Gemma stayed on her knees until they ached, and when she finally climbed into bed, she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to calm the rattled breathing that had returned in full force. Because Gemma had an awful sense of impending doom that what she’d done tonight was entirely irrevocable and unfixable.
And the worst part was,shedeserved it.But Grovemont certainly didn’t.
O
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lucian arrived on Southbury’s doorstep at half ten the next day. If it hadn’t been the morning after the man’s wedding celebration, he would have come earlier. He’d had no intention of arriving too early, but he’d also been careful not to arrive too late, lest Southbury send a Bow Street Runner to track him down. He didn’t want Southbury to think he’d decided not to come and do the right thing, after all.
Of course, Lucian would do the right thing. He was a man of honor. But doing the right thing and liking it were two different things.
He’d got very little sleep last night. Turns out being forced into marriage would do that to a man. The irony that he’d been in the study contemplating how best to find a wife when one had thrust herself upon him was not lost on him.
Only it bothered him immensely thathehadn’t been the one to do the choosing. The only good thing about what had happened last night was that the Costner chit and her scheming mother had been called out for their lies. Lucian had already deduced that both Gemma and Mary had obviously conspired to find him alone and force a marriage on him. Apparently, Gemma had got there first. He could only be glad about that.He didn’t relish marriage to a schemer. But of the two, Gemma was clearly preferable to Mary. At least Gemma had a decent family. Southbury was a good man. Whereas Lady Costner had been only too quick and willing to lie. Lucian shuddered at the thought.
Of course, Gemma hadn’t told the truth merely to save him from marriage to Mary. She’d obviously told the truth to become a duchess herself, which must have been her plan all along. He’d deal with her later. First, he had to deal with her older brother.
After contemplating it last night, Lucian had realized hehadcertainlymet Gemma Brooks before. But he’d never looked at her the way he looked at debutantes, young women he considered marrying. Gemma was merely the young sister of his friend, Southbury. A dark-haired, skinny moppet he barely remembered and certainly hadn’t been attracted to.
And frankly, to his infinite chagrin, he still wasn’t attracted to her. She was all arms and legs, far too thin with too-big eyes, a too-wide mouth, and absolutely no breasts to speak of. But her eyes, those obsidian eyes. Theywerecompelling. And he remembered them from the last time they had met.
Last night, Lucian hadn’t been expecting to run into Southbury’s sister, who was now apparently old enough to be out in Society. And so he hadn’t even thought about the eyes. But now they were all he could think about. Those big, captivating eyes. He was going to marry the girl with those unfathomable eyes.
Just as soon as a marriage contract could be agreed upon.
Southbury was reasonable. He would ensure a decent contract was drawn up, and the whole thing would be put to rest sooner than later. It would all be done with an air of scandal about it, but his wouldn’t be the firsttonmarriage forged in scandal, and it would hardly be the last.
While Lucian had tossed and turned last night, there was one thing he couldn’t get out of his head. Why had Gemma come looking for him in the study, and why was her friend at the door laughing? Gemma had said some nonsense about a dare and had asked her friend if she remembered her promise. The whole thing had given Lucian the impression of a setup.
It reminded him of when he and his mates had first gone to Eton and the boys in the town had offered to take them hunting for snipe. Lucian had immediately felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and had ushered himself and his friends away from the group, but other young students hadn’t been so fortunate. They’d happily dug into their pockets for coins. Of course, no such animal as a snipe existed. And the town boys had merely taken their coins and laughed at them behind their backs. More little Eton fools to rob at the start of the new year. It was always the lot who didn’t have older siblings or cousins to inform them before they’d arrived.
The moment Lucian had seen the pinched-face girl standing in the corridor laughing, the hair on the back of his neck had stood up in much the same way, and Lucian never discounted his gut.
The two young women had been up to something together. And if Lucian didn’t mistake his guess, they’d been up to securing an offer of marriage from a duke. It made his stomach turn to think about it, but all the evidence was there. Not the least of which was that the sister of a duke—a young lady who, by all accounts, should know better—had shown up alone to a room she had clearly known he was in. After all, the first thing she’d said when she saw him was, “There you are.”
Lucian’s gut tightened. Apparently, his good friend Southbury had a younger sister who thought nothing of scheming to get her way. And while Gemma would obviously come with an impeccable family name and no doubt be inpossession of a hefty dowry, Lucian had wanted to look for a wife who not only had those things but was also the type of woman he could trust. And one who was beautiful. Mama would roll over in her grave to know that he’d got himself trapped into marriage with a skinny slip of a girl who was only too willing to trap him.
At least Lucian was certain Southbury had nothing to do with his sister’s scheming. He’d given Lucian every chance to deny what had happened. It appeared the entire thing had been plotted by the two young ladies themselves.
Lucian needed more time to think it all over, of course. To decide how he would handle his new wife once they were wed, knowing how she’d schemed to force his hand. Once they were married, Gemma would belong to him as sure as any other item in his possession. He could send her off to the country alone if he chose. And frankly, he might do exactly that. God knew it would be a chore to bed her.
At the moment, however, there was only one thing to do. And that was to see to the marriage contract with Southbury. Lucian was a man of honor. After the gossip spread by Lady Cranberry last night, Lucian would not leave his friend’s sister to a life of scandal and derision.
He rapped hard on the glossy black door to Southbury’s town house. It was opened moments later by the butler. He greeted the man as he’d done dozens of times in the past when he’d come to pay a visit to his friend. Only today, he was here for an entirely different reason. One he’d never anticipated.
“Good morning, Your Grace,” the butler said, ushering him into the marble-covered foyer. “His Grace is in his study waiting for you.”
“I’ll bet he is,” Lucian muttered.
“Pardon me, Your Grace?” the butler replied.
“Nothing, Spaulding. No need to escort me. I know the way.”
Moments later, Lucian was rapping on the same study door he’d been trapped behind only hours before. He took a deep breath to steel himself for the discussion. Southbury was a reasonable man, but any man who believed his sister to have been compromised should be approached with caution.
“Come in,” came Southbury’s steady voice.
Hmm. He didn’t sound angry. Lucian slowly pushed the door open to see his friend sitting behind the large mahogany desk in front of the mullioned windows.
