The Earl's Secret Bargain

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  He felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. As soon as Regina saw this, she might not want to marry him. And who could blame her? She’d never believe he was sincere when he told her he wanted to be with her. Now, she was going to assume he only said it to win the bet. He’d think the same thing in her position.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Pennella yelled as he ran into the room, holding a copy of the Tittletattle in his hands. He waved it in the air and glared at everyone who dared to make eye contact with him. “Who told the Ttitletattle about the wager?”

  Not surprising, everyone kept silent.

  “Someone in this gentlemen’s club did it,” Pennella snapped, rolling the paper up and slamming it on the nearby table.

  “There’s no Gerard Addison at White’s,” Roderick argued.

  “You take me for a fool? I know very well that Gerard isn’t the gentleman’s real name. No one would dare give their real name if they wrote for this garbage.” He released the Tittletattle and looked around the room where about twenty gentlemen were all reading copies of the paper. Finally, his gaze settled on Toby. “You? Did you do this because I made a connection with Miss Giles’ father? You did this because you knew you were going to lose?”

  “Of course, I didn’t do it,” Toby replied, not hiding his anger. Did Pennella really think this made him happy?

  “Then who did?”

  “I don’t know!”

  The room remained silent as Pennella studied everyone’s faces. “When I find out who’s behind this, he’s going to wish he was never born.”

  No one responded as Pennella stormed out of White’s and slammed the door. It’d been tense. But it was nowhere as bad as Toby knew it was going to be when he saw Regina…when he pleaded with her to marry him despite the wager.

  He could avoid her and try to forget he ever met her, but he loved her. There would never be anyone but her. He owed it to both of them to try—to beg her to give him another chance. Steeling his resolve, he hurried out of White’s.

  Chapter Eleven

  Regina was sorting through her outfits, trying to decide which one would be best for a horseback ride with Toby. In a couple hours, he’d come by, and this time, there would be talk about the banns and a wedding date.

  “Miss Giles.”

  Glancing at the partly open door, she smiled at her lady’s maid. “I know it’s silly, but I can’t wait to see Lord Davenport.”

  She couldn’t be sure, but it seemed that the older woman slightly winced.

  “Is something wrong?” Regina asked.

  “Your parents wish to see you in the drawing room.”

  Surprised by her solemn tone, she closed the armoire and rushed down the stairs. Did something bad happen? Was someone in their family ill? By the time she reached the drawing room, her parents were reading something. Their faces were pale, and they stood as still as statues.

  “What is it? What’s happened?” Regina asked as she hurried over to them.

  With a heavy sigh, her father shook his head and plopped down in one of the chairs.

  Her mother closed the distance between them and handed her the Tittletattle. “It’s right at the top.”

  She almost asked her what was at the top but saw ‘Lord Davenport’ and kept reading. Lord Davenport has made a bet with Lord Pennella. The wager? The hand of Miss Giles. Whoever marries her gains the loser’s estate.

  After her mother closed the door, she returned to Regina. “Did you know about the wager?”

  She looked up from the Tittletattle but couldn’t speak. Her legs shaky, she went over to the settee and collapsed on it. After a moment, she read the tidbit of gossip again, hoping it would be different this time. But it was the same thing she’d read before.

  “Do you know Gerard Addison?” her mother pressed, leaning over her.

  “No,” Regina forced out. “I don’t know Gerard Addison.”

  “Did you know about the wager?”

  Tears formed in Regina’s eyes. “No. How could you think I’d know about something this…this…” Good heavens, but she couldn’t even think of the right word to describe it.

  “Well, you were involved in it.”

  “Not directly.” She blinked and a couple tears fell down her cheeks. “I didn’t know what they were doing. I thought they were both…”

  Her face grew warm from a mixture of humiliation and anger. How foolish. After not receiving much interest until recently, why didn’t she suspect something was amiss when two gentlemen suddenly sought her attention—and at the same time. It was so obvious when she looked back on it. She wiped away more tears.

  “She couldn’t have known,” her father said, his voice soothing. “If she had, she never would have let them pay her a visit.”

  Her mother relaxed but only slightly. “Of course, you’re right.” She settled next to Regina and cupped her elbow in her hand. “This is horrible. Just horrible.”

  With a shaky breath, Regina nodded. Her chances of finding a good titled gentleman were gone. Even if she hadn’t enjoyed the way her mother fussed over her, she couldn’t blame her mother for being devastated. But it was much worse than the shock of learning about the wager. Everything Toby had said and done was based on lies. It was all so he could win a bet. It had nothing to do with his feelings for her.

  “What should we do?” her mother asked her father.

  “Hold Lord Davenport to a proposal. Regina said he wished to speak to me about marriage. We’ll make him go through with it.”

  Regina’s head snapped in his direction. “No! I can’t marry him.”

  “Why not? He’s a titled gentleman,” he began.

  “None of his feelings were sincere.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. He had a certain way of looking at you that spoke volumes of how he felt.”

  “When he looked at me, he saw the wealth you have.” Her gaze went to her mother. “You know how titled gentlemen are when they need money. They don’t care who they marry if it’ll save their troubled estate.”

  A knock at the door interrupted them.

  Her mother groaned. “Why does someone always have to come over when there’s something important going on?” Shaking her head, she went to the door.

  Regina glanced at her father whose sympathetic expression did little to ease her heartache.

  Her mother opened the door and spoke in low tones to the butler. Her gaze went to Regina, and Regina stiffened. What else could possibly go wrong? Hadn’t she been through enough already?

  “No,” she heard her mother tell the butler. “Absolutely not.”

  Before Regina could ask what her mother was saying no to, the butler stepped aside and Toby came into view. The Tittletattle crumpled in her grip.

  “Please, let me talk to her,” Toby pressed. “I can explain everything.”

  “We know all about the wager,” her mother replied. “There’s nothing to explain.”

  “Let him come in,” her father spoke up, rising to his feet. Startled, Regina shook her head in protest, but he put up his hand to stop her before she could say anything. “If he intends to make things right, we’ll let him,” he said in a voice low enough so the others wouldn’t overhear. “Give him a chance.”

  Give him a chance? Was her father daft? Like she wanted to talk to Toby ever again, let alone marry him!

  “Regina,” her father whispered, “I know this is not an ideal situation, but think this through before you tell him no. This is all over the Ton. If you don’t secure a husband now, it’s doubtful you will after this.”

  “But he only wants your money.”

  “Money might have been the primary motive, but his feelings for you are true. I have no doubt of that.”

  Her poor father was seeing things that weren’t there. It’d all been a show. Everything Toby had done and said… How could she have fallen for it? Because she wanted—more than anything—to believe that a love match was possible, even in a society as polluted wit
h greed and selfishness as this one.

  Her father patted her on the shoulder. “The choice is yours, of course. But if nothing else, you’d be a countess and would have children.”

  He turned to Toby and asked him to have a seat beside her on the settee. Then he took her mother by the elbow and escorted her out of the drawing room.

  After her father shut the door, she bolted to her feet and headed for the window. What had her father been thinking by inviting Toby to be so close to her?

  “Will you please sit?” Toby asked.

  Crossing her arms, Regina said, “I’ll remain standing, thank you.”

  She needed to keep as much distance between them as possible. It was the only way to keep her thoughts clear. Because even now—even after finding out about the horrible wager—the sight of him made her weak in the knees. And that wasn’t good. It made her vulnerable, something she didn’t like one single bit.

  When Toby approached her, she had the urge to bolt for the door but managed to stay still. Showing him any weakness wouldn’t be good.

  “Whatever you have to say, you can say from where you are,” she said before he could take another step toward her.

  “Regina-”

  “It’s Miss Giles to you.”

  He paused for a moment then nodded. “I deserve that. I know what I did was wrong, and you have every right to be upset.”

  “Why did you do it?” she blurted out, watching him as he shifted uncomfortably a mere few feet from her.

  “Well,” he slowly began, “Pennella barged into White’s and claimed he could get any lady he wanted. It’s not the first time he made the boast, but it was the first time I had enough of it. I decided to stand up to him, and before I knew what was happening, I was stuck in the wager. I made the stipulation that I would pick the lady-”

  “Lucky me,” she muttered.

  He sighed. “I didn’t intend to actually marry you.”

  “What?” She didn’t think it was possible to feel worse, but she did.

  “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “It’s hard to take that in a good way.” Especially after how close they’d gotten.

  “My intention was to protect you from Pennella. The only way I could do that was to make you choose me, but,” he quickly added when she opened her mouth to protest, “I was going to let you go. I wasn’t going to hold you to a marriage. That wouldn’t have been fair to you. But then I got to know you and fell in love with you. I know it’s hard to believe, but when I asked you to marry me, I did mean it.”

  “It is hard to believe.”

  “I can’t blame you for feeling that way, but it’s true. And I still want to marry you. Will you please be my wife?”

  “No.”

  She couldn’t believe it, but he actually looked surprised by her answer. “No?” he asked.

  “No.” When he didn’t reply, she added, “Did you expect me to say yes after you made a fool of me?”

  Shoulders slumped, he shook his head. “No, I didn’t expect you to say yes.”

  “Then why did you act so surprised?”

  “I had hoped… Never mind. This is a mess, and it’s one of my doing. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you, but I did.”

  She turned away from him and looked out the window. She didn’t want to hear it. For all she knew, this could be another one of his lies. There was nothing—absolutely nothing—she could believe anymore. He’d made a complete fool of her. And worse, everyone knew her shame. She swallowed and quickly wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek. The last thing she needed was to appear weak. She couldn’t do anything about what Toby or Pennella did, but she could control how she reacted to it. And there was no way she was going to let anyone know how much this hurt her.

  “Miss Giles,” Toby softly began as he approached her, “I’m sorry. I know nothing can undo the damage I’ve done.” He waited for a long moment before he continued. “I do love you. Despite how everything looks, it’s true. And you did agree to marry me last night. I was to ask your father for your hand today.”

  “That was before I found out the truth,” she snapped, glaring at him. Then, before another tear would trickle down her cheek, she turned her attention back to the people outside. It was much easier to avoid further humiliation if she counted them. After a few seconds passed, she was able to take a deep breath to steady her resolve. “We have nothing more to say to each other. You may go.”

  She expected him to leave. She’d refused him, made it clear that there was no way she’d marry him. But he didn’t leave. He stayed right where he was. She could feel the heat of his gaze as he watched her.

  And honestly, she didn’t know if she was glad he chose to stay or not. It was too hard to tell what she should be feeling when her emotions were swirling around her in such a frantic mess.

  “I understand you don’t want to marry me because of what I’ve done,” he said, his hesitant tone indicating that he was choosing his words carefully. “But I think a marriage is the best course.”

  She snorted, something that was horribly unladylike. Her mother would have fainted on the spot had she heard it.

  “Please hear me out before you dismiss the idea.”

  She sighed but didn’t argue. Instead, she continued counting the people as they walked along the side of the street.

  After a tense moment, he spoke up. “I have a title. If we marry, then you could satisfy your mother and your son will inherit my title.”

  “If I have a son.” She quickly shut her mouth. It wasn’t in her best interest to say anything at the moment.

  “Yes, that’s true. There’s always the possibility we’ll only have girls.”

  “And there’s also the possibility you’ll never be in my bed,” she added then admonished herself. The more she talked, the greater the potential was for her to say something she could never take back.

  “Well, I suppose that’s also true. But then it won’t matter if you won’t have a son anyway. My title would go to my cousin. But you will still be a countess.”

  When she didn’t reply, he took another step toward her. As much as she wanted to back away from him, she refused to budge another inch. It was bad enough she was trapped between two undesirable options.

  Her chances of securing a marriage to an honorable gentleman were now nil. And that left her with her mother who would undoubtedly spend the rest of her living years lamenting this incident. But if she married him, her mother would eventually forget all about this black mark on her life.

  She debated living out the remainder of her years as a spinster. No doubt, her mother would grow wearisome. Her father would pity her. Unless she wanted to have this moment hanging over her head forever, she had to marry him. There was no other way out. Blinking back her tears before he could see them, she steeled her resolve.

  “Fine,” she finally said, her voice steady despite her fear that she’d regret this decision in the years to come. “I’ll marry you.” Before he could reply, she turned a sharp gaze in his direction. “But this isn’t a love match. It’s one borne out of necessity.”

  Though he winced, he nodded. “That’s fair.”

  “Then the bargain is struck. I marry you so I can be a countess, and you marry me so you can get the money.” His jaw dropped, so she added, “Yes, I know your estate’s in trouble. But I’d been willing to marry you anyway. Now, I’m just marrying you because it’s better than spending the rest of my life with an unhappy mother.”

  Forcing aside her moment’s regret that things had to be this way, she strode to the door. How she managed to walk at all surprised her. She guessed with everything happening so fast, she was in a state of shock. Such a thing made sense, of course…all things considered.

  Opening the door, she paused when she saw her parents standing in front of her, both looking as if they’d been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to. “Were you eavesdropping on me?” she asked.

  Her mother let out a
n uneasy chuckle. “No. We were waiting here in case you called for assistance. You have been through a terrible ordeal, and we’re your parents. Your wellbeing is important to us.”

  She eyed them both, suspecting they had been listening but unable to prove it. Well, what did it matter? Her reputation was already ruined. It wasn’t like they were going to make things worse. “All right,” she relented. “You might as well be the first to know that Lord Davenport has asked for my hand in marriage and I’ve accepted.”

  “That is a prudent decision,” her father replied in relief.

  “I don’t know,” her mother whispered, her gaze flickering to the drawing room.

  Regina glanced over her shoulder where Toby stood by the window, watching them but not interfering with their conversation. Turning her attention back to her mother, she lowered her voice. “What choice do I have, Mother? My reputation is in ruins. No one else will propose unless he’s a reprobate.”

  “Of all the options available to her, this is the smartest one,” her father told her mother.

  Her mother sighed. “I suppose so.”

  “Well,” her father said with a smile as he turned to Toby, “it’s only appropriate that I welcome you to the family.”

  Toby glanced from Regina to her father then slowly walked over to them. “Thank you, sir.”

  Her father patted him on the back and chuckled. “There’s no need to stand on formality now that we’ll be family. You can think of me as a friend.”

  “Oh, well, that’s very nice of you.”

  Regina averted her gaze and chose to look at her mother who decided not to extend a welcome. She couldn’t blame her mother. This was hardly the happy occasion she imagined it would be a mere hour ago when she was in her bedchamber making plans for a wedding and her new life with Toby. Now that all seemed to be a distant memory.

  “Let’s discuss the details of the wedding while Regina and her mother look for a suitable dress,” her father said.