To Tame a Highland Earl (33 page)

“
What if Papa is angry?”
Grace said.

“
You only just now realized
he might be angry?”

She looked at Eve, eyes wide. “I thought I
would be married by the time he saw me and that would soften the
blow.”

“
Nothing will soften the
blow.”

Grace paled and guilt stabbed at Eve. Despite
her woman’s body, Grace was only nineteen, and Eve, after all, had
gotten her into this mess. Grace would never have thought of
kidnapping Lord Rushton, and Eve couldn’t blame her for readily
agreeing to come to Mull. After all, Lord Rushton would have tossed
Grace into the carriage just as easily as he had Eve if she’d
balked.

“
This is what you have been
waiting for, Grace.”

“
Not exactly. I was waiting
for Lord Rushton to whisk me off to visit a magistrate.”

“
That might yet happen.
Now, we had better dress.” Eve would rather find the closest mouse
hole and crawl inside, but kept the sentiment to
herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Lady Rushton appeared
at Eve’s door.

“
Can you tell us nothing,
ma’am?” Eve asked as Grace closed her bedchamber door and the
marchioness started forward with them.

“
I am as much in the dark
as you,” she said. “The marquess woke me and told me to bring you
both to his library.”

“
So you did not see our
father?” Grace asked.

“
I have not yet met
him.”

They fell into silence until they reached the
library door, which stood open. The marchioness entered first, and
Eve almost lost her nerve when she glimpsed her father sitting in a
wingback chair with a small table between him and another chair
where the marquess sat. Neither man wore cravats, their shirts were
open at the neck, and a nearly empty decanter sat on the table
between two partially filled glasses. Had they been discussing the
situation all these hours? Eve caught sight of Lord Rushton and
Lord Somerset sitting on a couch and she slowed when she saw that a
stranger sat on the couch with them. He, like Lord Rushton and
Somerset, seemed to have dressed in as much haste as had she and
Grace.

“
Papa,” Grace cried, and
hurried to him.

He rose and she practically fell into his
arms. He hugged her close and to Eve’s relief, Grace didn’t cry,
though she feared she might.

He pulled back from Grace and looked at her.
“You are well?”

“
Quite well,” she said.
“Lord and Lady Rushton have been very kind.”

He nodded and looked at Eve. “And you,
Eve?”

“
I am well,
sir.”

“
Sit down,” he instructed
them.

“
You, too, if you will, my
dear,” the marquess said to his wife.

The three of them sat on the sofa to the left
of the marquess.

“
We have been many hours
sorting out this mess,” the marquess said. “Tolland and I
considered each taking aside our respective offspring and dealing
with them separately, but the task is too daunting—not to mention,
we will take no chances this time that the three of you might
scheme behind our backs.”

“
Four of them,” their
father said. He pinned his stare on Eve. “Oscar isn’t present, but
he is as much a party to the situation as you are. Eve, you
kidnapped an earl. You are lucky he and his father didn’t have you
thrown into prison.”

“
The earl fought a duel,”
Eve said. “He is as guilty as me.”

“
Indeed, he is.” Her father
turned his stare onto Lord Rushton. “The only reason I did not
chase after you to Gretna was because I assumed Eve was getting
married.”

“
Me?” Eve blurted. “Why
would you think that?” Then she knew. “My God, you told him to
kidnap me.”

“
I would have kept that bit
of information to myself, if I were you, Tolland,” the earl
muttered.

“
Oh, this is rich.” Eve
couldn’t believe it. “How can you possibly convict me of the very
crime for which you are guilty?”

“
I can,” her father said in
a dark voice that cut off any further retort.

“
As can I,” the marquess
said. “But as a marriage contract has been signed, it would seem
the matter is settled.”

Fear rendered Eve speechless, but Grace spoke
up. “What marriage contract?”

“
The one I drew up in
Manchester, signed by me and the earl.” He nodded to a secretary
against the left wall and Eve spied several sheaths of folded
paper.

Grace looked from her father to Eve in
confusion. “But who is the bride?”

“
Grace,” the earl said in a
gentle voice, “I did say I was going to marry your
sister.”

“
But Eve doesn’t want to
marry you,” she protested.

“
Signed in Manchester?” Eve
cut in. “You signed the contract before going to
Gretna?”

“
No,” her father answered.
“He had his solicitor sign for him, then sent it to me, along with
the letter he posted from Gretna, which instructed me to meet you
on Mull.”

“
Miss Crenshaw,” the earl
said. He rose, walked to where she sat, then squatted eye-level
with her and took her hands in his. “Let us be honest. Things were
bad enough when I came into your room at the inn. There might have
been a way to redeem ourselves at that point, but once we ended up
at Gretna…well, even I knew there was no turning back.”

“
You neglected to tell me
you had signed a marriage contract,” she said.

“
It made little difference
at that point. There was going to be a wedding. You cannot doubt
that.”

“
It is unfair.”

“
Yes,” he
agreed.

“
Not completely unfair,”
her father said.

“
I’m sure you do not think
so,” she snapped. “You are simply relieved to have me married
off.”

“
Did it occur to you that
Lord Rushton made sure the contract was dated and signed for the
day before you left for Gretna in order to save your
reputation?”

“
What possible difference
could it make when the contract was signed?”

“
Eve, don’t be an idiot,”
Grace said. “The fact the contract was signed the day Lord Halifax
kidnapped you, tells the polite world that Lord Halifax did,
indeed, kidnap you, and that Lord Rushton defended your honor
because you were to be his wife. Even my reputation is unscathed.
It is just as I said, only you are the bride, not I.”

“
I am sorry,” Lord Rushton
said.

“
It is your loss, I assure
you, my lord,” Grace said in an airy tone. “Though Eve is a fine
catch, and you would do well not to forget that.”

Eve stared at her sister. She had expected
tears, shouts, perhaps even the stamping of feet if Lord Rushton
didn’t marry her. Instead, she was acquiescing with poise and
refinement befitting the marchioness she one day hoped to be. This
was all wrong.

Eve looked at the earl. “And if I don’t sign
the contract?”

“
You have no choice,” her
father boomed. “The earl owned up to what transpired between you
two.”

Lord Rushton shoved to his feet. “Tolland,
leave well enough alone.”

“
I will not. Eve, you have
gone too far this time.”

Eve recalled the night in the ship’s cabin a
little over a day ago when she and Lord Rushton were alone. In
truth, allowing the earl to touch her as he had was enough to
warrant that they marry. But no one knew about that. Did they?

“
What do you mean ‘what
transpired between you two’?” she asked her father.

His mouth thinned. “Will you make me say it?
At least Rushton was honorable enough to admit the truth and do the
right thing.”

“
Tolland,” Lord Rushton
growled.

“
How dare you?” Eve jumped
to her feet and slapped him.

The room went silent.

The earl shrugged. “It was bound to happen
eventually.” He addressed his father and her father. “My future
wife and I have a few things to discuss.”

“
Erroll,” the marquess
began in unison with Eve’s father’s, “Here, here,” but he cut them
off.

“
We will be in the hallway.
Have no fear, we won’t run away. We would not get even to the
stables, and I do have the presence of mind to know, Tolland, that
you would chase me this time with murder in your heart.” He grasped
her wrist and started toward the door.

She yanked. “And if Miss Crenshaw has no
desire to speak with his lordship?”

He didn’t stop. “Oh, but she does.”

“
Lord Tolland,” Eve heard
the marchioness say.

They reached the door and Lord Rushton opened
it and pushed her into the hallway. He paused and looked at the
gathering, “Be warned, any interruptions will result in my taking
Miss Crenshaw back to England where none of you will be welcome in
our house.” He closed the door behind him.

Eve whirled on them. “You told them
we-we—”

“
Not here.” He grasped her
arm and strode down the hallway.

She was forced to take quick steps in order
to keep up. “What are you doing?”

He stopped beside a large tapestry and
twitched aside the fabric. Eve saw a hidden alcove an instant
before he pushed her into the shadowy space. She retreated when he
stepped inside and released the tapestry behind him, cutting off
the light from the hallway. They weren’t in total darkness as they
had been in the hidey-hole at the party in Manchester, but that
didn’t stop her heart from jumping into an erratic rhythm.

“
What are you doing?” she
demanded.

“
Getting us a moment of
privacy.”

Anger shot through her. “That is what got us
into trouble in the first place.”

He snorted a laugh. “You are right there. But
it matters little at this point.”

“
What could we possibly
have to talk about?” she demanded. “You lied. You told my father
that we-we—you know what you told him.”

“
I told my father,
actually, but yes, I did imply that I had compromised you in the
worst way.”

“
You are no better than
Grace,” Eve said. “You lied to get what you want.”

“
I might as well have done
what I said I did, for I compromised you beyond all redemption—and
you allowed it,” he said. “More than once, I might add. So pray, do
not waste your time comparing me to your sister.”

She didn’t need to compare him to her sister.
Eve remembered all too well that Blane also had lied in an attempt
to get what he wanted. “You are not the first man to lie about
me.”

“
You refer to Lord Blane, I
presume.”

“
Gossipmonger,” she
muttered.

“
He lied about
you?”

“
I was not pregnant with
his child.”

“
But the rest was
true?”

Eve gave him a cold smile. “As a man, you
probably think that by giving him my virtue, I gave him the right
to lie about me.”

“
Did he have reason to
believe you were pregnant?”

“
No.”

Lord Rushton shrugged. “Then he was
wrong.”

“
Yet your lie is
justified?”

“
Tell me you would rather
marry Somerset and I will step aside. Heaven forbid I should stand
in the way of true love. Do you love him?”

“
Love has little to do with
marriage when one is forced to choose a husband,” she
muttered.

“
Does that mean you choose
him over me?”

“
I shouldn’t have to
choose.”

“
If you can convince your
father of that, then I’ll not insist you marry me.”

“
I imagine not,” she
retorted. “You have made it perfectly clear you have no wish to
marry me.”

“
No, I made it perfectly
clear I have no wish to marry your sister.”

She snorted. “You have no wish to marry
anyone.”

“
Will your father let you
remain unmarried?” he demanded.

“
You know he will
not.”

“
Then it is Somerset or me.
I am willing to be the jilted lover. It’s no less than I deserve
and no one will be surprised.”

“
Better the jilted lover
than to be saddled with a wife.” And that, she realized, had been
his plan all along. “I see now,” she said with feeling. “Very
clever of you, my lord.” Eve swallowed. “You didn’t sign that
marriage contract in order to save my reputation. You signed the
contract hoping I would refuse your offer, then you wouldn’t be
obligated to marry Grace, either.”

“
So you believe that if you
absolutely refuse me that our fathers will let me go my merry
way?”

“
You are the one who told
me to hold fast and we would be free of one another,” she
countered.

“
That was before we ended
up in Gretna Green.”

Eve snorted. “They cannot insist you marry
Grace after you signed a contract for marriage to me.”

“
Make no mistake, Miss
Crenshaw, our parents are decided that I will marry you or your
sister. But, if you have doubts, we will ask them. First, however,
you will answer one question: would you rather marry
Somerset?”