The Study of Seduction: Sinful Suitors 2 (18 page)

She gaped down at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I need to talk to you privately. Now. It’s urgent.”

“Then come in the front door like a civilized person and ask for me.”

“I can’t. I don’t want your mother involved. I don’t even want the servants to know I’ve been here. Come down. We can talk in the garden.”

Alone in the garden? Not likely. The very idea made a thrill course down her spine. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m in my dressing gown.” She turned for the door. “Come back for dinner—that’s soon enough to talk.”

“Very well. I’ll just have to come up.”

What? She rushed back to the balcony in time to see him scaling the tall, spindly beech that rose too far away from her balcony to be of use to him.

“Edwin!” she hissed. “Stop that at once! It won’t hold your weight.”

He ignored her and kept climbing.

She watched with her heart in her throat. “What do you mean to do? Leap through the air? It’s too far!”

If she raised an alarm, that would put an end to it . . . but something held her back. Curiosity? His expression of grim determination? Her worry that if anyone came out and distracted him, he might fall?

“Edwin,” she whispered as he reached the level of her balcony. “Oh, do be careful. Don’t even
think
about jumping.”

Already, visions of his body broken on the garden paving stones below haunted her. But curiously, he kept climbing. The tree started to bow with his weight, and he shifted to the side nearest her balcony. When it bowed even more, she had to bite back a scream.

Then the tree bent just enough to set him down right before her.

When he released the beech, it sprang back into place. Then he dusted off his hands and trousers, as if he climbed onto balconies so deftly every day.

She wanted to throttle him. “Are you mad? You could have killed yourself!”

He blinked. “Nonsense. I knew precisely what I was doing. I calculated the circumference and height of the tree against my weight and the pull of gravity, and figured it would be fine.”

“Figured!” She poked him in the chest. “If you had figured wrong, you would have broken your neck!”

He grabbed her hand, his eyes glittering in the faint candlelight from the room. “You were worried about me.”

“Of course I was worried about you!”

“Then you should have come down,” he said very matter-of-factly.

“I would have, if I’d known you’d turned into a reckless fool overnight.”

He curled his fingers around her hand. “I was a boy once, you know. We learn to climb trees with our mother’s milk.” He tried to tug her close. “I was fine. Really.”

She snatched her hand free, her heart still thundering in her chest, and walked back into the room. Edwin, climbing trees. Who would have thought it?

As he followed her inside, she snapped, “So tell me. What was so all-fired important that you had to risk your life to speak to me alone?”

“Durand was here last night.”

That halted her in her tracks. With her throat tightening, she whirled to face him. “What do you mean?”

“Down the street. He was watching the house.” The deadly seriousness in his tone confirmed the truth of his words. “I confronted him, and he gave me an ultimatum.”

Her stomach began to churn. “What sort of ultimatum?”

A muscle worked in Edwin’s jaw. “Either I call off our engagement by tomorrow evening, or he’ll reveal some unsettling secrets about my family.”

“What secrets?”

“I’d rather not say. But they would essentially destroy whatever credit Yvette and I have in society. We would be outcasts.”

Yvette? It had something to do with Yvette? And
him, too. Oh no. “If that happened, you wouldn’t be able to find a wife,” she whispered.

“Precisely.”

A hard lump stuck in her throat. She considered prodding him to reveal what secrets Count Durand was holding over him, but if they were enough to make him this alarmed, they had to be bad. Which meant he wouldn’t talk about them with her. He never revealed such things to her. Why, she wouldn’t even have known about how uncaring his father had been toward the family if Yvette hadn’t told her.

Edwin wasn’t the sort of man to open his past to anyone, even a woman he contemplated marrying.

And it probably wouldn’t change anything if she knew. “Well, then, it appears you have no choice.” She swallowed hard. “You must end our betrothal. Or better yet, I’ll jilt you. Honestly, I never intended to marry any—”

“You’re not listening, Clarissa.” Stepping closer, he fixed her with a bleak glance. “He wants me to end things because he wants you to have no recourse but to marry him.”

“That’s absurd,” she said, though a frisson of fear skittered down her spine. “I always have a recourse. I will simply jilt you. It will make things difficult for you, I know, and I’m very sorry for that, but at least—”

“That won’t work, damn it. Don’t you see? He doesn’t mean to give you a choice!
He was lurking in your street just last night.
He’s obsessed with having you as his wife. If you continue to refuse him, one day he will simply abduct you and carry you off to Gretna Green. Or worse, to France. He could get away with
it, too. Diplomats are immune to all charges except murder.”

Slowly the reason for his sense of urgency sank in, along with a hard knot of anger at Durand. “But
why
is he obsessed, drat it? Why does he want me? I don’t understand him!”

“You’re a beautiful woman, full of vibrancy and good humor. Who wouldn’t want you?”

The delicious words startled her. They weren’t at all like him, which made her suspicious. “This is not the time to be trying out your newfound skill at compliments. There are plenty of women like me.”

“Not as many as you’d think.” Glancing away, Edwin rubbed the back of his neck. “But I’ll admit that his fixation with you goes beyond the pale. I can only assume that by wedding you, he hopes to gain access to something he wants.”

“Like what?”

He huffed out a breath. “Bloody hell, I don’t know. I wish I did. Perhaps Warren is wrong about his wealth. Perhaps he lost it at the gaming tables.”

“If it’s just about money, there are any number of heiresses who would happily marry a French count on his way to great success as a diplomat. Why insist on marrying a woman who clearly despises him?”

“He doesn’t seem to believe you do.”

“Then he’s blind, deaf, and dumb,” she said stoutly.

“Or he doesn’t care how you feel. Right now, it hardly matters what his reasons are. It doesn’t change the fact that he has both of us trapped.”

“Not you.” She sank onto her bed. She was tired of dealing with Durand, tired of the up-and-down, of being sure he was out of her hair only to have him
show up again. “You must protect your family and take his bargain. I’ll jilt you, and Mama and I will keep to the house until Warren is home. Then he can handle Durand.”

“The way he’s
been
handling him?” Edwin’s face darkened. “You know damned well Warren might not be back for weeks. I am
not
leaving you alone to be abducted by that bastard.”

“So what exactly are you proposing? That he drag you and your sister—and her new husband—through another scandal while you nobly hold down the fort until Warren returns?”

“No. I have another plan.” He strode over to look out the balcony door. “You and I should marry right away. Tomorrow morning, first thing. I’ve already obtained a special license, so I’ll come to take you riding in the morning and we’ll go straight to the church. Your mother allowed us to go in the phaeton with only my tiger before, so that will work. We needn’t even involve her in the wedding, since you’re of age and don’t need her permission. I’ve already spoken to my parish priest—”

“Wait, wait, stop it!” She jumped up from the bed. “Marry? How does that keep Durand from revealing your family secrets?”

He faced her, the shadows throwing the sharp planes of his face into harsh relief. “Once we marry and he loses any chance to gain you, he’s lost his weapon. Divorce is nearly impossible to obtain, even for a man of my stature, so he can’t make you his bride. That would leave no reason for him to spill my family secrets, other than a fit of pique, since it won’t achieve his original aim. Even Durand isn’t stupid
enough to risk his own career in diplomacy to spread slander about an English earl just to vent his temper.”

Lord. What a plan. “I’m not so sure about that. As long as we don’t know why he’s—”

“I’m not just rushing into this, if that’s what you think.”

“I think you’re quite mad.”

He reached into the pocket of his frock coat and pulled out a folded sheaf of papers. “I had my solicitor draw up a marriage settlement this morning.” Setting it on the bed, he added, “I think you’ll find it more than generous, but take some time to look it over tonight. If it doesn’t meet with your approval, we can go to his office first thing so you can dictate any changes before we head to the church.”

While she was flattered that he trusted her with legal documents—most men wouldn’t believe a woman could even read them properly—this was all moving rather quickly. “Edwin—”

“If you
want
to involve your mother, I understand—but she’s not very good at keeping secrets, and Durand absolutely cannot know of it until it’s done.”

“I don’t care if Mama is involved, but—”

“Our marriage needn’t be a typical one, you know.” His throat moved convulsively. “If you prefer to live separately, we can do that once we’re sure that Durand is no longer an issue.”

“Which would make it a trifle hard for you to sire an heir, and I don’t—”

“Obviously, I’d prefer that we bear children and raise them together as husband and wife, but if that doesn’t suit you—”

“Curse it, Edwin, enough!” She seized his hands. “What doesn’t suit me is your giving up your entire life to protect me.”

His eyes widened. “I’m not. You know I’ve wanted a wife for a long time.”

“But I’m sure you would prefer to choose one for yourself. Not be bullied into it by some madman.”

“He didn’t bully me into marrying you. He
attempted
to bully me into
not
marrying you. I’m the one who came up with the idea of marrying right away. I did it with my eyes open, so you needn’t worry about that.” Lifting her hands to his lips, he kissed each one with that slow care that never failed to make her blood run hot. Then he added, in a guttural murmur, “And you must admit that we’re attracted to each other.”

Given the furious beat of her heart just now, she could hardly deny that. But it made no difference. “That’s not the point. There are things about me that you don’t know, things that you wouldn’t like, things that—”

“I am not leaving you to that
bastard
!” When she started, Edwin modulated his tone. “I will not stand by and do nothing while he tries to ruin your life. And if we’re married, he won’t act—I’m certain of it.”

“You’re calling his bluff. I see that. But what if it isn’t a bluff?”

“Then you’ll be forced to suffer the scandal along with us, but I honestly don’t think it will come to that. And at least I’ll still be protecting you from his attempt to have you. We can face him together as man and wife.”

Man and wife.
Her heart twisted in her chest.
When Edwin was being noble, she wanted to scoop him up and kiss him forever. But he wouldn’t stay noble. Not once he learned about her past. “It’s not fair to you,” she said. “Making you risk scandal for your entire family to protect me. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering. It isn’t the same.” He searched her face. “We can have a decent life together, you know. Muddle our way through things. And if we’re unhappy, we can have separate homes. Margrave Manor is already next to my estate. You could go there, raise our children there. As long as I’m always part of their lives, I would be content.”

“Content? You deserve better than that, Edwin.”

He shook his head. “I’m not a romantic man, Clarissa. Love was never a consideration. As long as I can have a companion—preferably one who doesn’t mind sharing my bed—”

“And what if I
do
mind?” she whispered. “I’m not like other women. I have a certain . . . aversion to such things.”

Edwin did excite her body, but every time she thought about actually having him on top of her, her throat closed up and her hands grew clammy, and she wanted to die. He kept mentioning children, but having children required having marital relations, and she didn’t know if she could endure that, even with Edwin. What if she could
never
do so?

“You’re frightened of me,” he said hollowly.

“No.” The sharp, immediate response seemed to calm him. “Of any man being . . . with me in that way.”

“Ah.” He smiled. “Every woman has those virginal
fears, my sweet. But I promise I am capable of easing them, if you’ll let me.” He chucked her under the chin. “I see it like this. It’s either an amiable marriage with a man who will treat you tenderly. Or risk abduction by a man who will almost certainly not.”

She glanced away, indecision wracking her. She could end this all now, just by telling him the truth: that she wasn’t chaste. He would withdraw his proposal, she would formally jilt him, and she could go back to living her life—

In fear. Of a man who would be far more terrifying if he ever
did
get her in his power. And there was no guarantee that Count Durand would not, especially if she and Mama were left with no male protector. There wasn’t even a guarantee that he wouldn’t ruin Edwin anyway. What was to keep him from holding to his word?

The truth was, the thought of dealing with Edwin once he discovered all her secrets paled in comparison to the thought of the count’s abducting and forcing her into his bed. She couldn’t endure such an assault again.

She met his gaze once more. “All right.”

The relief flooding his face should have heartened her. It did not. He didn’t know what he was getting into with her. And she really should tell him. But the thought of his withdrawal when he learned of it—

No, she would tell him once they were married. Eventually. But in the meantime . . . “I have one condition, however.”