To Pleasure a Prince (25 page)

Remain loyal to your charge and when she is married, she will reward you.

—Miss Cicely Tremaine,
The Ideal Chaperone

R
egina shivered as they were ushered into the Iversleys’ drawing room. The mood was somber as a tomb. Louisa sat on a couch, flanked by Cicely and Lady Iversley, and Lord Iversley stood stiffly by the fire, his hand resting upon the marble mantel. But while Louisa’s guardians bore expressions of dismay and concern, Louisa was the very image of defiance.

Ignoring his sister, Marcus headed for Lord Iversley. His half brother. Now Regina could see a resemblance, in their dark hair, their height, their chins. Marcus might be stockier, but they had exactly the same chin. The prince’s chin.

Lady Iversley caught her staring, and the woman’s gaze grew speculative. Did she know of her husband’s true parentage? She had to. Otherwise, why had she agreed to sponsor Louisa in society? And what was it the earl had said at dinner the night of the soiree?
He’s like part of our family.

Regina snorted. Part of the family, indeed. She should have seen it before.

As Marcus reached Alec, guilt spread over the younger man’s cheeks. “Draker, I’m so sorry. I swear I never thought—”

“It’s not your fault. You’ve done better by Louisa than I could have dreamed. But when the girl acts like a fool, you can’t do much to stop her.”

“How dare you?” Louisa jumped to her feet. “You don’t understand—”

“Hush, Louisa,” Regina said hastily. “Your brother is very angry at the moment, and I would not try his temper if I were you.”

Still ignoring his sister, Marcus turned to Cicely, who was coaxing Louisa to sit back down. “Miss Tremaine, I should like a word with you.”

Cicely rose uneasily, her hands balling a handkerchief into a knot. “Yes, my lord?”

“First of all, thank you for your good service to me and my wife. I promise that you’ll be amply rewarded for it. Now tell me exactly what happened between Foxmoor and my sister.”

Cicely shot Regina a glance, and Regina nodded. Cicely’s face cleared. “Forgive me, sir, but I do not know how the duke managed to communicate his plans to Louisa, or I would never have allowed it to go even as far as it did. I did try to intercept any notes or letters sent to her.”

“Traitor,” Louisa muttered.

For the first time since he’d entered, Marcus looked at his sister. “Excuse me, young lady, but did I just hear you insult one of your betters, a woman of advanced age and superior education, and the relation of my very own wife?”

Louisa had the good sense to duck her head, and mumble, “No.”

“Good. I had better never hear it.” He turned back to Cicely. “Go on.”

With a nervous glance in Louisa’s direction, Cicely said, “Fortunately, I am a light sleeper. My cough often wakes me early. So I heard Louisa slip out of her room. Concerned for her safety, I followed her outside. The duke awaited her in his carriage at the foot of the garden, and Louisa was nearly there when I called to her to stop. I told her if she did not return to the house, I would scream until everyone came running. Simon tried to convince her to come along anyway, but—” She glanced toward Louisa. “She knew that would be futile.”

“We could never have made it to Gretna Green unless we had a head start,” Louisa protested.

“Gretna Green!” Marcus snapped. “You little fool—did you really think he meant to marry you?”

Louisa paled. “He said he did.”

“Drat the man,” Regina muttered. She couldn’t believe he’d actually lied to Louisa in order to get what he wanted. “My brother can be such an idiot.”

“He’s a dead idiot now,” Marcus snapped.

“No!” Louisa leaped from the couch. “You must not hurt him. We did nothing wrong. We wanted to marry, and you wouldn’t allow it.”

“You promised not to see him.”

Guilt flooded Louisa’s face. “I know, but…well…I knew you would never consent, even if I waited the two years. And I thought that if it were done, and there was nothing you could do to stop it—”

“I can stop it now. Go pack your things, Louisa. You’re coming back to Castlemaine with me.”

“But Marcus, the season isn’t over!” Louisa protested.

“The season is over for you, young lady. And I’ll have to think long and hard before I let you have another.”

Regina and Lady Iversley exchanged frustrated glances. They both knew Marcus well enough to understand his reaction. And they both knew Louisa—and young women—well enough to know it was the wrong way to handle her.

“You can’t take me away for good!” Louisa cried.

He set his shoulders stubbornly. “I’m your guardian—I can do whatever the hell I please. I should have done it the minute that ass started sniffing around you, but I thought you had the good sense not to be taken in by his lies.”

“He loves me!” she protested. “I don’t care what you say, he loves me! He told me so!”

Sweet heaven, this got worse and worse. “Marcus, you have to tell her the truth,” Regina said. “If he won’t, then you
have
to. You’re not being fair to her.”

“I don’t have to tell her a damned thing,” he bit out. “And stay out of this, Regina. This is not your concern.”

She flinched, but did not back down. “She’s my sister now, so that makes it my concern.”

“You should have thought of that when you deliberately hid your brother’s plans from me.”

An embarrassed flush spread over her cheeks as the Iversleys both stared at her. “Marcus, please, can’t we discuss this first? Alone?”

“Nothing to discuss,” he said, maddening her with his usual retreat into the cave. “Louisa, go pack your things. Miss Tremaine, you will wish to do the same if you intend to go with us.”

Louisa looked as if she might balk.

“Now,
Louisa!” he barked.

She jumped, then allowed Cicely to lead her from the room.

Marcus turned to his brother. “I’m sorry she’s caused you and Katherine such grief, but I assure you I do not blame you for what has happened.”

Lord Iversley steadied his shoulders. “Your wife is right, you know. You should tell Louisa what’s going on. Prinny will just keep trying.”

“So will Simon,” Regina put in.

“I’ll take care of Foxmoor, never you fear.” Marcus glared at her. “And I will not tolerate any interference from you, do you understand?”

Regina bristled. How
dared
he use the same tone that he’d used with Louisa! “What I understand is that you are not thinking rationally at the moment—or surely you would not be ordering me about as if I were a child.”

“As your husband, I have the right to order you about, madam. And I expect you to obey, or I swear I’ll take you over my knee.”

Lady Iversley rose, eyes flashing. “Marcus, really! You go too far.”

“Iversley, do control your wife,” Marcus growled.

Lord Iversley snorted. “The way you’re controlling yours? Thank you, but I don’t particularly like sleeping with one eye open.” He offered his arm to his wife. “Come, sweetheart, you and I had best get out of the line of fire.”

When Lady Iversley sniffed and shot Marcus an angry glance before marching off with her husband, despair gripped Regina. The old Marcus had returned, the rude lout who cared nothing for anyone’s feelings, the dragon who reacted to being cornered by breathing fire. She was not going to stand here and watch him cut himself off from everyone who cared for him. “Marcus—”

He whirled toward her, his stance and expression belligerent. “If you think to soften my temper with your wheedling, think again.”

“I know better than that. When you are like this, nothing will soften you. But if you’ll calm yourself, you’ll see that hauling Louisa off to Castlemaine without explaining the circumstances to her would be a huge mistake. She deserves a good husband and a place in society. If you deny her that by locking her up in the country, she will repay you for it in the worst way.”

“Let her just try.”

“Oh, she’ll try, I assure you. Besides, it’s unwise to jerk her out of society in the middle of the season. We should be able to squelch any rumors about her and my brother, but it will become infinitely more difficult if people see her guardian overreacting.”

He scowled. “And your solution is to let her stay here?”

She breathed easier. At least he was no longer dismissing everything out of hand. “With us. If you tell her the situation, I’m sure she will behave herself perfectly for the rest of the season. Especially after I speak to Simon—”

“Not a chance. You are not to speak to that man, do you hear?”

So much for his not dismissing things out of hand. “Someone must tell him that he can no longer—”

“I will deal with Foxmoor myself. You and Louisa can clearly not be trusted around the man—he gets round you both every time. So you will leave him to me. I forbid either of you to see him.”

Her pulse began to pound. “Let me see if I understand you correctly. You are forbidding me to speak to my own brother?”

The icy tone in her voice seemed to give him pause, but he stuck doggedly to his position. “Yes.”

“Ever?”

His face grew shuttered. “You won’t have a chance to speak to him anyway. We’re returning to Castlemaine tonight with Louisa.”

She gritted her teeth. “Even if it sets the gossips to wagging? Even if she never gets to enter society again?”

“That is my decision. We are not staying in London, no matter how much you prefer society to being with your husband in the country.”

“That’s not true!”

“Isn’t it? You’ve been chafing to return practically since we left. Complain all you want, but I won’t indulge your whims—or Louisa’s—as my father indulged my mother’s. I refuse to watch my wife and my sister follow the same path—”

“As your mother? You couldn’t stop your mother from choosing Prinny over her responsibilities as a wife and a parent, so now you mean to lock up me and Louisa before we can become just as reckless. Is that it?” Her own temper rising, she stepped nearer. “Louisa is nothing like your mother. And neither am I.”

“Damned right you’re not. You’re ten times the woman she was, ten times more beautiful, ten times more alluring, ten times more good—”

“Then why don’t you trust me, drat it?”

“It’s not you I don’t trust, but all your damned sycophants. You’re also ten times more irresistible than my mother was. Those scoundrels are out there waiting to get you alone, now that you’re married and don’t need a chaperone.”

In light of what he’d told her about his mother, she understood his fears. But that didn’t mean she had to put up with them. “It takes two people to commit adultery. As long as I don’t agree to it, it doesn’t matter if a thousand men try to get me alone.”

“With some men, it matters. You have no idea what lengths some men—”

“Spending the past few days teaching me to read a children’s primer has clearly made you forget that I am not a child. I know how to handle men. I have spent the past several years successfully fending off their advances.”

“You didn’t fend off mine.” His eyes glittered. “You indulged your taste for adventure, which is precisely why we ended up married.”

“And now you mean to punish me for it?” Tears welled in her eyes as she lifted her hand to caress his cold, hard cheek. “We ended up married because I fell in love with you, you dolt. I would not have married you otherwise, no matter what ‘adventures’ you offered me.”

For a moment, he only stared at her, stunned. Then he covered her hand with his. “If you love me, you’ll return to Castlemaine and forget about London.”

He might as well have slapped her. He wouldn’t offer her words of love, but he would try to use her own love to control her?

“How dare you!” She jerked her hand back, fighting to suppress her tears. “I will not be your prisoner, Marcus. Your wife, yes. Your lover, certainly. But never your prisoner.”

A thunderous scowl crossed his features. “You’re my wife. You belong with me. And I say we return to Castlemaine. So you might as well resign yourself—”

She backed away from him, shaking her head. “I shall not let you lock me away, no matter how pretty your prison. If you couldn’t endure three days locked away, how do you expect
me
to endure a lifetime?”

He stalked her like some mythical beast. “You will do as I say.”

“You promised me I could come to London when I wished. You swore it!”

“And your brother promised not to pursue my sister. He broke his promise, so I can damned well break mine.”

“Your promise was to me, not him. I cannot control my idiot brother. But I expect you to hold to your vows.”

“As I expect you to hold to yours. You vowed to love, honor, and
obey.
So you will return with me and Louisa to Castlemaine now, or I swear that when you do return, I will bar the doors to you.”

Her gasp was echoed by one behind her, but she ignored it. “You will
what?”

“You will no longer be welcome at Castlemaine,” he said, but stiffly, as if he knew he’d gone too far, yet could not bring himself to take back the words.

She shouldn’t be surprised. This was how he’d punished his mother, too, by thrusting her out of his life. Why should she expect him to behave any differently with his wife?

Because his wife had never imprisoned him in a dungeon or branded him with a poker. Because his wife had only dared to question his authority. Because his wife loved him.

Still reeling from his threat, Regina turned to find Louisa and Cicely standing in the doorway while a footman strode past carrying their bags.

Louisa stared at her brother with an ashen face. “Marcus, don’t be a fool.”

“Go to the carriage, Louisa,” Marcus ordered. “We’ll be along shortly.”

“But Marcus—”

“Now,
damn you!”

Louisa turned and hurried off. Cicely watched her go, clearly uneasy.

“Miss Tremaine,” Marcus said, “please remind your cousin where her duty lies.”

Cicely positively shook beneath his frigid gaze. “Regina, dear, perhaps you should just go with your husband for now.”

“Thank you for your advice,” Regina said tightly, “but while you might enjoy living in a prison, it is not something I fancy.”

“It appears, Miss Tremaine,” Marcus bit out, “that you are faced with a choice. You may stay in town with my wife, in which case you will never be welcome at Castlemaine, either. Or you may return with me to act as my sister’s companion. I do hope you’ll make your choice wisely.”