Free Lucien Tregellas by Margaret McPhee Page B

Miss Langley has changed her opinion of Farquharson. She might not have wanted to dance then, but she wants to marry him now.’
    Lucien thought of the fear and revulsion on Miss Langley’s face as that brute had tried to force himself upon her; of her terror when she’d quite literally run straight into him on that servants’ stairwell; and her loathing at the prospect of waltzing with Farquharson. ‘I cannot believe that it is so.’
    â€˜There’s nothing so fickle as women. You should know that, Lucien. Saying one thing, then changing their minds at the drop of a hat. It’s amazing what the odd bauble or two can buy these days.’
    â€˜Madeline Langley isn’t like that. You’ve seen her, Guy. She isn’t that sort of woman.’
    â€˜Plain and puritanical maybe, Lucien, but still as likely to yield to temptation as any other. The Langleys are not wealthy. The pretty golden looks of the younger Langley chit are bound to catch her a husband. Not so with the elder Miss Langley. Perhaps she decided Farquharson was preferable to life as an old maid.’
    Lucien shook his head. ‘No.’ He could not imagine Miss Langley agreeing to touch Farquharson, let alone marry him.
    â€˜Let it rest, Lucien,’ his brother advised. ‘You’ve done all you can to save the girl. If she’s foolish enough to become his wife, then there’s nothing more you can do. Your conscience, at least, is clear.’
    â€˜My conscience is anything but clear. My actions have brought about this situation.’
    â€˜You don’t know that,’ countered Guy.
    â€˜I threw down the gauntlet and Farquharson took it up.’
    â€˜Perhaps he planned to marry her all along.’
    â€˜Perhaps. Whatever the reasoning, I cannot let Miss Langley become his wife.’
    â€˜Oh, and just how do you propose to stop the wedding? Stand up and announce the truth of what Farquharson did? Stirring up the past will release Miss Langley from the betrothal, but at what cost? It’s too high a price, Lucien.’
    â€˜I’ll find another way.’
    Guy sighed. ‘What is Miss Langley to you? Nothing. She’s not worth it.’
    â€˜Whatever Madeline Langley may or may not be worth, I’ll be damned if I just abandon her to Farquharson. You know what he’ll do.’
    â€˜He might have changed, learned his lesson over the years.’
    Lucien drew his brother a look of withering incredulity. ‘Men like Farquharson never change. Why else has he been visiting Madame Fouet’s all these years?’
    â€˜Face it, Lucien. Short of marrying Miss Langley yourself, there’s not a cursed thing you can do to stop him.’
    A silence hiccupped between them.
    A crooked smile eased the hardness of Lucien’s lips. ‘You might just have an idea there, little brother.’
    Guy laughed at the jest. ‘Now that really would be beyond belief, the Wicked Earl and Miss Langley!’ Still laughing, he grabbed his brother’s arm. ‘What you need is a good stiff drink.’
    â€˜Amen to that,’ said Lucien.
    Â 
    The more that Lucien thought on it, the more sense it seemed to make. He knew what would happen if Farquharson married Miss Langley, knew that he could not stand by and let another woman walk to her death, willing or not. For all that his brother said, Lucien still could not bring himself to believe in Miss Langley’s sudden capitulation. Could she really want Farquharson as a husband? Lucien drank deeper and stared unseeing into the dying embers of the fire. Did the answer to that question even make any difference? Farquharson was Farquharson. No woman, knowing the truth about him, would willingly agree to so much as look at the man. Lucien remembered too well that of which Farquharson was capable. Mercifully the brandy anaesthetised the worst of the pain that the memories triggered. He emptied the contents down his