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She took a deep breath and marshaled her scattered wits. “You mean in terms of the gossip and nasty rumors.”
“Correct. If we were married—or engaged to be married—Beath’s accusation of scandalous behavior on our part would hold no weight.”
That was not an inconsiderable point.
You cannot be truly considering this, can you, Braden?
Apparently, he was, which was a startling notion.
“All right,” she said. “That would indeed be helpful, but what about Felicity? That’s the most important thing. How could getting married solve that problem?”
Braden sat up straight. “Samantha, who do you think is more powerful, Lord Beath or me?”
“Lord Beath.” She held up a hand. “I’m sorry to say.”
“There’s no need to apologize. But when you stack Beath against my entire family, who do you think would come out on top?”
She frowned. “Well . . .”
He started ticking down on his fingers. “My brother Nick is an earl, Logan is one of the richest men in the United Kingdom, Graeme is a magistrate knighted by the king himself, and all of my brothers are married to women with strong connections in the Scottish and British aristocracy. We don’t like to puff ourselves up, but my family exercises many forms and degrees of power throughout the kingdom. If you were my wife, Clan Kendrick would fully exercise that power to protect both you and Felicity. Lord Beath would need to think very, very carefully before taking us on.”
Anxiety, mingled with a fugitive hope, was making a wreck of her insides. She tried to think her way through all the implications of his most unexpected proposal, because keeping Felicity out of Beath’s hands was that important.
“Beath is her legal guardian,” she said. “All the power in the world can’t change that fact.”
He smiled. “True, but you haven’t heard my trump card yet.”
“Which is?”
“Nick’s wife, Victoria, is the king’s daughter. Born on the wrong side of the blanket, of course, but the king is fond of her and they maintain a regular correspondence. And Vicky’s cousin, Alasdair Gilbride—who also happens to be Donella’s cousin—is the natural son of the Duke of Kent. So, we have two royals in the immediate family, as it were.”
Samantha blinked as she tried to absorb those stunning bits of information. “You’re joking.”
“I believe we have already ascertained that I’m not.”
“I . . . I didn’t know that.” She twirled a hand. “About Lord Arnprior’s wife, or Donella.”
“It’s not something we shout from the rooftops, but no one is ashamed of the connections, either. Just know that Clan Kendrick has deep ties to the royal family and wouldn’t hesitate to exert as much influence as necessary.”
“To control Lord Beath.”
Braden nodded.
Samantha’s breath went out of her lungs in one, big whoosh. “That is quite something.”
“My family can be a wee bit brash and annoying at times, but they can also be very helpful.”
“And they’d choose to help me?”
He nodded.
She studied his austere, handsome features, trying to get a read on his emotions. Why would he make such a life-changing offer, one that would affect him as deeply as her?
An ugly thought darted into her head.
“You must be proposing because you feel guilty about last night, like you dishonored me somehow.” She pulled away from him. “I don’t need your pity, Braden, and it would be a terrible reason to get married.”
He frowned, as if genuinely perplexed. “Samantha, you’re the strongest woman I know. Why the hell would I pity you?”
