Page 123 of To Pleasure a Prince

“Damn it, Louisa—” Marcus began.

“Be quiet, Draker!” The prince rose slowly to his feet. “If she wishes to accept, it is none of your concern.”

Marcus strode up to him. “I am her guardian.”

“Yes, and you’ve certainly done a fine job of that,” His Highness retorted. “You kept her so sheltered at Castlemaine that it took a smooth-tongued fellow like Foxmoor only a month to convince her to run off to Gretna Green.”

“At your request!”

“That is not the point. She could stand to learn something of the real world. And she can do that at court.”

“She will get corrupted at court!”

“Marcus, please—” Louisa began.

“Enough, Louisa. It was a mistake coming here.” Marcus glared at the prince. “You were wrong—you haven’t changed one whit. You’re as selfish and manipulative as ever.” Striding over to Louisa, he took her by the arm. “Come, we’re going home. Come, Regina.”

Regina groaned. She had feared this might happen. When it came to His Highness, Marcus could not be rational.

“Come back here!” the prince called after them. “You will not walk away from me!”

“Watch me,” Marcus growled as he strode resolutely for the door with Louisa in tow and Regina right behind.

“Damn you, you stubborn fool—I did not know about the dungeon!” His Highness shouted.

Marcus halted, every inch of him turning to stone. A thick silence blanketed the room, cut only by Louisa’s whisper, “Does he meanourdungeon?”

“Louisa, dear,” the prince said hoarsely. “If you would please go with Lady Draker into the hall for a moment.”

“Regina stays.” Marcus faced his father with a stony glare. “She stays, or I do not.”

The prince blanched. “Very well. Louisa, if you would take that door to your left, you will find a lady-in-waiting just outside. I am sure she would be happy to show you Carlton House.”

Louisa had the good sense to obey.

As soon as she was gone, the prince lumbered toward them. “I take it your wife knows about your…er…time in the dungeon.”

“Three days,” Marcus growled. “It was three days, as you know full well.”

“I didn’t know, I swear it. Not until that day when your mother came at you with the poker. Why do you think she got so angry?”

“Because I told her to get out of my house,” Marcus said through gritted teeth. “And to take her whoreson lover with her.”

When the prince flinched, Regina laid her hand on Marcus’s arm. He took it, his fingers tightening painfully around hers.

“That, too,” His Highness admitted. “But that wasn’t all. She knew how I would react to hearing that she’d locked you in a dungeon for three days.” A sudden pain ravaged his face. “My God, Marcus, did you really think this whole business with Simon and Louisa was only about my wanting her at court? It was not, I assure you. I could think of no other way to get you to listen to me. I tried to tell you that very day you railed at me for it, but her striking you with the poker put an end to any rational conversation.”

He approached them with a heavy tread. “I waited for your temper to cool, then sent you a letter. It was returned unopened. They were all returned unopened. I sent a messenger, and you boxed his ears.” His voice trembled. “I kept thinking that you would surely go back into society eventually. That one day I would hear of you at some ball or other social function, and know that I might have a chance of meeting you there.”

Marcus was squeezing her hand so hard that she feared he might break it.

“But you never did,” His Highness said. “And then I heard of Louisa’s come-out, and I saw a way to have you both. Because I knew you would do anything to protect her, even brave Carlton House to snatch her from my clutches.”

Marcus said nothing still, just stared at the prince with a hollow-eyed gaze.

“Will you never forgive me?” the prince said in a hoarse whisper. “I did not know, I tell you. I would never have countenanced such a thing.”

“How could you not know?” Marcus choked out. “Did you not question it when I disappeared for three days?”