Free Deceived by Nicola Cornick Page B

may trust Princess Isabella to have made sure of that. She could not afford for the marriage to be overset."
    Alistair nodded. "Of course. The debts."
    "Precisely."
    Alistair's mouth turned down at the corners with deep disapproval."I do believe that one of us is mad here, Marcus, and I am not sure that it is I. How could you even countenance such an arrangement, given the history between yourself and Princess Isabella?" He caught Marcus's sleeve and compelled him to sit down. "Cease fussing over that jacket, Marcus. Nothing will make it look any better. Instead tell me what is going on."
    Marcus sat back with a sigh. "It is a marriage of convenience," he said. "Princess Isabella needed a husband to keep her debtors at bay and on the strength of our brief, previous acquaintance she approached me for assistance. Which I was—" He hesitated. "Persuaded to give."
    Alistair narrowed his eyes. "Of all the rum starts, Marcus! Brief, previous acquaintance indeed!"
    "I appreciate that it must appear strange," Marcus said. He sat forward, feeling the constriction of the jacket across his shoulders. "Hmm. I require a new wardrobe—"
    "To go with your new wife, I suppose," Alistair said. "You are not making sense, Marcus. I thought that no one but I knew of your sojourn in the Fleet. How did Princess Isabella find you?"
    "By happy chance," Marcus said, a little grimly. "As I said, she needed a debtor and I was available."
    "The devil you were! Does she know that you were in the Fleet by your own choice?"
    "Not yet," Marcus said. "It is one of the many surprises that I have in store for her tonight. I cannot pretend that she will be pleased to see me, but that cannot be helped."
    Alistair peered at him. "I always thought that weddings were supposed to be happy affairs," he said. "You do not seem very enamored of your bride, Marcus. Furthermore, this is not like you at all."
    Marcus fidgeted restlessly. He felt irritable and rather suspected it was with himself.
    "On the contrary it is very like me. I become bored with the conventions of society—"
    "So you arrange to be locked in the Fleet and then marry a shady princess into the bargain," Alistair said.
    "Exactly." Marcus paused. "The marriage is a secret for the time being, however. I should be obliged if you would keep it so, Alistair."
    "Why?" his friend asked bluntly. "I mean, why is it a secret, not why should I help you keep it so, which goes without saying if you wish it of me."
    "There are various reasons," Marcus said. "Firstly, my wife is unaware that I have achieved my release from prison and I wish to discuss the matter with her before our marriage becomes common knowledge. Secondly. . ." He hesitated. "Well, I have said that it is a match of convenience. It may be that the marriage will not endure long."
    Alistair was shaking his head. "Dashed irregular. The more I hear, the worse it becomes. Hope you know what you're doing, Marcus."
    "I am not certain that I do," Marcus conceded. "However, if I could ask you to keep the secret for now   . . . ?"
    "Mute as an undertaker's boy, I promise you," Alistair said. He shook his head. "Lord, but I'd give a monkey to see the Dowagers' faces when they realize another earl is off the marriage mart! And caught by a lady with such a scandalous reputation—" He stopped. There was a short and very pointed silence. The bleakness in Marcus's heart was matched only by the pity in Alistair's eyes.
    "Just so," Marcus said.
    "My apologies," Alistair said. "You will not wish to hear your wife's name bandied about."
    Marcus shut his lips in a grim line. When Alistair had spoken he had felt the kick of rage through his body like a lightning strike. God help him, if a passing reference to Isabella could do this to him. . .he felt a white-hot possessive fury that beat anything he had ever experienced before. By rights Isabella Di Cassilis was his, now more than ever, and he would not rest until it was true in word and deed, and the memory of all