Fortunately, the moment Grey arrived, the clerk ushered him right in to see the general editor. There weresomeadvantages to being a duke, after all, even if Beatrice and her brother were too foolish to realize it. Grey made a few threats, followed by an offer of a great deal of money, to gain the general editor’s cooperation.
Then he headed to his aunt’s London town house to beard the lioness in her den. As the coachman drew up in front of his aunt’s house, Grey’s stomach began to churn. He hadn’t been here since he’d reached his majority and fled the place, but it still held painful memories.
But he was doing this for Beatrice and Vanessa. That thought alone propelled him out of the carriage and up the steps. At least he wouldn’t have to return again until Aunt Cora was in the grave with her damned husband.
When he entered, the butler tried to convince him she was not “in” to callers.
“I’m her nephew, the Duke of Greycourt,” Grey said in his most dictatorial voice. “And when your mistress dies, this place will be mine. So unless you wish to incur my wrath—”
The man hurried off to do Grey’s bidding.
Before Aunt Cora appeared, Vanessa slipped out from the music room to take him aside. “You have todosomething. Forgive me, but you and I simply cannot marry!”
“I agree.” He chucked her under the chin. “But I’ve taken care of it. Don’t worry—it will all work out.”
“How? Mama has already had it put into the paper without my knowledge, and that means—”
A voice he’d hoped never to hear again broke in. “I see that you’ve come to visit your fiancée.” His aunt descended the vaulted staircase wearing an elegant dinner gown and a cat-in-the-cream smile.
“Mama!” Vanessa cried. “How could youdothis to us? If Grey doesn’t marry me, we’ll all be humiliated, and I’ll never be able to gain a husband!”
“Forgive me, pet, but that’s the point,” Grey said to Vanessa with the utmost nonchalance. Because like a snake, Aunt Cora always struck when she sensed any hesitation or fear in her opponent. “Your mother decided we weren’t getting to the business of marriage fast enough, so she made it so wehadto marry.”
His aunt sidled up to him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sure theTimesmerely mentioned the prevailing gossip.”
“As it came right out of your mouth, you mean.” He stared down at the woman who’d never shown him an ounce of familial affection. Who’d ignored him while her husband bullied him, and who, after her husband died, had taken it upon herself to get what she could for her daughter out of Grey’s connection to her, whether her daughter wanted it or not.
For the first time, Grey noticed a hint of fear in her eyes. She wasn’t as sure of herself as she seemed. She had played her card, but she wasn’t certain it would win the hand. And the fact that she’d risked her daughter’s reputation in the process infuriated him. It damned well wasn’t fair to Vanessa.
“Vanessa,” Aunt Cora said, as if she’d read his mind, “why don’t you go upstairs while my nephew and I work this out?”
“Stay, Vanessa,” he ordered, making his aunt scowl. “This involves you, so you should hear the whole of it.”
Vanessa glanced anxiously from him to her mother as Aunt Cora circled him, looking for a place to strike. “What is there to hear? My daughter is right—unless you want to destroy her reputation, you have to marry her. The announcement is in theTimes.There’s naught you can do about that now.”
“You think not?” He chuckled, feeling a moment’s triumph when that gave his aunt pause. She’d gambled on what she saw as his weakness—his tendency to protect Vanessa.
Fortunately, she’d forgotten that once he’d left this house to assume the title, she had lost all power to bully him, even through her daughter. “It’s a pity you didn’t bother to consult me before running over to theTimes.Because then you would have learned I am already engaged to Miss Beatrice Wolfe.”
“Sheridan’s cousin?” Vanessa exclaimed.
With a nod, he leaned down to meet his aunt eye to eye. “So I informed theTimesthey should have spoken to me first, and if they didn’t want a lawsuit on their hands, they would print an errata revealing they had mistaken the name of my cousin for the name of my real fiancée. They were kind enough to agree. And that is the news appearing in the newspapertomorrowmorning.”
He knew his arrow had hit the mark when her face turned gray. “You will regret this. I will deny it to all my friends. I will say you led my Vanessa on and now you wish to marry your mistress. I will blacken—”
“You will do no such thing, Mama!” Vanessa cried. “I told you, neither of us wishes to marry the other. And if you speak such untruths about me or Grey, I will be standing right beside you claiming them to be lies.”
Her mother scowled at her. “Hush now, you foolish chit. He’s a duke!”
“Leave her be,” Grey snapped. “If I ever hear of you spreading tales again—like, for example, the one you started concerning my ‘secret cabal of dissolute bachelors’—”
What could he threaten that wouldn’t come back to hurt Vanessa or someone else he loved? His aunt had no scruples.
Perhaps it was time to appeal to Aunt Cora’s greed. He could afford it, after all. Though he hated to reward her for her machinations, this madness had to stop.
“What if I double Vanessa’s dowry?” he said. “Then she can acquire whatever husband she wishes.”
Even Vanessa’s poet, although Grey still thought that a most unwise choice.
