“Her Grace took a liking to me.” Elias snorted another mirthless laugh. “Why she did so, I have no idea. But she did, and on the day we completed her will—which is now invalid, I might add—she extracted an oath from me to win Celia’s love. To marry her. To love her and protect her.”
“And how is that a deal with the devil?” Monty stopped pacing and pinned him with a confused frown.
“Her Grace also drew a promise from Celia to marry me.” Bitterness churned through Elias. “Her Grace is a sly one. No wonder the estate thrived under her care.” He rifled through his clothes draped over the back of a chair. His chest burned with his breaking heart as his fingers closed around Celia’s precious lock of hair. “After Celia told me everything, she begged me not to turn her and her mother over to the authorities because of her mother’s failing health. I told her that her mother expected us to marry, and if we did not, Her Grace would not only be upset in her final days, but had also insinuated she would not enjoy peace when she died.”
“And?” Monty prodded while moving closer.
Elias held up the silky black curl and showed it to his brother. “I suggested we marry and assume the appearance of a happy, loving couple to make Her Grace’s last days as pleasant as possible. Celia agreed and gave me this to seal the bargain that once her mother is laid to rest in Germany, I can then turn her over to the authorities. She will admit her guilt, state that neither I nor the firm were aware of the scheme, and will go to the gallows without argument.”
Monty’s mouth went ajar with an incredulous stare. “In all my days, I do not believe I have ever met such a damned fool.”
“Nor have I.” Elias cradled the lock of hair in his palm, staring down at it, wishing it meant happiness instead of the cruel bargain he had been too stupid and stunned to stop at the time, the bargain that had broken Celia’s heart. He had utterly failed her. “When I suggested we marry for the duchess’s sake, I did not say I wanted to turn Celia in once her mother died. She was the one who suggested it, and idiot that I was, I did not contradict her.” He slowly shook his head. “I wanted her as my wife. At least for a little while. I hoped…”
“You hoped what? What the deuce did you mean to do after the dowager died?” Monty glared at him in disbelief.
“Devil if I know.” Elias carefully tucked the treasured curl back inside his coat pocket. “I was still in shock, I suppose. From learning the truth.”
Monty moved to stand in front of him, eying him with what appeared to be both sympathy and frustration. “I realize a childhood of mistreatment created your rather extreme perception about what is right and what is wrong.” He threw up his hands and turned away. “I wish you had known Mother. She would have saved you from this…debacle.”
“Well, I didn’t know her.” Elias hoisted himself up onto the sturdy worktable and sat there, sagging forward with his head in his hands. “And I do not know how to make this right.”
The table groaned as Monty joined him. “Do you love her?”
“More than I thought it possible to love anyone.”
“Then that is all that matters.” Monty shifted back and forth, making the table creak again. “They harmed no one with their scheme. In fact, they very well could have harmed themselves if they had not shown such initiative. You know what has happened to poor widows and daughters without proper provisions. And Celia and her mother have also educated the business world immensely. Been a boon to the economy. Theduke’severy action on the Exchange or any other venture is studied and replicated in an attempt to achieve the same success. Some have done quite well. Others—not so much. But that is no fault of Celia’s or her mother.”
“She thinks I have the lowest opinion of her now. Because of the way I reacted.”
“Fall on your knees and beg the woman’s forgiveness, for heaven’s sake. Have you never done that before?” Monty thumped him on the shoulder. “Tell her how you feel, man.”
Elias straightened and shook his head. “She will never believe me. I saw it in her eyes. I cut her too deeply.”
Monty blew out a heavy sigh. “But she means to marry you according to yourdeal, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s rather putting the cart before the horse, but it appears to me that you need to woo your wife to win back her love and trust in you.” Monty swung his feet, making the creaking of the table louder.
Elias clamped hold of his knee and stopped him. “Sit still, damn you.”
“Sorry.” Monty hopped down and brushed off the seat of his trousers. “Win your wife’s heart and convince her that no matter what happens, you will not escort her to the gallows.”
Blowing out a heavy sigh, Elias scrubbed his gritty eyes. His brother always made everything sound so easy. Too easy. And it never worked out that way. “And I suppose I turn a blind eye while she carries on with the scheme as usual?” That thought made him inwardly cringe. Years of raging against the unlawful curdled in his gut. “It cannot possibly go on forever. At some point, people will suspect something is not right. A duke of three and twenty constantly traveling is one thing, but an older duke who should be married and fathering an heir will draw too much attention.” He stared down at the floor, drowning in despondency. “I cannot bear to lose her, Monty. Not now, and not years in the future.”
“Have you not heard of recluses who never marry?” Monty shrugged. “Or once the duchess dies, kill the man off in an accident. Drown him at sea or claim him eaten by cannibals or some such nonsense.”
“But then Celia would eventually lose the vast estate she and her mother built.” He already knew his lioness was proud of all she and her mother had achieved and would not be likely to stand idly by and watch it float away. “And you know how difficult it is to have a missing peer proclaimed legally dead. It could take a decade or more.” He pinned a hard glare on his brother. “Do not even suggest it. I am not about topurchasea body for a funeral.”
Monty shrugged again. “Waiting for him to be declared dead would buy you several years of bliss. But it sounds as if losing the entailed properties and whatever monies had not been transferred to a safe account is not on the table. You are positive there are no other relations, even on the very fringes of the Hasterton line, who could lay claim to the estate were the duke to die?”
“According to Celia and from what I recall of the records, there are not.” Elias thought back over his conversations with Master Hodgely. His mentor had mentioned no one who might contest the peerage. “And if there were, I feel sure we would have known by now, considering the wealth involved. The Crown would happily take it all at the first opportunity. You know that.”
Monty’s ever-mischievous smile turned quite sly. “The patent for the Dukedom of Hasterton could be amended to allow Celia and her sons to inherit the dukedom successively after the death of her brother leaves no heirs. Surely, you are familiar with Parliament’s act amending the Dukedom of Marlborough?”
Hope pounded in Elias’s chest as thunderously as his heart. He stared at his brother. “Why did I not think of that?”
“Because raw emotion temporarily incapacitated you. I have heard it said that love can be quite toxic.” Monty shook a finger at him. “That is why I avoid it at all costs.” He clapped a hand on Elias’s shoulder. “I could see that the act gets the proper support and attention to pass without issue.” He preened like the proudest of birds, smoothing back his longish black curls that badly needed a trim. “I am well thought of in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, if I do say so myself.”
