Page 93 of This Marquess of Mine

“You know there are no secrets in this family,” James said with a chuckle. “So, what did you say to the man? And why did you do it?”

Griff blew out a slow breath. “I don’t know. I just…” His jaw clenched. “It wasn’t right, her marrying a duke to make her father happy. Especially when he’d done nothing to deserve it. I didn’t like it.” A gross understatement.

“Hm.”

Griff lowered his brows. “What?”

“Are you certain that’s the only reason?”

“Of course.”

“Hm.”

Griffin sighed. “Will you stop grunting and say what you wish to say?”

James looked at him. “Could it be you want her for yourself? That you went to her father in the hopes it would end her betrothal and leave her available for you?”

Niggling doubt scraped at the nape of his neck, but he ignored it. “I have no interest in marrying right now, as you well know.”

“Perhaps you hoped she would wait until you are interested.”

Griffin grunted his disagreement and reached down to pat Rasputin’s neck.

“So, what did you do when you met with her father?” James asked a moment later. “Demand he treat her better? Take back his ultimatum?”

“Yes.”

“And? What did he say?”

“He was…unreceptive,” Griff said, recalling the pinched expression on Lord Blakely’s face. “So, I offered him five thousand pounds.”

“Five thou—” James broke off and whistled his surprise. “That is an awfully large sum of money, Griff.”

He shrugged. “He refused to accept it. And he assured me he had no idea Olivia felt the way she did. He said he would work at mending the rift between them and apparently, he has.” He cleared his throat. “I would ask that you keep this between us. I don’t want Olivia to know about it.”

James raised one brow. “Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t matter. Because I want her to have a decent relationship with her father.” Because it makes her happy, and I need her to be happy.

He glanced at James, who nodded and said, “Of course. You have my word.”

Satisfied, Griffin looked forward again just as the stables came into view. He gave Rasputin’s neck another rub. The curiosity in James’s eyes suggested there were other questions he wanted to ask, but being the excellent friend he was, he kept them to himself.

The two rode back the rest of the way in silence, and as they reached the stables, Griff asked James if he would join him for a game of billiards.

“Not now,” James said after they’d dismounted. “Later, perhaps.”

Griff handed the reins over to a groom before following James from the stables toward the house. They had just walked through the door when Lady Keswick met them in the corridor.

“There you two are,” she said with a smile. “You’re both looking windblown and red-cheeked. Did you enjoy your ride?”

“Very much,” James said, smoothing his hair. “Can you tell me where my wife has got to?”

Her smile widened. “She’s out on the terrace, James. All of us ladies are.”

“Excellent,” he said with a grin. “I’ll see you out there, then.” And with that, he set off, a noticeable spring in his step.

Lady Keswick chuckled and looped her arm through Griffin’s, tugging him along with her. “I’ve never seen James so happy,” she said. “Marriage obviously suits him.”