It was about Gabriel needing to protect somebody, the way he had not been able to protect his sister.
Meanwhile, Lady Kerrington stared down at the table in front of them. She placed a hand on the sleeve of his coat and then froze, as if she had not intended to do it. Still, her fingers slid off his sleeve reluctantly.
“The ton always wants a scandal,” she forced out despite him trying to proposition her. “And what better than an affair? Ferdinand is going to give them that.” She shook her head, her mouth turning down at the corners. “I will bring shame on my parents, and even my sisters and their respectable husbands. They each worked to fix their reputations, and now I am going toundo all of that. No man will wish to marry me again, and even Rosie… she will grow up to hate me, for she will never recover.”
Gabriel hovered, staring down at the fracturing woman. He didn’t consider Lady Kerrington weak or small, but he could see her cracking beneath the weight of her burdens.
Now that Edmund was dead, and even if Gabriel would now have to find a way to put his need for revenge to bed, he should have walked away. He had no more reason to involve himself with the Kerringtons.
But…
He could not leave her to the vultures. She would be torn apart, forced to return to the Wicklebys, and while he did not know a great deal about them, nor the scandals everybody kept mentioning, it clearly distressed her enough that he knew it would be a bad idea, whether her sisters and their husbands protected her or not.
No, Lady Kerrington needed a shield, somebody to take the blows of the ton, somebody to make sure she navigated them unscathed. It had to be legitimate and something that allowed Gabriel to protect her.
That shield would be his own name.
The Stonehelm name had withstood the test of time, and his reputation often preceded him. He was wealthy, had goodinvestments and businesses, and had built excellent connections through his years of searching for Letitia and Edmund.
Gabrielwasthe shield Lady Kerrington needed. A shield against ruin. A shield against the mess the new Lord Kerrington wanted to drag her into.
“Marry me.”
The offer rolled off his tongue, only to be met with a sharp jerk of Lady Kerrington’s head as she looked up at him.
“What?”
“I’ll protect you,” he explained, “give you security, shield you from your brother-in-law’s threats. You will be protected by my name.”
“I…” Lady Kerrington frowned, and he noticed how fast she clenched and unclenched her fingers in the skirts of her dress. “But that would only prove Lord Kerrington right: that we were having an affair.”
“There is nothing to prove, for it is not true.”
“The ton will be convinced otherwise.”
“Then we will tell theactualtruth,” he said simply. “That your husband abandoned you to chase his laudanum addiction. Thatyou were indeed a neglected wife, but not an unfaithful one. I will speak about how I wished to bring you out of debt and?—”
“We cannot!” she protested again. “It looks too convenient. You have been absent from the ton; you do not know what my family has been through, how people say we are cursed. AndHeavens,Alicia is in her Season, and she cannot suffer the backlas?—”
“Lady Kerrington.” Gabriel sat back down next to her, reaching for her hands. But then he refrained from touching her, even though it was the only thing he wanted to do. “Our marriage will keep you safe, and it will not go further than that. You will not be pressured into a choice you do not wish to make.”
When she said nothing, he tried again.
“Lady Kerrington, your brother-in-law has told you to vacate this house within three days. Your only option is to return to your parents, and I can see that is not something you want.”
She shook her head fervently. “The very last thing I want.”
“Then consider my offer,” he urged. “The ton is a merciless beast, and marriage is the safest option.”
She looked away from him, seeming terribly torn. Gabriel was moments away from telling her that he would give her time to think when she finally nodded.
“If anything, it will be for my daughter’s sake,” she whispered.
“For your own sake, too,” he reminded her.
The drawing room was silent for so long that he thought she would refuse him in the end, but after a moment, she nodded once more.
“Then I agree,” she said, her eyes wide with so much fear and doubt when she raised them to his. “I will marry you.”
