Fenella J Miller - [Duke 02] by Bride for a Duke Read Free Book Online Page B

got off lightly in the circumstances.”
    For a moment it hung in the balance, his hands were clenched at his sides and a pulse hammered at the base of his neck. She stood her ground. He he might strip her to the bone with the lash of his tongue but, instinctively, she knew he would never raise his hand.
    “Good grief! You are an original and quite correct to castigate me.” This time he bowed deeply as if meeting her for the first time. “I apologise profoundly for my appalling accusation. I hope you will accept it and we can start again.”
    When he straightened she responded with a similar curtsy. “And I apologise for striking you. Please be seated, sir, I believe we have much to talk about.” As she spoke she realised the absurdity of her words, she should be speaking to her husband not to his older brother.
    This time he didn’t move the chair any closer. “I understand you became involved in this … this unfortunate venture because you wish to be away from Sir John Radcliffe. Do you know why my idiot brother married you?”
    “Lord Shalford told me he was in a similar position to me, had reached his majority but was unable to run his own life without interference.” She hesitated not sure she could continue in this vein but the matter must be clear between them. “He said you were … were a trifle autocratic and demanding. By marrying he would be able to access his inheritance and live as he pleased.” Why was he staring at her as if she were a candidate for Bedlam? “Having experienced your high-handed behaviour for myself, sir, I have every sympathy with his desire to be free of your influence.”
    “God in his heaven! I have no wish to disillusion you, my dear, but contrary to your belief I am a perfectly reasonable fellow and only interfere with Rupert’s life by paying off his gambling debts and …” his cheeks coloured and he ran his finger around his neck cloth as if it had grown too tight for some reason, “and extricating him from unwise liaisons.” He sat back in his chair and smiled sadly. “It is true that recently I gave him an ultimatum. Unless he mends his ways he must live on his allowance. I’m afraid I must be blunt. Rupert married you for a wager.”
    “I don’t believe it. Why are you telling me such a Banbury tale? I’ve only known your brother a few hours but one thing I am certain of, he is not an unkind gentleman. He would not lie to me, deceive me ...” her voice faltered beneath his sympathetic gaze.
    “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, my dear, but I can assure you, Rupert married you for the princely sum of one hundred guineas. Of course he might also have been prompted by the reasons he gave you, but he can never resist a wager. Something you could not possibly know after such a short acquaintance is that he is already a hardened gambler, will wager on the length of time it takes a raindrop to trickle down a pane of glass given the opportunity.”
    Unwanted tears prickled behind her eyelids. She blinked them back, swallowed hard and came to a decision. “In which case, my lord, I wish the marriage to be terminated as speedily as possible. I believe that if a couple have not consummated the union …” her face turned an unbecoming shade of beetroot and his eyebrows shot beneath his hair.
    “Exactly so. I am not without influence in Parliament and can expedite this matter; you must return to Shalford Hall with me and I shall set things in motion.”
    Thoroughly discomfited by the turn the conversation had taken Anna scrambled to her feet with more speed than elegance. “I have no intention of going anywhere with you. An old school friend has invited me to make my home with her, she is about to be confined with her second child and does not have the wherewithal to employ a suitable companion. I shall arrange a passage for myself on the next mail coach; you have no need to be concerned on my behalf.”
    He stepped closer and she barely restrained her impulse to