King whistled, propping his hip against the billiards table and leaning on his cue stick. “The mighty Duke of Brandon, felled by a feminine sword. I never thought I’d live to see theday our fearless leader would find himself at the mercy of any woman, let alone Lottie Grenfell. When is the wedding, old chap?”
“That’s the problem,” he ground out, his grim mood returning, chasing his ire. “There isn’t going to be one.”
“But you need to marry to appease your grandmother.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re—” King paused, making an exaggerated moue of distaste before resuming “—in love.”
He raised a brow. “Yes.”
“Vomitus.”
“King,” he cautioned. “You are sorely testing both my patience for you and the previously formidable bonds of our friendship.”
“The very thought of marriage makes me queasy,” King said with an unapologetic shrug. “I cannot help it.”
“Try harder to control yourself.”
King sighed. “I shall try, on account of our old and treasured friendship. However, I don’t understand. You’re in love with Lady Grenfell, you need to marry with all haste, and yet you’re not marrying the countess. Why the devil not? It sounds as if you’ve discovered the answer to our Wingfield Hall problem.”
“Because she won’t marry me.”
King’s brows rose. “She won’t marry you?”
“No. That bastard Grenfell hurt her badly, and she’s vowed never to wed again because of it.”
“Well, hell.”
He inclined his head. “Precisely.”
“Have you considered kidnapping her?” King asked.
“Kingham.”
“It was a joke,” his friend protested quite unconvincingly. “Have you thought about blackmail or bribery? Or perhaps slipping something into her wine…”
“Are you suggesting I drug the woman I love to dupe her into marrying me?”
“Odd how neither blackmail nor bribery elicited as strong a response,” King observed.
“You are a Machiavellian menace,” he said without heat.
His friend grinned. “I pride myself upon it. You’ve told her you love her already, so it isn’t as if you could make inroads that way.”
“I haven’t, actually.”
“There you are.” King made a dramatic flourish in the air. “Your problem is solved. Run along and tell the lady that you love her. Women apparently adore that sort of claptrap.”
He had considered revealing his feelings to her. But the notion terrified him. Her rejection of his proposals was one thing, but if she were to reject his love altogether… No, he wouldn’t even contemplate it. There was also the matter of his ineptitude at knowing how to build a proper relationship with a woman, one that relied on love and trust rather than base lust.
“I haven’t the slightest idea of how to properly make such a revelation,” he admitted.
King scoffed. “Well, don’t look to me for advice. I’ve never been in love.”
His claim had Brandon pinning him with a pointed look. “Not even with Miss Townsend?”
King’s expression hardened. “Especially not with her.”
