by test
Maybe he already had.
Mallory knew what he was doing, when he’d enlisted his help in ridding his sister of her stuffy husband to be. How she could pick out a man like Kilworth when she had a brother like Mallory was beyond Hart’s comprehension. He wouldn’t have to worry about her wanting to marry Kilworth after tonight. His plans were going to go into the next stage later this evening, and once that happened, there would be no stopping his seduction of Gemma.
“Your brother has told me that you and Elizabeth have grown very close … he says that the two of you share a lot of the same interests. Problem is you’re too headstrong for your own good. Your brother fears your stubbornness will be your undoing. I had to tell Mallory to give you the benefit of the doubt. In truth, I couldn’t believe that such a headstrong seemingly reckless woman existed. Now, after meeting you, I see the validation in Mallory’s concerns. Everything he said about you was bang on the mark.”
“My brother this, my brother that. Well, here’s what my brother should do! He should stop prying his aristocratic nose into my affairs and keep it instead firmly pointed in his own affairs. My brother has no right casting judgment on me. He can be the most trying, most stubborn man in the British Isles when he puts his mind to it. He takes being a noble St. Martin to an entirely new level.”
“Ah, your family lineage is quite important to you, isn’t it? I think you hide behind that ancient pomposity when you actually should be facing the world without your superior airs.”
“I don’t have airs. If you’d like to meet a few snobs, I’ll introduce you to some of the so-called friends I left behind in London. I’m glad to be rid of that lifestyle. It was becoming suffocating. Sometimes, I wish we were living back at St. Martin Castle, with the leaks, the skeleton service staff, and the dwindling pool of money.” She let out a mournful almost wistful sigh. The way she smiled at the memory made his insides clench. Somewhere lurking deep beneath Gemma’s rigid exterior was a girl filled with dreams, dreams that had been dashed.
“Yes, well, you’ve been rewarded with the type of lifestyle you should have been used to from the cradle. A family as blue-blooded as yours never should have had to live without the finer things in life … I don’t know how you managed without your large wardrobe, and stable filled with champion bred horses.”
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“Now you are mocking me.” She slumped down onto a cushioned bench. They
now sat in the West Wing.
“No … I’m not mocking you, per se. I’m just pointing out what happens when a penniless duke marries an heiress of Elizabeth’s gargantuan and seemingly endless wealth.” He settled himself on the bench beside her. She shuffled down ensuring that they had a good deal of distance between them. “If putting more distance between us, makes you feel more secure, then so be it. But I assure you, if your brother didn’t trust me not to hurt you, he never would have enlisted my aid.”
“An hour ago, you had a pistol pointed at me, and you were wearing a mask,
making you seem quite threatening. I believed that you were fully prepared to use that pistol. I don’t call that a fair first meeting.”
“I had to see how you would react in the face of grave danger. I was also told to do it. It seems your brother wanted to make a point—in truth, he sought to give you a wake up call—problem is, I don’t think it had the desired effect on you.” He drank in her beauty. She was a bold tempered woman, and the vibrant colors she wore matched her strong will. Right now, he just wanted to freeze the moment so he could appreciate the way her emerald green eyes were offset by the sparkling ruby hued riding outfit she wore.
“And what is that point?” she asked softly, briefly locking gazes with him.
“That, for a lady, you try to live outside of your bounds and that one day that sheer recklessness will get you into a heap load of trouble. A woman just needs to learn how to behave in order to get along in this world, tarrying outside of your bounds is playing with molten fire.”
“My bounds?” She shot up like her arse was on fire. “How dare you … how dare he? We are human beings … I’m so sick of my brother’s chauvinism. He needs to see that women can be in charge of their own lives. Why, Elizabeth thinks the same way that I do. She thinks a woman should have the same rights and opportunities that a man has.
I don’t believe you!”
He nodded his head. “That’s exactly how I expected you to react. You are too hotheaded and reckless for your own good, Gemma. One of these days your flying in the face of adversity attitude will get you hurt. That’s what your brother lives in fear of.”
“My brother isn’t one to talk. He’s done more living in his years, and had more freedom than I could ever hope to have. I want to see more than what I’ve seen, I want to experience real adventure. If I had sea legs, I would have liked to enlist in the Navy as Mallory did.”
“And die as your brother did, for his king and country?”
“Do not speak Andrew’s name in my presence. You don’t have the right. He was a far better man than you or Mallory could ever hope to be … he was nonjudgmental, he accepted everyone no matter what their faults were—” she broke off, he could see that the mere mention of Andrew’s name made her choke up. He’d known she’d been particularly close to Andrew, but he hadn’t known how much she still mourned the loss of her eldest brother, even if she didn’t realize it.
“I am sorry that you still feel grief when Andrew’s name is mentioned.”
“He was a living breathing person, and you talk about him as if he lived one hundred years ago! He was a saint, he didn’t deserve to die, all of this should have been his, and he wouldn’t have hired you to keep me under constant surveillance.”
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“No matter how you feel, Mallory is still your brother, and whether you like it not he has inherited the dukedom. Do not speak so ill of your brother, he fought for this family, in more ways than you will ever know … he wanted the St. Martin’s to rise to their former glory again. He wants you to find the happiness he has found with Elizabeth.”
“Poppycock! He wants to design my life for me. Worse, he wants to take away my dreams and smother them. He wants to put me in a little cage, so he’ll always know where I am!”
“Mallory is much older than you; he has had many experiences that have
enlightened his eyes in many ways. When he was in the Navy you could have only been around ten.”
“I am twenty-eight.”
“Really? That long in the tooth, huh? Why haven’t you been married before this? You’ve been on the shelf for a fair bit of time. Why, you could have solved your brother’s money issues by just finding a very rich husband. I still don’t understand why you didn’t have rich titled men clamoring over each other for your hand … even with Mallory as your male guardian, I know quite a few wealthy chaps that would risk a beating from him in order to have the pleasure of pursuing you. Ah … alas, twenty-eight, you are getting well into your bloom … soon, you’ll start to fade .…”
She rolled her eyes, pursed her lips and planted her hands on her hips. She was getting her back up and he was enjoying every single moment of it.
“I’m certain you’re around my brother’s age, so you really shouldn’t be pointing out my years.”
“Men are expected to marry at an older age. Women, on the other hand, need to find a husband early, so that they can have—”
“A family?” She shook her head. “So, even if I wasn’t in love with the first disgustingly rich lord I met, I should have just sucked it up and agreed to marry him? Is that what you’re saying? Ah, yes, I know, the famous stiff upper lip of the English!”
He sighed. “You are putting words in my mouth now, Emma.”
“Gemma.” She corrected a terse edge in her voice. “You should be able to remember my name for the money my brother is paying you.”
If only she knew that he wasn’t doing it for
the money—but he couldn’t very well tell her that he was doing it for the challenge—and for another reason as well, a reason that would soon become crystal clear to Gemma. Most of the men he knew would pack it in as soon as they came into contact with Gemma. Not only was she too independent minded for her own good and everyone else’s but also when it came right down to it, she acted like a spoiled brat not getting her own way. That wasn’t her most shining quality, but he could overlook it in favor of her more desirable traits.
“When I woke up this morning, the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and I thought it was going to be a wonderful day … but it’s only gone dreadfully downhill since I saw you. I’d rather be surrounded by a horde of midges than having to contend with you following me around like my bloody personal guard!”
“Well, I am your personal guard.”
“Keeper, more like.”
“If that’s the way you’d like to word it, then so be it.”
“I’m sick of you. I’m going to freshen up and change into some clean clothing.
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Would you like to watch me … or will you be content to sit outside, waiting like my faithful hound?”
“I will ignore that last remark … if only to keep my own temper in check. But, mark my words, in the course of our meeting, you have called me a coward and a dog.
While I don’t mind being called a faithful hound, as I have several of my own, I will not tolerate you ever calling me a coward again, do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal. But since we’re laying out the rules of engagement between us, here are a few of my own. You will never ever tell anyone that my brother hired you to watch over me. That would mortify me.”
“Well, what do you intend to do when they ask you why I’m trailing your every step?”
“That’s just it, isn’t it? I absolutely forbid you going through with this mad scheme. I don’t want you shadowing me … and if you continue I will scream bloody murder. This is only a passing fancy with Mallory, Elizabeth will have him straightened out by tomorrow morning and since I don’t intend to emerge from my chambers for the rest of the day, you can go back to whatever deep dark and dank hole you crawled out of.”
“Hole? ” He stepped toward her, and before she could push him away, he’d swept her up in his arms. “Listen to me, Lady Gemma. You will treat me with some respect. If you don’t … I will have to teach you a few well placed lessons.”
“You are a brute and a monster. Stop man-handling me this instant!”
“Man-handling you? I assure you, Gemma, I am handling you with the utmost
care … by the look on your face you aren’t in any pain … though you are feeling something.”
She freed her one hand, pulled it back, and cracked him soundly across the jaw.
His head snapped to the side. Without missing a beat, he pulled her to him, and kissed her, and that’s when everything went to hell in a hand basket.
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Chapter Three
“Damnation. What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing, MacKinnon?”
Mallory’s bellow almost shook the walls.
“MacKinnon? So that’s your surname? Thank you kindly, brother.”
Gemma’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes were lit with passion, and her lips looked fuller than he’d ever seen them.
“Oh, my.”
Gemma wanted to laugh at Elizabeth’s breathless exclamation. Come to think of it, she’d been delighted when she’d seen Mallory approaching them over Hart’s shoulder, she’d been expecting fireworks, and she’d also expected Mallory to read Hart the riot act.
Even though Mallory looked infuriated, he hadn’t reacted physically like she’d wanted him to. Oh, how she’d wanted him to plant one hell of a punch on Hart … but so far his response was only lukewarm.
“How do you want to do this, Mallory? Shall I offer to marry her, or would you like to force me into it?” Hart asked.
“What? Elizabeth, what are they going on about?” She stepped over to Elizabeth, and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. “I think everyone has gone right blooming mad.” Shaking her head, she stared at Elizabeth. Elizabeth chewed on her lips.
“I don’t know. I had a feeling that Mallory had something shoved up his sleeve when it came to you, but I thought he was only going to stick you with a personal guard, I never dreamt he was trying to find you a more suitable husband.”
“A more suitable husband? What do you mean?” Gemma demanded.
“Oh, Gemma. Can’t you see that you’re marrying a—well, how should I
delicately put this … Kilworth is a man I wouldn’t allow within six feet of my person.
He makes my skin crawl.” Elizabeth shuddered and pursed her lips.
“Kilworth is in sympathy with the plights that women face in today’s strict society.”
“My dear, he is only telling you what you wish to hear. In truth, Kilworth has set his beady little eyes on the dowry that comes with your hand in marriage … so, he’s spinning you a fine tale so you’ll take him as a husband thinking that you’ll be able to have the freedom you so desire without a man controlling you.”
“I—how did you know?” Gemma demanded.
“I knew from the very first moment you presented him to us as your fiancée. I’d always questioned Mallory and your mother letting you have a free hand when it came to seeking out your prospects … but your mother is an eternal romantic … she wants you to find true love … and she also didn’t want you to be forced into a match you didn’t desire.
She is only acting like any good mother acts. She wants to see you happy.
Unfortunately, the choice you have made will only deliver you heartache. We must nip your flights of fancy in the bud, dearest, or else you will end up serving a life sentence of misery—that’s no way to pay for your hotheadedness.”
“I despise Mallory for setting me up like this.”
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“He didn’t set you up, he just created the right situation for you,” Elizabeth explained, sighing nervously.
“Like he did when he first met you?”
“I … that was different. My father had served your family with a grave injustice, and you forget that Mallory and I weren’t exactly strangers to each other. There’s a little thing called love at first sight, and it happened to us. Mallory might exasperate me to the breaking point at times, but I know he is a faithful husband, he lavishes me with love, he treats me as his equal, and he loves our daughter. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to have as my husband. Most men would have been displeased about having a daughter as their first child, yet, Mallory wanted a daughter … although when I look at the wild ways you and your sisters sometimes have, I wonder why.”
“Wild ways? How can you say that, Elizabeth? You think pretty liberally and you do whatever you want, when you want, but hey, it’s all different for you … you weren’t born a lady!”
Gemma regretted the harsh words as soon as she’d said them. Her sleight against Elizabeth horrified her. Talk about speaking in haste before taking time to think! She was a shrew … she had no heart.
“I will pretend you didn’t say that. After all, you spoke in the heat of the moment. Just, as you always do. We are acting in your best interest, Hart will make you a most suitable husband .…”
“Elizabeth,” Mallory walked toward them. “Don’t take her words to heart,
darling, she’s just a true blue St. Martin and we’re famous for saying things we really don’t mean, just to hit the jugular.”
“I know .…” Elizabeth’s voice faltered.
“Elizabeth, I’m so sorry.” Gemma studied the pained look in Elizabeth’s dark eyes.
“Of course, she’s right … the only good breeding I have in my family, is from my mother, and half of her side descended from the great St. Martin’s. My father, well, he is and always will be a
bastard.”
“I never meant to sound so snobbish.” She reached for and clasped Elizabeth’s small hands between her long and tapered fingers.
“You didn’t? Well, if you didn’t mean to, you certainly did a bang up job of it.
You hit the nail right on the head, Lady Gemma.” Hart gave her a searing look. The way that he said Lady made her want to strike him, again.
“The only reason people ever overlooked the piggish ways of my father was
because he had overfilled coffers. I know where my true worth lies.” Elizabeth’s eyes grew pensive, and her gaze grew distant.
Gemma didn’t like the way she was reacting. This was so unlike Elizabeth.
Elizabeth usually had fire running through her veins. In the last few months, some of that fire had dimmed … she just couldn’t figure out why.
“Now, Elizabeth, snap out of it! You are being too hard on yourself. You aren’t anything like your father, if you were, I never would have fallen so deeply in love with you.” Mallory gave her a harsh look and then continued to give comfort to Elizabeth.
“That is true. You did give me one hell of a run for my money … and in the end, everything turned out for the best. I reformed a man of ill repute, and you, well, you won a kings ransom.” Elizabeth stared up in complete adoration at Mallory. Gemma rolled HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 21