“Nonetheless, I have to wonder just how many people’s secrets you’re keeping, Jack. One I could accept, perhaps, but how many more are there, lurking in the shadows?”
“There aren’t any others.”
“That’s what you say. But how can I be sure?”
“You will have to trust me.”
She stared at him as if he was deranged, a look he’d become quite familiar with during the past month. “You’ve just admitted you lied to me, manipulated me, and kept more than one secret from me. You’ve demonstrated yet again that I have no reason whatsoever to trust you, and yet you expect me to do so anyway? Why on earth would I ever give you my trust again?”
“Because I love you,” he said simply. “I realized it the other day when I said it to you, but I think I’ve really loved you from the moment I kissed you. And you love me. And we are getting married. I didn’t bed you to force your hand, but I also refuse to allow any child of ours to be born a bastard.”
“We don’t know if there will be a baby,” she whispered.
“And we can’t wait long enough to find out. You and I will be married, Linnet Holland. Even,” he added over her attempt to interrupt, “if I have to carry you to the altar.”
“An act that would be perfectly in keeping with your uncivilized character.”
“Be that as it may, we will marry. And you’ll be my countess, and you’ll take charge of the estates, while—”
“I will?” That took her back, and she eyed him askance. “You’d hand the running of the estates over to me?”
“Well, someone has to run them, and it shan’t be me. I shall have my hands full with the African investments company. Yes, I’m still doing it,” he went on before she could even open her mouth to object, “and yes, your father is staking my share as my personal settlement for the dowry, and no, I’m not backing out of the deal, even if you don’t like that I’m in partnership with your father.”
“But you never asked me why I don’t like it.”
“I haven’t asked because it’s obvious. You hate his interference in your life.”
But she was shaking her head before he’d even finished. “That’s not why. You don’t know what you are getting into, Jack, when you make deals with my father. He’s using you to make a profit.”
“So what? I’m doing the same to him. Do you have something against profits? I thought Americans were all about earning one’s way.”
“He’s buying you, Jack. He’s making it so that you owe him, that you feel obligated to him. He’s manipulating you.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Yes, he is, and you don’t even see it. I know my father, I know what he’s like.”
“My darling Linnet, do you think I don’t know what sort of man your father is? I grew up with two of the most manipulative men in England. Compared to my father and brother, your father is child’s play.” He studied her baffled face for a moment, then sighed. “I can see I shall have to elucidate matters further. The agreement your father and I made was to share out thirds.”
“And because of that, you think you’re going into this evenly, with a fair deal on the table, but—”
“On the contrary, it won’t be fair at all. I stipulated that the percentages be thirty-three percent to me, thirty-three to him, and thirty-four to Stuart. Your father agreed, because without Stuart’s knowledge of Africa and his connections there, we wouldn’t have a prayer of making sound investments. In other words, Stuart has the controlling interest.”
“Jack, I know you trust your friend, but—”
“Will you let me finish? Honestly, Linnet, you ask me for explanations, and when I try to give them, you immediately start interrupting.”
She bit her lip. “Go on.”
“I cabled Stuart and asked if he was willing to do this, and he agreed, and we decided to work out the details when he arrived, which was about two hours ago. While you, my love, were sulking in your room—”
“I was not sulking.”
“Sulking,” he went on firmly, “and cursing my name and wishing my soul to perdition, I have no doubt—while you were doing all that, Stuart and I have been making our plans. When your father arrives to negotiate the final deal, he’ll find that Stuart is demanding a change in the terms. He will insist that I have thirty-four percent and he thirty-three. He won’t do the deal otherwise.”
“Daddy will never agree to let his son-in-law be in charge.”
“Yes, he will, because if he balks, Stuart won’t do it. Your father isn’t going to let you be ruined, so he won’t risk antagonizing me. And he won’t want to antagonize Stuart, either, for that might queer the deal altogether. He might try to bluff, but I’ll call him on it.”
“So you and my father are going to play metaphorical poker with my reputation and my future?”
“No, we’re playing poker over the dowry. Your reputation is already saved, my darling, and your future is set. Because you are going to marry me. And, besides,” he added before she could point out that she hadn’t accepted him yet, “there’s no risk from our side. Your father may be a manipulative bastard, but he’s panting, absolutely panting, for connections into Africa. He has been for years. I know that because your mother told me so. He won’t balk. He’ll agree to the terms, I will have the controlling interest, and Stuart will back anything I want to do with his share. You father won’t control anything. The bylaws will be written so that his one-third share allows him no say in how the company is run or where we invest the funds. He’ll have no power over me at all. So you see? Your father isn’t moving me around like a chess piece. I’m moving him. He won’t like it, mind you, but he’ll do it.”
“But why not just insist on a personal settlement? Why go into partnership with him at all?”
“Because there’s a great deal your father can teach me about business and investing. Between him and Stuart, I shall learn a great deal. I don’t want him to just give me money for marrying you. This is a chance to earn my way, to have some useful knowledge, to have a purpose in the world. I can build something, make something of my life, and this deal with your father gives me the chance to do all that. When he offered it, I jumped at it. Of course I did.”
He put his hands on her arms. “All my life, I’ve had nothing, Linnet. I’ve been nothing. I was always the second son, the afterthought. When I told you the other day about the sort of father I wouldn’t be, I think you got a pretty fair idea of what my father was like and what my childhood was like. I’d given up hope of ever having anything of my own before I was ten years old. When my brother died, and I became the earl, I inherited the estates, yes, but it was still worth nothing because between them, he and my father managed to mortgage everything we had.”
“I hope it’s all right with you if I stop you long enough to say I think your father was a horrid man, and your brother was every bit as bad.”
“I completely agree with your assessment of my family, but please believe that I am not like them. If you believe nothing else I say, for God’s sake, believe that.”
“I do believe that. But you’ve got a long way to go, Jack Featherstone, before you’ll convince me why I should marry you.”
“I’m glad you’ve decided to stop running long enough to give me the chance to try.”
She gave him that deceptively sweet smile of hers. “I believe in giving a man plenty of rope. Carry on.”
He took a breath, taking a moment to gather his thoughts, knowing this was the most important speech he’d ever make. “When we met, you thought I was a fortune hunter, and you’ve no idea how ironic that is. Before I was twenty years old, I had resigned myself to the idea I’d never marry because I didn’t think I’d ever have the means to support a wife and a family, and I’d always been adamant that the one thing I’d never do was marry for money. And then you walked into that ballroom. I looked at you, and I thought you had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen in my life. And then, later, when we were standing there in the pagoda,
and your mother and Mrs. Dewey were coming, I just . . .”
He paused, lifted his hands, and let them fall. “I just lost my head. All I’d intended to do was stop Van Hausen. I didn’t go to the pagoda with any devious plan to propose to you myself, or kiss you, or ruin you, but I’ve never been the sort of man who plans things out. I’m very much a man of impulses. You’ll just have to accept that about me when you marry me, by the way, because it isn’t going to change.”
She sniffed, and he didn’t know if she was the least bit impressed by his little speech. “Yes, I believe I said you were like a roller coaster.”
He grinned. “Which means your life will never be dull.”
She tilted her head, looking at him, and he fancied he might not have to carry her up the aisle after all. “You’re never going to tell me about the Van Hausen business, are you?”
“No.”
She bit her lip, considering. “But you’re willing to hand over the running of your estates to me?”
“Yes.” He took her hands in his, and this time, she let him. “As I said, I shall be quite busy with duties of my own. Besides, I trust you. And since it’s your dowry that’s saving the estates anyway, it’s only right you be in charge of them.”
“I don’t know anything about running an English estate.”
He smiled. “I’ll be helping you every step of the way. But I don’t think you’ll need much help. You’re such an army general, you’ll have my stewards quaking in their boots within a week. And I’ve no doubt you’ll manage to turn Featherstone Gate—which is a fusty old mausoleum of a house, by the way—into a home. We’ll have half a dozen children, at least, all of whom will no doubt be as stubborn and hardheaded as their mother—”
“I’m hardheaded?” She snorted. “Pot, meet kettle.”
She pulled her hands out of his, and he was sure that despite all his efforts, she was going to turn him down again, but then, her arms slid up around his neck. “You are the most hardheaded man who has ever lived, Jack Featherstone, and if our sons prove to be anything like you, it’ll be a good thing indeed that I’m an army general.”
With those words, joy welled up in his chest, pressing against his heart, but with all the will he had, Jack kept his expression as implacable as possible. “Those sons are damn well going to be legitimate sons, so you’d better marry me.”
“You’re so romantic when you propose marriage,” she murmured. Keeping one arm around his neck, she slid her other hand down to toy with his jacket lapel. “You aren’t really going to carry me up the aisle of the church if I refuse you, are you?”
“Damned right I am. In my best Petruchio fashion.”
Those stunning eyes narrowed a fraction. “Are you calling me a shrew?”
“Not at all,” he said without blinking. “I’m likening our situation to the play, darling. So . . .” He paused, and his arms slid around her. He pulled her close. “Now that I’ve explained everything, declared my love, and proved that I’ve got the means to support you, even if it is through your bastard of a father—are you going to agree to marry me?”
She laughed. “You mean you’re actually going to allow me to decide something for a change?”
“I always let you decide. If you decide wrong, I work to change your mind.”
“Your self-delusion knows no bounds, Jack. And it’s a pretty safe bet if I marry you, our life is going to be full of fights just like this one.”
“Oh, you love fighting with me, and you know it.”
“That’s not true.” She paused and grinned at him. “I like the making-up part much more than the fighting part.”
He laughed. “I believe we’re in complete agreement for once. So now that we’ve mended our quarrel, your consent to my suit had better be forthcoming. Otherwise, I shall drag you behind the rosebushes and employ much naughtier means of persuasion.”
“Oh, very well,” she said, heaving a sigh of long suffering he wasn’t quite sure was exaggerated. “I suppose I must marry you. If I don’t, there’s no telling what outrageous thing you’ll do next.”
“Quite so,” he agreed. “So kiss me, damn it all, for I really don’t want to use force.”
She laughed. “I believe that’s the first time you’ve given me an order I’m willing to obey.” She kissed him then, and quite lusciously, too, but before Jack could contemplate the possibility of a sweet, compliant Linnet, any such notions were dashed.
“Speaking of obeying,” she said, pulling back, “I know marriage vows are written so that the wife promises to obey, but I must warn you, I’m not going to be very good at keeping that part of my vows.”
“Good, because the day you ever start obeying me, Linnet, I shall keel over from the shock,” he said, then hauled her against him, and kissed her before she could reply. Sometimes, a man just had to have the last word.
About the Author
LAURA LEE GUHRKE spent seven years in advertising, had a successful catering business, and managed a construction company before she decided writing novels was more fun. A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Laura has penned more than twenty historical romances. Her books have received many award nominations, and she is the recipient of romance fiction’s highest honor: the Romance Writers of America RITA® Award. She lives in the Northwest with her husband (or, as she calls him, her very own romance hero), along with two divacats and a Golden Retriever happy to be their slave. Laura loves hearing from readers, and you can contact her via her website:
www.lauraleeguhrke.com.
www.avonromance.com
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By Laura Lee Guhrke
CATCH A FALLING HEIRESS
HOW TO LOSE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS
WHEN THE MARQUESS MET HIS MATCH
TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING
SCANDAL OF THE YEAR
WEDDING OF THE SEASON
WITH SEDUCTION IN MIND
SECRET DESIRES OF A GENTLEMAN
THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE
AND THEN HE KISSED HER
SHE’S NO PRINCESS
THE MARRIAGE BED
HIS EVERY KISS
GUILTY PLEASURES
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CATCH A FALLING HEIRESS. Copyright © 2015 by Laura Lee Guhrke. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition FEBRUARY 2015 ISBN: 9780062334664
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062334657
FIRST EDITION
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Catch a Falling Heiress: An American Heiress in London Page 30