Duke of Thorns (Heiress Games 1)

by Sara Ramsey

  It was an echo of what he’d said to her in the music room, before a waltz that had turned everything to magic between them. He felt the first stirrings of remorse.

  When had he ever felt remorse over saving someone?

  Ferguson strode up, too annoyed for his usual strolling gait. “Callie, I should wish you very happy, but I doubt this blackguard is capable of making you so. Did he force you?”

  She was silent for the longest time. He knew she was weighing the thought of destroying him against the cost to her reputation if she declined him.

  “Did he force you?” Ferguson repeated.

  Finally, Callista shook her head. “I wanted to marry him, cousin.”

  Thorington noticed the past tense of her statement. The part of him that cared more for her feelings than her safety wanted to smash something.

  But it was enough to appease Ferguson. “The heart is a mystery, isn’t it? If you ever need protection from him, Madeleine and I will gladly take you in.”

  “I would never hurt her,” Thorington said.

  It was as mild a statement as he could make without ripping Ferguson’s throat out. But Ferguson just looked at him with something suspiciously like pity. “You don’t have to beat her to make her miserable. But you’ve both made your bed. My offer to negotiate your marriage contract still stands.”

  Callista shrugged. “As you said, I’ve made my bed. I can make my own arrangements for the future.”

  Her tone said she already had a deal in mind — and Thorington wouldn’t like it.

  Lucretia pushed her way through the crowd. Her escort, a man in naval dress, barely kept pace behind her. “Are you really to be married?” she asked.

  She was slightly breathless, as though she’d sacrificed perfection in her rush to reach them. Thorington nodded. “Miss Briarley hasn’t been in residence long enough to get a marriage license from the local diocese, so I’ll send my man to London for one. We’ll be married as soon as he returns.”

  Callista smiled up at him. “How charming, your grace.”

  He wondered how she would make him pay.

  “I see,” Lucretia said. “My felicitations, cousin.”

  She sounded devastated. But there was no surprise in her voice. She had already resigned herself to this outcome.

  Ferguson, ever helpful, tried to improve her mood. “Don’t fret, Lucretia. I’ve no intention of giving Maidenstone to Thorington, if that’s what has spoiled your evening.”

  That single sentence was enough to change Lucretia’s entire demeanor. “Truly?”

  Ferguson nodded.

  She smiled. “Then I must congratulate you again, Callie. You have made an excellent choice.”

  “How like a Briarley of you to gloat over my downfall,” Callista said.

  Lucretia shrugged. “I told you I’d do anything to keep you from winning. But it seems my actions weren’t necessary after all. Captain Hallett, shall we proceed to supper?”

  She turned to her escort. That name was like a spark to a fuse.

  The moment hung, frozen. Thorington’s eyes narrowed. All his senses focused on the captain who stood before them — a threat Thorington hadn’t noticed until Lucretia had said his name.

  Callista’s hand tightened on his arm. But she laughed a little as though she hadn’t been disturbed at all. “Courting a naval man, Lucy? I would have thought you’d want someone who knew how to manage Maidenstone.”

  Lucretia shrugged. “I can manage Maidenstone myself. Captain Hallett is an old acquaintance from London. It’s convenient that he’s based in Dartmouth now. When I saw the papers, I thought he might appreciate a day or two of amusement.”

  Hallett stared at Callista. Thorington wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “The more who are here to celebrate our nuptials, the better,” Thorington said, as smoothly as he was capable of when all his instincts screamed to take Callista away. “I’m sure your captain is welcome here.”

  Hallett wasn’t diverted. “Miss Callista Briarley? The Baltimore cousin?”

  “Soon to be my duchess,” Thorington said. “And you haven’t been introduced.”

  If Hallett heard the warning, he didn’t have enough sense to leave. “I had the misfortune to meet a Baltimore ship on my last cruise. But you’ve heard that, haven’t you? All of England has heard, it seems.”

  Callista, ever reckless, had the audacity to laugh. “No one from Britain would want to meet the Scourge of the Caribbean.”

  For the first time, Thorington wished she’d aimed for safety. Hallett’s face turned red. Even Ferguson, who couldn’t have known what was happening, took a step forward. “Supper is an excellent recommendation, Lucretia,” he said. “Shall I escort you both?”

  Hallett evaded Ferguson’s attempt to steer him. “You,” he said, looking at Callista. “It was you on the Nero.”

  His voice rose as he said it. Thorington stepped between them. “You should go to supper, Captain Hallett,” he said. “Enjoy the hospitality while you can.”

  The man laughed, but it was cold and bitter. “Hospitality? Or charity? The Gazette has made me into a laughingstock because of her.”

  Even Lucretia blanched at his tone. “Arthur, it isn’t so bad,” she said.

  “I’ll never have a command again, they said. I’ll be confined to calmer waters. And all because of this traitor,” he said, gesturing to Callista.

  His voice was still low enough that they could contain the scandal — but only barely. Thorington refrained from grabbing him by the collar, but it was a near thing. Instead, he leaned in, using menace rather than his usual coldness. “You will not make such an accusation against my duchess. Now, go to supper and keep your mouth shut, or leave Maidenstone. You have ten seconds to decide before I toss you out myself. And if you were embarrassed before, you have no idea how badly I can destroy you.”

  Hallett opened his mouth as though he wanted to argue. But Thorington’s stare changed his mind. “I will leave,” he said, holding up his hands. “But if I cannot have my revenge against Captain Jacobs directly, I know where to look.”

  Hallett left before Thorington could decide how to dismember him. It was for the best — Thorington couldn’t kill the man in a ballroom. And so far, Hallett had done nothing but make idle threats.

  But the look in his eyes wasn’t idle. And Callista wouldn’t be safe until she was married to Thorington.

  Callista, though, didn’t care for her own safety. She was still too angry. At least now she had another target for her rage. “You arranged for this, didn’t you?” she said to Lucretia.

  Lucretia’s eyes flickered. “I didn’t know you were a privateer.”

  “But you showed me the Gazette this morning. You must have invited Hallett on purpose.”

  “I knew him during my debut year. It was polite to invite him when I invited the rest of the neighborhood.”

  Callista snorted. “Dartmouth is more than twenty miles from here.”

  “Close enough,” Lucretia said defensively. “Maidenstone is still my home, even if I haven’t won it. I shall invite whomever I wish.”

  Ferguson turned to Thorington as the women continued to argue. “Did you know about my cousin’s shipping endeavors?”

  Thorington nodded.

  “Even her illicit shipping endeavors?”

  “Especially her illicit shipping endeavors,” Thorington said.

  Ferguson looked him over. “As the Duchess of Thorington, she will be very difficult to ruin.”

  Thorington nodded again.

  Ferguson heaved a sigh. “You were supposed to be an out-and-out villain,” he complained. “Must I reconsider my opinion of your character?”

  “I have bigger concerns at the moment than your opinion.”

  He was watching Callista, not Ferguson. Ferguson’s laughter said he knew it. “If I forced Madeleine to do anything, she would make sure it was the last thing I did. I would wish you luck with Callie if I thought you deserved it.”

&
nbsp; She was still arguing with Lucretia, but she overheard the comment. “He doesn’t deserve it, and it wouldn’t help him anyway,” she said to Ferguson.

  At least there was fire in her voice. But she still refused to look at him.

  Before Thorington could drag her away and explain himself, Madeleine and Prudence descended. They took her to the supper room, making it clear he wasn’t welcome to join them.

  And for once in his life, Thorington realized he was without a plan. He knew how to protect her. But gaining her forgiveness, when she would never forgive him for ruining her chances at winning Maidenstone?

  All of that was beyond his skill. He had no idea where to start.

  And they would both pay the price when he failed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  He was going to die.

  Callie knew it would be more expedient to kill him after the wedding. She would be a duchess for her pains. But that meant actually going through with the wedding — saying vows to him. Taking his name. Becoming his.

  She would have to murder him before, then.

  She had sent Mrs. Jennings to bed without letting her maid undress her. It was after three in the morning and the house had finally gone silent, but the press of exhaustion against her eyelids couldn’t compete with the anger still rushing through her.

  She walked the now-familiar halls to the Tudor wing, through stillness and shadow, letting her outrage carry her forward. She would have to settle with Lucretia as well — her cousin deserved retaliation for bringing Captain Hallett to the ball. But Callie’s battle tonight wasn’t with a Briarley…

  Unless she counted her own heart. That wretched traitor remembered the Gavin she’d met over whisky, not the duke who had forced her into an engagement. Even now it hummed with happiness that she would have him, not someone else, as her partner.

  She wouldn’t have Gavin, though. She would have Thorington. And that was an entirely different proposition.

  Most of the doors in the Tudor wing were closed, but the last two rooms before Thorington’s were open and empty. It was unlikely anyone would hear anything. She turned the handle and pushed his door open.

  Her candlelight connected with his. Thorington reclined on the bed, propped up by pillows. The candle illuminated the book in his hand. It was an incongruous picture. Her gaze flickered over the rest of him — no cravat or jacket, no boots, but still wearing a shirt and trousers. The shirt gaped open at the neck, giving her just a glimpse of his chest.

  He looked like a warrior at rest.

  When she looked back up to his face, he was watching her with those hooded, inscrutable eyes. He clapped his book shut in one hand, snapping it like a trap. Then he swung his feet down and sat on the edge of the bed.

  He didn’t stand for her like a gentleman would. But then, a lady wouldn’t have come to him.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

  She looked down. Her nerves, unexpectedly, felt like giving out. What had she hoped to accomplish by coming here? She couldn’t murder him. She couldn’t even escape him. He was one of the most powerful men in England. If she jilted him after he’d kissed her publicly, it would be the end of her. The infamy would follow her anywhere she went — and Callie wasn’t popular enough anywhere to weather it. She’d have to give up the Briarley name, find some other home.

  But she couldn’t let him win. She couldn’t let him steal her fortune when she would rather share her heart.

  “You shouldn’t have kissed me,” she said.

  She finally looked up and met his gaze. In the shadows, she saw something that looked like misery.

  But he was the man he had warned her about. And that man was incapable of misery.

  She sensed the moment when he became the duke again, when that twist came back to his mouth and his eyes turned mocking. He leaned against the wall with his hands behind his head as though she’d come to entertain him. “You weren’t upset when I kissed you last night.”

  He was going to die.

  She walked across the room and set her candle next to his. She let her skirts brush against his knee as she passed him, but she made no further move to touch him. Then she sat in the room’s only chair. Or slouched, more like — she crossed her arms over her breasts and stretched her legs out before her in a position that was wholly negligent.

  She wanted to look like she didn’t care. “I was willing to practice with you,” she said, when her voice was capable of selling a lie. “But I didn’t wish to be saddled with you.”

  “Saddled with me?” He stayed still, but his eyes narrowed.

  “Yes, saddled with you. At least when I had a horse named Duke, I could sell him when he no longer fit my purposes. You won’t be gotten rid of so easily, will you?”

  “No.”

  Stark and final.

  “Then I have come to arrange terms,” she said.

  He paused. She didn’t try to fill the silence. Anything she could say, when her heart and mind were warring over what to do, would only harm her negotiation. But his words, when they finally came, surprised her.

  “Will you give me the opportunity to explain myself?”

  She doubted that he had ever asked such a question before. If he had, he was sorely out of practice. He sounded stiff and slightly angry, not remorseful.

  She shook her head. “There is nothing to explain. You saw what you wanted and took it.”

  “As you took my ships?”

  That wasn’t anything like what she wanted to hear. “Is that why you want to marry me? To get your ships back?”

  He leaned forward, all pretense of calm gone. “I’m not marrying you to regain my fortune. I’m saving you from Captain Hallett.”

  “Hallett hadn’t even made a threat before you kissed me,” Callie said.

  “It was only a matter of time, my dear. You should have changed the name of your ships before you took up privateering. My messenger to London took less than a day to unearth your secret. If I could discover your activities, anyone could. Someone else would ruin you if Hallett didn’t.”

  “You investigated my shipping concerns?”

  “Of course,” he said. “You were a potential investment for Anthony when I sent my man to London. Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

  She thought of the hours she’d spent reading the society papers, searching for clues to who Thorington really was. When she stayed silent, he laughed, not entirely unkindly. “Of course you would have. I didn’t expect to discover that you were a privateer. But once I knew, I couldn’t ignore the ruin you’re destined for.”

  “My ruin is my problem, not yours.”

  She knew she sounded sulky, but her pride was tweaked and her heart was bruised. Thorington didn’t give her any mercy. “I made a vow to protect you. I won’t let anyone harm you.”

  Callie was having trouble slouching. She wanted to lean forward and shake him.

  She stayed still. “I suppose I should thank you, although I don’t feel grateful at the moment.”

  “I would save you whether you felt grateful or not,” he said.

  There was so much good in him. Callie saw it, even though he wasn’t saying it — even though he didn’t seem to believe it himself. The cool, rational part of her knew that he did what he thought was best for her. That this marriage was intended for her benefit, not his.

  But her heart wanted more than a vow of protection. And her head didn’t believe Thorington was capable of giving it.

  She drew a breath and ordered herself to stay the course, like a soldier standing still during an enemy assault. “You must agree to my terms before I marry you.”

  “If it’s ships you want, you can have them,” Thorington said. “As I said, I’m not marrying you for your business.”

  “That’s part of it,” Callie said.

  “And the other part?”

  She wasn’t sure she could say it, now that the moment had arrived. She had practiced the words in her room while she’d waited fo
r the house to go to sleep. But her request was so…heartless.

  Heartless like Thorington, not Gavin.

  But if she was to marry Thorington, not Gavin, her heart couldn’t bear it. She would slowly, inevitably fall even more in love with him than she already was. And she would never win Thorington’s heart to replace the one she’d given him.

  So she had to start as she meant to go on. And that meant protecting herself from anything she could trick herself into believing was a love match.

  “I want a marriage of convenience,” she said.

  He leaned back as though he’d expected those words. “You want to share my house but not my bed?” He smiled grimly. “I have practice there.”

  Callie shook her head. “The opposite, actually.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “You want to share my bed but not my house?”

  “I cannot live with you, Thorington. Not if I want to retain my freedom. You’ll make every choice, won’t you? If you decided I had to marry you for my own good, even though it would cost me Maidenstone — even though I never said I wanted to marry you — what’s to stop you from deciding I cannot run a shipping company?”

  “You are far more capable at shipping than I am,” he said. “I won’t take it away from you. I vow it.”

  She heard the weight in his voice. Thorington kept his vows. Her heart tried to leap, but her head punched it back down.

  “Perhaps you won’t take it away outright. But you’ve spent the entire party giving me lessons in how to be someone I’m not. If I live with you, where will those lessons end? When I look like all the other women in London? When I can host a party without saying anything at all?”

  Thorington shoved his hand into his hair again. “Callista…Callie. It’s not like that. I wouldn’t want that.”

  Callie waited. Her shorter name sounded sweet on his lips, and she almost melted when she heard it. But even though his face was etched with misery, he didn’t say anything else.

  And he still hadn’t apologized for forcing her to marry him.

  Her patience snapped. “Enough. I can see the value in producing children with you to continue our lines. And if I must be married, I would very much like to have a family of my own. But that’s all I need from you. Everything else I can provide for myself.”