rowanne might picture herself off in Dorset tending roses, but she could never see Gabe, spectacles and all, rigged out as a country squire among pigs and sheep and cows. So here she was in London, a debutante at nineteen, about to make her first appearance at Almack's.
The problem was that while Miss Rowanne Wimberly did not seek to cut a dash through the ton, neither did she wish to be a wallflower. Vouchers to the sacrosanct Marriage Mart were easy to come by, with a morning call to her mother's friend Sally Jersey, but attendance alone at the assembly rooms in King Street did not mean acceptance in the belle monde. Only if she was seen to be popular would the other invitations and introductions follow. If a girl did not "take" at Almack's, her social life hit a rasper. Gabe's learned associates were not likely to be found dancing on a Wednesday evening, nor would her father's cronies be looking over this year's crop of debutantes, and she certainly could not count on Prinny himself coming or singling her out in the squeeze. So who would dance with Rowanne? She had no mother or aunt to make introductions to mothers and aunts of likely young men, nor even any girlfriends likely to share their extra beaux. What friends Rowanne had managed to make in her early unsettled life were either abroad or married, retired from the lists.
Rowanne did have Gabriel, of course, who was just as liable to forget her existence if there should be an interesting discussion about the trade embargoes. And she did have Miss Simpson to lend her countenance. Even if that dear lady believed her duck to be a swan, however, she knew even less members of the ton than Rowanne and was, in fact, only a paid companion. So who would dance with Rowanne?
No one, that's who. After the first quadrille with Gabe, who had to be turned twice to get the figures straight, Rowanne was presented by Lady Jersey with a partner for the next set, a spotted youth who could neither dance nor converse and who, furthermore, was a good two inches shorter than Miss
Wimberly. When the contra danse was mercifully ended, Rowanne limped over to where Miss Simpson had found them seats on the edge of the dance floor and gratefully sank into the little gilded chair. There she sat. And sat. She smoothed her long white gloves; she examined every spoke of her fan. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her. No such luck. A rough ride indeed.
A
s the evening progressed, excruciating minutes dragging by into endless hours, Almack's became more crowded and the seats around Rowanne and Miss Simpson filled with other unfortunates. A bloated dowager claimed the chair on Miss Simpson's side, her purple turban fixed with a diamond the size of a robin's egg. Next to her she installed two giggly dumplings of daughters, swathed in tiers of white lace like matching wedding cakes. A frowning matron dressed entirely in black and smelling of camphor took the seat next to Rowanne. Obviously some more popular miss's duenna, the older woman surveyed the overdressed dowager near Miss Simpson and muttered what Rowanne interpreted as "jumped-up merchant's mushrooms." She sniffed, nodded at Rowanne and her companion, and promptly took out a book to read, ignoring the music, the company, and the other social misfits relegated to the spectators' seats. At least Rowanne could listen to the chatter of Mrs. Fitzwaller of Yorkshire, who was quick to make the introduction.
"I told Mr. Fitzwaller, I did. We'd be ducks out of water in London, I said. But would he listen? Is there ever a man who does? No, ma'am. His sister danced at Almack's and his daughters were blessed well going to appear here too. No matter to him that his stiff-rumped sister bespoke us vouchers and then left town to visit an ailing friend. Ailing, my aunt Ada. No matter, my girls are seeing London and they'll have plenty of tales to take back home to Sparrowbush. Have you and your young lady seen those Greek marble things everyone is raving about? Perishing bits of potsherds, if you ask me. Mr. Fitzwaller wouldn't let me set one out in the garden, you can be sure. Missing arms and noses and all, why, the neighbors would think we couldn't afford to replace the broken ones."
Rowanne bit her lip but Miss Simpson politely concurred, which was all Mrs. Fitzwaller needed to continue. "Town bronze, that's what Mr. Fitzwaller calls it. Town soot is more like it. But no matter, my girls can go home soon and marry good solid Yorkshire lads, boys not afraid to get their hands in the dirt. Why, I wouldn't have one of these London coxcombs for my girls, no, not even if he came with a title and twenty thousand pounds a year. Just look there, that chap's coat is so tight he couldn't do a day's work, and his shirt collar stiff enough to poke his eye out, and him acting as lost as a motherless lamb. If that's another prime example of London manhood, don't you know, I can take my girls home tomorrow." Mrs. Fitzwaller poked Miss Simpson with a beringed sausage-shaped finger. Miss Simpson turned away, coughing, so the other woman applied to Rowanne. "What do you think, missy?"
Rowanne stood up and smiled for the first time that evening. "I think that fribble is my brother Gabriel, Baronet
Wimberly, come for his second dance." She also thought she heard a snort of amusement from the dark-clad woman on her other side, and a murmured, "And only ten thousand a year."
Rowanne did not release Gabriel after the dance, keeping a firm hold on his arm lest he disappear into some alcove again to discuss government policies. When she hissed in his ear that he absolutely had to introduce her to at least one dancing partner, Gabriel looked around vaguely, then drew his spectacles from his pocket.
"Ah, there's Lord Quinton. Fine fellow. Knows all about the Acts of Council."
But Rowanne wanted to dance, not listen to a lecture by a prosy old bore with snuff stains on his shirtfront and creaking stays. Finally she took Gabriel's arm again and towed him toward the gilt chairs and the Misses Fitzwaller. At least one of the wallflowers should have a dance.
"My brother is in politics," Rowanne told Mrs. Fitzwaller, after the two girls giggled and blushed and shoved each other over who should have the treat of being Gabriel's partner.
"That's all right, dear," Mrs. Fitzwaller commiserated, "I had a cousin who was a Captain Sharp."
Gabe danced with the other Fitzwaller daughter next,
demonstrating he had at least a modicum of awareness of how to go on in polite society, to Rowanne's relief. His behavior, or the entertainment value of the interlude, served to thaw the black-garbed woman next to Rowanne into conversation with her and Miss Simpson.
Miss Sophronia Grimble was, as Rowanne had suspected, companion to a young woman of the first consequence, Lady Diana Hawley-Roth, a Diamond who was sure to stay unseated the entire evening. Now in her third successful Season, Lady Diana could look as high as she wished for an eligible parti and she wished to look for a duke, perhaps an earl. A baron at the very least. Meantime, and as part of her job, Miss Grimble knew everyone in the ton.
Miss Grimble did not know the haute monde in the sense of acquaintance; she knew them more in the way a confirmed gambler knew every racehorse, each one's stable and stud. Just so, the austere Miss Grimble knew the families and finances of all those present at Almack's that Wednesday, their ancestors and incomes, their aims and eligibility. None of the young females, of course, could hold a candle to her lady; none of the gentlemen was quite up to Miss Hawley-Roth's weight. Miss Grimble was pleased enough to expound on the gathering for Rowanne's edification, flaunting her knowledge of which sprig was below hatches and hanging out for an heiress, which miss was hoping new ribbons would disguise last year's gown. Rowanne was more entertained than she had been all evening. At least the clock's hands were kept moving.
At the stroke of eleven, when Rowanne thought it must be quite one o'clock and nearly time to go home, there was a stir at the entry. Just as Almack's doors were closing to the last arrivals, three young men, each tall, well built, and dark-haired, two in the regulation dark coats and white knee breeches and the third in a scarlet-coated uniform, strode under the arch to be greeted by the lady patronesses. Polite conversations changed to outright gossip as everyone nearby noted the presence of the newcomers, and Rowanne was just as curious as the rest about three such obvious Corinthians. Miss Grimble did not fail her.
"Delverson's Devils, they are. Though what three such hey-go-mad rogues are doing in Almack's of all places is beyond me. Setting the cat among the pigeons, for sure. Look at all the hopeful mamas. They don't know whether to scoop their daughters out of harm's way or push them forward hoping to be noticed."
"Are the young men not acceptable then?" Rowanne wanted to know. From her seat they seemed elegant and animated, with healthy outdoor coloring and broad shoulders. What a shame if they should be asked to leave.
"Oh, they are good ton when they choose, which is rare enough. That's what all the fuss is about. The three of them are more usually up to some hell-raising or other, instead of doing the pretty out at parties and such. Wherever there is a wild bet or scatterbrained scheme, an unbroken horse, unbeaten pugilist, or comely serving wench, that's where you'll find Delverson's Devils."
"Devil's?"
"Aye, that's what they've been called, since birth, I assume. Old Cornelius Delverson, he was the Duke of St. Dillon then, raised them up, such as it was. St. Dillon was a sporting-mad gambler and a rakehell himself, with no time for motherless lads who were wild to a fault even then. St. Dillon passed on and Harry, he's the heavyset one, came into the title and fortune early. Once he reached his majority there were no holds on any of them anymore. The youngest one is Harry's brother Joss Delverson, who they say can ride anything with four legs. The third, the scamp in the uniform, as if he needed a uniform to turn all the girls' heads, is a cousin, Harmon Carrisbrooke Delverson, I believe. They call him Carey so there's no confusion with his cousin. Word is he never got on with his step-mama or her sister when she moved in—Selcrofts they were—so he made his home at St. Dillon Abbey in Somerset. None of the Devils are used to petticoat government, that's for sure. The county must have run out of foxes and virgins both, to send the Devils up to London. Pardon, Miss Wimberly."
Miss Simpson was scarlet-faced and the Fitzwaller girls were tittering. Their mother was scowling at the very thought of three such libertines near her precious chicks. "Mr. Fitzwaller shall hear of this, you can be sure," she declared.
"I never heard of any real harm in the boys," Miss Grimble protested, "just wild oats. All young men go through that stage."
Rowanne thought of her own brother, who had to be of an age with the Delverson trio, and smiled. Gabe wouldn't recognize a wild oat if it sprouted in his porridge. She was still smiling as she turned back to the door, where only the uniformed gentleman still remained with Sally Jersey clutching his coat sleeve. The other two must have escaped the wily patroness's efforts to get them onto the dance floor, and the young officer was shaking his head and laughing. It was all very amusing for Rowanne until she realized Lady Jersey was leading the unwilling victim in her direction. The smile left her face.
"I think I'll go see about something cool to drink," she announced, rising and turning to leave. Unfortunately Miss Simpson grabbed her wrist and Miss Grimble on her other side muttered, "Oh, no you don't, missy. This is just what you need."
Just what she needed? Having her hostess find a sacrificial lamb to partner her? No, Rowanne corrected herself, not a lamb. This was no innocent, stammering youth coerced by his mother into attending the stuffy balls; this was a rake, a devilishly handsome rake with black hair and dimples and twinkling eyes of a clear blue circled by black rims. Good grief, the last thing an unprotected young female needed was the introduction to a rake!
Perhaps Lady Jersey intended him for one of the Fitzwaller girls, Rowanne prayed. Yes, and perhaps the orchestra members would turn into spotted cows before the next dance.
"Miss Wimberly," Lady Jersey was saying, "I am sorry to have neglected you so long. Your mother was a dear friend of mine and I had meant to see you established before this. The press of people, don't you know. But here, Lieutenant Delverson has just arrived and I know you will make him welcome."
While the patroness completed the introduction in form, and to Miss Simpson, Rowanne was aware that the officer was grinning at her, well aware she had no more desire for his company than he had for hers. She raised her chin in dignity and made him a perfect curtsy. He bowed—and winked! No wonder the man had such a reputation! Rowanne smiled in spite of herself. She rested her hand on his arm and walked with him along the edge of the dance floor, waiting for the music to begin, trying to pretend that every eye in the place wasn't on them. Well, at least she was being noticed.
The lieutenant's older cousin approached them when they neared the far door, and Rowanne's partner made the introductions.
"B'gad, if you're Gabe Wimberly's sister, I won't ask you to dance. Bound to be much too bookish for a dunderhead like me. You'll do better with m'cousin." St. Dillon had the same twinkling black-rimmed blue eyes and the same good nature that made her want to smile back.
"Were you looking for a partner, Your Grace?" she teased. "I could introduce you to two perfect widgeons, if that is what you require. And I think my new acquaintance, Miss Grimble, is about to leave her seat to find her charge. Perhaps you know Lady Diana Hawley-Roth?"
The lieutenant laughed, a pleasant sound, Rowanne noted, but his cousin ran his finger around a suddenly too-tight collar and shuddered. "No, no, ma'am, not Diana the Huntress. I, ah, didn't come to dance, you know. It's m'cousin's last night on the town before joining his regiment. Carey's father thinks the army will settle the lad. I think the governor bought his commission to get him away from my dangerous influence." Harry laid his finger alongside his nose. "So Joss and I decided we had to make a special going-away for Carey here. We had this knacky idea of, ah, helping him gather fond memories. That's it."
"And Miss Wimberly shall be one of the fondest," Lieutenant Delverson vowed, his hand to his heart, his dimples showing.
Rowanne looked at the cousins with suspicion, took a deep breath, and wrinkled her nose at the whiff of spirits mixed in with lemon and spices. "Why, you're foxed!"
"Devil a bit," denied the soldier, "but St. Dillon might be a little above himself."
"What, me bosky? Why else would anyone come to such a shabby place as this? Gads, here come your Miss Grimble and the Mantrap. And looks like Mrs. Drummond-Burrell has a platter-faced chit in tow. It's like vultures circling a wounded deer. Ah, do you think I might have that dance, Miss Wimberly?"
"Oh, no, you don't, Harry," the lieutenant contradicted. "You'll not throw me to the wolves. Find your own partner, boyo. You're the one whose title and fortune are drawing them in for the kill."
"Only thing to do in that case is keep moving. Think I'll find the refreshments room. Devilish thirsty work, this doing the pretty. Servant, ma'am." St. Dillon bowed, fumbled with something his cousin handed behind his back, and left just as the music started.
Carey Delverson was an excellent dancer, naturally, with his athlete's smooth coordination, lean, muscular body, and firm—No, Rowanne checked herself. She would not be impressed, not even with the black curls that tumbled over his forehead. "Is His Grace always so… ?"
"Graceless? No, he was on his best behavior tonight. What were you doing over there?"
The abruptness of his question caused Rowanne to miss her step. "Sorry. Over where?"
He jerked his head toward the gilt chairs. "Over with the dragons and the antidotes."
"Goodness, there is a strong family resemblance among the Delversons, isn't there?" Rowanne asked to cover her embarrassment. They both knew she didn't mean the dark hair and blue eyes. Carey just grinned until she was blushing in earnest. "Wretched man. If you must know, I was sitting there because no one asked me to dance, of course. I do not have many acquaintances among the younger set and no one to introduce me, and I suppose I am not distinctive enough to attract anyone's notice."
To Rowanne's dismay, the maddening creature across from her subjected her to a careful scrutiny, right on the dance floor. His lips quirked up appreciatively as his gaze drifted from her soft curls to her high cheekbones, now permanently pink-tinged, to the full mouth and down to her provocative figure in its exquisite high-styled gown.
