Juliet smiled at her. “I’d like that very much.”
“Excellent! Then as my new friend, you must start calling me Emma at once.”
“Very well. And you must call me Juliet.” Even if her husband seemed a beast, he had made a good choice in choosing Lord Sinclair for a friend. She rather liked his wife and that was a welcome emotion under the circumstances.
Chapter 9
“Has your brain crawled out your ear?” Marcus asked before the door to Patrick’s study closed.
“No.” Patrick plopped himself down in the chair behind his desk as gracefully as a pig flopping into a mud puddle. He shot his friend a self-deprecating smile. “My brain is still lodged in my skull. The only difference is, it’s no longer functioning in the same manner it once did. Instead of making rational and logical decisions, it would seem its sole purpose has become to ensure my skull does not implode.”
Marcus shook his head. “What exactly have you done?”
“Taken a bride.”
“Yes, that much I already know.”
Patrick shifted to get more comfortable in his chair. “What do you want to know?”
“Why did you marry that woman?”
Patrick blinked. Surely Marcus of all people would not be so superficial to see only Juliet’s not-quite-so-fetching looks. “She has a brain.”
“Yes, something you seem to lack at the moment. Perhaps she’ll share hers with you.” He flashed Patrick a grin. “What I meant was why did you choose her?”
“I already told you. She has a fine education,” Patrick said smoothly. He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. “Besides, the girls seem to like her.”
“Let me make sure I have this correct,” Marcus said, crossing his arms. “Since I last saw you―only a week ago―you have already remarried?”
Patrick nodded and brought his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers. “Unlike you, I don’t hesitate to marry the woman I want.”
Marcus winced at his words. “Are you actually trying to convince me you wanted to marry her?”
“Of course.”
Marcus’ sharp grey eyes impaled him. “Why?”
“I already told you,” Patrick said defensively. “Besides, what makes you think I should consult with you before I do anything?”
“Because it’s becoming apparent you need to consult with someone before you make decisions.” He sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. “That woman has feelings, Patrick. And I know you think your intentions are good, but they’re not and you’re going to hurt her.”
“You would know all about that sort of thing, wouldn’t you?”
“My actions are not for you to judge,” Marcus snapped. “And if they were, you’d realize what I was trying to do was with someone else’s best interest in mind. What you’re doing is completely self-serving.”
Patrick shook his head. “No it’s not. Actually, it’s one of those rare situations in life where everyone emerges a winner. My daughters get both a mother and a governess, and Juliet gets a husband. Not only does she get a husband, but she gets a title, a nice place to live, and a sizable amount of pin money. I fail to see how she got bamboozled in the least.”
“She did.”
Patrick blinked owlishly at his friend’s firm tone. How could Marcus possibly think Juliet got swindled? “How so?”
“Because you’re using her,” Marcus said flatly.
“I disagree.” Patrick brought his tanned hands out from behind his head and folded them on his stomach. “She’s being compensated for her efforts.”
“Is she? Then I suppose in addition to the generous salary you’re giving her, she’ll also be spending her nights in that little dusty room that’s positioned next to the schoolroom, and taking her evening meal there, too?”
“Absolutely not,” Patrick said with a shake of his head. “She is still a viscountess. She’ll have her morning meal with me, then spend her day with the girls, and then rejoin me for dinner.”
“And she’s game for this...this...” He waved one scarred hand in the air. “I can’t even think of a word for it, Patrick.” Marcus’ eyes narrowed. “She did know about this arrangement before she agreed to marry you, didn’t she?”
Patrick’s face heated with shame.
“She didn’t,” Marcus concluded aloud before Patrick could comment. “And I always thought Alex Banks was the most obtuse man in existence,” he mumbled under his breath.
Patrick lowered his eyes. That was yet another way he’d made a hash of things with Juliet. The day he’d gone to talk to her father, he’d brushed her off in the hallway, then she’d come out to talk to him and― And what? His eyes narrowed. What had she come outside for? Something wasn’t right, but what?