Unladylike Offer by Christine Merrill

Author:Christine Merrill [Merrill, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780373294626
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 1588019
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

He startled awake, some time later. The sun was higher in the sky and Marcus was leaning against a tree, a few feet away. He rolled on to one elbow, and asked, ‘How long?’

‘An hour. Maybe a little more.’

He stood up, and shook the wrinkles out of his brother’s coat, handing it back to him. ‘Thank you. That is more sleep than I’ve had for weeks.’

His brother shook his head. ‘Finally, the duel I knew must come, that would settle things between us, once and for all. And in the middle of it, you fell asleep. My pride may never recover.’

‘You were a formidable opponent.’

Marcus’s smile was sad. ‘You are not nearly so accomplished a liar as you used to be. You were more honest before, as we fought. I am a farmer, and you are a soldier. I was foolish to challenge you and am lucky to be alive.’

‘I lied to goad you when I said you had aught to be afraid of from me. Whether you are living or dead, your house and your wife shall have nothing but my respect. I know I can never repair the wrongs I’ve done you, but I can at least leave you in peace and try not to make the present situation worse.’

‘Leave? The devil you will. You’ve finally come home.’ Marcus removed a flask from his pocket, and drank deeply. ‘There is enough here for two, if you are interested.’

St John grinned at his brother. ‘Thank you. I think I am.’

They waved the coach away and walked back towards the house, and St John felt lighter than he’d felt in ages. He searched his mind. That was not accurate. He could never remember feeling this way. He glanced over at his brother, walking wordlessly beside him. Without looking up, Marcus again offered him the flask. He was not alone. He took another drink. The brandy felt good, even on his empty stomach. The duke opened the door to the house and let him pass in first.

St John smiled as he saw Miranda before him.

His smile faded as she threw herself at him, striking at his face and chest, moaning tonelessly through her tears. And over her shoulder, he could see Esme, huddled on the stairs, also crying, but weak with relief.

Then Marcus stepped into the room after him. ‘Lady wife, contain yourself, and unhand my brother.’

Miranda looked up from her tears at the sound of his voice, and rushed to him. ‘We heard nothing, and when I saw St John, I thought you dead. Blood!’ She sniffed. ‘And brandy.’ She shot an accusing look at St John, from the shelter of her husband’s arms. ‘What did you do to him?’

Marcus chuckled and mopped at his face with a linen handkerchief. ‘Broke my nose and ruined my shirt, I think. But you will notice that he has two very nice cuts on his arms from me.’

‘He could easily have killed me,’ supplied St John, trying without success to be helpful. ‘But he chose not to.

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.