A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle (83 page)

“
Scandal does not concern
me, my lord.” Her voice was as cold and bereft as her
eyes.

“
What
does
concern you then, Grace?” His
voice was rising, but he could do nothing to stop it. “What, pray
tell, will put the passion back in your eyes and the heat back in
your voice?” Even as he spoke, somehow her pale skin blanched
further. “What will make you feel something? Anything?”

A piece of the ice chipped away from
her eyes. “You think me unfeeling, my lord? Then why do you insist
on continuing this charade?”

Deuce take it, could the chit not
answer a simple question? Or several, as the case may be. “I most
certainly do not think you unfeeling, because I have seen you feel.
Nevertheless, I do believe you keep a tight cork on it all, at
least where I am concerned.” Most of the time. She occasionally
lost her tight rein over it with him.

And here he was answering her
questions instead of getting answers to his own. Bloody hell.
“Answer me. What can I do to get you to feel something? Must I
resort to the same tactics as the last time we saw each
other?”

“
I feel. I feel an awful
lot more than you do, you uncaring lout.” Her eyes widened in
shock. Apparently she hadn’t intended to use that sort of language
with him. Progress.

“
And why am I an uncaring
lout? I believe I’ve made my feelings more than clear to you. I
want to marry you. I want you.” God, did he ever want her. Even
with her cold demeanor, the air fairly crackled between
them.

“
Because…because…augh!
Because my child doesn’t matter to you!” She drew away from the
window to face him full on. “Because it is
unimportant
.”

He blinked. A rather unexpected
development, indeed. Apparently Chatham had informed her that he
was aware of her pregnancy. “Of course the child doesn’t matter. I
want to marry you. Nothing will change that. How in bloody hell
does that make me unfeeling?” Would he never understand
her?

“
Because it does! How could
it not? If my child is unimportant to you, my lord, then I must
also be unimportant to you. I will not have you. You may now cease
your efforts, if you please.”

So very proper, even in a full rage.
How enchanting! There was no wonder he loved the minx. “For your
information, Grace, I never said the child was unimportant. Either
your father did, or possibly you assigned that word to me,
yourself.”

“
Well, you agreed with it,
didn’t you?” She placed both hands haughtily on her hips, assuming
The Stance—the one his mother so often took when she required
submission.

“
I suppose technically I
did. But I was unaware of your meaning when I agreed. Your child
will never be unimportant to me. Never. I will love it as my own. I
only meant that the fact of your being with child would not matter
in the face of my desire to marry you. It changes
nothing.”

“
Hmph!” She still held The
Stance like a professional. Grace must have learned quickly from
the females in his family, in order to achieve such perfect
disdain. It looked glorious on her.

“
Will you marry me, Grace?”
Surely now she would give in. What else could he do?

“
I’ve told you already that
I will not. Nothing has changed.” The fire fell out of her eyes,
and what small amount of color had filled her face now
fled.

“
Well. May I escort you to
your aunt and uncle in the salon?” Alex pulled his hand through his
hair again and came away with some in his fist. She would be the
death of him. There could be no doubt.

“
That would be acceptable,
Lord Alexander.” Her voice was thin. Grace stepped away from the
windows into the library, shaking violently. Before she reached
him, she collapsed into a dead faint.

~ * ~

Alex carried the unconscious Grace
into the salon, instigating a flurry of activity. Bodies flew about
the room.

“
Goodness, what have you
done to her?”

“
Lay her down here on the
sofa, Alex. Everyone stand back.”

“
Is she quite all right?
Peter, send for a doctor.”

He laid his prone charge across the
sofa as directed and stepped away from her, allowing the women to
see to her. He never removed his eyes from his love.

Char rushed about, ordering servants
to bring water, blankets, cloths, and so many other items he
couldn’t remember them all. Mama sat on the edge of the sofa,
smoothing the hair away from Grace’s face. Sophie, ever calm,
procured some tea and a bite for Grace to eat once she recovered
from her faint. Neil, Derek, and Sir Jonas wisely stood out of the
way, and Peter oversaw all of the activity. Sir Laurence and Lady
Kensington were curiously absent, as was Chatham, leaving Alex’s
family and friends to care for her.

Grace let out a soft moan, and her
eyelids fluttered but didn’t open.

“
Alex, did she hit her head
when she fell?” his mother asked. “She winced when I touched her
just there.”

“
I—I don’t know. She may
have. I didn’t get to her in time to catch her, Mama.” He ought to
have caught her. He should never have allowed her to fall,
especially in her condition. The baby! “Peter, we should send for a
doctor.”

“
No, that won’t be
necessary,” Sophie said, her voice quiet but firm.

“
But she—”

“
But nothing. Grace doesn’t
need a doctor, Alex. Please trust me on this.” Sophie lifted
Grace’s head and settled herself beneath it. She crooned softly,
imploring her to open her eyes and drink from a cup of
tea.

“
Why do you ladies seem so
determined not to allow me to call for a doctor? First her aunt,
and now you, Sophie.”

Mama interrupted his tirade. “This has
happened before? She fainted before? Sophia, this isn’t normal. We
must send for the doctor.”

“
No, Mama, we can’t. She
wouldn’t want a doctor.” Sophie’s voice held an edge of
steel.

“
How can you possibly know
what she would want or not want?” Alex bellowed. “You’ve only known
her a few hours. I’m sending for a doctor.” He pivoted on his heel
and marched toward the door before he saw the huddle of males.
“Better yet, Neil, go fetch a doctor. And take Derek and Sir Jonas
with you. Hurry.”

“
Stop, Alex. This is
entirely normal since she is
with
child
.” His sister hissed the words out as
Grace’s eyes opened and squinted against the light, and another
soft moan slipped past her lips. “I’m sorry, Grace, I had to
tell.”

“
With child,” Mama said,
her words only a whisper. Grace looked up at her in confusion. “You
carry my grandchild? Oh, how delightful! But we must plan the
wedding immediately. There can be no delay. I can well understand
your father’s hurry now, but I do wish Alex had informed me before
now. Oh dear.” She sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. “I’ll be
a Grandmama again. You are such a dear girl. I’m so glad you will
be my daughter.”

Grace sat up and blinked as she looked
around, her eyes settling on Sophie with a combination of hurt and
a plea for help. “No. No, there’s been a
misunderstanding.”

“
A misunderstanding? You
aren’t with child?” His mother looked from Grace to Alex and back
again.

“
No, ma’am. Yes. Well,
I
am
with child,
but the child is not your son’s. And I won’t be marrying him. I’ll
not be your daughter, ma’am.” She looked up to him with wide, sad
eyes, silently pleading with him to explain. But how could he
explain something he didn’t understand himself?

“
You’ve refused him again?
Oh dear. But, your father…” Mama’s words trailed off, and she
looked up at him with an apology in her eyes.

“
My father? What about my
father?” Grace’s voice cracked just a bit, the only indication of
her fear of the man amongst the haughty air she feigned.

“
Why, he left with the
Kensingtons to procure a special license. He expects the nuptials
to take place tomorrow. Surely he expected you to accept Alex this
time, or he wouldn’t have gone to such trouble. Would he?” Mama
looked dubious. “He couldn’t have mistaken your intentions so badly
as that.”

“
I made myself abundantly
clear to him, ma’am. I informed him that I would refuse if Lord
Alexander asked me to marry him. The only way it will happen is if
Father commands me to marry him, since he is still my guardian and
I have no choice in the matter.”

Aha! She would marry him
yet. Grace
would
be his.

“
I’d like to speak with
Grace alone,” he said to his family. “Please leave us.”

They filed out of the room, leaving
him alone with his love. Sophie was the last to go, and she
whispered, “I’m sorry,” to Grace on her way out the
door.

“
Your father will order you
to marry me, Grace.”

“
Yes.” She stared at the
floor.

“
Then why do you refuse?
You could make it your choice, and not his. Why allow him to
win?”

“
Either way, you
lose.”

“
What?” He couldn’t temper
the violence in his voice. “How could I possibly lose, when I’ll be
married to you?

“
You deserve better than
me, my lord. You are too good for me by half. You ought not to feel
honor bound to protect me, when there is nothing remaining to
protect. I have no virtue. I have no dignity. I have nothing to
give you.” Tears slid down her cheeks, one by one, dropping to
darken the soft lawn fabric of her pale pink gown.

“
But I want you. Is that
not enough?” He ached for her. Ached for the shame she carried.
Ached to wipe the tears from her eyes and the stain from her heart.
Ached to undo the damage done to her by her father and Barrow, and
anyone else who had ever hurt her.

Her mouth formed the word “No” but
only a squeak came from her lips.

“
Why? Tell me why. Allow me
to understand.”

“
Because it isn’t your
child, my lord.”

“
I know this. We’ve already
discussed this.”

She looked pained at his
interruption.

“
I apologize. I won’t stop
you again. Go on.”

She turned her gaze to her lap. “I
haven’t been honest with you since I met you. I—I was ravished by
Lord Barrow.”

He filled with rage toward the man and
wanted little more than to hunt him down where the Regent held him
and rip him limb from limb. But what he did want more than that was
Grace.

“
I am not a suitable bride
for a man such as you. You must realize that.”

“
And you must realize by
now I’ve no intention of leaving you to yourself.” Alex paced
again, taking long strides. “Why do you allow your pride to keep
you from a marriage which could erase any hint of scandal, of
impropriety?”

“
Pride? You think my pride
is the issue here?” Anger flashed blue flames in her eyes and she
stood to face him. “I have no pride left. It’s been replaced by
shame.” She stood toe-to-toe with him, glaring up into his eyes. “I
can’t marry you because you deserve a wife who has a virtue to
match your honor. And I
will
not marry you because you spoke only of caring for
me, of providing for me, of making me happy. You spoke nothing of
love.”

She pushed him back a step and
advanced to fill the gap. “I will not spend my life married to a
man because of duty and honor, who doesn’t love me as much as I
love him.”

“
You love me?” Alex’s jaw
dropped.

The fire fled her eyes as realization
of her admission struck her. “I didn’t say that.”

“
You as good as did. You
love me.” The words were a whisper as he leaned his head in toward
hers.

Alex kissed her with all the love and
longing that had been building in him since the first moment he saw
her eyes through the door of a coach. His lips pressed against hers
before he traced the line of her lips with his tongue. She pushed
against him at first. But when his tongue slid inside her mouth and
tangled with hers, she melted against him and sighed into his
mouth.

His hands were everywhere—in her hair,
on her arms, against her derrière. He pulled her tight to him, his
erection was hard and taut against the slight swell of her belly.
He needed her, more of her, all of her.

She tasted of honey, all sweetness and
warmth. He drank her in like liquor.

She whimpered against his mouth and
wrapped her arms about his shoulders and neck, pulling her body
ever closer. The heat between them roared to life.

And then Peter cleared his throat at
the door. “Pardon me. I do hate to interrupt, Alex, but I believe
Grace’s father has returned.”

He extracted himself from their
embrace. She teetered and he placed an arm around her waist to
secure her.

Her cheeks flushed and her lips were
swollen, and she looked utterly divine. An urge to pull her from
the room and above stairs to his bedchamber grew in his stomach,
but he pushed it aside as once again the salon filled with
people.