Page 65 of Baron in Check
“It’s not her home anymore,” the solicitor said. “A woman like her has no claim.”
“How noble, Baron, to try to marry your mistress. I heard you’d make such an attempt, but I’ve made other arrangements,” List said.
“What arrangements?” Hermy took a wide stance but crossed her arms and hugged herself. She stood far from Greg, and he saw her as a deer cornered on a dog hunt.
“I suggested sending her to a convent. They say ice baths and daily lessons in propriety shall cure her soul,” David said.
“What?” Arnold stepped forward. “I’m her appointed guardian, and I won’t allow it.”
Hermy cast him a hopeful look.
“She comes with the Earldom, but I want to marry another,” David said. “And it’s another title I want.”
“So another has to step in.” List snapped like a hungry dog catching a treat in the air.
Hermy moved her lips as if to speak but no words came out.
“You want to marry another and have her ladyship declared an imbecile so that you can take over the Earldom?” Greg asked David.
“No, I—” but David didn’t finish.
“He’s lost it all to me already,” List said. “But you can keep the girl, I have my baroness already.”
CHAPTER 30
“You planned this from the outset,” Hermy said when List had announced that David had gambled away the earldom to him and she was to be sent to convent because List already had a wife.
“I didn’t actually. It was David here who lost to me at cards at White’s and mentioned he was in line to marry a wealthy heiress he didn’t know. He was rather heartbroken, and I tried to assist him.” List put his arm around David and rubbed his hair. “Now he can return to London and marry for love, unburdened by the earldom.”
David looked like a baited fish, his belly full of breadcrumbs but unable to breathe.
Arnold stepped forward, undeterred by List. “Which title did you want?”
Greg came to Hermy’s side and tried to put his hand on hers, but she flinched and stepped away. She’d been embarrassed before but this was worse than even her wildest nightmares.
“The Black Knight,” David said.
“I beg your pardon?” Greg asked.
List’s mien fell. “He’s not the brightest, is he?”
“Why?” Arnold asked calmly.
“I … ahem…” David pushed List away and rubbed his head. “It’s just I wasn’t so good at school. Almost dropped out of Oxford for low marks. I don’t want an Earldom with more work, ledgers, and reading. I want to show that I’m smart enough to win a title that demands respect.”
“Which is…” Arnold raised his brows and gestured for David to talk.
“The Black Knight.”
“My chess title?” Greg looked perplexed.
“You’re a legend, Baron Stone. Back at Oxford, there’s a wall in which we carved our best moves under a large bust of a Black Knight.”
“He is rather brilliant,” Arnold said, eyes wide, inviting Greg to join him.
Hermy’s heart lurched. They were planning something; she recognized their mischievous tone from when they were children.
“You will never beat me and get the title,” Greg said, taking a wide stance that almost blocked Hermy’s view of David. “And I don’t play with amateurs.”
