The Devil You Know Read Online Free PDF Page B

his
    execrable taste— “
    “But I think it’s lovely,” Annalee interrupted, craning her
    neck to better study the depiction of Verrio’s Ganymede .
    DeVere gave her half shrug. “ Chacun son goût, my dear. On
    any account, Frederick proved a profligate of the highest order.”
    “Let not my brother the pot, call the kettle burnt-arse,” said
    Hew. “You bought this place, after all.”
    DeVere looked affronted. “Accused by my own blood.” He
    raised his glass in a laughing salute.
    “Your history of the house is diverting, darling, but let us hear
    more of the iniquity.” Caroline leaned into him until her breasts
    caressed his arm.
    25
    The Devil You Know
    “I live only to indulge you, my pet,” said DeVere.
    “Oh?” The duchess smiled, and Diana noticed one of her
    hands slip under the table.
    DeVere’s expression seemed to change, yet he continued his
    narrative. “The scandals that followed our young prodigal were
    sordid enough to have inspired Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress had he
    lived a generation earlier. As I said, Frederick travelled extensive-
    ly and always with a grand entourage. He also gambled away a
    great deal of his wealth and was in need of a boost to his coffers
    upon his return. Thus, he wed a younger daughter of the Duke of
    Bridgewater. It was considered an advantageous match on both
    sides, but they were constantly at odds with one another. ‘Tis no
    great surprise, of course. No man loves his fetters, be they made
    of gold.”
    Caroline slanted DeVere an inquiring look. His lashes flut-
    tered briefly, he seemed to tense for a moment, and then he
    slumped back in his chair. Her hand returned to the table.
    “Perhaps she just didn’t care for his philandering ways?” Di-
    ana suggested tersely, feeling more than a slight affinity to the
    duke’s daughter.
    “But it is a man’s world.” DeVere gave a smug smile and
    raised his glass.
    Diana felt her hackles rise. “So you believe all women should
    blindly accept profligacy and faithlessness in marriage?”
    “Let us say, she would be much more content who does.”
    “I differ with you on that score, my lord,” the duchess re-
    marked. “I say the sauce for the gander is just as good for the
    goose.”
    DeVere’s expression hardened. “Speaking as one with no per-
    sonal inclination toward monogamy, my answer is then why wed
    at all?”
    Caroline gave him a petulant look.
    “More wine!” DeVere called out, breaking the strained si-
    lence. He took another great draught, and then his genial mask
    returned. “Where was I now? Ah! Conjugal felicity! This is pre-
    cisely where the story gets interesting. Five years into their less-
    than-fruitful marriage, Lady Baltimore took a fatal fall from her
    husband’s phaeton.”
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    Victoria Vane
    “I remember hearing of this!” Caroline declared. “He was
    highly suspected of foul play. After all, how can one possibly fall
    from a moving carriage unless it has overturned?”
    “No charges were filed against him?” asked Annalee.
    “None,” remarked DeVere. “One of the many privileges of
    being a well-connected peer of the realm. Yet suspicion lingered,
    so Baltimore left the country again, hoping the scandal would die
    down. He spent an extended period in Italy and then went east-
    ward, living amongst the Turks until he was forced to leave Con-
    stantinople for fear of his life.”
    “Why would his life be endangered?” Hew asked.
    “Because a Christian there is regarded in much the same
    manner as Jews here. Their existence is tolerated, but their rights
    are few. They are not permitted to own property, buy slaves, nor
    inter-marry with the Mahomedans. The penalty for any of these
    is death.”
    Ned sat back, swirling a finger around rim of his glass with
    a puzzled expression.”Why would Baltimore need to buy slaves
    when he travelled with a full retinue?”
    “Did I say he bought slaves?” DeVere asked with a sly smile.
    “You don’t mean to say he