Page 29 of Only Scandal Will Do

“I bought the ship.”

Katarina stopped to stare at him in open-mouthed amazement. She glanced from side to side at the empty deck. “Did you forget to hire a crew?”

He laughed and took the opportunity to snare her arm and lead her toward the gangway. “The Constanza is a Dutch fluyt, mainly a cargo vessel, though this one has been refitted to accommodate passengers. One of its many attributes is that it can be crewed by as few as twelve men.” His smile widened. “Fewer under foot, you see.” His eyes twinkled in amusement. “As you might have guessed, I usually get what I want.”

The amusement died, replaced by a more sober countenance. “I do, however, sorely regret the means by which I tried to do so the evening we met. But I am not at all sorry to be in the position to offer my hand and heart to you.”

She slowed to a stop at the entrance to the gangway.

“Lady Katarina,” he entreated her, “if we had met at my aunt’s masquerade ball instead of at Madame Vestry’s, would you reject my suit so out of hand? Am I myself distasteful to you or is it the circumstances of our first meeting alone that makes you look on me with disfavor?”

Kat turned to him and opened her mouth for a glib retort, only to have the words die. The touchingly real torment in his soft brown eyes held her spellbound. Did he actually feel something for her? The thought both captivated and horrified her.

Struggling to reply to him, Kat tried to focus on something other than his hopeful face. “I hardly know what I would have done in those circumstances, will never know in fact. I cannot know you, Lord Dalbury, except by your deeds and they can hardly recommend you to me.”

Unaccountably driven to soften her words, she continued, “Since that night you have been...civil to me, but had you acted thus in March we would not be where we are now. I refuse to be forced into marriage with you, my lord. Whatever you and my brother have concocted, it will be to no avail. Neither you nor he can compel me to say my vows to you.” Despite this declaration, she had to turn away, as the devastation in his eyes sent a sharp pang to her heart.

She squared her shoulders and walked past him, toward the galley. Dalbury’s footsteps sounded behind her, and she closed her eyes almost in pain. Why did he have to be so damned engaging?

Because he was a practiced rake with a bag of tricks and the skill to make any woman lower her defenses. Just like she’d lowered hers that night in March. She felt a bloom of heat at the memory of how completely he’d fooled her into thinking he believed her story. Everything he said, every soulful look he gave was calculated to snare her. If she even thought of softening, of agreeing to marry the marquess, the conceited ass would win and she would be trapped forever with a faithless rake.

Inside the fair-sized, well-scrubbed galley, she discovered Jack helping himself to various breakfast dishes on a long table. By the time she sat on the hard wooden chair across from her brother, she had talked herself back into her firm resolve against the marquess. She squared her jaw in preparation for the onslaught she knew would come.

A forkful of eggs suspended before his mouth, Jack grinned sheepishly and the eggs continued their journey, albeit cautiously. “I see you have discovered our little change in plan, have you, Kat? I found that I really could not bear to see you go so soon. So Dalbury agreed to help me--”

“Oh, don’t bother to lie to me, Jack.” She sighed and helped herself to the eggs, meat, kippers and toast. Her displeasure had not affected her appetite, she was grateful to find. She would need all her wits and strength to outsmart these two.

Dalbury seated himself at the head of the table, loading his plate down as well. Perhaps he understood a battle should be fought with all one’s faculties--including a mind undimmed by hunger.

“You and Lord Dalbury have acted together, thinking to trap me into an alliance with a skillful rogue who refused to believe my word, tried to seduce me and nearly succeeded in raping me.” Her brother did not meet her gaze. “Let us not mince words any longer, my lords. That is exactly what occurred. And when viewed in this manner, even you, brother, cannot condone or condemn me to life with such a man.”

She grasped his hand and gave it a passionate squeeze. “We know little about this man, Jack, except what he did to me. I don’t know what he told you, but you still know only what he has said. Is he a man you can trust to tell the truth? I beg of you to let me decide what is best for me in this matter.”

Jack sat back in his seat, his face drawn with sudden pain. Good. Let him agonize over this decision. She stared at him, trying to set the lines of her face into a pitiful droop. She would bring all her considerable wiles to this battle.

“Damn it, Kat.” He looked more and more uncomfortable by the minute. “Won’t you even try a courtship with him?” He suddenly seemed very young and hopeful. “You might find that he’s not truly bad.”

She clenched her fork, flung the utensil onto the plank table with a clatter, put her head in her hands and moaned. What could she do if Jack tried to force this on her? Could she be strong and hold out? She knew she could be stubborn, but for years? She raised her head.

Dalbury had stopped eating, the food suspended before his face. He gazed back at her warily.

How bad would it actually be to be married to him? She remembered his kiss in the garden, and heat crept into her face. Her attraction to the marquess would be her undoing for sure. The man could be kind and charming, gentle and passionate. But he had been all those things in March and it had been a ruse. He had been after only one thing that night and still was. If she married him, she could never trust him, never be able to believe a word he uttered.

After one last accusing stare at Dalbury, she turned to her brother. “No, Jack. I cannot do this. If that means you must lock me away for the next seven years until I inherit my portion, that is your right. But if you thought you would lose me to Virginia, consider this. If you punish me for refusing to marry the marquess, from that moment you may as well count me dead to you. It will be as though I am sister no more, for I will not look at nor speak to you nor acknowledge you in any way.”

She grasped his hand. “There is another way to resolve this. Let me go to Amiable. It was a good enough plan for you before he showed up,” she nodded curtly toward the marquess. “And he changes nothing.”

Jack’s face was more solemn than when their father had died. “He did change things, Kat, though you do not realize it. What was scandal for a few days in Virginia will be a scandal for years here in London. Lord Dalbury knows first-hand how even a scandal not directly connected to a person, can ruin a reputation. And in the ton, reputation is everything. Should your disgrace be discovered, you would not be received in polite society. Neither would I be able to marry and continue the family line with a woman of good breeding.”

“Then we must make sure the scandal dies here and now. No one else knows...” But Dr. Pritchett did know, and Reginald Matthews certainly suspected. They might be trusted to keep their silence, but did anyone else know?

“But we cannot be sure of that, can we, Lady Katarina?” Dalbury broke into her thoughts. “You have very distinctive hair. Many might remember it from the auction when they see you.” The marquess seemed determined to spread gloom and doom.

“Many women have this shade of hair, my lord. And we were both masked. You were in a black cape, so who would recognize you?”

“Katarina.” Jack’s voice sounded deeper with sadness. “Even if no one ever suspected a thing, there would still be your honor to be avenged.”

“Avenged?” The word sounded alarm bells. “As in a duel? Jack, are you mad?”