Pembroke whirled toward her just in time to see her white skirts billowing in the morning breeze.
“Georgiana!” he cried, real fear etched into his features.
“I will jump to my death,” she announced coolly, “if any of you try to take me back to that church.”
Her mother gasped. Her father sputtered. Her brother gawked.
And Pembroke just stood there, his face a mixture of horror and disbelief as he raked both hands through his hair. “Oh, hell,” he muttered under his breath. “I’ve created an entire bloody mess.”
That did it.
“ENOUGH!” Jason roared suddenly, his voice cracking like a whip through the room.
Everyone fell silent at once.
Even Georgiana, poised precariously on the windowsill, froze and blinked at him.
Jason drew himself up to his full height, his jaw set. “How much,” he demanded, his voice low and even, directed at Lord Chadwick, “was Henderville going to pay you?”
Georgiana’s father, who looked utterly confused now, opened his mouth—then closed it again.
Jason stepped closer. He could feel the muscle in his jaw ticking. He’d had quite enough of Georgiana’s family’s nonsense. “Well?”
Lord Chadwick swallowed. “Ten…ten thousand pounds,” he admitted at last, tugging at his lapels and glancing away.
Jason’s lip curled faintly. “I’ll give you twenty-five thousand,” he said, his voice cutting through the heavy air, “to marry her tonight.”
The room went dead still.
Georgiana’s eyes widened.
Her mother’s mouth fell open. Her father actually stammered. Henry sat down with an oof in a nearby chair.
And Jason just stood there, unflinching, watching them all with grim determination, daring anyone to argue.
Chapter Eighteen
Jason wasn’t entirely sure what had just come out of his mouth.
He remained poised in the middle of the room, his hands at his sides, still feeling the echo of his own voice.
I’ll give you twenty-five thousand to marry her tonight.
And the strangest thing was…
The moment he said it, he felt…calm.
Relieved, even. As though something that had been gnawing at him for weeks had finally settled into place.
Well, he thought grimly. No turning back now.
“Pardon?” Georgiana’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
She was still perched in the window, her skirts ruffling faintly in the breeze, her brown eyes wide with outrage…or was it disbelief?
She shook her head violently. “No,” she said firmly.
Her father squinted at him, incredulous. But finally found his voice. “Are you quite serious?”
