Page 58 of How to Tempt an Earl

Grace scanned the crowd for the dowager and spotted her leaving the hall. Grace picked up her skirts to follow. A private conversation with her new mother-in-law was more desirable than one in a crowded room.

She headed out into the abandoned hall just as she heard angry voices. Impulsively, Grace ducked behind an open parlor door.

“I’ve heard some disturbing gossip, Ian. Lady Cordele has complained that her husband was at a gaming establishment last night. Have you taken care of that business we discussed?” the dowager asked.

“You mean the Raven Club?” Ian said.

Grace hadn’t known Ian’s mother was aware of his club, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. Prudence had overhead her own mother speaking of it in hushed whispers with her friends.

“You speak about disposing of the Raven Club as if it’s as simple as dismissing a servant who was caught pilfering the family silver. Your demands are unreasonable. The club has been my livelihood since father had all but thrown me out,” Ian said.

Not only did Ian’s mother know of the club, but she had insisted Ian sell it.

“Lady Cordele was right, wasn’t she?” the countess asked.

Ian shrugged a big shoulder. “She was. Her husband lost heavily at the faro tables last night.”

The woman’s lips thinned in disapproval. “You haven’t sold the establishment yet?”

“I will not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the Raven Club will stay a thriving business. I will have Brooks oversee the place for the next few days, as I just married, but I plan to resume its management thereafter.”

The dowager gasped. “You cannot be serious!”

“Oh, but I am.”

“You are now a married man.”

“I never wanted to be shackled with a wife and resent being forced to do so. You of all people are fully aware of how I felt about marrying against my will.”

“If you are referring to the past, you should know that your father sought the best match for you as a younger son,” she said.

“Bullocks! He sought to saddle me with a child in a woman’s body. He’d hated me on sight and never cared for my happiness.”

The woman’s face paled. “That was long ago and—”

“The past is not easily forgotten,” Ian said, his voice tense. “I agreed to your ridiculous plans only because the impending scandal combined with the black cloud hovering over my head regarding Matthew’s death would have irrevocably harmed Ellie and Olivia. Now that my duty is done, I have no intention of changing my life or my ways.”

“What of your wife’s opinions of your club?”

Ian laughed, a cold hard sound. “She is a minor inconvenience. The Raven Club remains open. If Grace doesn’t see it that way, then I will send her away to Castleton house in the country.”

Grace was shocked at the hardness in Ian’s tone just as much as his cold-hearted words. A sickening despair settled in her stomach. He’d lied. He had no intention of closing the Raven Club.

He’d lied.

He knew she’d never consent to marry him otherwise. He knew she despised gambling and everything the Raven Club stood for. Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard. She wouldn’t be sick.

Not here. Not now.

She’d suspected all along that he didn’t want to marry. Now she fully understood his motivations. The scandal of being caught in each other’s embrace, combined with the rumors swirling around the circumstances of his brother’s riding accident, would have been sufficient to blacken the entire Castleton name.

He planned to use her, then send her away to the country. How could he be so callous? Did she mean so little to him?

Yes, she did.