“Should we sit for a spell?” Georgie asked, gesturing towards a bench set back from the path.
Without saying a word, Lord Grenton escorted her to the bench and dropped his hand. He waited for her to sit before he claimed the space next to her.
Georgie waited for Lord Grenton to speak, but he remained quiet, appearing agitated. She could hear his teeth grinding, and his hands were fisted into tight balls.
Uncomfortable with the silence, Georgie asked, “How are you faring?”
“I am angry.”
“That is understandable.”
Lord Grenton shook his head. “No, not just angry. I am furious enough that I want to go over to your brother’s house and beat him to a bloody pulp.”
“That wouldn’t solve anything.”
“It would make me feel better.”
Boldly, Georgie placed her hand over one of his clenched hands. Maybe she could assuage his anger some. “You are a good man, and I know you will not stoop to my brother’s level.”
“You have entirely too much faith in me,” Lord Grenton said, his hand relaxing under hers. “I don’t know what I did to deserve it.”
“It isn’t about deserving; it’s about believing—and I believe in you.”
Lord Grenton shifted in his seat to face her, his expression guarded. “Lord Hawthorne and Lord Haddington believe they have found the perfect solution to your predicament.”
“They have? What is it?” she asked eagerly.
With a slight hesitation, Lord Grenton replied, “If we marry, your brother loses his control over you, and you would be free of him.”
Georgie was stunned, and she just stared back at him. As the shock wore off enough for some thought to return, she said, “There must be another way.”
“I’m afraid not. Your brother is your guardian until you reach your majority, and he can do with you as he sees fit.”
“Even if we did wed, how do we know he wouldn’t harm the girls at the orphanage?”
“Once you marry me, your usefulness expires to him, since he can’t marry you off to Lord Ransdale,” Lord Grenton explained. “Furthermore, once we are properly wed, we could go to the magistrate and alert them to the threats he’s made.”
“But not before?”
Lord Grenton shook his head. “If we went to the magistrate now, we would play right into his hands. The magistrate would order you to return home and could even arrest me for kidnapping if I don’t allow it.”
Georgie bit her lower lip before she nervously asked, “Do you even want to marry me?”
“I would do it to keep you safe.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Lord Grenton smiled wryly. “I would be lying if I didn’t admit it has some appeal to me.”
“Only some?”
“You are clever, quick-witted, and beautiful,” Lord Grenton said. “Any man would be lucky to marry you.”
Georgie’s eyes turned down. “I won’t force you into a marriage of convenience, no matter the reasons. It wouldn’t be fair of me to do so.”
“I am making a mess of this,” Lord Grenton remarked, running a hand over his face. “I know you probably wanted a love match, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t turn this marriage into one.”
Bringing her gaze back up to meet his, she asked, “What if you grow to resent me? This would remove your ability to choose your own bride.”
