A Suitable Replacement (10 page)

Pennington said something that Max could not quite hear, but he did hear as Pennington stomped back to his chair and resumed it. Kelcey stepped aside but stayed close to Max. It should be insulting, as Max was quite capable of taking care of himself, but honestly it just made him want to kiss Kelcey senseless. "Where is your sister?" Pennington asked, though how he got the words out with his jaw that tight, Max could not guess.

"I don't know," Max said. "She went to special care to ensure I had no idea, because I am exceptionally good at finding her when I want. I know everyone likes to rhapsodize about twins and special connections, but I promise you my sister and I share no such thing. We're close, but the only magic between us is the studies I conduct and how bored she gets when I prattle about them in detail."

"In the course of my research, my lord, the one thing that everyone has had to say is that you are exceptionally close. I can believe she would not tell her former fiancé anything, but I am not stupid enough to believe you are ignorant as to her whereabouts."

Max shrugged. "You
are
stupid, my lord, both for underestimating Mr. Moore and for thinking that my sister was not smart enough to make certain I could not find her. I have not seen my sister in three years. I was more distressed than anyone to hear that she had vanished. But she assured me she was well, and I trust that did she need me she would have contacted me. She hasn't. We will all simply have to wait until she and his lordship choose to return."

"And in the meantime I have a trio of furious monarchs seeking either the return of the vanished Lord Ridley or a suitable replacement for the abandoned princess he was supposed to marry."

"Well, that is the ambassador's problem. I have my hands full with the runaway clause for my sister; I do not have time to find a replacement for some lord I know absolutely nothing about. My obligations in the matter extend no further than Mr. Moore. I remain confounded as to why you are harassing me over the matter."

Pennington for once looked amused, which stopped Max short. "Lord Maximilian, Lord Ridley was the second son of a Duke, wealthy, accomplished, and highly respected. Your scientific obsessions are regrettable, but could be overcome, and otherwise you are a perfect match. Better, really, since your family is much older and more respected than Lord Ridley's, even with you and your sister's eccentricities."

Max turned on his heel and made to storm out, biting back a snarl when he was grabbed and made to stay in place. He yanked his arm free and spun back to Pennington. "I am not going to be a fucking replacement just because my sister happened to run away with the errant groom. I have absolutely nothing to do with this affair save for my obligations to Mr. Moore."

"Do not be melodramatic, my lord. What have you to complain about? You would be a prince, with all the luxuries that position carries. She may even permit you to keep with your ridiculous studies, though I advise you do not."

"I am not marrying anyone," Max said. "That is final."

Pennington drew himself up, tone taking on such a chill that Max nearly recoiled. "You seem to think you have a choice. There has been quite enough defiance in this affair, and we are ending it. By royal command, you will be wed to Princess Sarah in two months' time. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Max turned on his heel and shoved past the men crowded up against him, fisted hands trembling, movements jerky as he climbed back into his carriage.

When it was well away from the house, he slammed his fist into the side of the carriage. "Buggering fuck!" He did it again, ignoring the pain that shot through his hand and down his arm. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill
her.
I'm going to fucking kill every last damn bloody one of them."

"I'm sorry," Kelcey said quietly from where he sat across from Max in the carriage. "You're the only one in this mess who should not be involved. I truly am sorry that since your return home you've done nothing but attend the problems of others."

Max sighed and stared at his hand. It was too dark to see if he had bruised it, but it certainly throbbed. Stupid. He still wanted to keep hitting things. "I would start a war if that's what it took to see my sister happy. That bastard Pennington is right:  who complains about marrying a princess? I would never obtain such a fine match under ordinary circumstances. Theoretically I would come out of this affair better off than anyone."

And right back into the strict, stifling, all-about-appearances life he had endured as a boy. It was the same life that brought him countless luxuries, but that did not make it feel any less like the cage door was being closed and locked.

He should not be so despondent over the matter. Kelcey had it far worse, abandoned in all directions with neither warning nor apology. Thinking of the way Kelcey had been treated in all of this made him angry all over again. He wanted to go back and punch Pennington in the face and demand he do right by Kelcey.

Max sighed again and muttered to the window, "This is not how I imagined this evening going."

"Oh?" Kelcey asked softly, making him jump, even though he knew he was there. Max wanted to smack himself. "How did you imagine it?"

"Logically or fantastically?" Max asked, and wanted to smack himself again because he had not meant to ask that aloud.

"Fantastically," Kelcey asked, voice still soft, as though he were afraid of alarming Max.

Perhaps he realized how fragile Max felt. Or he was simply tired. Whatever the reason, it was the key to getting Max to say things he normally would never voice. Still, his cheeks heated as he replied, "The two of us naked in my bed. But logically—"

"Bugger logically," Kelcey cut in, leaning forward and gently taking hold of his sore hand. "I—the other—night—I wasn't—I did not want to do anything while I was drunk. It seemed …"

"Cowardly." Max made a face, could not quite bring himself to look away from their clasped hands. "I will not deny that. But it seems far more despicable, selfish, to want my sister's fiancé, even if the engagement is off."

He did not expect the finger that hooked beneath his chin and tilted his head up, or the soft lips that pressed against his in a kiss that was over almost before it began.

Max swallowed. "What—"

Kelcey's fingers briefly tightened on his hand, a firm, reassuring press that remained careful of hurting it further, then let go. "Mavin and I talked, you know. When I say she proposed to me, I do mean she presented me with a proposal, something more akin to a business matter. She was tired of being harangued by potential marriage partners, people she could not entirely trust. I have always sought to move beyond the life forced upon me by the mistakes of my family. There was no romance between us, only a friendship. We agreed that taking lovers was acceptable, and children were something we would decide in a few years. I admit it would have been awkward if I was still engaged to Mavin and found myself lusting after her brother … but that is not a problem now, so I had hoped … well, the first part of my plan was to ask you to attend the theatre and hope I did not muck that up. I was going to work out the rest from there."

Drawing a deep breath, Max let it out slowly, on the verge of laughing or dissolving into tears because he could not take one more upheaval that night. "I admit your words are a surprise. Logically, my only hope was that my apology would prove sufficient to salvage a friendship. Not that it matters now, since I will shortly be consumed with wedding preparations and likely carted off out of the country." His eyes stung as he realized he would be gone indefinitely. One thing to depart on a trip with a set length. Another to go off to be the replacement spouse for a princess who did not know him and had far more important things to worry about.

Ugh. The entire affair seemed rushed, sloppy, and ill-fated. "I cannot imagine me marrying this unknown princess will actually fix anything. I do not know her, she does not know me. Shoving us together as a sloppy bandage seems stupid at best, tragic at worst."

"I agree," Kelcey said. "It all smacks of rash, panicked behavior. Not that your lordship is not a prize …" he smiled in a way that Max had never seen, the kind of smile that seemed the starting point of an evening meant to end sweating and gasping and begging for an ache that would last until morning. "But I feel the entire matter will end even more poorly than it has so far gone. Our options for escaping the situation are rather limited, however."

Max looked at him with raised brows. "I feel obliged to remind you that you've no obligations in the matter. I would think by this point you would be happy to rid of my family once and for all." Anger flared as he thought of his sister, bitter resentment of all that had been foisted upon him by her behavior. He had not felt much more than amusement and fondness, perhaps some frustration, up to that point, but if she were in front of him right then he would have little in the way of kind words for her.

Though he still, with all his heart, hoped she was happy.

"I am not going to leave a friend in dire straits, my lord," Kelcey replied.

"You are not obliged—"

"I am fit to make my own decisions," Kelcey interrupted.

Max sighed. "That is true, but I would not cause you further trouble, sir."

"Well, if it soothes you any, I have an idea that is self-serving as much as anything."

"Oh?" Max smiled. It seemed the wrong thing to do, but he could not seem to help himself. "What is your clever plan then?"

Kelcey opened his mouth, hesitated, then drew back and tangled his fingers together. "I hate to—that is—"

"Just say it, sir," Max said. "The first time we met, it was because you blazed into my home without so much as a by-your-leave to yell at me and make demands. I do not see why you turn hesitant now."

"I think you should marry me."

Max blinked, then laughed. "All right, that took me neatly by surprise. Come again, sir?"

"I mean … it worked for Lord Ridley. And I think there is more going on here than either of us has bothered to learn."

"It's a royal order that I marry Princess Sarah," Max said. Even if it churned his stomach that they were both helpless about the matter, pieces moved about rather than allowed to move themselves. He wondered how she felt, what she knew, what would happen to her if he ran away as well. But her life, the life of some royal family, was not his responsibility. Would he not do more harm than good? Or was he just making convenient excuses so he could do what he wanted? "If I run, it is treason. I am not eager to go down that path, and I certainly do not want to drag you along with me."

"I'm already soaking wet, as the saying goes. More water will make no difference. I am surprised that is your only protest."

Max shrugged. "I can think of worse prospects, sir. From a purely pragmatic point of view, it's a sound plan. We marry, leave the country—essentially behave precisely like my sister, gods have mercy. There is little anyone can do, presuming they do not find us. Even then, so long as they do not find us within a certain number of days, the marriage cannot be easily annulled, if at all, and by that point they would have moved on to a hopefully sounder plan."

He did wonder what the fuss was all about. There must be princes and nobles aplenty more suited to marrying Princess Sarah than he, and several of them would haply volunteer, of that he had no doubt. So why him? Why so desperate to keep the original marriage date?

His mind flitted, of all places, to all the overwrought books he had read while he was abroad. He had encountered that particular premise many a time, and the race to marry always had the same reason. Surely not. It seemed … well, entirely too penny novel.

That reminded him of another element such stories had in common. "I would imagine I am being watched to be certain I do not do something reckless. Even if we decide upon this madcap scheme, we would never get away, get married, and get lost before they were upon us. My sister only managed it because nobody knew about her affair."

Kelcey's mouth curved in a grin that Max could just see in the momentary glow of a streetlight as the carriage moved slowly past it. "My lord, I am an expert in such matters. The game awaits only your decision to play."

Max stared at him a moment, then looked away, tried to weight his options logically.

Option one:  Marry Princess Sarah. A woman he did not know, who did not know him, and who probably had even less choice in the matter than he, especially if his suspicions were correct. No. Treason had nothing to do with it. He would not be party to treating another person that way.

Option two:  Flee alone and remain abroad until the wedding was well past. He doubted he would last terribly long; he was not as adept at such things as his sister. If he was caught, he would definitely be either made to marry Princess Sarah anyway or imprisoned for treason.

Option three:  Marry Kelcey. It was not as though he'd ever possessed ambitions, or even the desire, to marry. They had already been on their way to friends, which was not the worst foundation for a marriage. Kelcey would have the weight of his family and fortune. Max would have a spouse who did not bring him the sort of social burdens and expectations that he dreaded.

"How do you feel about this, sir? It seems to me you are giving up the most in this affair, and getting precious little for your troubles."

Kelcey snorted softly, turning to stare out the window in his turn. "What precisely, my lord, am I giving up? A crumbling apartment in a poor section of town? A life where I am tolerated at best and have no future past what my fists and my pistol can provide? If I continue on my path, I will die from either firing too late or of illness and frailty when I am too old to work. Far be it for me to complain of a chance to marry the brother of a duchess and enjoy a better life." His mouth ticked up at one end. "That aside, Mavin is my friend and I would like to call you the same. I can think of worse fates than to be that much closer to my friends. If it does not work …" He shrugged. "We will address that problem when it comes. Until then, I feel that marriage is the best option for us both."