A Marquis for Mary (4 page)

Mary turned her impossibly lovely face toward his. She was almost deathly pale, the bright, bubbling vitality of her eyes dulled by pain and embarrassment.

“
That
is what you want to know when my father is insisting we wed?”

He blinked. Was that what the man had been saying? He turned his attention toward her father. “See here…er…”

The heavyset man stepped forward, hand outstretched and face bright with joy, far from the anger he should have exhibited upon finding his innocent daughter in such a state with a man.

“Sir Oswald Quinn at your service, my lord. And indeed, I was just saying that the only thing you two can do after being caught in such a position is to wed. Quickly.”

There was a steel in Sir Oswald’s eyes that Edward stepped away from. The man looked like a cat that had cornered a wounded bird and now intended to play with it.

“Papa!” Mary burst out, panic in her tone. “Stop this at once.”

Her sister took her hand and drew her gently away from Edward. He was surprised at just how much he wanted to take her opposite hand and bring her back.

“Yes, stop it, Father,” Gemma said, her voice much stronger than Mary’s. “You will
not
force anyone into anything. Not while I have breath in my body.”

“What the hell are you doing, Woodley?” Flynn asked through obviously clenched teeth. “Seducing young women in a garden at two in the afternoon? Is that how you exit your hermitage or is it because Mary is related to
me
? Exacting your revenge at last, are we?”

Edward flinched at the accusation and the memories it brought back. His pain was made worse by the expression of confusion that flitted over Mary’s face. She shook off her sister’s hand and stared at him.

“What are you talking about?
Do
you two know each other?”

“It’s a long story,” Flynn growled.

Mary huffed out her breath. “Not too long if it involves me! Tell me at once.”

“Please, there is no time!” Gemma shook her head and glanced over her shoulder again.

Edward saw the same thing as she did. Their raised voices had begun to attract attention from the party above and people were coming down the path to investigate. It was one thing to be caught in a scandalous position by Mary’s family, but quite another to be overrun by the cream of the
ton
. That would not end well.

“Perhaps we should all calm ourselves and return to the party,” Edward suggested. “We could reconvene at another time at my estate or the Flynns’ and discuss this matter in private where Mary’s reputation will not be further damaged.”

To his surprise, Sir Oswald laughed. “I don’t think so. When they arrive, I intend to tell them exactly what I stumbled upon. I will call you out to duel in the morning if you do not agree to make her your bride.”

Gemma shoved Mary behind her with a gasp of pure pain and this time didn’t stop Flynn when he lunged at Sir Oswald. Flynn grabbed his father-in-law’s lapels and shook him hard.

“Mind yourself, you reaching, piggish bastard.”

Sir Oswald’s eyes were lit with fear, but as he glanced up toward the approaching voices, he still smiled. “Make it worse, Flynn. Please. It will only make the gossip louder.”

Flynn’s face was red and angry, but he slowly released his father-in-law and shoved him aside hard enough that Sir Oswald nearly fell to the dirt.

Then Flynn turned on Edward again. “You never answered my question. Is this your attempt at vengeance?”

Edward swallowed hard. “Had I known Mary was in any way related to you, I never would have spoken to her, let alone kissed her.”

Behind Gemma, Mary gasped and he flinched at the tears that filled her eyes. She turned her face and stared at the ground at her feet, her spirit obviously bruised. And he wished he could take the words back. He wished he could change so much about this situation.

“So you didn’t know,” Flynn said with what sounded like relief. “That is something. But you
have
compromised her. Or at least her father will make sure that is what the
ton
believes. So what do we do now?”

Edward stared at Mary. Even though she wouldn’t meet his eyes, he knew she wanted him. She might feel differently in the future, once she had heard the whole sordid story that had kept him hidden from Society, that had destroyed him, that had damaged his family, perhaps beyond repair.

But could he damage her so cavalierly by walking away now?

He knew he couldn’t. So he cleared his throat and said bizarre words that felt like a dream and a nightmare at the same time.

“
We
will do nothing,” he said. “
I
will marry her.”

Mary came around her sister with a second gasp, this one of surprise rather than pain or embarrassment. “Marry me?” she repeated, eyes wide and hands shaking. “But you just told Crispin that you don’t even want me.”

He shook his head. “Is that what you heard?” He moved toward her. “Mary, I never said I didn’t want you. Soon you will have everything explained and then you’ll understand why I told Flynn that I would have avoided you had I known your relationship to him. But it never, ever would have been because I didn’t want you. I think I proved that by putting us in this untenable position here in the garden.”

Her lips parted as if she wanted to say more, but before she could, the crowd from above descended into the maze.

“Is something going on?” said Lord Faleford, the owner of the home where they were gathered. “We heard shouting.”

Sir Oswald stepped forward with that cat-like grin on his face again. The one Edward sorely wanted to smack away, considering how mercenary and cruel the man was.

“It is happy news, my lords and ladies,” he said, addressing the crowd like a barker at the circus. “My daughter Mary has just agreed to marry the Marquis of Woodley.”

Edward squeezed his eyes shut briefly as the crowd rumbled in surprise and shock. That was it. His future was set. He opened his eyes a second time to find his sister Audrey pushing her way to the front of the groups. She was suddenly pale and her pretty face was filled with questions Edward knew would be repeated by his entire family far too soon.

He turned his face from hers and instead reached out to take Mary’s hand. He drew her to his side with a small smile of what he hoped would be comfort and said, “What Sir Oswald says is true. Mary has agreed to make me the happiest of men.”

There was a pause and then there was polite clapping from the crowd. Lord Faleford turned toward them. “I think this calls for champagne. Come!”

The main group followed him, joined by a beaming and boasting Sir Oswald, as he headed back through the garden to the house, but Gemma, Flynn and Audrey stayed back with Mary and Edward.

“Edward?” his sister whispered. “What is going on?”

He drew Mary forward gently. “Audrey, I believe you know Miss Quinn a little.”

Audrey nodded to Mary. “A little. But you two are engaged? Marrying?”

Mary ducked her head again. “It is sudden.”

“I would say so,” Audrey agreed, continuing to search his face.

He forced a wider smile. “Be happy for me, sister. This is a banner day.”

Audrey held his stare and he knew she was thinking about his past. About their fractured family which had been caused by more than one ill-conceived union. He waited with bated breath to see how she would respond to this news.

To his relief, she took Mary’s hand. “Welcome to our family, Miss Quinn.
Mary
.”

Mary lifted her gaze with a weak smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Gemma moved forward, pale and grim. “We should go up before we are missed.”

“There is more to discuss,” Flynn said through clenched teeth.

His wife nodded as she slipped a hand through the crook of his arm. “Yes. And we will discuss it. Later. When we can do it in privacy.”

Edward turned on him. “Your wife is right, Flynn. As usual. Come, let us go up and join the others. I swear to you that when this is over, you may rail at me for as long and as cruelly as you like.”

Flynn leaned in as they began to walk. “I certainly intend to.”

Usually that would have angered Edward. Seeing Flynn normally brought back the worst of memories. But today, as he looked down at his now-bride-to-be, he pushed all that aside. He had made this bed. And he couldn’t say he didn’t look forward to certain parts of lying in it.

Mary paced the parlor and wrung her hands. Outside, the dusky night settled over London, but she hardly noticed the gathering dark. Not when so much was unresolved inside. She glanced at the clock.

“Do you think he will come?” she asked, hating to have to voice the question out loud.

Gemma sat on the settee, baby Esmeralda smiling and cooing in her arms, but her face remained drawn and anxious after the afternoon’s goings on. Crispin stood at the fireplace, watching the flames with anger pulling his mouth down.

“I’m certain he will,” Gemma said softly, casting a quick glance at her husband. “Woodley’s family must have had questions about his sudden engagement when he returned his sister to their mother’s home.”

“Woodley may be many things,” Crispin said without taking his eyes from the fire. “But he
will
come.”

Mary should have taken solace in their words, but since she was so utterly in the dark about the past that seemed to bind her brother-in-law, her sister and her now-intended, she couldn’t.

“Father set this up, I think,” she said instead of facing the truth.

Gemma frowned. “Why do you say that?”

She shook her head before she explained the theory that had been troubling her for hours. “The other night when I danced with Woodley, I
know
he saw us. And today when he entered the garden, his gaze moved to us, too. Woodley was too much of a draw for Sir Oswald to resist. Titled? Money? He was the perfect catch. When Edward and I went for our walk, he must have followed, hoping to catch us in a tenuous position.”

“Or to create one if he didn’t,” Crispin growled. “I would put
nothing
past that man.”

Mary moved toward him. In the two years he and her sister had been wed, she had come to truly care for Crispin and see him as her own brother. To now have him so angry at her hurt.

“At least you will no longer have to have me intruding upon your household,” she offered. “Failing in every attempt to land a husband in traditional means.”

Crispin’s angry expression softened as he jerked his gaze to her. Without hesitation, he moved forward and caught both her hands. “Mary, you cannot believe I have
ever
regretted having you here or have been disappointed in you in any way.”

She blinked at tears that suddenly flooded her eyes. “I cannot help but be disappointed in myself. I could only trick a man into marrying me, not tempt him, even with the help of you and your family.”

Crispin squeezed her hands a little tighter. “Lovely Mary, you tempted this man all on your own. Your father chose to trade on that slip of propriety and that angers me because we wanted you to be autonomous in your choices. But my disgust is aimed at Sir Oswald, never you. I adore you and you shall never believe otherwise, is that clear?”

Mary smiled as he swiped a tear from her cheek. “Yes, Crispin. Very clear.”

Gemma stood and moved toward them. Crispin held out his arms for the baby and Gemma passed her off and slipped an arm around Mary. “Do you like him?”

Mary saw her sister’s concern in her eyes and could not blame her. Gemma had been forced by their father into a union when she was young, and it had not been a happy time. Her marriage to Crispin had begun much the same way, though it was now so loving and perfect that no one could speak of it without smiling.

But Gemma knew the potential pain a forced future could bring, better than anyone.

“I
do
like him,” Mary reassured her. “From the first moment I met him, I liked him very much. My hesitations are that we are forced into this course so swiftly and that he obviously shares a past with Crispin. Won’t you tell me now what that past is?”

Crispin and Gemma exchanged a glance, but before they could speak, their butler appeared in the doorway. “Lord Woodley,” he announced.

Mary stepped away from her sister, toward the tall and oh-so-handsome man who stepped through the door. Her fiancé. He had a very grim expression.

“I would rather be the one to tell you the details of my past,” he said, obviously referring to the question she had asked a moment ago. He glanced at Crispin and Gemma. “And I would like to do it alone.”

Crispin moved forward, somehow still managing to look intimidating even with Esmeralda perched on his hip. “You will do no such thing. Leaving you two alone would be most improper considering what happened this afternoon.”

Mary waited for her sister to agree, to be thwarted in this moment that felt so very private between her and her intended. But instead, Gemma touched Crispin’s shoulder gently.

“Let them be, Crispin. It is Woodley’s right to tell her this story in his own way. His own time. After all, it isn’t really yours, is it? Or mine?”