Free Two Wrongs Make a Marriage by Christine Merrill Page B

Thea agreed. The man, for all his faults, was being kind to her, which was more than could be said for his brother.
    ‘He is more than a little barmy for getting himself into such a predicament. But he did not seek this wild hare of an idea to harm you or anyone else,’ Jack reminded her. ‘He approaches his difficulties with his brother in the same haphazard way he deals with his finances. I have done what I can to set those right. His situation is not irreparable. Had we enough time and no interference, I would have the coffers full again in a year or two. But with his brother’s continual meddling, it will be quite impossible.’
    ‘He allows you to handle his money?’ If possible, this was even stranger than that the man had lied about his own son. It appeared he had turned the running of a sizeable estate over to a stranger.
    Jack guessed her thoughts and responded with a mocking tug on his forelock. ‘While I may not be educated in a manner that you respect, your ladyship, I know how many beans make five. And that is more than can be said for Spayne, who cannot seem to grasp that a small economy like eating a mutton dinner instead of beef saves enough to fix a tenant’s roof. He does not think further than the moment ahead. In short, he needs a keeper and the job has fallen to me.’
    ‘He must be a fool, indeed, to trust an itinerant player who deserved to be hanged as a thief,’ Thea said.
    ‘Or perhaps I am just a man who is grateful that I have a chance to help my rescuer,’ Jack corrected, all trace of mirth gone from his face. ‘You may think what you like of me, but I would caution you not to take my admission just now as an invitation to show Spayne anything less than the total respect he deserves. I might also remind you that your own father is no wiser, for he spent all he had on some Indian novelty to make him potent.’
    Thea fell silent.
    ‘And as for my career? You have no right to look down your nose at me, considering the identity of your mother.’
    ‘Mother was an actress,’ Thea admitted, ‘but that was many years ago. Now she uses those talents to navigate in society. Her play-acting goes no further than that, because it is improper to be so false.’
    ‘You had no desire to follow in her footsteps?’ Jack asked, interested.
    ‘Certainly not. I am my father’s child as well, and my grandfather’s. I was properly schooled to take my place in society. My understanding of the rules and boundaries of my place is excellent.’
    ‘Which was why you married me,’ he said, with a grin.
    ‘I married Kenton,’ she reminded him, shaking her head. ‘They were very clear at school of how things were supposed to be. I knew how to address everyone, from the king to the lowliest servant. I knew who I was not to speak to or acknowledge at all.’ She gave him a pointed look.
    ‘If you believed all they told you, you’d be forced to cut your own mother,’ Jack reminded her. ‘And Spayne should be hanged for being a molly. But the same people would allow de Warde to pass amongst them unpunished.’
    Thea remembered the acute embarrassment she’d felt as her school friends had talked of their noble families and she’d remained silent, afraid of what they might say if they knew the truth of hers. They would not have given the time of day to Jack Briggs. Yet any one of them would have married Spayne’s heir, or even Spayne, if the opportunity had presented itself. The rules had all made sense, until she had tried to put her training into effect. ‘Nothing is as it seems and no one is as they appear to be. You are not Lord Kenton. The earl has been lying about his entire life. De Warde lied to my father. In turn, my father lied to my mother and me, until we had no money at all on which to manage. Nothing I knew was true.’ Except me , she reminded herself. I know who I am—and that must not change.
    ‘It is a rude awakening for you.’ He patted her hand. ‘But I will help you. It will