Henry found Ned engaged in a lighthearted flirtation with a pretty red-haired lady. He caught his brother’s gaze and indicated he needed to speak to him. A few minutes later Ned joined him in the library.

“What did you say to Katherine?” Henry asked without preamble, handing his brother a freshly poured glass of whisky.

Ned studied him coolly. “Are you certain you want to know?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t like it. It involves a certain amount of deceit and deception and outright lies.”

“I am a desperate man, Ned. I am willing to accept anything that will save me.”

“It might jeopardize your standing as the good brother.”

“It’s a risk I will take,” Henry said wryly and sipped his whisky.

“So the good brother isn’t quite as good as one might think.” Ned grinned.

“Desperate times, Ned. Now, what have you done?”

“As we agree that one of the qualities your bride seems to appreciate most in you is the size of your banking accounts—”

Henry grimaced.

“—one can assume if you’d lost your fortune she would call off the wedding. So I simply led her to believe you were broke.” Ned took a sip of whisky. “I told her we both were.”

“Do you realize there are rampant rumors about that very thing?”

“Excellent.” Ned grinned. “You can thank Mrs. Blodgett and her friends for that. It was their idea.”

“Was it?”

“And a brilliant one at that.” Ned chuckled.

“But it’s a lie.” Henry stared at his brother. “Unless there is something you’re not telling me.”

“I suspect there are all sorts of things I haven’t told you.” He flashed his brother an unrepentant grin. “Did you meet that lovely widow I was—”

“Ned!”

“Yes, I suppose that can wait. Although she’s American and quite engaging... Not that it matters at the moment of course.” He paused. “I realize you do not condone deceit, Henry. And for offending your overly honest sensibilities, I do apologize. However—” he raised his glass “—it was done in your best interest and regardless of what you might think, I will not tell Katherine the truth. If this saves you from an unwanted marriage to that scheming witch—”

“It won’t.” Henry shook his head. “I spoke with Katherine earlier, hoping that she had realized what a mistake our marriage would be. It seems she is confident in your abilities to recover the family fortunes.”

“Surely not.” Ned stared in disbelief.

“Oh, yes. Furthermore, she doesn’t seem to think that you will ever marry, which means eventually I, or my future son, will be the earl.” Henry blew a long breath. “Apparently, she wants the position more than the money.”

“Well, this is certainly an unexpected twist in the game.” Ned thought for a moment. “We’ll simply have to come up with something else.”

“No, Ned.” Henry shook his head. “I’m going to beg off. I can’t marry her.”

“You’ve never gone back on your word.”

“Then this will be a first.”

“I can’t allow that.” Ned shook his head. “For one thing—you’d never forgive yourself. For another—it takes a great deal of pressure off of me for you to be the good, honorable brother. I would hate to give that up.”

“But—”

“I’ll talk to Mrs. Blodgett.” Ned’s forehead furrowed in thought. “She’s shockingly devious and somewhat diabolical. I find her delightful. Between the two of us, we’ll come up with a new plan.”

“I would much prefer Katherine be the one to end it.” Henry considered his brother then nodded. “Very well. I’ll give you until the day before the wedding, the day after tomorrow. But if you haven’t thought of something by then, I’ll break it off with Katherine. I won’t add insult to injury by leaving her at the altar.”

“Leave it to me, Henry. With Mrs. Blodgett’s help, I’m certain we can think of something brilliant.” He cast an affectionate smile at his brother. “And then you can be with Celia.”

“Yes, well, I’m afraid I’ve mucked that up beyond repair.”

“But I saw you dancing with her.”

“I thought just one dance, one kiss, and we could go on with our lives as expected.”

Ned’s eyes widened. “You kissed her?”

“It was a stupid thing to do.” Henry shrugged. “She never wants to see me again.”

“She’ll change her mind when you are a free man.” Confidence rang in Ned’s voice.

“Do you really think so?”

“Without question,” Ned said firmly. “Refusing to see you again is what Celia believes to be the right thing to do. And at the moment it probably is. But she is an intelligent woman. Once you are no longer engaged to Katherine, Celia will realize that the reasons you can’t be together no longer exist.”

“Are you sure?” For the first time tonight, the smallest spark of hope flickered inside him.

“One can never be completely sure with women. They are odd, curious creatures who cannot be fully understood or predicted. Especially when they are in love. But with a bit of persistence and determination, I do think there’s a very good chance that you can win her back.” He met his brother’s gaze directly. “I know you, Henry. You may well be able to eventually accept going back on your word but you’ll never forgive yourself for not fighting for the woman you love.”






Day Five


CHAPTER FOURTEEN


“I NEVER WOULD have imagined that we had it wrong.” Gwen paced the width of the library, doing her best to avoid Edward, who paced the length.

“I must say, I don’t like being wrong,” Edward muttered. “It’s not the first time of course, but I don’t like it. My father never made mistakes. He was, well, infallible. The perfect earl, if you will.”

Whose shoes were no doubt incredibly difficult to fill.

“Perfect or not, I daresay even an infallible earl would fail to suspect an ambitious female would be more interested in social position than in wealth.” Gwen still found it difficult to believe that Katherine would choose social position over money.

“There has to be a way to maneuver the woman into throwing Henry over.”

“But Katherine wants something that isn’t entirely within her reach.” Gwen pulled up short. “Good Lord, she is as much a gambler as her father. She’s betting you will not have an heir other than Henry.”

“Or she’s wagering I’ll die.” He shuddered. “And sooner rather than later, I suspect.”

“Perhaps we should be sitting outside your room at night?”

“Oh, would you, Gwen?” He cast her a wicked smile.

“Stop that, Edward.” She choked back a laugh. “This is serious.”

“I am serious.”

“No wonder you have a less-than-spotless reputation.”

“Had a less-than-spotless reputation,” he said firmly. “I have reformed a great deal in recent years. Responsibilities of the position and all.”

“Regardless, I have never met anyone as flirtatious as you.”

“Thank you,” he said in a most immodest manner. “It’s a gift.”

“Pity you haven’t put that gift to better use. If you had found a wife, you might already have a son and heir, and Katherine would have no reason at all to marry Henry.”

Edward stared. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“If there was another heir, Katherine’s hopes would be dashed.”

“Yes, well, as clever as that is—” she rolled her gaze toward the ceiling “—you don’t have a son and I doubt that you can come up with one by tomorrow.”

“But when a man has the kind of reputation I had, it’s not at all uncommon for a previously unknown heir to pop up.”

“Edward—” she chose her words with care “—it’s one thing to spread a few rumors about the state of your finances. Those will easily disperse when it’s obvious your fortune is sound. But gossip about an heir will cling to you forever and cast doubts about your right to the title.” She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the least bit wise.”

“Probably not.” He thought for a moment. “Unless...”

“Dear Lord, I know I am going to regret asking.” She braced herself. “Unless what?”

“Unless it’s not my heir.” A slow, satisfied grin spread across his face. “It’s brilliant and it will work. I’m certain of it.” He narrowed his eyes. “Katherine doesn’t know anything at all about my family, does she?”

“I have no idea, although I suspect the only inquiries she might have made would have been about the size of your income.” She drew her brows together. “I haven’t noticed her taking any particular interest in Danby itself or asking about any of those endless portraits of ancestors you have hanging on the wall.”

“Excellent.” He beamed.

“Why?”

“You shall see. Just remember—” he chuckled “—the play’s the thing.”

The annoying man was certainly enjoying himself.

“Very well, Edward, as long as you remember, at the end of Hamlet—” she crossed her arms over her chest and met his gaze directly “—all the principal characters are dead.”






Day Six


CHAPTER FIFTEEN


“HAS YOUR BROTHER told you what this is all about?” Mrs. Blodgett said quietly to Henry. Once again, she was seated beside him for luncheon.

“I’m afraid not.” What was his brother up to now? “I would imagine this is all part of his plan.”

A table had been set up out-of-doors under a billowing canopy some distance from the front drive. An unfamiliar carriage waited near the front entry.

“As no doubt is his insistence on having luncheon here.” Her brow furrowed. “But why on the front lawns rather than the terrace? Although, with Danby in the background, it is rather scenic.”

“All he said to me was that the day before my wedding was a special occasion. It should be spent under blue skies in front of our ancestral home.”

“That’s rather poetic of him.”

“I know. I find it highly suspicious.” Henry shook his head. “Ned instructed me to behave as normally as possible but also said I should keep my mouth shut, no matter what happened. That I should not question, deny or confirm. I should act as if I know absolutely nothing, which shouldn’t be difficult as I know absolutely nothing.”

“Oh, that doesn’t bode well.”

“Apparently, my brother doesn’t think I’m particularly good at deceit.”

Mrs. Blodgett cast him a worried look. “I do hope Edward is as clever as he thinks he is.”

“My dear Mrs. Blodgett,” Henry said drily. “Nobody could possibly be.”

“He wouldn’t give me any details but he is shockingly smug about whatever he has in mind. He did ask me to make certain everyone was in attendance.” Mrs. Blodgett glanced down the long table. All those staying at Danby were here including Celia. “And he said I would know what to do when the time came.”

“And will you?”

“I have no idea. I hope so.” She frowned. “He does tend to be a bit theatrical but I do wish I knew exactly what he was planning. One does like to be prepared.”

“Apparently, my brother has a great deal of confidence in you.” He chuckled. “He describes you as diabolical, you know.”

“Does he really?” She grinned. “How perfectly lovely of him. I quite like that.” Her smile faded. “Edward also told me that if his plan doesn’t work, you were prepared to do what was necessary.”

He tightened his jaw. “I will.”

“You know, Henry—” she laid a hand on his arm and looked into his eyes “—it’s not dishonorable to go back on your word when abiding by it would cause more harm than good.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Blodgett.” He shrugged. “I keep telling myself that.”

His gaze wandered to Celia. She had not once looked in his direction. When this was all over, when he was free...

“Who do you think that is?” Mrs. Higginbotham said from across the table. She peered around Henry for a better view of the house.

Everyone at the table turned and stared.

Ned stood on the front steps accompanied by a red-haired woman and a young boy. Was it the same woman his brother had met at the ball? The American? Henry clenched his teeth. This was not the most appropriate day for Ned to be engaged in a new flirtation. But why on earth would the woman have a child with her? Ned escorted them to the carriage and they exchanged a few words. At this distance it was impossible to tell if their conversation was amicable or merely polite.

Ned handed the woman and the boy into the carriage. He clasped his hands behind his back and watched as it drove away. Even from here, there looked to be a distinct edge of defeat about him.

“What is he doing?” Miss Quince asked.

“Well, he’s watching the carriage drive off, obviously.” Mrs. Higginbotham scoffed.

“He doesn’t look at all happy,” Mrs. Fitzhew-Wellmore said.

“No, he doesn’t, does he?” Mrs. Blodgett cast Henry a pointed look.

Ned strode toward them looking remarkably ill at ease. Even distraught.