Page 46 of The Duke In My Bed (The Heirs’ Club of Scoundrels #1)

Bray’s eyes narrowed and he folded his arms across his chest. “I thought we had established long ago that I will dare anything, Louisa.”

“But my sister!” she whispered earnestly.

“I knew you were a scoundrel of the highest order, and you keep proving it to me day after day. I can understand you seducing me, thinking you would then be able to force me to marry you so you can do the Prince’s bidding.

I was a more-than-willing victim, but seducing my sister is unforgivable. ”

The courtyard door opened again, and they had to move out of the way to let the couple come inside.

“What did you say about the Prince?” he asked.

She knew they were attracting attention and noticed a couple of ladies were looking at them, but at this point she didn’t care who knew she was angry with the duke.

Keeping her voice low, she said, “Yes, I know there is a dirty little secret between you and the Prince. Mr. Hopscotch told me that you are trying to force me to marry you in order to save the Prince, or England, or both from some kind of scandal. I don’t care if Napoléon miraculously raises another army and threatens England once again. I will not marry you.”

“Good.”

She blinked. “Good?”

“Very good. Did he tell you why he is desperate for us to marry?”

“Only that it would cause a huge scandal for the Prince and England if we didn’t.”

“It will. Our Prince has wagered the Elgin Marbles.”

“What?”

“Yes, the dirty little secret is that the Prince wagered the Elgin Marbles to the Austrian archduke that we would marry by June one. Mr. Hopscotch came to see me within a week of you coming to London, Louisa. He has been to see me several times, always impressing upon me the need for us to marry.”

“I didn’t know what it was. He didn’t tell me.”

“Oh, that’s right, the Prince’s minion told me not to tell, but when have I ever done what I was told to do?

When I suggested that you should ask me to marry you that night in your house, the Prince’s wager and what he’d asked me to do never crossed my mind!

A man pays his own gambling debts. I have told this to Hopscotch repeatedly.

As far as I am concerned, those damned stones will be just as well taken care of in a museum in Austria as in England.

If the Prince loses them, maybe that will teach our glutton of a prince a lesson that he shouldn’t raid England’s treasury and antiquities on foolish wagers. ”

Louisa was trying to make sense of his words about the Elgin Marbles, but Bray didn’t give her time to think. He kept talking.

“And as far as Gwen, Louisa, do you really think I would try to seduce your sister after I have made love to you?”

He looked so stricken that she said, “No, no.” And then, “I don’t know. What else am I to think except that you asked her to take a walk with you in the courtyard?”

“Maybe you could think that we were talking.” He stopped and let out a loud sigh. “If you want to know more, you will have to ask Gwen because quite frankly, Louisa, I find this accusation beneath you and I find it tiresome.”

Beneath me? Tiresome?

“Let me tell you what is beneath me and tiresome, Your Grace. It’s waiting for two years to hear from a scoundrel and then when I finally do, it’s not an appropriate marriage proposal, it’s an order, a command that we will be married. So here is my answer: No, thank you!”

Her breath leaped in her throat, and before she knew what she was doing, she drew back her hand and struck him across the face with her open palm. The sound of the slap reverberated around the room.

His head snapped back and he blinked. “I bet that stung your hand,” he said dryly.

“No,” she said honestly. “It felt good.”

She turned to walk away and saw that everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and was watching her and the duke. Even the music had stopped. No doubt those nearby had heard every word she said.

Louisa lifted her chin and her shoulders. Let them gawk, she thought. Let them banish her from the ton, write about her in the scandal sheets, or whatever they might do. She did not care and she was not sorry. The duke had had that slap coming for a long time.

Louisa realized that she actually felt better. In fact, she felt wonderful.

Without looking back at Bray, she started walking directly toward the crowd.

To her surprise, clapping and cheering erupted from everyone.

The people parted and allowed her to walk through.

She heard shouts of “Well done, Miss Prim, and it’s about time you showed him what you’re made of!

” and “You got what you deserved, Your Grace!”

Louisa paid them no mind. She kept walking and met no one’s eyes. She would wait outside for Mrs. Colthrust and Gwen.

***

Bray worked his jaw. She had strength in her lovely arms and a sting in her soft hands. She had caught him by surprise, but she was right and he knew it. He’d deserved the slap a long time ago. He just never thought she’d do it.

“I think the crowd is thinking it’s about time she let you have it square in the face,” Harrison said as he walked up beside Bray.

“And they are right,” Seaton added, walking around to the other side of Bray.

“Do you know what else they’re thinking?” Harrison asked.

Bray nodded as the crowd swallowed Louisa from his view. “That I should stalk after her, force her into my arms, and kiss her right here in front of everyone in the ton, and horrify all the dowagers, spinsters, and innocents, and stake my claim on her once and for all.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time you kissed a lady in public,” Harrison offered.

Seaton said, “Please, Harrison, you can’t equate Miss Prim with Bray’s mistresses when he was a mere boy of twenty-one.

That was years ago, when he was still trying to shock his father.

Besides, it was on a street where only two gentlemen saw it and then told about it.

There are over a hundred people here tonight. ”

Harrison looked at Bray. “A kiss right now would surely please a gossip-hungry crowd who’s begging for a better ending to the night than a well-deserved slap.”

“But you’re not going after her, are you?” Seaton added.

“No,” Bray said. “Let’s go get a drink.”