Page 38 of Marigold and the Marquess
“What do you think I mean?”
“Will…that is…are you going to take on a mistress? Or have other casual affairs? If this is what you intend, then please tell me the truth right now. I will never marry you if you choose to be unfaithful. I cannot. I would rather face the scandal.”
He took her in his arms. “I am going to be faithful, Marigold. That will never be our problem. I give you my sacred oath on it.”
She threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Leo. I knew you were too honorable ever to hurt me.”
“Don’t thank me. And how can you think of me as honorable? You know very well what I mean to do, and it is likely going to ruin our marriage.”
“That vengeful quest of yours. Yes, I know. I give you fair warning that I will do all in my power to keep you from succeeding. I don’t want you to become a murderer.”
“Marigold, keep out of this.” He frowned at her. “Going after a traitor is not murder.”
“If you’ve got the right man, perhaps not. But you are far too casual about determining guilt or innocence. You simply wish to be rid of them all, thinking that one of them must be the culprit. But what if you are wrong and none of them had anything to do with your capture?”
“Marigold, stop. You are to keep out of this.”
“I cannot. It is too late to stop me. I have already started gathering information. Why did you not tell me Lord Beldon was your second in command?”
She had been in his arms, but in the blink of an eye he had his hands on her shoulders and was now shaking her lightly. “How did you find this out?”
“He told me last night while he and I were waltzing. It was easy to gather bits of information from him. Men love to talk about themselves, especially when they are with a woman they wish to impress. It was not hard to get him talking. All it took was a slight nudge from me, a few pointed remarks, and you were all he spoke about.”
“Marigold,” he said, his expression darkening, “you are not to meddle. Beldon could be the traitor. I will not allow you to put yourself in danger.”
“But I am already in it. Why else was he supposedly courting me but to rile you? In truth, his courtship felt odd, as though he was merely tossing me compliments by rote. You know, following a script he had written out and memorized because he did not really care about me. If you wish to know what I think–”
Leo groaned, but then nodded. “Fine. Of course, I do.”
“Lord Beldon was only ever after me because he thought you were interested in me. Well, it is all over with now that you are going to marry me.”
“So you believe there’s an end to his ploy?” Leo’s expression turned grim. “The pleasure will be all the greater because he will now work on seducing my wife. It is far better sport than pretending to court a young lady I was hoping to court. Not that I ever meant to wage a campaign to woo you, for I had no intention of bringing you into this mess.”
“Have you and Beldon always had this competitive animosity between you?”
“Yes, but he’s been the competitive one. I couldn’t give a rat’s arse what he does or who he likes. But he’s always felt this perverse need to grab whatever is mine. Horses, women, it does not matter. If he thinks I desire something, he will go after it.”
She pursed her lips. “He caught on very quickly to your liking me, did he not? I wasn’t even aware of it, but he was.”
“He’s known me much longer than you have and always studies me closely. Which is why he is at the top of my list of suspected traitors.”
“Does this not seem a drastic escalation? Being competitive does not mean he wishes to destroy you. In fact, he seems to enjoy the game. Why would he end it?”
“He may have grown bored with it.”
“If that were so, he could have merely stopped playing the game. What reason would he have to attempt to destroy you?”
“I don’t know. That is not my concern. He is among my suspects and I will have my revenge. How am I not within my rights to shoot him if attempts to seduce you once we are husband and wife?”
“Leo, you are not really going to do anything to harm him, are you? First of all, I do not like him, and more to the point, I am not going to break my marriage vows. Second, you gave Ian your word that you would hold off and allow him time to investigate. I heard you give your word. You cannot renege. Tell me you will hold to this pledge.” This mattered to her because she needed to confide in Leo, be able to tell him all she had learned so they might solve this mystery together. How could she confide in him if she could not trust him to keep a cool head?
She did not think it wise to tell him everything just yet. Revealing Beldon’s offer to elope with her would set him off.
She did not need that powder keg exploding.
He clenched his jaw. “I am not going to renege on my word. I said I would give him and the Crown agents a month, and this is what I will do. A month, but not a minute beyond. Do not look at me that way, Marigold. I am not going to agree to give them more time.”
She understood his impatience and most certainly the pain and deprivation he’d suffered. But he needed to be reined in for his own good. “Nor should you,” she retorted, staring up at him with a frown to match his own. “By all means, go after those three men, Leo. Never mind that two of them will be innocent. Or perhaps all three of them are innocent. After all, getting revenge is more important than anything in the world. I applaud your determination. I think you should go right ahead and destroy the lives of those innocent men along with your own life and our marriage. Not to mention the devastation it will wreak on their families. It makes entirely good sense. I aspire to becoming a widow before I turn nineteen.”
