“I thought you’d never ask.” He walked to the door, opened it a crack where Benedict, bless him, was waiting. With a nod, he signaled to the footman, who returned the gesture with the smallest hint of a smile, then disappeared down the hall. Tom returned to Georgie, ensuring the door was closed.
Then they waited.
The baroness, the dowager, and Miss Duigood were the first to arrive. Tom made certain they walked in on a scene that, while definitely affectionate, would hardly qualify as indecent, given what they’d just done. Still, the baroness managed to look scandalized, while Miss Duigood rushed to Georgie.
“My dear boy,” his grandmother clucked, “I had no idea we had a rogue in the family. I am going to fetch your father at once.”
Before she turned to leave, Tom could have sworn she’d winked at him.
For her part, Georgie managed to look respectably distraught at being found, before being taken to the opposite side of the room by Miss Duigood and the baroness, who planted herself down on a nearby chair, looking for all the world as if she were holding court.
“I believe there is only one thing to be done to save Lady Georgiana’s spotless reputation,” she said, pointing her walking stick in Tom’s direction. “As her chaperone, I will not see her leave this house tonight without an engagement.”
“What the devil—”
Tom tensed as both his father and Marcus Hawthorne appeared at the threshold. Marcus looked positively wild eyed, turning from Georgie to Tom.
“Marcus,” Georgie said, her expression unreadable, her delivery almost sincere. “It’s not what this seems.”
“How dare you,” her brother hissed, anger flushing his cheeks as he charged into the room. “How dare you destroy the honor of this family.”
“My lord,” the viscount broke in, two steps behind. “Please take a moment while my son explains himself. I’m certain there is a legitimate explanation for what we are seeing.”
Marcus whirled from Georgie to Tom.
“You bastard,” he said, pointing a finger squarely at Tom’s chest. “You’ve been waiting years to get your hands on my sister. Your depravity knows no bounds.”
“Your tone, sir!” the viscount said, his voice like the crack of a whip.
Tom stepped between Marcus and Georgie.
“I will do the honorable thing, Marcus. Your family’s honor, such as it is, will not suffer as a result.”
“You can’t have her,” Marcus spat, dragging a hand through his carefully coiffed hair, which, given the amount of pomade, had the singular effect of making it appear as if it was standing on end. “She’s already been promised. There is a contract.”
“That contract is now null,” the viscount said. “And since I will outrank both of you—”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “You are the heir to a viscountcy, Worthington. Know your place.”
“My place is at your sister’s side, Hawthorne,” he snapped. “And while you may outrank me, know that the Worthington fortune is not a hair’s breadth from insolvency.”
Marcus’s jaw fell slack as he realized he no longer held power over the man he’d called a servant. Tom was certain he would savor this moment until he was lowered into the grave. And possibly in the afterlife as well.
Marcus recovered his lower jaw, tilting his head upward in an attempt at defiance.
“It is as I suspected,” he said. “You trapped her into this, just so you could ruin us.”
“I trapped Mr. Worthington,” Georgie called out, rising and walking toward her brother with all the confidence of a queen. “I wrote him a note, asking him to meet me here alone. If anyone did the compromising, it was me.”
Marcus blinked, and Tom wasn’t certain if it was her confession or her confidence which gobsmacked him. “You did what?”
“Father trapped me in a marriage, so I decided to escape that trap.” She arched a brow, tilting her head to one side. “Perhaps I am not so witless after all.”
Marcus seemed to hold his breath, as if he didn’t know how to speak to this version of his sister.
“Your dishonor to our family is reprehensible,” he said, his mouth twisted in a sneer. “After all Father has done—”
“What Father has done is try to sell me to a horrible man who agreed to wed me while he was still married, so I might save an estate that will never be mine,” she said so forcefully, Tom swore he saw Marcus flinch. “Do not speak to me of honor, Marcus. In fact, do not speak to me at all.”
