Lady Best faltered. ‘Well … I might have mentioned it to several ladies before we left the ballroom, and surely Miss Bainbridge will have told others …’
‘I don’t care who she might have told. Nobody, I imagine, if she has any sense at all. And not a single member of theTonwould believe any cock and bull story about my son marrying your daughter. Ha! A Kent, deign to marry a mere Miss Marley? Over my cold, rotting corpse!’
Lord Kent was in his element now, Max realised. His father had needed something to get really, truly cross about for some time – and he was very glad it wasn’t him, for once.
‘At any rate, madam—’
Max decided it was time to make his presence known. He coughed and made his way down the stairs. His father swivelled to look at him, still glaring.
‘Got a cold, boy?’
‘No, sir,’ said Max smoothly. ‘I just wondered why you and Lady Best were discussing my fiancée out here in the hallway.’
His father replied instantly, brandishing his stick energetically. ‘Because I willnottaint my library with the likes of this harpy.’
Max fought the desire to laugh aloud. ‘Well then, Lady Best. Since my father won’t receive you in his library, and I won’t receive you at all, I can only suggest that you leave.’
‘But my daughter …’
‘… will remain unwed indefinitely, if she continues to try and ensnare unwilling men using dirty tricks,’ finished Max.
Clarissa stepped out from behind her mother, eyes flashing. ‘How dare you! Any number of people might have seen us in that hallway …’
‘And yet you know as well as I do that they did not, Miss Best. Good day.’
Max beckoned to the butler, who opened the front door.
Lady Best narrowed her eyes. ‘This won’t be the last you hear of this, believe me.’
The Marquess took a deep breath, struggling to contain himself, but Max made his reply as he walked them to the door.
‘If you mean that your future granddaughter will be accosting my future son, I sincerely hope I am there to send her packing in half such a grand style as my father. But if you mean to bothermy fiancée, Miss Bainbridge, I strongly recommend against it.’
His father’s voice rang out from behind him. ‘And I look forward to any opportunity to tell the Prince Regent about your erstwhile husband’s debts to me. And his prostitutes. And, of course,his syphilis.’
Max winced. So too did Lady Best and her daughter, who hurried away without another word.
He turned to face his father. ‘Changed your mind about Miss Bainbridge, then?’
‘Into the study, boy. We do not discuss ladies in the hallway.’
Grinning widely, Max followed Lord Kent into his large, wood-panelled study and poured two large glasses of brandy.
‘Go on, keep pouring. I’ll be needing three fingers after all that nonsense.’
Max raised an eyebrow and passed his father a small glass, refusing to pour any more. The Marquess’s doctor had been quite clear and they both knew it.
Max cleared his throat. ‘So, I see your opinion of Miss Bainbridge has undergone a miraculous transformation since we last spoke.’
‘I saw her last night, after she caught you kissing that awful harpy. That girl is no more mad than I am.’
Max was halfway through taking a large swig of brandy that caught in his throat.
His father looked at him disdainfully. ‘Yes, yes, I realise that does make her ever so slightly mad. What on earth were you doing, anyway, getting caught with that damned awful girl?’
‘It’s hardly my fault, Father! She lay in wait and leapt out at me!’
‘You should know to expect these things by now, Maximillian. You’re a prime catch on the marriage mart.’
