Page 55 of Midnight with the Marquess (The St. Clairs 2)

Chapter Seventeen

Rachel placed hercheek against Evan’s beating heart, dazed by everything that had just taken place. Then, from out of nowhere, someone shouted and ripped her from Evan’s lap, forcefully tossing her onto the bench next to him. She saw Jeremy jerk Evan to his feet. Her brother smashed his fist into Evan’s face and a loud crunch sounded. Immediately, blood spurted everywhere and Rachel knew Evan’s nose had been broken.

In horror, she watched Jeremy slam his fist into Evan’s face, over and over, even as the marquess kept his hands to his sides, refusing to defend himself. She leaped to her feet and jumped between them.

“Stop!” she cried. “You’re killing him.”

Rage filled her brother’s face. Fortunately, he contained it and halted his next blow. If not, she would have been sporting a broken cheekbone. Catherine came and pulled Jeremy back a few feet as Evan collapsed onto the bench.

“You have ruined my sister,” Jeremy spat out. “You will leave in the morning for London to obtain a special license.”

Rachel saw resignation on Evan’s face as he nodded in agreement. Nausea filled her. She loved Evan. Everything about him. But he didn’t love her. They had an amazing physical attraction between them but the Marquess of Merrick had never given her any indication that he felt anything beyond that. She couldn’t marry a man who didn’t love her. She wouldn’t see him forced to marry her. If she trapped him in this way, neither of them would ever find happiness.

“No.”

Jeremy snapped his head toward her. “No?”

“No,” Rachel said firmly. “There is to be no special license. No wedding.”

Her brother pulled away from Catherine and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. “Rachel, this man has compromised you. He must wed you, the sooner the better.”

Resolve filled her. “I asked him to do what he did.”

“What?”

Anguish filled her. “I have seen how madly in love you and Catherine are. How Leah and Alford look at one another. I’ve barely been kissed, Jeremy. I wanted to see what it was all about. Merrick only kissed me because I asked him to.”

Jeremy scowled. “He did far more than kiss you.”

“I know. I was curious. I begged him. But rest assured, I am not compromised. Merrick did touch me but we did not have relations.”

“Still, he—”

She jerked away, fire blazing within her now. “Listen to me, Jeremy St. Clair. Get it through that thick skull of yours. Iwill notmarry this man. Special license or not. If you force me to stand with him in front of a clergyman, I will merely embarrass you for I will remain silent. I’ll not take vows with a man I don’t love.”

Rachel took her brother’s hand. “You know I want a love match. It’s why I didn’t choose any of the gentlemen I met during the Season. Because I wasn’t in love. I would rather sit on the shelf and be a doting aunt to all my nieces and nephews than compromise myself by marrying a man I don’t love. Would you force me into a marriage that I would be miserable in? Waking up every day to a man I had no desire to be around for decades? Have children with a man I didn’t love?”

She crossed her arms. “You won’t. You love me too much to do that.” She waved her hands in the air. “Look around. No one present at Fairfield saw us here tonight. Everyone is saying their goodbyes to Alford and Leah. They are sorting their way to their carriages or going upstairs and falling exhausted into bed. Only you two saw what happened, I assume because you also had naughty plans.”

Her brother flushed but didn’t deny her words.

“If every party here promises to bury this, then it will stay buried. No one need ever know what took place tonight. I will be free. Free to find a man I love. I am still a virgin. Still intact. My wedding night with the man I love can take place successfully without anyone the wiser.”

She squeezed his hand. “Please, Jeremy. Please. Let us put this incident behind us. Merrick is not the man I love. He’s not the man I wish to marry and spend the rest of my life with.”

Knowing her brother as well as she did, Rachel saw when he gave in. Obviously, he wasn’t happy about it, but at least he could see her reasoning.

“Very well. But not a word to Leah. It would distress her. And she’d only tell Alford. We must agree that this remains between the four of us.” Jeremy glared at Evan. “Do you understand, Merrick?”

Rachel finally looked in his direction. Blood covered the front of him. Already, one eye had swollen shut. His nose sat crooked and bruises covered his face. She watched him nod in agreement.

“You’re never to speak to Rachel again. Never even be in the same room with her,” Jeremy instructed.

“That will be a little hard to pull off,” she noted. “He’s Alford’s best friend and will stand with him at the wedding ceremony.”

Her brother’s face darkened. “Alford would have too many questions if you refused. I can’t have that.” At that moment, Jeremy drew himself up as haughtily as any duke who’d ever lived. “You will make some excuse and not come to Eversleigh until the morning of the wedding. You may go directly to the St. Clair Chapel. I’ll even grant you admission to the wedding breakfast—but you will stay away from Rachel. Don’t look at her. Don’t speak to her. Make your wedding toast and then quietly slip away. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

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