Page 96 of My Wicked Earl
“The Cottinghams returned to London this morning. Lord Cottingham admitted that he would soon have a titled son-in-law.” Cam grit his teeth. “You bastard.”
Colin struggled to sit up and removed a handkerchief from his coat pocket to dab at his battered lip. His eye was already swelling. “Well, it’s bloody not me. I have no intention of marrying Lady Helen. I have an aversion to birds.”
“You glib Irish—”
“I thought we all agreed I was barely Irish. Quit flinging that about. It’s insulting.”
Cam took a deep breath and shot him a murderous look. “I don’t care if you’ve promised to marry Lady Helen.”
“I didn’t. I’d never...” God his ribs hurt. “…marry that pea-wit.”
“You will marry Miranda. You’ve ruined her. Her reputation is—”
“Already in tatters,” Miranda said quietly from her place beside the Dowager. “Besides, Lord Kilmaire did not seduce some virginal spinster under your roof last night. I have not been a maiden for some time.”
Cam turned the most disturbing shade of beet. Had the situation not been so serious, Colin would have laughed out loud.
“Who . . .” Cam sputtered and turned wild eyes on Colin. “I’ll kill you.”
“And I will not be married to a man who doesn’t want me.” An anguished look shadowed her green eyes. “Whether he decides to marry Lady Helen, or any other woman, is not my concern. I would not have him marry me out of misguided duty. Lord Kilmaire has made his feelings toward me abundantly clear.”
“Apparently, I haven’t.” He’d held her all night, worshipped her as he had nothing else in his life, and still Miranda didn’t know what was in his heart.
“I will marry Ridley,” Miranda continued calmly, her voice barely hesitating as she said the viscount’s name. “I’m sure he’s still lurking about Gray Covington.”
“Miranda.” The Dowager took her hand. “The man is a disaster. A bounder.”
Stunned by her declaration, Colin found he couldn’t speak. Was she insane?
“I’m certain he can be convinced to overlook my indiscretion,” her voice caught, “in return for my substantial dowry. Grandmother can put out the story that it was not Lord Kilmaire leaving my room this morning, but was in fact, Ridley. Lady Dobson’s eyesight is a bit poor, is it not, Grandmother? There will be a tad of scandal, but it will not be insurmountable.”
Lady Dobson had seen him leave Miranda’s room? That certainly explained the welcome he’d received from Cam.
“Miranda, have you lost your mind?” Colin spat blood onto the handkerchief he’d found in his pocket. One of his lower teeth wiggled. “No. Absolutely not. Youwill notmarry Ridley. I did not leave you to go chasing after Lady Helen. She’s an insipid twit.”
“Colin,” she looked at him, lovely and resolute. “You do not have to do the honorable thing. I did not hold you to it years ago and I will not do so now.”
“Yes, he does.” Cam growled.
Another punch to his side, drove Colin down on one knee. Wincing with pain, he tried to take a deep breath. He’d be lucky if he could explain about the letter before the entire damn family murdered him in the drawing room. The Dowager refused to say a word, even though she knew full well what happened. God, even she believed he’d left Miranda for Lady Helen.
He needed to be the one to tell Miranda.
“Stop,” he looked at Cam, “doing that. Miranda,” he implored, “please listen to me, for just a moment. I did not leave you six years ago. Well, I did, but not for the reasons you assume. Ian fell ill, and I had to return to Runshaw Park. I left you a note with one of the footmen and one for your father. After my mother’s attack I received a reply, from you.”
“My God. I thought you were my friend. While I was in Macao you ruined my sister?” Cam raised his fist again. “I will call you out, I—”
The Dowager thumped her cane. “You will do no such thing, Sutton. I forbid it.” “Allow Lord Kilmaire to speak in his own defense. You were about to say, Lord Kilmaire?” This time, her eyes twinkled with a bit of encouragement.
For someone who usually had command of the spoken and written word, Colin found himself at a loss to explain his own role in the end of his relationship with Miranda. He’d seen the love in her eyes last night and the fact that he’d ever doubted her shamed Colin to the core.
“I never would have. . .” Colin took another breath trying to find the right words. “A letter arrived at Runshaw Park announcing your intentions to marry Lord St. Remy.”
“The Duke of Langford,” Miranda automatically corrected.
“The letter stated, rather bluntly, that you found me incredibly unsuitable for marriage. That the,” he hesitated, “affectionthat lay between us was no more than a mild flirtation. I wasn’t myself,” he said by way of apology. “and the token I had left for you was enclosed with the letter. I assumed—"
Miranda sucked in her breath, her hand pressed against her stomach. “You thought I would say such a thing to you, after…after…” The dark locks spun about her shoulders as she shook her head in disbelief. “We have been apart for six years because you received a letter? You never even tried to find out if it was true, did you? Never sought me out to hear such a thing from my own lips? Anyone could have written that letter. And what token? You gave me nothing.”
