‘‘Am I dreaming?’’ Corinna asked, seemingly oblivious to all the curious gazes. ‘‘Just an hour ago, all was lost. Now suddenly your reputation is restored—no, more than that, it’s golden—and we can get . . .’’
Her voice trailed off, as though she were afraid to say what came next.
‘‘Married?’’ Sean supplied.
‘‘You never actually asked me.’’ They turned a corner, and she threw herself into his arms. ‘‘Oh, Sean, I’ve never been so happy!’’
He held her tight, risking a short kiss, since they’d escaped the prying eyes. She tasted better than forbidden sin, and she felt divine pressed against him. But he couldn’t bring himself to quite share in her happiness.
‘‘Let us not count our chickens before they are hatched,’’ he advised, remembering Cainewood’s clenched jaw. ‘‘Lincolnshire’s endorsement notwithstanding, your brother may not approve.’’
‘‘Oh, don’t worry about Griffin,’’ she said gaily, rising to her toes for another quick kiss. He obliged her, of course. ‘‘I have a plan to persuade him.’’
‘‘What do you mean?’’
‘‘Never mind.’’ A bounce in her step, she turned and resumed walking. ‘‘We’re all going to live happily ever after, just like in Minerva Press novels.’’
‘‘Not all of us,’’ he pointed out. ‘‘Not Hamilton.’’
‘‘No one will buy his paintings now, will they? He’s going to
need
half the income from his uncle’s trust.’’
‘‘Very clever, that stipulation.’’ They turned into the mews where his curricle was waiting. ‘‘Lincolnshire knew it would get him to free Deirdre.’’
‘‘She looked so happy, Sean.’’
‘‘Believe me, she is.’’ Digging a coin from his pocket, he handed it to one groom as another helped Corinna climb up. Sean walked around to the driver’s side and swung up beside her, lifting the reins. ‘‘And I’m relieved to know she won’t be living in sin. Or at least, not for long.’’
As the horses clip-clopped out of the mews, Corinna snuggled up against him. ‘‘What do you mean?’’
‘‘Deirdre won’t be waiting for the divorce to come through before she moves in with Raleigh,’’ he said with a sigh, turning onto the street. ‘‘That will take a long while, and she’ll not be patient. Impulsive, my sister is, not to mention a wee bit wild.’’
‘‘I guess that wildness runs in your family,’’ Corinna said, grinning up at him. ‘‘Her brother posed naked for an artist.’’
Chapter Fifty-six
A short time later, Griffin found himself seated on a sofa in his drawing room, surrounded by members of his family and a couple of near strangers with Irish accents. And each and every one of them—except for the baby— wanted something.
His two brothers-in-law wanted to go home.
That
he could understand. If he weren’t already home, he would want to go home now, too.
Alexandra wanted to know how Lincolnshire had come to learn everything his will had revealed. He couldn’t blame her for that, as he’d be clamoring for the information himself if he didn’t already have it.
Juliana wanted Corinna to marry Delaney. Corinna wanted to marry Delaney. Delaney’s sister wanted Delaney to marry Corinna. And Delaney wanted to marry Corinna.
These four people were responsible for half of the new cracks in his teeth.
And then there was Rachael, sitting beside him on the sofa, enveloping him in her come-hither scent.
She
wanted to marry
him
.
Which made her responsible for the rest of the cracks.
The beginnings of a headache pulsed in his temples. Alexandra wasn’t seated. Holding little Harry, she was bouncing him unceasingly in a rather frantic, rhythmic fashion. It worked to keep the baby from crying, but Griffin’s headache escalated just watching her.
‘‘How on earth did Lord Lincolnshire learn everything?’’ she asked for the third time.
He decided to give her what she wanted first.
But before he could unclench his jaw to do so, Delaney answered. ‘‘I’m thinking Lincolnshire got the facts from your brother,’’ the man told her. ‘‘A mere two days before he died.’’ Sitting on a sofa across the drawing room, with Corinna beside him—
right
beside him—he looked to Griffin for confirmation. ‘‘That morning he summoned you . . . it wasn’t to say good-bye, was it?’’
‘‘No, it wasn’t,’’ Griffin said. ‘‘He wanted information. I take it he asked you to find future employment for all of his staff?’’
‘‘He asked me to continue employing them all at Lincolnshire House, which I knew Hamilton wouldn’t do. So I offered to find alternative employment for them instead.’’
‘‘Well, you did too good a job of it, raising his suspicions. He subsequently requested that Mr. Lawless hire someone to investigate the various concerns where his servants would eventually work, to make certain they all existed and his people would be treated well. In the process, Lawless discovered all of the concerns were owned by a single man, a certain Mr. Sean Delaney.’’ Griffin paused, feeling rather awed despite his suspicions that this man had kissed his sister. ‘‘You own a
lot
of property, Delaney.’’
‘‘Among other things. You needn’t worry that your sister might ever want for anything.’’
Griffin snorted. ‘‘You’ll keep her in dresses, I expect— should I agree to let you have her.’’ When Corinna opened her mouth to protest, he forged ahead. ‘‘From there, Lawless made further inquiries and learned you were posing as Hamilton, and furthermore, that Hamilton was your brother-in-law. Feeling you were a good man’’—this uttered with more than a little irony— ‘‘Lincolnshire summoned me to ask if I knew why you might have done such a thing.’’
‘‘And you confirmed his suspicions?’’ Corinna asked.
‘‘He was close enough to confirming them for himself. I told him Delaney agreed to the hoax for his sister’s sake and attested that Hamilton was quite deserving of his less-than-stellar reputation. Lincolnshire seemed especially incensed that his nephew had refused Mrs. Hamilton the divorce she sought.’’ He looked to Delaney’s sister. ‘‘He was quite taken with you, if you didn’t know.’’
‘‘I loved him, too,’’ she whispered, tears in her eyes.
‘‘He considered your brother a saint, and he compared you to the angels. He wanted you happy. And he requested that I not reveal what he knew. He wanted to settle everything his own way. I expect his will was rewritten that very afternoon.’’
‘‘Didn’t you think we’d have wanted to know?’’ Corinna asked rather indignantly. ‘‘I was devastated, and Sean thought he was being set up to take a fall—’’
‘‘I agreed to keep Lincolnshire’s secret in order to make the old man happy. The exact reason you kept secrets, if you’ll recall. I followed through after his death because I like to think I’m a man of my word. I felt Lincolnshire deserved to resolve the matter as he wished. And furthermore’’—he glared daggers at her— ‘‘I had no knowledge the two of you were involved, so I had no reason to worry for your happiness should Delaney be discredited. You denied any interest in him, and you told me you were saddened over the loss of Lord Lincolnshire and because your painting isn’t likely to be accepted for the Summer Exhibition.’’
That tirade rendered his youngest sister speechless, a rare state for Corinna. Griffin found a measure of satisfaction in that.
He was going to allow her to marry Delaney, of course. He was thinking a late summer wedding at Cainewood Castle, after the Season ended, would be perfect. While he wished he knew Delaney better, he liked what he’d learned of the man thus far. Lincolnshire had judged him worthy, and Griffin trusted the earl’s judgment. Most important, Corinna was in love, and Griffin wanted to see her happy.
But he was sick and tired of being manipulated by all the people he loved.
Before he granted his permission, he was planning to make everyone else squirm for a change. And he planned to enjoy it.
‘‘Do you not
like
Sean?’’ Corinna finally asked.
‘‘I would
like
to have his skill for investing,’’ Griffin said dryly, leaving it at that for now. He shifted to look at the man in question. ‘‘Given Lincolnshire’s attitude, I suspected he wasn’t planning to make you pay for your deception. But I felt no responsibility either way. As far as I was concerned, you had dug your own grave.’’
Slowly Delaney nodded. ‘‘And now I expect I have to lie in it.’’
‘‘No, you don’t,’’ Corinna disagreed heatedly. ‘‘Griffin will allow us to marry. I have a secret that will ensure it.’’
Suddenly Griffin wasn’t finding this so enjoyable. His headache was getting worse. ‘‘Another secret? What the hell sort of secret?’’
‘‘Maybe he kissed her for half an hour,’’ Rachael suggested sweetly.
Griffin cracked another tooth.
‘‘Open your eyes, Griffin,’’ Juliana put in. ‘‘A blind man could see they belong together.’’
‘‘I see they seem to be
glued
together,’’ he said darkly.
Delaney immediately put space between himself and Corinna, and Corinna immediately scooted right back against him. Griffin found that slightly amusing, which worked to calm him down a bit.
Delaney’s pretty blond sister cleared her throat. ‘‘Lord Cainewood, you admired Lord Lincolnshire, did you not? I’m thinking you should trust his judgment regarding my brother.’’
‘‘I’m thinking this is none of your concern,’’ he said, thinking she was the only one with an intelligent argument.
Unsurprisingly, Juliana wasn’t ready to give up. ‘‘What do
you
think, James?’’
Her husband looked at her as though flowers had just sprouted from her ears. ‘‘I think I’m staying out of this.’’
‘‘Alexandra, Tristan?’’
They both shook their heads, Alexandra doing so while still maniacally bouncing the baby.
Crossing her arms, Juliana looked back to Griffin. ‘‘You have to let them marry.’’
‘‘I don’t
have
to do anything.’’
‘‘She’s over twenty-one,’’ she pointed out with more than a little smugness. ‘‘They can elope to Gretna Green.’’
‘‘I won’t do that,’’ Delaney put in quickly. ‘‘I won’t go behind her brother’s back.’’
‘‘I
knew
you’d say that,’’ Corinna said. ‘‘That’s why I’m prepared to use the secret.’’
Griffin swung back to her. ‘‘
What
secret?’’
‘‘Maybe he kissed her for
more
than half an hour,’’ Rachael suggested.
Which made Griffin wonder if maybe things had gone beyond kissing. ‘‘Did he paw you, Corinna?’’
She looked confused. ‘‘Did he what?’’
An awful thought occurred to him. ‘‘You aren’t in the family way, are you?’’
‘‘No, I’m not in the family way! He didn’t do anything that could get me in the family way. Sean’s much too honorable to even consider such a thing. He’s the son of a vicar, if you didn’t know.’’
Griffin hadn’t known, and he was rather pleased to hear it. ‘‘So, then, what’s the secret? What
did
he do?’’
She hesitated, her gaze darting about the room. She appeared to be holding her breath. Beside her, Delaney looked like he wished the floor would open up and swallow him. Alexandra stopped bouncing, and the baby started crying.
Griffin saw Corinna’s breath rush out, saw her suck in another one—a single, shuddering, ragged breath—and then she opened her mouth—
‘‘You know what? I don’t want to hear it.’’ Suddenly, he didn’t. He was absolutely certain it was something that would make him furious, something that would make him demand Delaney marry his sister immediately.
In fact, he was going to do just that, just in case.
So much for a late-summer wedding at Cainewood.
‘‘You two will be married tomorrow.’’
Corinna finally left Delaney’s side, rushing over to smother Griffin in a hug. ‘‘Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for not making me use my secret. You won’t be sorry.’’
‘‘I’m sorry already,’’ he muttered. ‘‘It’s a miracle I have any teeth left in my mouth.’’
‘‘They cannot marry tomorrow,’’ Juliana said. Smugly. ‘‘They’ll need a special license. And she’ll need a dress.’’
‘‘She has dozens of dresses. I know, because I paid for all of them.’’ Griffin disentangled himself from his sister and set her away. ‘‘Very well, then, you have until Friday to get a license and pick a dress. Not a day later. And you and the vicar’s son will not be alone together until then.’’ The baby was still bawling, a racket loud enough to rattle his aching teeth. He had a raging headache. ‘‘Leave, all of you, please. Except for Corinna. Now.’’
Most of the family shuffled out. Mercifully, the baby’s cries faded away with them, and as they left the house, the noise ceased altogether.
‘‘I’m going to walk Sean and Deirdre to the door,’’ Corinna said quietly. ‘‘I’m not leaving.’’ The three of them walked into the foyer.
Rachael had stayed put, naturally. Now she moved closer, enveloping Griffin in her damned come-hither scent again. Against his better judgment, he shifted to face her.