Page 33 of Marigold and the Marquess
Thuck, thuck, thuck.
Lady Withnall, London’s most notorious gossip, marched in with her cane in hand. “Good evening, Lady Withnall. I can explain. It was all a silly misunderstanding, you see.”
She knew the woman fairly well and liked her, for Lady Withnall and her bosom companion, Lady Eloise Dayne, had sponsored her friend Adela’s come-out and took credit for Adela’s love match with the Duke of Huntsford when they wed. There was no escaping either of those Society grand dames, for two of Eloise’s grandsons had married two of John’s daughters, and Eloise lived next door to them at Number 5 Chipping Way.
As for Lady Withnall, one could not shake her once she was on the scent. By the twitch of her ferret nose, she was decidedly on the scent.
Marigold groaned, for she and Leo were about to be roasted. They had been caught, he with his tongue plundering her mouth and his hands in places they should never have been on her body.
All this in full view of the elders when they had walked in.
Leo glared at her.
She frowned back. “You should have walked out with the others and left me to cry. Do not try to pin this disaster solely on me.”
“He made you cry?” her Uncle Rupert said with a growl.
She shook her head furiously. “No…well, yes…but not in the way you think. He was trying to push me away, supposedly for my own good.”
Lady Withnall cleared her throat. “You were twisted around each other like two clinging vines. I do not think your definition and ours ofpush me awayare quite the same.”
“Lady Withnall, I assure you, he wants nothing to do with me. We were bidding farewell to each other.” Her protestations were ignored, for Lady Barrington now walked in and Marigold knew there would be no turning back.
The others, as angry as they were, could be convinced to remain silent.
But Lady Barrington?
She was a woman scorned and out for Leo’s blood. “You deserve that little nobody,” she said, spitting the words at Leo. “I will not be silenced.”
She hurried off to do her worst.
John, patriarch of the Farthingale family, stepped forward. “Lord Muir, need I involve my sons-in-law to convince you to do the right thing?”
After their conversation with Leo, she knew marrying her was the last thing Ian, Gabriel, or Graelem would ever recommend. “Yes,” she blurted, “bring them into the discussion. It is an excellent idea.”
Leo threw his hands up in exasperation. “Yes, why do we not hold a street fair and invite all of London to walk through? It is unnecessary to bring anyone else into this…this situation. I shall obtain the license first thing tomorrow morning. I assume you have authority to give your consent, Mr. Farthingale?”
“Why must he consent to anything?” Marigold’s eyes narrowed. “Uncle John, please believe me when I say it is entirely unnecess–”
Leo emitted a low growl to silence her. “Marigold, do you think I am going to allow Lady Barrington to destroy your reputation? We are getting married. That is an end to it.”
His eyes were a fiery blaze, as though he was a demon just emerged from the underworld.
“But–”
“The matter is resolved,” he said with another deep growl that had her insides fluttering. “We are getting married.”
She opened her mouth to continue her protest, then snapped it shut because she suddenly realized why Leo dared not make a scene. If Ian, Gabriel, or Graelem were summoned, there would be further discussion about his quest for vengeance.
He was concerned word would spread about that. He could not risk his quarry being put on alert as to his plans. To Leo, this was the true danger. He did not care about being caught in a minor scandal over his kissing a virginal debutante. He did not care if news of their kiss appeared in the gossip rags.Was a certain Marquess M caught in the Duke of Edgeware’s library ruining an innocent debutante rumored to be a certain Miss F?
Their scandal could appear on the front page of every newspaper in London and he would not care because he was going to make it right. But his quest for revenge? That needed to be kept secret. “Did you hear me, Marigold? There is no way out of this. We are getting married.”
Was he awaiting her nod? “Yes, Leo.”
She fully comprehended the necessity of it and felt terrible she had led him to this end. However, he was as much to blame for not leaving her to her bout of sobbing.
Lady Barrington was now back with a group of her friends, all of them determined to make a circus of her being caught in an indiscretion.
