Page 110 of To Pleasure a Prince

He winced. “Yes.”

“And is that why you mentioned Simon carrying me off to Carlton House, the night you and Regina were caught together?”

He’d forgotten about that. “Yes.”

Her hand began to tremble. “You think Simon and the prince are up to something having to do with me. That’s why you don’t approve of Simon.”

“I…um…”

“And Regina knows, too, doesn’t she? She was so adamant that we wait two years, and I thought she was merely taking your side, but then the other night she was so angry at Simon for—” She groaned. “Saying that he loved me.” Her eyes filled with tears again. “He doesn’t, does he? He said he did, but he doesn’t.”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“And you knew all along?” she asked, turning an angry gaze on him. “You let me make a fool of myself over him, while all the time—”

“I didn’t know for sure. Regina had me half-convinced he was sincere. She believed he was sincere herself, until the night at Almack’s. And then—”

“Then what?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to know every detail. I deserve to know what’s been going on while I’ve been acting like a fool.”

Tears still glistened in her eyes, but now they were angry tears. She looked exactly like their mother had looked the day Marcus had thrown her out. God help Foxmoor now. Perhaps Marcus wouldn’t have to seek vengeance on the man, after all—Louisa might take care of it herself.

“I don’t know all of it,” he began, “only what Regina managed to wheedle out of her brother that night, but according to her…” He explained about the prince and his plans to bring Louisa to court.

With every word, her spine straightened, and her eyes glittered more brightly, until he was sure she would turn into one of the Furies any minute, flying out across England to tear Foxmoor’s head off. Marcus hoped he got to watch.

“And no one saw fit to tell me this,” she bit out. “Even Regina kept it secret.”

The hint of betrayal in her voice made him say hastily, “She had good reason, angel.” He explained what Foxmoor had threatened, and she paled.

“Oh, Lord, the man is truly despicable!” She glared at him. “And don’t say what you’re thinking. Yes, you were right about him, I admit it. But if I had known even a fraction of this—”

“I didn’t have any proof until recently,” he said defensively.

“Yes, but you had reasons for your opinions, which you were apparently voicing freely to everybody but me. And all because you didn’t want me to know about my dubious parentage.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I know now. The only thing I don’t know is how much of this ‘courtship’ was plotted by His Highness.”

Marcus stared at her blankly. “All of it, I imagine.”

“Not all of it. Yes, the prince might have wanted me at court, but did he tell Simon to kiss me and say he loved me and—”

“Hekissedyou?” Marcus growled, coming up out of his chair. “I’ll tear the bastard limb from limb!”

“You will not.” She rose, too. “We can finally hold our heads up in society, and you arenotgoing to ruin that.”

“Pardon me?” he ground out. When had his sweet sister turned so fierce?

“I think Simon deserves a punishment more fitting to his crime.”

“And what exactly might that be?” he asked warily.

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, I have an idea. But first I need some information. And if His Highness would go to such great lengths to bring me to court, I think he ought to explain himself to my face, don’t you?”

“Certainly not.”

“Hear me out, Marcus. I have a right to know how much of this whole fiasco was due to His Highness’s plotting and how much to Simon’s ambition.”

Her hard tone made him uneasy. “I suppose.”

“I want to meet with the prince. And I want Simon there. Regina, too, since I trust her to say honestly—before His Highness—what her brother revealed to her.”