To Pleasure a Prince (29 page)

“I know, but she seems to think she has a way to strike at him. And I certainly hope she does.”

“So do I.”

A bemused look crossed his face. “He
is
your brother.”

“Yes, and he’s behaved very badly. I hope Louisa brings him to his knees.”

“The way you’ve brought me to my knees?” he said softly, but without a hint of bitterness.

She grinned. “Oh, yes. I like you on your knees.”

Eyes gleaming, he rolled her under him, then parted her thighs until he could kneel between them. “Like this, you mean?”

“Exactly.”

“Siren,” he murmured as he bent to take her mouth in a kiss.

And as he entered her, she decided she liked being a siren sometimes. She liked it very much.

Be careful if your charge is clever. She will lead you a merry dance.

—Miss Cicely Tremaine,
The Ideal Chaperone

T
hey’d been waiting in the drawing room for twenty minutes, and still there was no sign of the prince. To Regina’s surprise, it didn’t seem to bother Marcus nearly as much as it bothered Louisa.

Regina cast a worried glance to where the young woman paced back and forth. “Louisa, dear, he’ll be here, I’m sure. Don’t work yourself into a tizzy.”

Marcus settled back in his chair. “It’s just his way of reminding us who is the one with the power, that’s all.”

“You know me so well,” a voice said bitterly from beyond them.

Regina jumped to her feet, and Marcus followed more slowly as the prince entered the room with Simon at his side.

The proper bows and curtsies followed, but immediately afterward, the prince faced Louisa. “Don’t you have a kiss for Uncle George, poppet? When you were a girl, you used to greet me with a kiss.”

Stiffly, Louisa stepped forward to press one to his cheek. “If you will permit me to ask, Your Highness, how is it that I came to call you ‘uncle’ when we are of no relation whatsoever?”

Simon groaned, Marcus choked down a laugh, and Regina fought hard not to smile.

The prince, however, actually chuckled. “You haven’t changed a bit. You always did speak your mind.” He moved slowly to a chair and dropped into it.

Regina glanced at Marcus. As her husband watched the prince grimace in pain when lifting his gouty leg onto a footstool, Marcus’s expression held first shock, then concern. Concern?

George caught him staring.
“I
have changed, haven’t I, Draker? In nine years, I have aged twenty. That’s what being Regent will do to you.”

Marcus stiffened. “That’s what living a life of debauchery will do to you.”

Oh Lord, they’d be thrown out before Louisa even got her chance to speak.

George did no more than frown. “Ah, my son’s high moral character rears its ugly head. I had forgotten how very often it emerges to chastise me.”

Silence fell on the room. Did the prince realize he had just referred to Marcus as his son in front of three other people?

Simon certainly did. He’d already looked ill at ease when he came in, but now he looked decidedly queasy. She had to wonder why.

The prince gestured to Louisa. “Come, child. Your brother’s message said you had a few questions for me. Now’s your chance to ask them.”

Louisa swallowed, but approached the prince. “Regina has already told me that you would like me to join the court and why, but—”

“You told Lady Draker of our intentions, Foxmoor?” the prince interrupted with a glance at Simon.

“I had no choice,” Simon replied. “Regina figured some of it out herself, and she threatened to tell Draker. So I told her all of it and asked her to do her duty.”

“Asked?”
Marcus snapped. “You lying ass—you blackmailed her. You threatened to tell me lies about her that would damage our marriage.”

“Is this true?” the prince asked Regina.

She nodded.

“I did what I thought was my duty,” Simon ground out.

“Was kissing me your duty, too?” Louisa burst out. “And saying you loved me? And telling me we were going to Gretna Green when you really only planned to take me to meet the prince?”

Simon looked positively deathly.

“Answer her.” The prince’s face had paled more and more during Louisa’s protest, until now it was quite bloodless. “Tell the truth, Foxmoor. Did you do those things? Did you toy with her affections?”

Simon’s eyes glittered. “They tied my hands. I had no choice.” He gestured to Marcus. “He made Louisa promise not to see me again, and she insisted upon holding to her promise. I had to catch her alone at a ball and persuade her—” He broke off, realizing he was digging himself even deeper. Facing the prince with a stony glare, he said fiercely,
“You
told me you wanted her at court. That I was to arrange it so you could meet with her in private. I was only doing what you—”

“I did not tell you to kiss her.”

Simon clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “That is true. I did that on my own.”

“I also told you not to make her any promises, and you did.”

“I had no choice, damn it!”

“It seems to me you had at least one choice. You could have discussed the situation further with me.”

“You wanted this, and you know it,” Simon growled.

The prince stiffened, then turned his gaze from his friend. “Thank you, Foxmoor. I shall decide how to act, and inform you forthwith. And now, I should like to speak to my guests alone. That will be all.”

The look of betrayal on Simon’s face was unmistakable. “This is not right.”

“That will be all, sir,” the prince said coldly. “If you will not leave, I shall have to call—”

“I’m going,” Simon snapped, but his cheeks were flushed, and his eyes overly bright.

Regina would feel sorry for him, if not for what she, too, had suffered from his machinations.

As he headed for the door, Louisa called out, “Simon?”

He halted, but did not turn around. “Yes?”

“Did you mean any of it? Or was it all part of your scheme for His Highness?”

Slowly he turned, then swept his gaze from the tip of Louisa’s head to her elegant slippers in a look that was as hot and covetous as any Marcus had ever given Regina. “I meant the kiss,” he rasped. “I definitely meant the kiss.”

Then whirling on his heels, he left.

Louisa looked shaken as she stared after him.

“Tell me what you require of me,” the prince said. “Tell me what I must do to make amends for my overzealous friend’s actions.”

Settling her shoulders with a resolute smile, Louisa returned her attention to him. “First, I want to know why you want me at court.”

The prince’s face darkened. “You mean, you want to know if you’re my natural daughter.”

She flushed, but did not back down. “Yes.”

Marcus tensed beside Regina.

“Your mother said you were, and we did have an…er…encounter that could have brought it about. But it is equally possible you are not. Frankly, I cannot be sure.” When Louisa’s face fell, he added, “In my heart, however, you are my daughter. And that is why I wanted you at court. Why I still want you at court. Because I should like to get to know the woman I only knew as a girl.”

Louisa smiled, and Marcus groaned beside Regina. No doubt he was thinking how fragile his sister’s emotions were right now and how easily she could be influenced. And he was right. Regina could only hope that the young woman had enough sense to realize it for herself.

“I will consider your offer, Your Highness,” Louisa said. “And I do understand what a very great honor it is to be asked to serve in your court. If I agree, however, I want one thing in return.”

His Highness leaned forward. “You will have it, whatever it is.”

“Simon’s ambition is to be prime minister, is it not?”

Regina and Marcus exchanged glances.

The prince hesitated. “Yes.”

“I believe he would make a good one…in time. After he has known something of the world. The broader world outside of England, that is.”

The prince eyed her consideringly. “Yes, you may be right about that.”

“An ambassadorship or governorship somewhere would educate him most thoroughly, don’t you think? Perhaps in India or the West Indies. Somewhere he can’t toy with the affections of sensitive young English ladies for a while.”

Marcus whispered in Regina’s ear, “And you thought
I
was a dragon.”

“Simon will never forgive her for this,” Regina whispered back.

“Good. The sooner he learns not to toy with my family—including you—the better.” He squeezed her hand.

She squeezed his back.

“Foxmoor will simply refuse the appointment,” the prince said.

Louisa, the little minx, sidled closer. “Not if you tell him you will withdraw all support for him as prime minister unless he takes it.”

The prince cast her a hard look. “You want me to choose you over my friend and closest advisor?”

“Not at all. I am merely pointing out that I cannot serve in His Highness’s court and travel in the same circles as a man I cannot trust, a man like the duke.” Her lower lip trembled rather dramatically. “It would be too painful for me.”

Marcus needn’t worry about her anymore,
Regina thought.

“Very well,” His Highness said. “A governorship it is.” He settled back against his chair. “And you will serve in my court.”

“She said she would consider it,” Marcus put in.

Louisa ignored her brother. “If the Duke of Foxmoor takes an appointment abroad, Your Highness, I would be honored to serve in your court.”

“Damn it, Louisa—” Marcus began.

“Be quiet, Draker!” The prince rose slowly to his feet. “If she wishes to accept, it is none of your concern.”

Marcus strode up to him. “I am her guardian.”

“Yes, and you’ve certainly done a fine job of that,” His Highness retorted. “You kept her so sheltered at Castlemaine that it took a smooth-tongued fellow like Foxmoor only a month to convince her to run off to Gretna Green.”

“At your request!”

“That is not the point. She could stand to learn something of the real world. And she can do that at court.”

“She will get corrupted at court!”

“Marcus, please—” Louisa began.

“Enough, Louisa. It was a mistake coming here.” Marcus glared at the prince. “You were wrong—you haven’t changed one whit. You’re as selfish and manipulative as ever.” Striding over to Louisa, he took her by the arm. “Come, we’re going home. Come, Regina.”

Regina groaned. She had feared this might happen. When it came to His Highness, Marcus could not be rational.

“Come back here!” the prince called after them. “You will not walk away from me!”

“Watch me,” Marcus growled as he strode resolutely for the door with Louisa in tow and Regina right behind.

“Damn you, you stubborn fool—I did not know about the dungeon!” His Highness shouted.

Marcus halted, every inch of him turning to stone. A thick silence blanketed the room, cut only by Louisa’s whisper, “Does he mean
our
dungeon?”

“Louisa, dear,” the prince said hoarsely. “If you would please go with Lady Draker into the hall for a moment.”

“Regina stays.” Marcus faced his father with a stony glare. “She stays, or I do not.”

The prince blanched. “Very well. Louisa, if you would take that door to your left, you will find a lady-in-waiting just outside. I am sure she would be happy to show you Carlton House.”

Louisa had the good sense to obey.

As soon as she was gone, the prince lumbered toward them. “I take it your wife knows about your…er…time in the dungeon.”

“Three days,” Marcus growled. “It was three days, as you know full well.”

“I didn’t know, I swear it. Not until that day when your mother came at you with the poker. Why do you think she got so angry?”

“Because I told her to get out of my house,” Marcus said through gritted teeth. “And to take her whoreson lover with her.”

When the prince flinched, Regina laid her hand on Marcus’s arm. He took it, his fingers tightening painfully around hers.

“That, too,” His Highness admitted. “But that wasn’t all. She knew how I would react to hearing that she’d locked you in a dungeon for three days.” A sudden pain ravaged his face. “My God, Marcus, did you really think this whole business with Simon and Louisa was only about my wanting her at court? It was not, I assure you. I could think of no other way to get you to listen to me. I tried to tell you that very day you railed at me for it, but her striking you with the poker put an end to any rational conversation.”

He approached them with a heavy tread. “I waited for your temper to cool, then sent you a letter. It was returned unopened. They were all returned unopened. I sent a messenger, and you boxed his ears.” His voice trembled. “I kept thinking that you would surely go back into society eventually. That one day I would hear of you at some ball or other social function, and know that I might have a chance of meeting you there.”

Marcus was squeezing her hand so hard that she feared he might break it.

“But you never did,” His Highness said. “And then I heard of Louisa’s come-out, and I saw a way to have you both. Because I knew you would do anything to protect her, even brave Carlton House to snatch her from my clutches.”

Marcus said nothing still, just stared at the prince with a hollow-eyed gaze.

“Will you never forgive me?” the prince said in a hoarse whisper. “I did not know, I tell you. I would never have countenanced such a thing.”

“How could you not know?” Marcus choked out. “Did you not question it when I disappeared for three days?”

“I did. Your mother told me she had locked you in your room.
Your room.
With plenty to eat and all your books at your disposal.”

Marcus snorted. “Did I
look
as if I’d spent three days in my room reading, when I came to apologize to you?”

“I was too angry at the manner of your apology to notice, I confess. You stared at me with hate in your eyes while you said, ‘I’m sorry.’ ”

“What did you expect? I’d spent three days in a dungeon with the
rats.
At night there was no light, and I huddled on the old couch my mother had left for me and tried to keep from wondering when those rats would come to gnaw at my toes. In the daytime, there was nothing to do but listen for the sound of my mother bringing me my meals and debating whether I could yet swallow my pride enough to say what she wanted—”

“You and your damned pride,” the prince hissed. “You should have told her whatever she wanted the first day she put you down there, so you could get out and come to me with your anger.”

“And what would you have done? Tossed her aside? What do you think she would have done to me then?”

“I would have spoken to your father, and he would have seen that she was…helped.” The prince came nearer, his face a mask of tortured guilt. “Until she came at you with that poker, I did not realize just how…un-hinged she’d become. She’d always been a high-strung filly, but toward the end she saw you as her only means to keep my affections. So whenever you did not please me, she…took whatever measures necessary to bring you round.”