A Pledge of Passion (The Rules of Engagement #2)(22)

"As it should," Nick replied dryly. "Your mother was also beside herself."

"Didn't you receive my missive? I dispatched a messenger from the coaching inn before we turned back for London."

"Yes, I got it, but you revealed virtually nothing. Why did you turn back to London?"

"Let us say I discovered an urgent need, a matter I was certain would allow me no rest until satisfied."

"Given the circumstances, couldn't you trust me to handle it for you?" Nick asked.

"No, dear boy." Nick noted the exchange of looks between Marcus and Lydia. "This was a matter requiring my own delicate touch. Can we please continue this discussion in the morning? It has been a very long day and will assuredly be an even longer night." Another meaningful look in Lydia's direction sent a flush of color into her cheeks.

"Poor Lyddie," Mariah crooned, "you must be exhausted. I'll show you to your chamber. It's adjacent to mine."

Lydia hesitated and looked to Marcus, who broke into a devilish a grin. "My wife will retire with me."

"Your wife?" Nick and Mariah exclaimed in unison.

"Aye." Marcus laughed. "That was the true cause of our delay and the crime for which I must plead clemency in the morning."

"Good luck with that," Nick remarked dryly. "Your impetuosity has jeopardized everything you've worked for over the past six years."

"Oh, Marcus, how foolish you are!" Lydia cried.

"If I am a fool, it is all for love." He smiled and kissed her. "I could have done no differently. One more day and I would have died in my want of you." Marcus turned to Lydia's maid. "Sally, please see that Lady Russell is properly settled in my chamber." He then took Lydia's hand. "I'll repair to the library with Nick for a short while and give you time to . . . refresh yourself."

"Of course," she breathed. "You won't be long?"

"I assure you, my dove." He brushed his lips across her fingers. "I won't be long."

"I'll wait for you," she replied breathily and departed with a smile.

Nick wondered if Marcus had indeed seduced her as he'd threatened. Their exchange of heated looks suggested he had. "Come, Nick!" Marcus clapped him on the shoulder, adding with a wink, "Let us go and drink a toast to my blushing bride!"

They retired to the library, where Marcus seemed unusually restless as Nick related his conversation with the duke. "Un-bloody-believable! Bedford actually wagered my career on a cricket match?"

"Yes. It was Rochford's idea, actually. Sandwich pressed him to support Montagu for first secretary, but he agreed to support you if the duke's team wins."

"And if we lose, he throws his considerable weight behind Montagu?"

"Not exactly," Nick said. "This is where it gets interesting. In exchange for five hundred guineas, Rochford will recuse himself."

"And Bedford agreed to this?"

"Yes. And then I offered to play in your stead."

"Did you?" Marcus eyed him over his port. "I daresay you're a bit rusty, but even so you're a damned lot better player than I ever was. I owe you, Needham."

"Save your gratitude. I was merely acting in self-preservation," Nick replied dryly. "If the duke loses, we will both be unemployed. What would you then do?"

"You see this glass?" Marcus raised it to his friend's view. "Is it half-full or half-empty?" he asked.

"More than half-empty," Nick replied. "You've almost drained it."

"You're missing my bloody point, man!" Marcus exclaimed. "I prefer to consider the wine that still remains to be drunk. What I'm trying to demonstrate is the power of positive thinking. I refuse to dwell on a negative outcome. Whatever transpires, I will move forward and overcome it just as I did with Lydia. Speaking of which, it's unseemly for a groom to keep an eager bride waiting."

"Eager, eh?"

"Oh yes, indeed." Marcus flashed a smile of epic proportions. "I count myself one thousand times blessed."

Nick was jolted by a fierce wave of envy. Marcus had succeeded in his grand scheme to win back Lydia by means of seduction, and now they were wed. Were he not a man of higher principle, he could easily have done the same—compromised Mariah and forced her hand, but that would have meant sacrificing every ounce of his self-respect. No, his sense of honor dictated that he win her only by honorable means. With no title or lands, his pride, reputation, and self-respect were all he had. Whatever the outcome tomorrow, he vowed to find some means of claiming her for his own. He knew with a certitude that ran bone deep that his only hope of true happiness depended on it.

***

"I cannot believe you have really done it, Lyddie!" Mariah exclaimed the moment they entered the privacy of the bedchamber. "You told me you would never have him!"

"Because I believed him too arrogant and conceited ever to seek my forgiveness, but I was wrong. Marcus is truly and genuinely contrite, and I have truly and genuinely forgiven him."

"Just like that?" Mariah snapped.

"Hardly. We were confined together for many hours in the carriage. At first, I wanted nothing to do with him, but then something changed." Lydia sighed dreamily. "Everything has changed."