A second passed, two, then three, the racing horses neck and neck, the phaeton wheels slicing through the soft roadbed, the drivers so close, they could have touched whips.
The vehicles careened over the crest of a hill and the dangerous, infamous Danner curve suddenly loomed.
Death faced them head-on.
Hilton hauled on his reins.
Dermott smiled and shot past.
An hour later the earl dropped into a sprawl at one of the gaming tables in Molly Crocker's opulent brothel, said 'Hilton just lost ten thousand on our race from Crawley,' and accepted the congratulations of his friends. He was soaked to the skin, his dark hair falling in damp, windswept curls to the limp linen of his shirt collar, his powerful body blatantly obvious beneath his wet, clinging clothing, his broad smile evidence of his high good spirits.
'So Hilton owes you ten thousand,' a young man drawled.
'He does indeed.' Dermott's grin was infectious. 'He pulled off.'
Another man looked up from perusing his cards. 'He never did have your nerve.'
Dermott shrugged. 'Danner Curve changed his mind.'
'You could have been killed!' one of the lovely ladies surrounding the gaming table cried out. The earl was a great favorite at Molly's, and the dangers of that section of road were well known.
'Now, why would I take a chance on being killed with you to come back to, darling Kate,' Dermott replied with a smile. Catching a servant's eye, he signaled for a drink.
'Hilton's going to want a rematch.' Everyone knew of the rivalry between the two men.
'As long as he pays, I'm willing.'
'He don't like to pay.'
'Too bad.' Dermott had a habit of seducing the ladies Hilton fancied, although their dislike of each other had begun long before at Eton. 'His papa left him plenty.'
Kate had moved to Dermott's side. 'You're going to be wanting a bath.' Her voice had taken on a huskiness and, leaning over, she brushed his cheek with a kiss.
Lazily lifting his arm, Dermott gently cupped the back of her head and, turning his face, kissed her back. 'Give me a half hour, darling, to drink some of Molly's fine brandy,' he murmured a moment later, his breath warm against her mouth.
'I'll be waiting,' she purred, sliding from his grasp, standing upright in a stirring of cerise silk muslin that set off her pale skin and dark hair to perfection.
'Pleasant thought,' Dermott murmured, lifting his glass to her. 'I won't be late.'
'She doesn't even see anyone else,' a young noble complained after Kate walked away. 'Deuced selfish of you, Bathurst, to keep her for yourself.'
Dermott raised his palms in disclaimer. 'Acquit me, Kilgore. I'm not concerned with exclusivity.'
'You should tell her, then,' the young man grumbled.
'I think my feelings on that subject are clear.'
'Hear, hear, Kilgore,' one of the men interposed. 'Not a person in the ton don't know Dermott's not in the market for permanence. And Kate makes up her own mind whom she favors. Now, I've got a damned good hand here, so stop your grousing and deal us another card or two. Are you in or out, Bathurst?'
'In, of course.' Dermott grinned. 'At least for half an hour.'
The small candlelit study was filled with the relatives of the man who had recently died upstairs. They sat on the few available chairs, and those not fortunate enough to have arrived early were left to stand. Like so many sharp-beaked scavengers and harpies, their beady gazes were riveted on the man seated behind a massive desk slowly reading from a document.
Only one person in the group of eight showed any evidence of sorrow. Isabella Leslie stood in a corner, softly sobbing, a handkerchief to her eyes. Her grandfather had been her entire life, the center of her world, the most kind and indulgent friend and parent.
And now he was gone and she was alone.
His illness had been long and lingering. She'd thought she'd had time to say her good-byes, to reconcile herself to life without him. But the immensity of her sadness was threatening to overwhelm her. She scarcely heard the lawyer's words as he read her grandfather's will. Until a stark and utter silence struck her senses and she looked up to see every eye in the room trained on her.
'Your grandfather left you sole heir, my dear,' old Mr. Lampert quietly said.
'As if she didn't know,' her aunt snapped. 'He could have had the decency to leave us small portions at least, the dotty old coot.'
'Mr. Leslie's wishes were quite plain,' the lawyer replied, 'and his mind was clear. He spoke to me only yesterday, reminding me of my duty to Isabella.'
'For a tidy sum, I don't doubt, you'll see to her care,' her uncle growled.
'My fees were paid long ago by Mr. Leslie. Isabella owes me nothing.'
'Then we won't require your presence any longer, Lampert,' Isabella's eldest cousin curtly said, his corpulent body quivering with rage. 'Get out.'
'Harold!' Isabella softly exclaimed, shocked at the discourtesy.
'Get out, Lampert, or I'll throw you out,' her cousin barked, ignoring Isabella's outcry. He moved with ominous intent toward the frail, elderly man who after casting a distraught glance at Isabella scrambled from his chair and backed toward the door. Greatly outnumbered, physically threatened, he stammered, 'Forgive me, Miss Leslie,' and escaped the room.
'Wretched little man,' her uncle muttered, walking to the desk and picking up the pages of the will in his beefy hand. Crumbling them into a ball, he tossed them into the fireplace flames. 'So much for Uncle George's will.' Turning to his wife, he held out his hand. 'Give me the marriage license.' As she unfastened her reticule, he nodded in the direction of the clergyman who had conferred last rites on George Leslie. 'Keep the ceremony short, if you please. I've wasted enough time cooling my heels in this house, waiting for that old codger to die. Harold, get over here.'
Isabella's heart had begun beating furiously as she listened to her uncle give orders, and the sly glances she was receiving from her relatives did nothing to soothe her fears. She knew how they felt about her, and while she'd not expected congratulations from them for her inheritance, she'd not considered them dangerous. 'If you'll excuse me,' she quietly said, wishing to remove herself from the ominous situation, 'it's been a fatiguing week.' She began walking toward the door.
'Stay where you are,' her uncle murmured, his tone acid with dislike. 'We're not done with you yet.'
'You can't order me about.' She kept her voice firm with effort. Suddenly in the midst of enemies, her heart was beating furiously.
'Now, that's where you're wrong, my dear.'
The menace in his voice wrapped around her like icy fingers, the wicked gleam in his eye mirrored in the others watching her. 'Uncle Herbert, consider-this is my home now, I'm of legal age, as you're well aware, and you have no control over my life.'
'As soon as you're married to Harold, he'll have control of your life. As God intended when he made women subservient to men.'
'Married!' She turned ashen for only a moment before her cheeks flushed a blazing red. 'You must be mad! My cousin Harold suits me not at all'-her voice rose as she surveyed the fleshy, overdressed man who fancied himself a dandy-'and if I
'She's saying our Harold isn't good enough for her! Herbert, how dare she, when everyone knows her mother- well, it can't be mentioned, of course, in polite company. Now, you just listen to me, my high-flown missy,' Abigail Leslie cried, shaking her thin finger at Isabella, 'you should be
'Then he should marry them!' Isabella always bristled at allusions to her mother's unconventional background, as if sailing a ship around the world detracted from one's quarterings. Her mother had bluer blood than any of these bourgeois bankers.
'Mr. Leslie, sir, you said the young lady was amenable to the hasty marriage.' The minister abruptly rose from
