Two Wrongs Make a Marriage by Christine Merrill

Author:Christine Merrill [Merrill, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
ISBN: 0373297092
Google: qh7eJUayTV4C
Amazon: B008EMG3Z2
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-09-30T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The last of the guests had strolled out of the large front door, and through the windows of the town house Jack could see the beginnings of dawn glowing above the houses to the east. He’d have cursed, if he could have managed to speak. But his voice was hoarse, nearly raw from too much chatting and breathing the smoke of the men taking cigars in the card room. The pain in his throat was coupled with the bitter taste of disappointment.

As a party, the evening had been quite successful, but as a part of his actual goal it had been a disaster. Cyn had barely managed to deliver his message and de Warde had looked at her like a wolf with a lamb dinner. Jack’s own interference had done little to further the plot. He had been too lost in jealousy to keep the focus of his thoughts on the other man.

And then he had finished by very nearly ravishing the beautiful Thea in a public hallway. As pleasant as that had been, he’d have been much smarter to keep a cool head in the ballroom and seduce her later in the bedroom, when she’d have had no reason to break away. Instead, he had frightened her to the point where she’d kept a marked distance from him the rest of the evening. When forced into proximity, she had fallen into the banal courtesy she seemed to think society demanded for the spouse of a noble, beautiful and aloof, and not nearly so much fun as she’d been in the hall.

What had he been about in attempting this at all? There was not a chance of success. He had nothing more than a poorly written scene, a novice actress and his own insufficient education and experience, against an adversary who had already bested an earl and a baronet.

Better to admit defeat now and let the whole thing collapse. He would go upstairs and tell Cyn that she need not worry about a repeat performance. Or, better yet, he would tell her nothing at all. He could leave by the same door as the guests and be gone before the sun was fully up. Let the nobility sort out their mess tomorrow. It was none of his concern. It was the coward’s way, he supposed, but it was the path he was most familiar with.

And then he turned to find the woman who had been avoiding him for hours collapsed like a rag doll on the bench beside the door. He could not walk past her with no explanation, but a few words would have to do. He held out a hand to her. ‘Up you get, Thea. There is a matter we must discuss.’ She would be glad to be rid of him, he was sure. It would be a mercy on his part to remove himself from her presence.

She gave him a baleful look, her society smile disappearing with the last of their visitors. ‘Please, simply leave me alone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.