Free The Double Wager by Mary Balogh

again. Why, then, did she feel so inclined to accept his proposal? It was just as she had thought last night. He seemed to exert a power over her will without any visible effort.
    What was she to do, then? Finally, Henry turned back to the room, an idea in her mind. She would throw the decision back to him. She crossed back to her chair and sat down without looking at him.
    “Well, Henry?” Eversleigh prompted. “What is to be my fate? I can see by the jut of your chin that you have made a decision.”
    “I shall be your wife, your Grace, under one condition,” she declared firmly.
    “Indeed!” he replied haughtily. “Do I dare ask what that one condition might be?”
    “In addition to me, you must take Philip and Penelope, Miss Manford, Brutus, and Oscar,” she said in a rush.
    Eversleigh had his glass to his eye again. “Dear me,” he said, “is that one condition? And are these persons all members of your family, Henry?”
    “Philip and Penelope are my twin brother and sister,” she began. “They are twelve years old. Miss Manford is their governess. She was mine and Giles', too. Giles is my older brother.”
    “Quite so,” he said. “The one of the black eye. And the one who warned you not to talk of bosoms.”
    “Oh,” she said, nonplussed for the moment.
    “And Brutus and Oscar?” he prompted.
    “The twins' dog and parrot,” she explained, watching him warily.
    “Why do I get the feeling that there is more to say about the twins’ dog and parrot?” he asked softly, his eyes beneath the lowered lids watching her closely.
    “Well,” Henry said uncertainly, “Brutus looks like a small horse and he likes to eat things he is not supposed to eat. And he is . . . playful. Oscar was taught to speak by his previous owner. His language is rather colorful.”
    The gleam was back in Eversleigh's eyes. “I see,” he said. “And why, Henry, would it be necessary to transfer all these personalities to my household in the event of our marriage? Do you feel that you would need protection against me?”
    “Oh, no, it's because Peter is quite horrid to them all,” she cried. “Brutus and Oscar have been banished to the stables and Miss Manford has been dismissed. And the twins have been sent to their rooms for the whole of today.” Henry got to her feet in her agitation and found herself telling Eversleigh all that had taken place that morning.
    “You would not have sent the poor child away without doing something to help him, would you, your Grace?” she asked as she finished the account.
    “Indeed I would not,” he said decisively. “I should first have had the little beggar chained to the gatepost and whipped for his impudence.”
    Her eyes flashed and then she looked at him. “Oh, no, you would not,” she said. “I know you would not.”
    “No, I would not,” he agreed quietly.
    “Miss Manford has nowhere to go,” she said, turning away from his piercing eyes. “She has been with us forever. We are her family. And she is too old to get another position, I fear. She must be fifty, at least.”
    “Henry,” Eversleigh said softly, also rising to his feet, “you will agree to marry me if I take your family, too?”
    “Yes,” she whispered, eyes wide with apprehension.
    “Then, my dear, I shall have the announcement appear in tomorrow’s Morning Post.” He crossed the room until he was standing in front of her. “Don’t be afraid, Henry,” he said, taking her cold hand in his. “We shall deal well together, you shall see.” And he raised her hand and placed the palm against his warm lips for a long moment, holding her eyes with his the while.
    Henry just gaped again.
    “Will you go now, please?” he directed. “Ask the butler to send your brother back to me. I shall call on you and your sister-in-law tomorrow afternoon. Perhaps you would drive with me in the park afterward?”
    And Henry, in a trance, obediently followed his directions.
    * * *
    The marriage of Marius Devron,