Page 72 of To Pleasure a Prince

Well, never again. He would make sure Louisa was free of Foxmoor forever.

“That’s my condition, Foxmoor,” Marcus repeated. “You leave Louisa alone, or there is no marriage between me and your sister.”

“Go to hell,” Foxmoor hissed.

“It’s not negotiable.”

“Then I’ll see you at Leicester Fields at dawn.”

“Fine,” Marcus answered. “I don’t care how I get rid of you, as long as you’re out of my sister’s life.”

“Enough,” Regina put in, her face pale as milk. “This is absurd. No one is fighting anyone.”

“Marcus, you’re being utterly unreasonable,” Louisa added as she came up beside him to lay her hand on his arm. “I won’t let you fight Simon.”

“Then say good-bye to him, angel.”

“You cannot think I would agree—”

“I’m your guardian,” he snapped, “so you will agree to whatever I say. And I say that you may no longer see this scurrilous scoundrel.”

“This will accomplish nothing,” Regina whispered.

He glowered at her. “I agreed toyourconditions. Now your brother will agree to mine, or I swear I will not marry you.”

Her chin trembled, but she faced her brother all the same. “Tell Lord Draker that you agree to his condition.”

“I will not! I’ll fight the bloody wretch first—”

“You won’t.” She cast her brother a pleading glance. “I am not going to be the subject of endless scandal for years because you insist on fighting a duel. His lordship is being an idiot, but that doesn’t mean I want to see him die. Or you die. Or both of you die.”

“There can be no duel,” Louisa agreed, as Marcus had known she would if brought to that choice. She stepped up to Foxmoor. “It’s all right, Simon—agree to what he asks. In two years, I can marry where I please. I love you enough to wait for you until I come of age. Then there will be naught he can do to stop me.”

Marcus started to retort, then noticed the blood draining from Foxmoor’s face. Two years would not suit the duke’s purposes. For whatever reason, Prinny seemed intent on bringing Louisa into his circlenow,not in two years.

A slow smile spread over Marcus’s face. “Do you hear that, Foxmoor? Shelovesyou enough to wait.” His tone grew snide. “And I’m sure you love her enough to do the same. I tell you what. I can be generous. I’ll amend my condition. If the two of you stay apart until Louisa turns twenty-one, I will give you my blessing. By then, I’ll be sure that you truly love her.”

Foxmoor cast Marcus a foul glance.

“That sounds reasonable to me, Simon,” Regina said.

At the steely note in Regina’s voice, Marcus swung his gaze to her. She was staring at her brother with a strangely disillusioned expression.

A rush of relief hit him.She knows. She may not have known of her brother’s intentions before, but she knows now.

“And if you will recall,” Regina went on with that same weary voice, “I won our wager, which means thatyoumust formally ask for Louisa’s hand and abide by her brother’s answer. I believe he has just given it.”

“I haven’t said you’ve won. I don’t call one successful night at Almack’s meeting our terms.”

Until now, Marcus hadn’t quite believed she’d been telling the truth about the terms of the wager. But apparently she had. Oddly enough, that cheered him. If she’d been looking out for Louisa’s interests from the beginning, then there was certainly hope for them.

“You said he had to turn into a gentleman suitable for society,” Regina retorted. “And he did.” When Foxmoor groaned, she added, “Besides, Louisa has just now entered society herself. It won’t hurt her to see more of it before she becomes a wife. So why not wait until she comes of age?”

Foxmoor glanced uneasily from his sister to Marcus, but the man clearly knew he was trapped. If he pressed the issue, he would have to explain to Louisa why he was in such a hurry to secure her. Yet by amending his condition, Marcus had ensured that Louisa would abide by it, too.

“Do you agree?” Marcus prodded.

Foxmoor hesitated, then bit out, “I agree.”