Free Patricia Rice by Dash of Enchantment Page A

of it
until he was nearly twenty.
    Not that the difference in their paths hadn’t been a
foregone conclusion from the first, Merrick wryly admitted. His rigid,
religious antecedents were exact opposites of the wayward Howard ancestors, as
if living next to each other through the centuries had driven neighbors to
opposite extremes.
    Duncan scowled and offered no hand in greeting as Merrick
approached. “What is your complaint today that you must hunt me down in town?
Has another damned tree fallen on your turnip crop? Surely I have no tenants
left to poach your land?”
    “I am not here to discuss our estates, Eddings, not in the
matter of land, leastways. Am I allowed to sit or must I stand on formality?”
    Not looking completely mollified, Duncan took a seat behind
his desk and indicated a chair. Merrick noted the new marquess did not look
entirely comfortable in this position of authority, as if he had tried on his
father’s shoes and found they did not quite fit. He had the puffy eyes of a
confirmed roué and the sulky mouth of a spoiled child. Beyond that, he was as
handsome as his sister was lovely.
    Wyatt took a seat and looked for a place to begin. “I have
come about Lady Cassandra.”
    Duncan grunted and relaxed. Reaching for the decanter of
brandy, he admitted, “She’s a rare handful. I expected her to be sent packing
well before this. Well, you need not worry. I’ve ordered her home. She should
be out of your hair shortly.”
    “That’s not precisely what I had in mind.” At the moment,
Merrick wished it was. He disliked being put in the position of admitting a
moral failing. “I have come to ask you for Lady Cassandra’s hand in marriage.”
    Duncan choked and spewed a mouthful of brandy across the
desk. He gaped as if Merrick had just taken leave of his senses. “Cass? You
want to marry Cass? Why? Is she blackmailing you?”
    Duncan knew his sister well. Merrick grimaced and crossed
his arms over his chest. “There was a minor incident at the country party. I
feel obligated to make reparations. I’ll take care of her, you can be sure of
that. I’m prepared to make a handsome settlement. I think it best if we wed
quickly and remove to the country. I don’t believe city life suits her.”
    Duncan grinned. “You sound as if you’re about to buy a pound
of conscience. What would you want with the little hellion? She ain’t your sort
by far.”
    Wyatt stiffened. “She’s young and impressionable. We’ll grow
to suit. The main thing is to avoid the scandal.”
    The marquess leaned back in his chair and suffered his discomfort
with apparent gladness. “The main thing, Merrick, is her settlement. The chit
has cost me an unholy fortune, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I am in need
of funds. She’s a lively little thing, and quite a few are taken with her. The
scandal won’t scare them away unless you’ve got her with child, and somehow, I
rather doubt that.”
    Merrick felt his temper rise. Although he did not come to
town often, he was well aware of the gossip. The sobriquet “St. Wyatt” was as
nothing to the rumors of why his first wife had never produced children after
years of marriage. To have Eddings throw that up in his face added fuel to a
simmering fire. Only the memory of Cassandra’s stunned expression after he
kissed her kept him in his seat.
    “You are speaking of your sister, not a prize horse,” he
informed Eddings coldly. “I have reason to believe she is not averse to my
attentions. While I am not prepared to ransom her for an unreasonable sum, I am
prepared to accept full financial responsibility for her from this day forward.
I will provide her with an annual income, and settle a fair sum on you and her
mother. And I will provide her with the home and security a lady should expect.
You will not need to worry about her ever again.”
    “I never worried about her before, why should I start now?
Cass can take care of herself. Why the deuce she would choose you above