“I’m no stranger to trouble,” Ransom scoffed.
“Notthiskind of trouble. When I tell my grandfather that you forced me into marriage, what do you think he’ll do?”
Uncertainty flickered on the duke’s face before it hardened again. “He wants a title in the family. He’ll give me your dowry as agreed upon.”
“Not if I tell him youcoercedme,” she said with deliberate emphasis.
Harry growled in the background.
“Devil take it, I didn’t touch you.” Ransom sounded less confident now.
“One time, a manlookedat me with disrespect, and do you know what happened to him?”
The duke hesitated. “What?”
She widened her eyes. “No one knows. He was never seen again.”
Ransom’s eyes darted as he made the calculation…and came to the expected conclusion.
He shrugged. “I suppose it is the lady’s prerogative to change her mind, after all.”
“Thank you for understanding, Your Grace,” she said crisply.
“You didn’t leave me much choice.”
“I’m annoying that way. You see the trouble I saved you from?”
He studied her. Strangely, his mouth tipped up at the corners.
“Some kinds of trouble would probably be worth it,” he murmured. “If I were a different sort of man.”
He turned to leave.
“Not so bloody fast.” This came from Harry.
She placed a hand on her lover’s bulging bicep. “Let him go.” When he stared stonily after the retreating duke, she said, “Please, darling?”
Slowly, Harry’s hands uncurled. In the next heartbeat, he swept her into his arms.
He said, “Anything you want, sprite.”
36
Soon thereafter,Tessa found herself in the Duchess of Strathaven’s sitting room. She was surrounded by Harry’s four sisters: Emma, Thea, Violet, and Polly. Rosie, Ambrose Kent’s beautiful blonde daughter, who was about the same age as Polly, was also present. Apparently, Emma had written her sisters about Harry’s troubles, and they’d all dropped everything to come to Town.
The love between the siblings glowed as brightly as the fire in the hearth. What was more, they had welcomed Tessa into their warm circle, keeping her company while the men went to ascertain Mavis’ safety with the Garritys. Tessa had wanted to go too, but, given the lateness of the hour, Emma had insisted that she stay. In truth, she was tired, and it was no hardship chatting and sharing a snack with the ladies.
“How very brave of you to stand up to Ransom,” Emma was saying now.
“It was nothing.” Tessa idly stroked Swift Nick, who was snoring on the cushion beside her.
“You’refartoo modest,” Rosie declared.
“From the way Harry told it,” Polly said, her aqua eyes shining, “you were atrueheroine.”
“And not only for the way you stood up to the duke.”
This came from Violet, Viscountess Carlisle, the sister closest to Harry in age. She was a tall, pretty brunette with caramel-colored eyes and a tomboyish quality that Tessa instantly liked. She was also obviouslyenceinte.
