Free Two Wrongs Make a Marriage by Christine Merrill

quite effective,’ the earl said with a smile. ‘Henry can prove nothing now that I have produced the heir. There is little point in hounding me into my grave, only to see my son take my place.’
    ‘And I am just married,’ Jack said with a grin. ‘Perhaps there will be a child to put Uncle Henry one step further away. I expect the thought makes him livid.’
    ‘A child?’ If the truth had not been revealed on their wedding night, she might very well have... The shudder that resulted from the thought left her body with a strange, nervous energy. She firmly dismissed it. ‘You will certainly not get a son from me. Even if you did, he would not be the heir, because you are not really Kenton.’
    ‘Do not worry, my dear,’ Spayne said, reaching out to pat her hand. ‘Such extreme measures are not necessary. I could not hope for a better son than I have found in Jack.’ He smiled at the other man, and Thea wondered, for a moment, if the man had forgotten that he had no relationship to the actor. ‘He has performed admirably in all I have asked of him.’
    ‘All things save one,’ Jack reminded him. ‘I have not, as yet, repaired your fortune. Nor have I given de Warde the punishment he truly deserves.’
    Spayne looked worried. ‘As I have explained to you, that is a difficult matter.’
    ‘It will not be solved by giving him more money,’ Jack replied. ‘For now, he is content with bleeding you. But he wants the title. He will not be satisfied until all who stand between him and it are gone. The only way you will be sure is to remove the threat permanently, just as he wishes to do with you.’
    Spayne looked at him with the aristocratic coldness Thea had expected from the first. ‘You are still speaking of my brother. If I resort to, as you put it, permanently removing him, I am become the thing he threatens me with. I will not stoop to violence, nor do I wish you to do so on my behalf.’
    ‘Very well, my lord.’ Jack bowed his head in sincere respect. It was clearly an argument they’d had before that Jack did not expect to win. ‘But I have a suggestion that might remedy the fact. My wife...’
    The look Thea gave him made him pause and correct himself. ‘Miss Banester has a score to settle with de Warde, just as you do. The source of all troubles is de Warde. Amputation is not an option, but all the same, we must treat the disease and not the symptoms of it. Your brother must be given a taste of his own medicine.’
    ‘And how do you mean to do that?’ Spayne looked interested.
    ‘We will trick him into giving us his money. And then we will discredit him, to remove the teeth from his accusations against you.’
    ‘And how will we do this?’ Spayne asked eagerly.
    ‘The first step will be to return to London and organise a ball to celebrate our recent marriage. You must come as well, Father. No begging off as you managed with our wedding.’ Jack grinned. ‘We must be as one big, happy family.’
    Thea imagined the addition of her own family to the mess that had been created and gave a delicate shudder of horror. ‘Such a public display is unwise in the extreme and quite beyond our financial reach. Have you forgotten? We have no money.’
    ‘But we still have credit.’ Apparently, the state of their finances, though it worried her to no end, did nothing to render Jack any less cheerful. ‘It must be resplendent. Spare no expense, for we will be inviting my dear Uncle Henry. I think it is time that he got to know me.’
    ‘So we are to go further into debt, parade our sham marriage before the ton and invite the deplorable Mr de Warde into our home as we do it. What is the next step in this wonderful plan of yours?’ Although Thea was almost afraid to hear it.
    ‘I will tell you the day I know it,’ Jack said with a smile worthy of the stage. ‘For now, it is a work in progress. Little more than an improvisation.’ He gave a dramatic gesture, as though he was building castles in the