Not Wicked Enough (37 page)

Fenris rose and gave him a look that took in and dismissed his well-ridden in clothes. “Your grace.”

Lily looked between him and Fenris, and he realized he had no idea if she’d just accepted a proposal of marriage from the man or whether he’d interrupted the question or the answer or both. His heart lurched.

He did not own Lily, he told himself. They had no understanding except that she was leaving before long. What had he offered her besides physical passion? Nothing. Fenris, on the other hand, had just offered her the family connections she’d always longed for. Camber himself would come to terms with a daughter in law who brought with her a fortune he’d had to give up for lost. For that sort of fortune, even the Duke of Camber might see his way clear to recognizing her father.

“Might Miss Wellstone and I have a few moments longer?” Lord Fenris said. One corner of his mouth twitched. “I’ve matters to…discuss with my cousin.” When Mountjoy didn’t move, Fenris said, “They are of a personal nature, your grace. I’m sure you understand.”

If he knew anything about Lily it was that she knew her own mind, and this self-righteous prick was going to treat her as if she did not. As if her desires, whatever they might be, were of no consequence compared to his. He fought his urge to throw the man out on his ear. “Wellstone?”

Lily rose slowly. She did not, as another might have done, pretend the moment wasn’t awkward. “Lord Fenris, thank you very much. You do me a very great honor. I’m deeply flattered.” She held out her hand for him to take. “And taken by surprise, as you must imagine. Though I thank you for calling on me.”

Fenris turned his back on Mountjoy. “Have you an answer for me, cousin? Or do you need time to consider your reply?”

Her cheeks pinked up. “No. No answer yet, my lord.”

Not yet.

“Is there a time when I might know my fate?”

“Tomorrow,” Lily said. “If that’s agreeable to you.”

“If I must wait, I shall. Thank you.” He took her hand and bowed over it. When he straightened, he put a packet into her hands. “In the meantime, keep these. Please. To remind you of my sincerity.”

The emotion that flooded her face brought a lump to Mountjoy’s throat. “Thank you.” She took Fenris’s hand in hers and pressed it. “Thank you very much.”

“Until tomorrow.”

“At two o’clock, if you don’t mind.”

“Certainly.” He brought Lily’s hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. As he walked past Mountjoy, they traded looks. Mountjoy waited until Fenris was past him before he said, “Perhaps you and I ought to have a word. My lord.”

Mountjoy turned to find Fenris had done the same. They now faced each other. “You’re not her father, Mountjoy.”

“No, but she is an unmarried woman staying in my house. I am responsible for her while she is here.”

Lily cleared her throat, but they both ignored her.

“Your concern for my cousin does you credit. Thank you.” Fenris looked past him to Lily. “Tomorrow at two, Miss Wellstone.”

“Not a moment sooner.”

With that, Mountjoy was alone with Lily. “Would you rather I leave?” he asked. He closed his eyes. Of all people, Fenris was in a position to know just how wealthy Lily was. It made sense to bring that money back into the control of his family. Fenris would know that a man in his position married for reasons of dynasty and that he would please his father beyond words if he were to bring back Lily’s fortune. Marrying Lily was a far cheaper solution than laywers.

Would she agree?

She shook her head and sat on the sofa. She placed the packet Fenris had given her on the table beside the sofa. “I confess, Mountjoy, I am at a loss just now. And I am rarely at a loss.”

He stayed where he was, just past the door. She had not given Fenris an answer yet. Not yet. But tomorrow?

She looked at him, and for once she did not seem impossibly confident of herself. She clasped her hands on her lap. “I thought he’d come here to tell me they’d found another will and that I must leave Syton House and give back everything.” She gazed at him. “All this time I’ve been imagining the awful things he must be plotting against me. His offer was completely unexpected.”

He checked the hall to be sure Fenris had really gone. “He will be a duke one day. His title is an old one.”

“Oh that. Yes, I suppose so. But he is my cousin, Mountjoy. I’ve never had a cousin before.” She twined her fingers on her lap. “And he wishes to know me. After all this time, he wants a connection between us.”

It killed him, but he said, “Commendable of him.”

She fixed wide eyes on him. “My father would never forgive me.”

“Does it matter if you add one more item to his list of your unforgiven sins?”

“Oh, Mountjoy, you do make me laugh.” She smiled. “When you put it like that, perhaps it doesn’t.”

“Don’t let your father ruin this for you, Wellstone. You mustn’t.”

“But what of your sister?” Her amusement slowly faded. “Ginny will never forgive me.”

“She will,” he said.

“I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t forgive a thing like that. My dearest friend marrying the man who tried to prevent my marriage?”

He took a breath. “Eugenia will understand.”

“If she doesn’t? I couldn’t bear to lose her friendship. I couldn’t.”

Her despair broke his heart. “Come.” He held out his hand. “We’ll walk in the garden and talk. Or say nothing, if you prefer. Or speak of everything that is inconsequential.”

She walked to him and put her hand in his. She squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Mountjoy.”

Not ten minutes later, they were walking side by side in the rear garden. She’d fetched a cloak and had that around her shoulders. In silent accord, they headed past the formal grounds. He held the gate for her, and they walked a path that led to the lake, the bottom of which he now knew contained a good number of Roman coins. There was a bridge at the narrowest part of the water, and they followed the gravel path that wended that direction.

“I don’t know what to do, Mountjoy,” she said when they’d exhausted subjects such as the weather and whether they preferred lemon tarts to sweet puddings. “I’ve half a mind to sneak home in the dark of night.”

“Impossible. You are engaged to be here another eight days.”

“Stop making me laugh when I feel so miserable.”

He tucked her arm under his. “Listen to me, Wellstone, because I ask this in all seriousness. Is marrying Fenris the condition of this connection he is so suddenly pursuing?”

They walked several feet before she answered. “No. I don’t think so.” She looked away. “I don’t know. He might have meant that.” She stopped walking. “I am aware that I am in possession of some very valuable properties and a fortune the present Duke of Camber believes should have gone to anyone but me. So don’t imagine I do not understand my cousin’s financial incentives. He wouldn’t be the first to have them.”

“Believe me, I do not dismiss your understanding of anything.”

She shot him a look. “It was not my impression that Fenris agrees with his father about me. At least not now.”

“He’s a bloody good little son, to come haring halfway across the country to propose to the woman his aunt made her sole heir.”

They walked a few yards before she replied. “I wonder what he would have done if I had turned out to be an aged and wrinkled old hag?”

He drew her closer. “How large did you say your fortune is?”

“About eighty thousand. More now. Rents are up and my investments have done quite well.”

“Then he’d have gone down on his knee to you whether you proved a hag or a shrew. Or both.”

“There’s an excellent basis for marriage.” She released his arm to straighten her cloak. “Mutual ignorance of each other’s character.”

“Marriages have been contracted on far less than that.”

“They have been.”

“I thought you had determined you would never marry.”

They strolled a ways before she answered. “Not for love.”

Mountjoy stopped walking. “For what reason would you marry?”

Her fingers tightened on his arm. “I don’t know. When he can’t possibly expect me to love him. When it makes such sense.”

“You think it makes sense to marry Lord Fenris?”

“Objectively, it does.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Suppose,” he said, “that I told you I could never love you and that I understood you would never do something so inconvenient as to love me in return. In such a case, would you agree to marry me?”

Her gaze burned into his. “Are you asking me under those conditions?”

“That is not the point. Our discussion is a purely academic one.”

“To answer your question, no. I would not.”

“Why not? If your only criterion is that there be no love between you and your husband, it seems to me that any unmarried man will do. Therefore, why not me instead of Fenris?”

“You’re twisting my words.”

“No, Wellstone. I am attempting to unravel that nonsense.”

“All right then. For reasons of dynasty. I’d marry him for that.”

“I am in need of an heir. For reasons of dynasty.” He took her arm again and continued down the path. He scowled the entire time they walked. “Why would you marry Fenris but not me?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because marrying you would be a betrayal of Greer.”

“Why?” he said softly.

“Because you’re going to marry Jane.”

“Jane has nothing to do with Greer. But suppose that was not the case, that I was free to marry anyone I wished.”

She pressed her lips together before she answered him. “No, I would not marry you.”

“Why not?”

She glared at him. “Because you are my friend.”

“Your friend.”

“Yes.”

“As your friend, I say you ought not marry a man whose character you do not know. You needn’t tell Fenris yes or no tomorrow merely because you said you would. If you need more time to decide, for God’s sake take it.” He took her arm again when they reached a rough portion of the path.

“But I promised, Mountjoy.”

“You told him he would have a reply.”

“Exactly.”

“Tomorrow reply to him that if he wishes to win your hand, you must at least know him well enough to give your approval of his character. If he’s serious, he’ll wait for you to make your decision.”

“Shall I languish in the tower of yon castle, while I ponder on the subject?” She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “I cannot marry any man but one who proves himself worthy. By slaying a dragon. Or fetching me a golden fleece.”

Mountjoy chuckled. “I don’t advise that you languish, though you may if you like. If you mean
that
tower”—he tipped his head in the direction of Bitterward—“I’d find a way to keep you occupied while your cousin performs his mighty works.”

She gave a sigh and leaned her head against his shoulder while they walked. “If he turns his back on me when I tell him I cannot answer him? What then?”

He stopped walking and faced her, hands on her shoulders. “Wellstone. You are an extraordinary woman. A woman worth knowing.” He wanted to be selfish and tell her to stay the hell away from Fenris, but he couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right. “Fenris is a damned fool if he didn’t know that from the moment he laid eyes on you. Don’t let anyone, especially him, make you think that’s not so. If you marry anyone, at least make sure the man deserves you.”

Her mouth quirked. “No one deserves me.”

He chose to ignore the double meaning. “God knows Fenris doesn’t. He’s done nothing to deserve your love.” His fingers tightened on her. “Don’t settle for marriage without at least respect between you. You can’t live like that. Not you, Lily. I know you loved Greer, and I believe you’ll never love another man the way you loved him. But does it follow that you can never love? Does a parent love only one child? A child only one parent? May we love only one friend? You, Lily, you of all people must have love in her life. Genuine love from a man who understands the wonderful eccentricities of your mind. Accept nothing less. If Fenris proves himself that man, then marry him but not until then. That’s my advice to you.”

“Ginny’s right about you.” She touched his cheek. “You give excellent advice.”

“Will you take it?”

“I should think you’d be cackling in glee at the thought of him ending up married to me.”

He took a step back. “Do you find me as petty as that? I wouldn’t wish that on you. I want your happiness.”

“No, Mountjoy. No I don’t think that of you.”

“If you’re going to do something as harebrained as marry in cold blood, then marry a man who understands your worth.”