AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My apologies for keeping you here with my unremarkable problems,” Rhys said drily.
St. Clare sent him a charming smile. “I do sympathize with your plight, my friend. You shall have to marry a beautiful lady with a sizable dowry. The horror!”
“You cannot possibly understand the quandary I am in. You court scandal; I try to avoid it. And I have to think thrice about the choices I make. Once for myself, once for my title, and once again for my daughter.”
“If you want, I can go out there with my wife and create another scandal that will eclipse yours in a trice.”
The already red face of the duchess turned the color of vermilion. She swatted at him playfully and pursed her lips, trying to remain composed. “Nothing you can do will ever surprise theton, my dear.”
St. Clare caught her hand and placed a lingering kiss on her knuckles.
Footsteps sounded from the other side of the room, and Rhys was actually relieved to be joined by the Lewis family, whom he did not particularly like. But he could not be more grateful for the interruption. His friend was not helpful at all, and Rhys didn’t think he’d be able to spend another moment in the company of the two lovebirds.
Miss Lewis was flanked by her brothers, forcing Rhys, St. Clare, and the duchess to get up and greet them.
“Have you come to a decision?” Viscount Gage, Miss Lewis’s brother, asked.
Rhys gave a slight nod, although his insides tightened with apprehension. “I do not feel like I have a choice in the matter.”
“Don’t you?” Gage raised his brow.
Rhys shook his head. “I need a respectable marriage. Your family is anything but respectable—”
“Vane!” the duchess and St. Clare exclaimed in unison.
Rhys frowned. “Well, it’s true. Gage is a libertine and a rake. Their younger sister married out of scandal, and now you want me shackled to the most scandalous of you all!”
Everyone turned to Miss Lewis, their expressions confused.
She frowned. “I am the most scandalous?”
She looked straight at him, but it was obvious that she did not recognize him at all. None of them did. And while Rhys had not spent much time in the company of the men of the family, he had spent quite a few summers following Miss Lewis around.
He had been in love with her, for heaven’s sake. Yet there was not even a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. And that hurt him more than this entire situation. And perhaps it was the reason for Rhys’s brusqueness.
“But if I refuse to marry you,” he continued, “the scandal will follow my name, too. It is better we marry, and soon.”
Miss Lewis stood as still as a statue as if shocked by his words. Why was she shocked? Had she not expected a proposal?
She blinked, looked at her brothers, then squared her shoulders. “Absolutely not!”
Her brothers looked at her in surprise. Apparently, they did not expect her refusal either. Was she mad? She had no choice but to accept. Unless, of course, she was immune to scandal.
“Pardon me?” Rhys scowled.
Her brothers stepped closer to her and crossed their arms over their chests. Both Viscount St. Clare and the Duchess of Somerset were pursing their lips, holding on to their laughter.
“I am afraid you’ve been rejected, my friend,” St. Clare clarified helpfully with a wide smile.
Rhys just shook his head. The impetuous woman was ruining her future and his as well. “Well, I do not accept your rejection. Have you no thought for your future at all? I should have realized that considering the past, but—”
“What past?” she cried. “I don’t even know you!”
Rhys’s heart sank at the confirmation of his assumptions. She did not remember him at all. He cleared his throat. “You have no choice but to marry me. Otherwise, you’re courting scandal.”
“I do not care,” Miss Lewis said calmly. “I’d rather eat maggots right off the ground of our northernmost estate than marry you.”
St. Clare gave a low whistle, and Gage patted her approvingly on the back.
