Page 90 of When the Marquess Was Mine
“Rob,” she said, blushing and laughing. “You weren’t quite naked...”
He rolled over on top of her. “Did you like what you saw?”
“Yes.” She tried to school her expression into stern lines, but the heat in his gaze scattered her thoughts. “You’re devastatingly attractive.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “For a week I had no idea what I looked like. But I did know I was a fortunate bloke, to be engaged to a girl as kind and beautiful as you.”
“Did you really?” A hesitant smile of delight tugged at her lips.
He nodded. “I thought so at once, and then realized every day after that beauty was only the most trifling of your charms.”
She looped her arms around his neck as joy bloomed inside her. “Perhaps you’ve not quite recovered from that blow to the head yet...”
He grinned and turned onto his back again. “Getting beaten on the head was quite possibly the best thing that ever happened to me, since it led to you here beside me.” His arm pulled her closer.
Georgiana rested her cheek on his shoulder. His skin was vitally warm and intriguing, smooth and firm; she couldn’t stop touching him. The idle play of his fingers down her back made her shiver and burn at the same time, and she thought they’d have to run off to Gretna Green, because the thought of waiting three weeks for the banns to be read would be unbearable.
“Why,” asked Rob in a deceptively drowsy voice, “does your brother insist you marry Sterling?”
Alistair. Alistair, whose cruelty had driven her to throw propriety out the window and come here. She wasn’t sorry for that, but her fury at her brother began to revive. “I don’t know.”
“Is he close friends with Sterling?” Rob asked. “Political allies? In debt to him? Why is he so set on Sterling?”
Georgiana shook her head in response to each query. “He said it was all he’d heard about, that I’d made a fool of myself mooning after Sterling, and that he only meant to give his blessing to Sterling. It’s true I did make a cake of myself over him,” she added softly, “but there’s no affection or alliance between Alistair and Sterling, nor Sterling’s father, Lord Pelham. I think he wants to punish me.”
Rob lifted his head. “Punish you for what?”
Georgiana’s hand, resting on his chest, closed into a fist. “I—I think he hates me.” Rob scowled. “I told you Alistair was not fond of me, and wanted to send me to an orphanage. He once called me a bunter’s cuckoo. My mother was not a lady, as Alistair’s mother had been. Mama was a local squire’s daughter and her marriage did not change her friendships or habits. She still dined with the vicar and local families, and played with village children. She was kind and cordial to everyone, no matter their rank, and Alistair is the opposite.”
Rob covered her fist with his own hand until her fingers relaxed. “What has that got to do with you?”
She nibbled on her lip. “Alistair of course inherited almost everything when my father died, but Papa left me twelve thousand pounds for my dowry, with other funds to be used for my schooling and maintenance. I don’t think Alistair was pleased about that, because none of it came from my mother. Her marriage portion was quite small.”
“Was that why he dragged out negotiations with Sterling?”
“Sterling said there is a bit of land...” She frowned. “He said my father wanted me to have it, but Papa could have put that in his will and he did not. Naturally Alistair is refusing to give more than Papa specified, which Sterling must have known all along. But Alistair said he would withhold even my dowry if I married without his permission. He can’t do that, can he? I’m of age, and the money is to be mine outright when I reach twenty-five.”
Rob’s fingers were tracing circles on hers. “If the funds were left in his care, God knows what he might have done with them.”
She sat bolt upright. “He stole it?”
“Perhaps.” Rob folded his arms behind his head, a sharp, thoughtful expression on his face.
“I refuse to let him steal my inheritance,” she exclaimed. “I could file a suit!”
He didn’t say anything. A deep frown had settled on his face as he stared up at the dark canopy above them.
“Twelve thousand is a large dowry.” He glanced at her. “You’re quite an heiress—as if you weren’t priceless already on your own merit. Why did Sterling press for land?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. “He said my father had told his father I should have it. If Papa had wanted me to have that property, surely he would have put it in his will.”
Rob was nodding. “Precisely. I’ll wager there’s more to the story than that.”
“You mean...” Her voice faltered. “Sterling lied?”
He looked at her. “Why would he do that?”
She stared. He waited, brows raised expectantly. “Because he didn’t really want to marry me? Because Alistair was lying to him? Because there was another reason he didn’t tell me? I don’t know.”
