Katherine’s head pounded. “Leave!” she shouted. “Everyone leave. Everyone,” she twisted in Bromton’s grip, “but you. And youwill, for once, tell me the truth.”
“Katherine, please,” Markham entreated again.
“You,” she narrowed her eyes at her brother, “I will speak with, later. And you had better have a footman escort Lord Rayne from the house.” She turned to face Rayne. “Unless, that is, you do not mind that he nearly seduced Julia last night.”
“Jesus, Rayne,” Markham spoke in horror. “I—I do not believe it.”
“He did not,” Julia declared. “I asked him for a kiss. He obliged.”
“Rayne!” Markham growled.
“I love him,” Julia declared.
“No, minx.” Rayne’s voice softened for the first time. “No, you don’t.”
“I suggest we abide by Lady Katherine’s wishes.” Farring shepherded everyone toward the door. “Let us continue this discussion in the hall.”
As the doors closed, Katherine’s eyes darted about the familiar room as if she’d never set foot within its walls. Everything appeared unfamiliar, strange. Then, she spotted the book she’d left resting on the writing desk. The book she had read and reread so many times.
She recited her favorite line aloud, “Independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.” She laughed a bitter laugh.
Why had she changed course? Hubris, of course. She was guilty of the worst kind. She’d believed Bromton—a bloodymarquess—was interested in her. She choked on her vitriol. Worst still, she’d believed he had come to care for her. She’d actually believed she’d found in him a kindred soul. All along, however, he’d pursued her hand as a matter of honor. The answer to an infernal bet.
Had she thought she’d known humiliation? Septimus? Cartwright?Brummell? They’d hurt her, yes, but not like this.
The most unmarriageable woman in England had finally met her match. And she’d met him thanks to the turn of a card.
…
Giles held Katherine securely in his grip, but she was slipping away. He could not stop her retreat, any more than he could prevent a wave from receding back into the ocean.
“Markham won,” she said flatly, “but you collected. How did that happen?”
“I honestly cannot say.” He was confused, though the pieces had fallen horribly together. Markham had known he cheated because Markham had been attempting to do the same. “Until tonight, I believed Markham had bet a theater box. Had I known you were the prize…”
“Donot,” she spat, “act as if your ignorance on that point absolves you. You came here determined to win my hand because you’d lost a game. A game!”
Right now, emotions that made Giles wish he had a sword swirled his midst. And if he had a sword, what would he do? Slay the very dragon he’d created? Fall upon the blade, crying out her name?
All he knew was fire—fire on every side.
“What did you wager?” she asked.
The phantom scent of Farring’s pipe smoke teased his nostrils. The taste of port haunted his tongue. His ears rang with the desperate click of cards—all the while feeling the Ace of Spades tucked under his sleeve.
Desperation had sweat through his clothes. He’d expected to lose his home. He hadn’t cared. He would have sacrificed anything to end the howling that never ceased…the howling that now returned with a fury.
Ifhe had a chance to win his hellion back, he would have to make her understand. He would have to reveal the truth.
“I arranged the card game. I…I wagered everything. And then,” he forced the words through his teeth, “I cheated so I would be sure to lose to Markham.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “What do you mean,everything?”
“Everything.” His breath burned like whisky. “Bromton Castle. My London home. The entire Bromton estate.”
Her eyes flew open. He saw a madman reflected in her gaze—a man he’d despise, if he met him.
The facts aligned themselves with truth, and his justifications fell away. It had always been a terrible plan. He may not possess his father’s blood, but, to the best of his ability, he’d stewarded the estate as he ought. His tenants had been ensured an honest living. And did not his duty to his tenants eclipse all else?
