Maids and footmen scurried back and forth bearing more luggage to the foyer. To his right, the furniture in the drawing room was being covered by white linens. Dread settled in his stomach. It looked very much like Jenna’s family was about to retire to the country.
The butler stopped and knocked on the door of the earl’s study. The earl’s muffled call filtered through the door and the butler hastened inside. A moment later, he returned. “The earl will see you now.”
Gray strode into the library only to be confronted with the sight of Jenna’s two brothers seated in front of the earl’s desk. He groaned inwardly. This could be a long drawn out affair.
The earl leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his neck. “Mr. Douglas. To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”
“I’ve come to speak to you about your daughter.”
“I like a man who gets to the point.”
“Then I’ll get to mine,” Gray said evenly.
“Would you like a drink?” the earl asked rising from his seat. He began to pour from the decanter. Gray’s gaze flitted to Jenna’s brothers who had remained remarkably silent thus far. They glared at him, though, promising harm with their eyes.
Gray almost chuckled. Such a prickly lot. It was a wonder Jenna was ever able to leave the house.
The earl walked around to the front of the desk where Gray stood and handed him a glass. Then he leaned back against the edge of the desk, his casual air in direct contradiction to the keen interest in his eyes. “You were saying? Make it quick, we’ve more packing to do before we leave.”
“I want your blessing to marry Jenna.”
The earl arched a sable-colored eyebrow, the exact color of Jenna’s hair. “You dare to come into my home after the liberties you’ve taken with my daughter and demand my blessing? What gives you the right to demand anything?”
“What gives me the right is that I love her, and she loves me.”
“Ahhh love,” the earl said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And you think because you come in here spouting sad stories of love that I should give over and allow you to take my daughter?”
“I don’t care what you think,” Gray said in a low voice. “What matters is what Jenna thinks. I am not here to beg, nor will I grovel. If you care as much about your daughter as I think, you’ll not consign her to a life with someone who cares nothing of her happiness.”
“I don’t intend to consign her to anything. The choice of who she marries is hers and hers alone.”
He looked in disbelief at the earl, then to the unsmiling faces of her brother. “What game is this?”
“No game. Jenna’s engagement to Stuart has been dissolved and, should she ever marry, it will be to a man solely of her choosing. Think you have a chance of being that man?”
He gritted his teeth, controlling the urge to smash his fist into the smug expression of the earl. If it weren’t for the two overly large sons just waiting for an excuse to bash his teeth in he would have succumbed.
“I want your blessing,” he said again.
“Why do you want my blessing? I just told you Jenna is free to marry whomever she wants.”
Gray shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t take her from her family, not like this. Her happiness means too much to me to make her choose between me and her family.”
“You said you loved her. Isn’t that enough?”
“Let me ask you, my lord. Is it enough that I love your daughter if she defies you to marry me? Is it enough when you see your relationship with her deteriorate? You start seeing her less and less as the awkwardness becomes too much to bear. Will it be a consolation to you that I love her?”
Fleeting respect gleamed in the earl’s eye. “So you wish to have my blessing so that it conserves her relationship with her family?”
“If I marry only half of her because the other half was torn and remains in her family’s heart, then I cease to see the point in marrying her at all. I want all of her. And if that includes an overbearing family then I am prepared to deal with that result.”
To his surprise the earl burst into laughter. “I do believe we’ve just been insulted,” he said to Quinn and Sebastian. “I like you, Mr. Douglas. Make no mistake. I still entertain thoughts of tearing you limb from limb for taking liberties with my daughter, but I admire your courage, and your obvious devotion to Jenna’s happiness.”
“I know I am not good enough for her,” Gray said in a low voice. “But I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy.”
The earl’s eyes flashed, and his jaw drew tight. “Why aren’t you good enough, because you work for your wage?” He shoved away from the desk and paced back and forth in front of Gray, his hand clasped behind his back. He stopped and eyed Gray. “I took the liberty of making a few inquiries about you this past week. I’ve not come across a single person who deems you less than honorable.”
Gray shook his head, surprised the earl had gone to such lengths. But then he should have realized that no member of Jenna’s family did things in half measure.
