Ruined by a Rake (10 page)

“I do believe I’d like to hear what the girl has to say, dear brother. Eleanor?”

Well done, Aunt Margaret
! Nick stared in shock at his normally impeccably-mannered aunt. And he wasn’t the only one. From behind his desk, Malcolm sputtered in outrage, unable to even come up with a proper response.

“Thank you, Aunt,” Eleanor said primly before
returning her full attention to her uncle. Her spine was ramrod straight, her chin lifted and her shoulders back. “Listen to me, and listen well. If you think today’s scene reflected badly on you, you can’t even imagine what I will do if you so much as harm one hair on Nicolas’s head, or seek to injure his prospects.

She took a step closer to the desk, forcing Malcolm to look up to her.
“I will happily bring shame to this entire family if it means making you pay for what you did to my mother, and what you tried to do to me and my sister.”

Her gaze jerked to Nick. “What has he promised as punishment? Are you to duel?”

“Er, no,” he said, momentarily caught off guard. “Merely permanent alienation from this family, and the revocation of the funds for my commission. Nothing I can’t handle,” he added, not wanting her to think it was too great a penalty for him to bear.

“No, nothing you
will
handle,” she said, her eyes fairly glowing with passion. God, but she was magnificent. It was all he could not to applaud her. Her hands to her hips, she turned back to Malcolm. “Nick attempted to rescue me from the fate you tried to manufacture, but this is my fight, not his.

“So here are your choices, dear uncle. Either I go back to the party and make a scene you will not soon forget, or you go in there and announce that, much to your surprise, your niece and step-son have made a love match, and will be married in one month’s time.
Oh, and my entire dowry will be transferred upon our marriage.”

It took a moment for Nick to realize that the echoing gasp was his. “No, Eleanor, I won’t allow you to be trapped—”

She whirled to face him, her eyes flashing and her color high. “You mean married to you?”

Married
to Eleanor
. He clenched his teeth together, ruthlessly squelching the surge of hope her words evoked. Everything he had done tonight was to protect her from exactly that fate. “Yes,” he answered, unable to keep the desperation from his voice.

“What choice do I have? You have ruined me.”

Chapter Eight

Eleanor waited for the shock of the statement to sink in before stepping forward and taking Nick’s hands in her own. “Yes, you ruined me in the eyes of the
ton
, but that’s not what I mean. Nick, you have ruined me for any other man. You’ve ruined me for living the life I once enjoyed.”

She met his gaze directly, wanting him to see the truth in her eyes, to know that she meant what she said.
“You have shown true valor, you have treated me with respect, and you’ve shown that my wishes are as close to your heart as your own.

“I never thought I could bear to be married, but now I know that I can’t bear
not
to be. I can’t fathom being without you. And I must know,” she said, her voice raw with the emotion that consumed her, “after that kiss, have I ruined you as well?

He looked down at her, his green eyes giving away nothing.
“No,” he said, shaking his head decisively.

“
No
?” Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, taking the breath from her lungs. Had she lost her gamble? Had she been wrong about the kiss, and the connection she felt between them?

“You ruined me with the
first
kiss,” he said, squeezing her fingers tightly in his. “Eleanor Josephine Abbington, I have loved you since the day we met. One look at those huge brown eyes and the challenge you presented, and I was lost.”

He couldn’t be serious! He’d loved her all these years? She shook her head, unable to believe what he was saying. “But all the teasing, and insults, and pestering . . .”

For the first time that evening, a ghost of a smile came to his lips. “When a fatherless, friendless boy is set before the gorgeous older granddaughter of an earl, what hope does he have? None – other than to keep the girl well enough engaged that she can’t possibly ignore him, even if she wanted to.”

She simply stared at him, unable to process the emotions welling up inside her like a cyclone.
Happiness, incredulousness, joy, love, disbelief—it was impossible to untangle one from the other.

The moment was broken when Uncle Robert came suddenly to his feet, knocking his chair back with a clatter. “Enough! If you think I am going to bow to your whims like some sort of coward—”

“
Not
a coward,” Aunt Margaret broke in. “A wise man. One who knows when he’s been beat. One who will salvage the evening exactly as presented, so that his precious bill, and the support of those influential men out there, will not be compromised.”

“I will no—”

“You
will
. I may not have been here to help my sister, but by God I will help her daughters. And let me just say, the scene Eleanor promises will be nothing compared to the scandal you would see from me if you ever threaten any of my nieces or nephews again.”

Eleanor’s heart nearly burst for the woman beside her. She slipped her hand into her aunt’s and squeezed.

Uncle Robert’s jaw worked as he ground his teeth. Finally, he said, “I will make the announcement. I will sign over the dowry. But I will never, ever have the two of you step foot on my property again. In fact, I wish never to see your faces again.”

Victory!
Squeezing both her aunt’s and her betrothed’s hands hard, she nodded. “Agreed.”

Marching straight past them, Malcolm stormed from the room without another word.

Releasing her death grip on the others
’ hands, the three of them joined in a spontaneous hug.

“Have no fear,” Aunt Margaret said. “I hereby exempt my home from his restrictions.
Now, I believe I’ll go find your mother, Nicolas.”

A
lone at last.

Suddenly shy, Eleanor bit her lip and
pivoted to face the man who had turned her whole life upside down in a matter of days.

Smiling, he slipped his hands to her waist. “Now, my prickly sweet Ellie, I have a question for you. Will,” he kissed her forehead, “you,” then her nose, “marry,” he lingered over her lips, “
me?”

Laughter bubbled up within her,
completely eradicating all the negative emotions that had brewed inside her for days. “I thought we already agreed.”

“I will not accept a proposal issued from you through my stepfather. Now, answer the question.”

Her joy was so complete as to be all consuming. “If you are mad enough to marry me, my love, then I am likewise inclined.”

He flashed a huge
, genuine grin, all arrogance and mocking forever gone. He wrapped his arms fully around her waist and lifted her from her feet, spinning them both in a quick, dizzying circle before pressing his lips firmly upon hers, despite their laughter.

She encircled his neck with her arms, holding him as closely to her as she possibly could. Her sweet, infuriating, irresistible Nicolas. When the kiss ended, she pulled back slightly and smiled down into his eyes. “You do realize that Uncle Robert is serious about disowning us.”

“Thank God,” he replied, his green eyes sparkling. “My plan may have taken a decade or two, but it finally paid off.”

“Oh, so I’m a means to an end, am I?” she teased.

“Indeed . . . the means to a
happy
ending.”

Continue Reading for a Sneak Peek at Erin Knightley’s

Sealed with a Kiss Novels from Signet Eclipse!

Prologue

Alyesbury, England, 1804

Lady Evelyn Moore paused to look behind her one last time before slipping into the little-used music room in the east wing. Closing the door, she grinned. Thank goodness no one had seen her. Given the number of rooms in her family’s sprawling country home, she should have plenty of time to read the newly arrived letter from her brother before anyone found her. Her governess would
not
be pleased, but really, Mrs. White should have known Evie would never be able to delay such a treat until after her lessons.

Skipping across the room to the sun-drenched settee by the window, she plopped down in a heap on the warm velvet cushions. She could hardly wait to read all about Richard
’s latest adventures. Even though he had been gone to Eton only two months, it felt more like two years. Without her coconspirator, life at Hertford Hall was considerably duller these days. Not that there was anyplace else on earth she would rather be. It was just that, with her three sisters being entirely too young to be of any use to her—no respectable eleven-year-old would play with children of four and three—and the local villagers always acting so reserved around the daughter of a marquis, excitement came in short bursts, coinciding with either the arrival of the post or her daily riding lessons.

Today, the arrival of the post trumped all. Ripping open the seal, Evie unfolded the letter, the paper still cool from the crisp autumn wind outside, and smoothed a palm over the creases. She tucked her feet beneath her and pored over Richard
’s words.

Within moments, however, her excitement began to fade, trickling away like water from a cracked cup, until at last she wrinkled her nose in disgust and flicked the letter away. Honestly, if she had to read one more glowing word about that new friend of his, she was going to scream. She glared at the offending piece of paper beside her, its familiar, messy scrawl repeatedly spelling out the name she had already come to despise.

Hastings
.

The boy had shown up in Richard
’s very first letter from school—something about his supposed riding skills. Since then, her brother mentioned him more and more, until this new letter was naught but
Hastings this
and
Hastings that
.

As if
she
cared how wonderful Hastings was.

He surely couldn
’t be a better friend to Richard than she. With only two years between them, Richard had been her best friend since . . . since—well, until he left for school, Evie couldn’t remember a single day when they were not at each other’s sides. Surely since the day she was born.

Who did this Hastings think he was, anyway?

Jumping to her feet, she slipped out of the music room, down the corridor, and up to her own bedchamber. Relieved not to have been discovered by Mrs. White—or worse, Mama—Evie hurried to her writing desk, pulled out a fresh piece of paper, and dipped her quill in the heretofore unused pot of red ink. With slow and deliberate lettering, she labored to spell out exactly the right words in her best possible handwriting.

Dear Mr. Hastings
,

I am sorry to tell you that my brother already has a best friend. I don’t care that you can shoot and ride well. Besides, I promise that you cannot ride better than
me. Kindly leave Richard alone.

She reread the missive and, finding it satisfactory, carefully signed her name. She painstakingly folded the letter onto itself and sealed it with a gummed wafer. Dipping her quill once more, this time in the more elegant black ink, she simply wrote
Hastings
across the top. Having already written a letter to her brother the previous evening, she added a postscript requesting Richard give the letter to his friend.

Well, that ought to take care of that.

Two weeks later, a letter, addressed in an unfamiliar hand to Lady Evelyn, arrived at the Hall. With her lessons complete and anticipation coursing through her, Evie thundered up the stairs to her room, slammed the door, and flopped down on her window seat before opening the letter.