A Too Convenient Marriage Read online

  ‘No, I’m not as stupid as you believe,’ she lied. The truth would see her banished back to the country with all hope of escape lost. Thankfully, the darkness of the carriage kept the shame from lighting up her face. She’d been a naive fool to believe Lord Howsham’s false compliments, but she’d been so lonely and he so attentive and insistent. Lord Howsham hadn’t cared for her. He’d only been after her dowry. She pressed her fingertips to her temples, chastising herself more than her father ever could.

  ‘If I’d known bringing you to London to try and make a good match would result in you throwing yourself at the first man who flattered you, I’d have left you at Rockland Place.’

  She wished he had, but remained silent. It was best not to provoke him. Instead, all she could do was play the dutiful daughter, bite back her anger at his and his family’s treatment of her in what they considered the name of generosity and humble herself once again. ‘I’m sorry, you’re right, I didn’t think.’

  ‘Indeed you didn’t. Whatever he might have promised you, Lady Rockland told me this morning he’s marrying the Earl of Colchester’s daughter in a fortnight.’

  ‘Seems he’d rather have a nobleman’s wife and her considerable inheritance than a bastard and her meagre dowry,’ Edgar mocked.

  Susanna balled her hands in her lap, wanting to pound on her thighs, the carriage, her father’s chest and her half-brother’s swollen face. Lord Howsham hadn’t just abandoned her for a woman with a more robust lineage and fortune, but he’d told her the deepest of lies a man could tell a woman. She’d fallen for them like some kind of country simpleton, allowing Lord Howsham to press himself on her in the hope he might love her. In the end, it’d gained her nothing but more scorn.

  ‘You’d better hope Mr Connor and Lord Howsham are both willing to keep their mouths shut about this. If not, what little I’ve been able to achieve on your behalf will be gone,’ her father threatened.

  Susanna almost wished it was gone. For all the effort he thought he was extending on her behalf, she’d seen very little love or true concern about her and her future. All he and his wife, Augusta, seemed to care about was getting rid of the taint hanging about their house in the form of her.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re going to entertain a common man like him.’ Edgar rubbed at the dark bruise forming on his cheek. ‘If I were you, I’d have him thrown in jail for what he did to me.’

  ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t want such an embarrassing beating made public for all of London to read about in the papers,’ their father answered. ‘As it is, I believe Mr Connor can be of some use to us.’

  ‘What could he possibly do for us?’

  ‘He might be the solution to the new problem Susanna has presented us with.’

  Susanna’s stomach tightened as it had the morning after her mother’s funeral when Lord Rockland had stepped through the door of their simple wine shop and looked down his aquiline nose at her. She’d known by the way he’d studied her, as he did now, her life was about to change. The little love she’d enjoyed with her mother, who’d done all she could to protect her daughter from the taint of being a bastard among their friends, relatives and neighbours, had ended. Instead of leaving her with all the people she’d ever known, although they weren’t any more loving than the Rocklands, Lord Rockland had taken her into his household to have her moulded into heaven knew what. She’d never been like Edwina, her half-sister and his legitimate daughter, coddled and dressed and paraded through court and the ballrooms. Instead she’d been a barely tolerated companion and chaperon who was now being thrust into society in the hope her family might foist her off on someone else. Lord Rockland should have left her in the wine shop.

  ‘Whatever you have in mind, I want no part of it,’ Susanna said and was scolded with a cold glare.

  ‘You’ll go along with my wishes or you’ll find yourself cast out of my house, with the promise of the dowry rescinded and you left, like any little whoring bastard, to fend for yourself. Do I make myself clear?’

  ‘You do,’ she answered with feigned meekness. Tonight was a setback, but it wasn’t the end of her plans. Her father wouldn’t decide her future as he had when she was thirteen, nor would he get his way. She’d make a life for herself somewhere, somehow, get her thousand pounds of dowry and be free of the Rocklands for ever.

  Chapter Two

  Justin stepped into the Rocklands’ ornate Grosvenor Square entrance hall, unfazed by the painted cherubs and knights peering down at him from the gilded ceiling. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in a grand man’s home. In the many years he’d helped his friend and employer, Philip Rathbone, collect debts, there’d been a few titled men who’d defaulted. They’d face Philip and Justin to either return the money or hand over whatever cherished family silver or priceless paintings they’d set up as collateral.

  ‘Good day, Mr Connor, and thank you for coming,’ Lord Rockland greeted Justin as the butler showed him into the wide study situated near the centre of the house. The books lining the many shelves held little interest for Justin. The experience he’d gathered from his years as Philip’s assistant was more practical and valuable to a man interested in trade than a book full of theories or pretty poetry.

  There was no sign of Miss Lambert as the duke led him to a pair of wingback chairs in front of the fire. Between the chairs stood a table laden with a selection of liquors. Now here was something Justin could appreciate.

  ‘What will you have?’ Lord Rockland asked.

  ‘Something expensive.’

  The surprised arch of Lord Rockland’s eyebrow didn’t trouble Justin as the older man picked up the decanter with the silver brandy tag hanging on a delicate chain around its neck and poured out a healthy measure. He handed the thick glass to Justin, who took a taste, impressed. This was fine drink, not the rotgut he usually endured when he was sent to extract information from common men regarding the suitability of Philip’s potential clients.

  Lord Rockland poured himself a glass, then motioned for Justin to take a seat across from him. Once both men were settled, the duke wasted no time getting to the matter. ‘A man like you with such a fine chaise must do well in business.’

  ‘I do well enough,’ Justin answered with a shrug. The chaise was Philip’s. Justin had been forced to sell his to repay a few investors after the ship had gone down. The loss of his fine vehicle and the matching grey horses had hurt almost as much as the loss of his business.

  ‘And what exactly is it you do?’ Lord Rockland enquired.

  ‘I’m in business with a man who loans clients money. I investigate the quality of their collateral and assist my employer in obtaining payment if their debt goes unpaid.’

  ‘It certainly explains your skill with your fists.’

  He pinned the duke with a sharp look. ‘I don’t extract payments in such a way. I use it to defend myself against uncalled-for attacks.’

  ‘My apologies again for last night.’ Lord Rockland swirled the brandy in his glass, then took a sip. ‘Our emotions were running high after my daughter’s ill-advised adventure. I’m afraid neither my son nor I was thinking straight.’

  ‘I see.’ Justin didn’t, but he could play along. ‘I don’t intend to continue in my present occupation. I mean to establish myself as a wine merchant, once I have sufficient funds.’

  It wasn’t a subtle hint, but he wanted the man to come to the point. He didn’t have time to lounge in Grosvenor Square, drinking a duke’s brandy all day.

  ‘I see.’ The older man tapped the side of his glass. ‘Then allow me to propose an offer, one, as a man of business, you’re sure to appreciate.’

  Justin took a deep drink, savouring the rich liquor, then set the glass aside. ‘I’m listening.’

  ‘As you might know from gossip, Miss Lambert is not my legitimate daughter.’

  Justin hadn’t known, nor did he care. Half the people he dealt with were born without the vicar’s blessing. It didn’t matter to him.


  ‘Before her mother died, I promised to give Susanna a thousand-pound dowry if she married a gentleman I approved of,’ Lord Rockland explained.

  ‘How very generous of you.’ And worrying. He was starting to wonder what exactly Lord Rockland intended to offer him.

  ‘I’m a man who takes responsibility for my mistakes.’ He enjoyed another sip before continuing. ‘Susanna, as you might have noticed, is a headstrong woman who often acts before she thinks. It’s made finding her a respectable husband difficult, even with the promise of her dowry. She nearly threw away the money last night with her impulsive behaviour and now I must hurry to rectify the situation before all is lost.’

  ‘For you, or for her?’ Justin asked, suspecting it wasn’t the young lady Lord Rockland was worried about as much as the taint her escapade might leave on his family.

  ‘For both of us, and you. I’m prepared to give you Miss Lambert’s thousand-pound dowry if you agree to marry her.’

  Justin stopped the glass halfway to his lips and stared at the man from across the aromatic brandy. ‘You want me to marry your daughter?’

  ‘Assuming you’re not already married.’

  ‘I’m not.’ Justin frowned, the memory of Helena’s rejection stinging as much as his knuckles after the beating he’d given Lord Sutton last night. Justin took a long drink, barely tasting it as it burned past his tongue. It was her loss, not his.

  ‘Good. As a man of business, I’m sure you won’t dismiss such a tempting offer so lightly and will keep the details of last night private. I possess grave concerns about Lord Howsham’s ability to remain silent on the matter.’ Lord Rockland sighed as though they were discussing a troublesome horse which wouldn’t trot properly and not a young woman and her future. ‘It’s only a matter of time before Susanna’s reputation is called into question and all chances of her making a more advantageous match are gone.’

  Justin opened his fingers over the glass, then closed them, one by one, trying to ignore Lord Rockland’s unintended insult. Justin was no nobleman’s son, only the common son of a man who’d served Philip’s father the same way Justin served Philip. Despite the way Justin’s father and Helena derided him for wanting to be more, he wasn’t about to make something of himself off the back of some young lady. ‘She doesn’t need a husband. She needs a better chaperon.’

  Lord Rockland’s chiselled cheek twitched. ‘I don’t think you clearly understand what I’m offering you.’

  ‘I understand exactly. Money and a connection to the Rockland family. I know what these things are worth. I also understand the price your daughter would pay for me to obtain them. I won’t ask it of any woman.’

  Lord Rockland gaped at Justin as though it’d never occurred to him Justin might refuse what he considered a magnanimous gesture. ‘I assure you, she’s quite amenable to the idea.’

  ‘You don’t know me, she doesn’t know me and neither of you know what kind of man I am.’ Although Justin was coming to understand clearly what kind of family this was.

  ‘From what I’ve seen, you’re a man of honour and integrity who’ll treat my daughter as well as any man is expected to treat his wife.’

  Lord Rockland’s love and concern for his child was enough to make Justin sick. ‘No.’

  ‘Perhaps if you were to speak to her, you might see how much you have in common?’ Lord Rockland rose and strode to the door leading to an adjoining room and pulled it open. ‘Susanna, please join us.’

  ‘I’m afraid you’re mistaken.’ Justin stood. He had better things to do than sit here and humour this ridiculous idea.

  Then, in a swish of silk skirts the young woman appeared and whatever it was he needed to do today was forgotten.

  If Miss Lambert’s eyes had captivated him in the dim light of the lanterns hanging from the trees above Vauxhall Gardens, in the sunlight, they blazed with a green which nearly knocked him out of his boots. She strode closer, sparing not a glance for her father, but focusing entirely on Justin. The rich chestnut hair framing her face bounced a touch with each step, making the soft ringlets graze the long line of her neck and high cheeks. He envied the curls, especially the one resting over the swell of her breast. The creaminess of her skin was just visible beneath the fine netting of her fichu while the rest of her supple roundness was covered by a brown-silk gown in a tone to match her hair. It heightened the colour of her skin with a warmth he longed to bury his face in and inhale.

  Despite the allure of her full curves, it was her eyes which continued to command him. They were intelligent, quick, hiding her thoughts, but telling him they existed, and not one was concerned with the frippery of dresses or gossip. She was playing the demure, dutiful daughter for her father’s sake, but Justin caught the steely resolve beneath the polished manners. It was the will of a woman with a plan she was as eager to implement as Justin was to establish his wine business. She’d been foolish last night, but Justin sensed it was a momentary weakness, like his proposal to Helena or the five pounds he’d spent on a bottle of wine last week, or what he was very near to agreeing to do.

  He settled his shoulders, determined to resist the fleeting temptation of an attractive woman, confident she couldn’t change his mind about this match, even if the part of him low down wanted her to win him over.

  ‘I’ll leave you two to discuss the matter,’ Lord Rockland offered.

  The duke’s words broke the spell cast by Miss Lambert’s eyes.

  ‘And then cry foul once the two of us are left alone. No, thank you,’ Justin protested.

  It wasn’t the first time a father had tried to get him alone with his daughter in an attempt to snare her a husband.

  ‘I won’t cry foul. She’s been compromised enough already,’ Lord Rockland flung off as he slid the doors closed behind him.

  ‘Quite a charming father you have there,’ Justin remarked.

  Miss Lambert dropped her hands from where she’d been demurely holding them in front of her and rolled her pretty eyes. ‘He’s the envy of the ton.’

  She walked over to the small selection of drinks and picked up the brandy. She splashed a tiny drop into a glass, then tossed back the contents, shivering as it went down.

  If this was meant to shock Justin it did, but there was something in the confidence of her movement, the surety with which she was executing what he felt was a clear plan, he had to admire.

  ‘Shall I pour you some more?’ she asked.

  ‘No.’ He needed a clear head for this encounter. ‘I gather you’re in favour of your father’s suggestion.’

  She set the glass down with a clunk. ‘How very intuitive of you.’

  ‘It’s part of my job to guess what people will do before even they know. It helps me to avoid trouble.’

  Her full lips turned down at the corners. ‘I’m not the trouble my father has made me out to be if that’s what’s worrying you.’

  ‘I’m not worried about anything, since I have no intention of marrying you.’

  ‘But you will.’ She crossed her arms under her breasts and the slight rise of the full mounds was distracting.

  ‘I assure you, I won’t.’ Justin forced himself to focus, surprised by the ease with which Miss Lambert affected him.

  ‘I don’t think you fully comprehend the benefits of the agreement.’ She rolled one graceful hand in the air between them, her nails short and neatly buffed.

  ‘Oh, Miss Lambert, trust me, I understand very well the benefits.’ He caressed her lithe body with his eyes, following the faint trace of a small waist and rounded hips beneath the flowing dress. He took the last fortifying sip of brandy to ease the heat rising inside him. He needed to reason with his brain, not his member.

  She squared herself at him, sure in herself and her goal. Her confidence was currently her most appealing and annoying trait. ‘I heard most of the conversation between you and my father. I know you think I don’t want this marriage, but I do.’

  ‘You don’t even know me. For all you know I c
ould be a drunk who likes to beat women.’

  ‘You aren’t such a man. You have too much integrity. If you didn’t, you’d have accepted my father’s offer without bothering to talk to me, set a date for the wedding and rushed through to the bedding as fast as possible.’

  Justin tipped his empty glass to her. She was flattering him, a somewhat effective tactic. ‘Perhaps, but even with you standing here demanding we wed I won’t take you.’

  ‘What if I could be of use to you?’

  He winked at her. ‘I don’t need to be married for that.’

  She frowned then, the small pursing of her lips as tempting as the subtle rise and fall of her chest.

  ‘I mean in business. I can make my father increase his offer, especially since he’s so eager to be rid of me.’ A pain Justin recognised rippled through her eyes. She wasn’t alone in enduring the condemnations of a demanding and stubborn father. Justin knew a little something about it, too. ‘A word of support from him will have clients lining up at your door.’

  ‘I’m aware of this, Miss Lambert, but it’s not so much the clients I’m worried about as it is my wife.’ He set his glass down. ‘I don’t want to look around one day and find you back in Lord Howsham’s bed or in some other man’s.’

  For the first time since she’d entered the room her eyes dropped from his and a flush of red washed over her creamy skin. Her shame didn’t last as she raised her head to meet his gaze again with a will as seductive as the faint scent of jasmine gracing her skin. ‘I don’t blame you for being suspicious of me and my motives, so I’ll be as honest with you as you’ve been with me. I didn’t run after Lord Howsham out of lust. I did it because I believed he’d offer me the things Lord Rockland never has, the freedom of my own home and a place as something more than a bastard. You’re worried I’ll chase after every lord who comes my way. The truth is I want nothing more to do with any of them, not even my father. If you agree to the marriage, I will maintain contact with my father in an effort to help you. I could be quite an asset to your wine business.’