Devils Bride (Cynster 1)

Devil's hands stilled, then he drew the white linen from about his throat. Unbuttoning his waistcoat, he approached the bed. "What about?"

"About who would want you dead."

He shrugged out of his waistcoat, then sat on the bed to pull off his boots. "Did you reach any conclusion?"

"Yes-but Vane told me my conclusion wasn't right."

Devil looked up. "Vane?"

Honoria explained. "Naturally, I thought your heir was Richard."

"Ah." Devil dropped his second boot. He stood, stripped off his shirt and trousers, then slid beneath the covers. Honoria tumbled against him; he settled her beside him. "I suppose I should have told you about that."

Honoria squinted through the shadows; she was almost sure he was grinning. "I suspect you should have. What is it I don't know?"

Devil lay back against the pillows. "You know Richard's nickname?"

"Scandal?"

Devil nodded. "Like mine being a shortened form of 'That Devil Cynster,' Richard's is also a truncation. His full sobriquet is 'The Scandal That Never Was.'"

"He's a scandal?"

"Richard's my brother, but he's not my mother's son."

Honoria blinked. "Ah." Then she frowned. "But you look so alike."

"We look like my father-you've seen his portrait. Only our coloring, and in my case my eyes, come from our respective mothers-Richard's was also dark-haired."

This was scandal on a major scale-Richard was younger than Devil. Yet Honoria had detected not the slightest whiff of disapprobation in any of the ton's dealings with Richard Cynster. "I don't understand." She looked up in time to see Devil's teeth gleam.

"The truth of Richard's birth has been an open secret for three decades-it's very old news. Maman, of course, is the key."

Honoria crossed her arms on his chest and fixed her gaze on his face. "Tell me."

Devil settled his arms about her. "When I was three, my father was asked to undertake a diplomatic mission to the Highlands. There'd been an outbreak of dissaffection and the Court boffins wanted to rattle sabers without sending troops. Sending a Cynster was considered the next best thing. Maman decided not to accompany him. She was told at my birth that she wouldn't be able to have more children, so she was hideously overprotective of me, much to my disgust. So m'father went north alone. The laird he was sent to…" He paused, searching for words.

"Intimidate?" Honoria suggested.

Devil nodded. "This laird, a redhead, had recently married-an arranged marriage with a lowlands beauty."

"She would be a beauty," Honoria muttered.

Devil glanced at her. "We Cynsters have standards, you know."

Honoria humphed and poked his chest. "What happened next."

"Strangely enough, we're not entirely sure. We do know my father's mission was a success; he was home within four weeks. Richard appeared twelve months later."

"Twelve months?"

"His mother died a few months after his birth. Whether she confessed or whether her husband simply assumed from his coloring that Richard was none of his, we don't know. But there was no doubt, even then, that Richard was my father's-he looked exactly like me at the same age, and there were enough about who remembered. Whatever, Richard's fate was sealed when Webster picked him up from before the front door-a carriage had driven up, the wrapped bundle deposited, and the horses whipped up immediately. No message-just Richard. Webster carried him in and Richard immediately started squalling."

"The sound was horrendous-I remember because I hadn't heard it before. Maman was brushing my hair in the nursery-we heard it all the way up there. She dropped the brush and rushed downstairs. She beat me down. I reached the last landing to see her descend on Webster and my father, who were trying to hush Richard. Maman plucked him out of their arms-she cooed and Richard stopped crying. She just smiled-brilliantly-you know how she can."

Her chin on his chest, Honoria nodded.

"I realized immediately that Richard was a godsend- Maman was so caught up with him she forgot about the knots in my hair. From that moment, Richard had my full support. My father came up-I think he was about to attempt an explanation-in retrospect I'm sorry I didn't hear it, even if I wouldn't have understood it then. But Maman immediately told him how immensely clever he was to have provided her with the one, truly most important thing she wanted-another son. Naturally, he kept quiet. From there on, Maman rolled over any objections-she'd been my father's duchess for five years and was an eminent social power. She publicly decreed Richard was her son-none were game, then or now, to contradict her." Honoria heard the smile in his voice.