To Marry a Marquess (19 page)

Drake stiffened. "You're daft."

"I warn you, Drake, a man can handle only so much, even if it is from his best friend."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I say. I'm willing to marry her as soon as possible. I can obtain a special license at the snap of my fingers. The gossip will die down soon enough."

Drake clenched his hands at his side. How could Fox believe for one minute that
he.
Fox, was going to many Victoria? "You are willing? Well, my friend, no wish to put you out!"

"I don't see you offering for her hand. And the way I see it, you don't want her. I, in turn, have wanted her from the first time I saw her. She needs a man that will provide for her and protect her. I am a viscount. She will have everything she needs by marrying me."

There was a dangerous edge to Fox's voice that Drake had never heard before. But whether Drake liked it or not, he had wanted Victoria the first time he had seen her, too. But now, the yearning went much deeper than that. He knew the heart that lay within the beautiful lady, and he wanted her more than ever. He would not let Fox or any other man place one possessive finger on her.

"Glad you see things my way. I will go for the special license today." Fox turned.

"The devil you will!"

"Aha!" Fox spun around and sank into a nearby wing chair, folding his arms across his chest in a militant pose. "I was correct in the fact that you wanted her for yourself. Fine then. I suggest that we leave the decision up to the lady."

Drake scowled, knowing that at the moment he was not certain Victoria would want him. "Who else knows about last night?"

"Who?" Fox asked sarcastically.

He shot from the chair, his arms going wide. "Dash it! Everybody knows! And if we don't act swiftly, she will be shunned from the
ton
permanently. No one will call on her or her family. And need I remind you that your father is going to marry her aunt. Do you know the effect a scandal will have on your family? I have no wish to even think about it!"

"Enough," Drake snapped.

"I can see your hesitancy, Drake. Honoria soured your taste for marriage a long time ago. But let me tell you, any man would be lucky to have Victoria as his wife. I, for one, am going to try. I care not if she has a dowry. Not like you. You cannot forget your wife and her poor beginnings. In fact, as I seem to recall, I thought you vowed never to marry a pauper again. To put it in your own words, another poor woman might steal you blind. Besides, it would be best for all if Victoria married me."

"You listen, friend, and listen well." Drake's voice was cold and calculating. "I will make her
my wife.
And I will be obtaining the special license, not you. We will be married as soon as possible. Here, at Percy Hall."

Fox shrugged, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets. "Do as you wish. We will see who wins the prize."

"Prize!" The voice boomed into the room before they knew what happened.

Fox paled.

Drake spun around, his heart stopping. "Victoria?"

Chapter Twelve

V
ictoria marched into the library, closing the doors behind her as her blue gown swirled angrily about her ankles.

She glared at the two men. "I have no wish to have the entire household know everything about my life. But since those doors were open the entire time you two were deciding about my future, there is not much that the servants don't know about me already. Is there?"

"But—"

Both men tried to speak at once.  She cut them off, eyeing them as if they were ants about her feet.

"I cannot believe you two, throwing my name about like a billiard ball." She slapped a finger to her heaving chest. "I will decide whom I will marry. When I will marry. And where I will marry." Her fist hit the desk with a thump. "And, it will not be either of you two fops!"

The marquess edged himself onto the corner of the desk. "I beg to differ."

Victoria seethed. "What did you say?"

"I said I beg to differ."

Fox cleared his throat. "Drake, I don't believe this is the time to—"

"See here." The marquess unfolded his body off the desk and grabbed Fox by the elbow, directing him toward the doors. "It seems to me there are too many people discussing
this delicate matter."

"Too many people! By Jove, Drake, you're mad."

The marquess's eyes gave off a dangerous glint, and Victoria realized she had treaded into unsafe territory. She started inching herself toward the door, two steps behind the viscount.

Lord Drakefield opened the doors to the hall, blocking her passage. "Secure this into your thick head, Fox. Three's a crowd." He pushed the viscount over the threshold, slammed the doors shut, and turned the key in the lock.

"I say!" Fox cried on the other side. "This is not decent of you, Drake. Not decent at all."

"Have you no brains?" Drake's voice boomed past the thick wooden doors. "Two people are all that is needed for a marriage."

"Let me in this minute!"

Stunned, Victoria turned her head to Fox's ceaseless rapping, still not believing what she had heard while descending the stairs.
To put it in your own words,
Fox had said.
Another poor woman might steal you blind. Besides you don't love Victoria.

In a matter of minutes Fox's voice had disappeared, instantly replaced by the steady ticking of the Madonna and child clock on the mantel across the room.

Victoria shifted her gaze to Drakefield, her heart squeezing with pain. He would never love her because she had no money. But never again would she venture into a marriage of convenience.

"Victoria."

She looked up, her mind scrambling for some kind of response. She should have checked her impulse to march in here like some queen holding court. Standing here now, she realized it had been the wrong thing to do. Drakefield was not in a mood to listen to anything she had to say. Moreover, Wendover was coming for her tonight. He had threatened William, and now the marquess was going to marry her because honor demanded it.

Nothing was going right at all.

Lord Drakefield studied her. "You must forgive our little conversation, but nevertheless, I can see that you understood my meaning."

Her eyes rounded in outrage. "Little conversation?"

Ignoring her outburst, he snapped out that infernal pocketwatch and pursed his lips. "I will send for a special license, and we will be married promptly."

"Fox was right. You are mad."

His brows snapped into a V. "A special license will stem the gossip. In a few weeks, no one will remember the incident."

Victoria glared at him, feeling every nerve in her body about to explode. "You are calling last night an
incident?"

"Whatever you want to call it, we
are
getting married."

Her anger had quickly moved past any reasoning at all. Her finger poked into his chest. "I believe not. Have you not heard a word I have said? How could you ever believe I would marry upon your demand? Who do you think you are dictating to me about my life? I would never marry you if you were the last man on earth! I could never marry a man that did not love me. I could never do that again!"

She turned from him, but not before he spun her around and stared at her neck. "What the devil are those marks?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly, realizing he was pointing to where Wendover had held her.

The silence thickened as he continued his stare, his mouth tightening into a white line of rage. "Finger marks? Who did this?"

Her heart beat faster. She could never tell him.

"So help me, you best tell me all or I will have every person in this entire household down here until I discover the truth."

She turned away from him, unable to respond.

The next moment she felt his fingers tracing her neck.  Her skin tingled at his touch. His gentleness surprised her again.

"Victoria, let me help you. You cannot shoulder everything by yourself. Can you not trust me with your secrets?"

Her determination began to waver. But trust him? How could she trust any man in her life, let alone a man who would not love her? No, she had to do this alone.

She choked back her tears and spun around, letting out a small laugh. "I was only playing with the children. It's nothing to concern yourself over. We got a bit carried away."

A shadow of annoyance played across his hard features. "I fail to see how children could do this."

Realizing her error in saying anything at all, she began to slowly inch herself toward the door. He must never know about Wendover. She could not put William in danger, or him for that matter. "Please," she said softly, turning from him, her hands fumbling with the lock. "Please, leave me be."

His hand snaked over her shoulder as he unlocked the door.

Her heart hammered against her breast.

"Why can you not trust me, Victoria? I would never hurt you." There was a strange sound to his voice, and she knew she had hurt him.

"I just can't." Stifling a sob, she jerked open the door and fled into the gardens. He could never discover her secrets. Never.

A half hour later in the duke's drawing room, a mile from Percy Hall, Fox lounged on the sofa as he sipped his glass of Madeira. "By Jove, you ought to have seen it, James. I believe I finally did it. After that tiny piece of information I overheard from the footman this afternoon, I did exactly as we planned. Drake was livid when I left."

James grinned. "I daresay, they could use your acting abilities at Drury Lane."

Fox chuckled. "They could not pay me enough."

James rolled back on his heels. "Dash it all. Thought it would never come to pass, Drake settling down. Lady Victoria is an amazing woman."

"Only hope your brother sees it that way as well. Have to admit that in some twisted sort of way, I was hoping he would let me wed the lady. I always had an eye for her, you know."

"Poor Drake. He will never guess the extent to which we conspired to have him married."

Fox laughed. "Certainly hope not. I would like to die an old man."

Victoria walked down the graveled path of the dowager's garden, skirting the small puddles from the rain the previous evening. The anxiety of the last few days was taking a toll on her senses. She had to make a decision about Wendover tonight. The thought of him killing Nightham was too vexing to even think about. But his threats about William made her ill.

"Lady Victoria."

She glanced up sharply at the sound of Lord Drakefield's voice. A flush worked its way up her neck. He had followed her.

She bit her lip, trying to calm her emotions. She loved him. She knew that now.

He treated his grandmother and daughter with such kindness, she could not help but like him. But it was when she saw him with William that she realized the man had a soft heart hidden deep within that granite facade. His late wife must have made him miserable. And that only made Victoria love him more. She ached for him to take her in his arms and wash the worries from her mind. But she told herself time and time again that she could not trust him. She would lose part of herself if she did.