The Rakehell Regency(8)

Gerald passed a hand over his face to hide his disconcerted expression. Once again, his lies had backfired upon him. He shifted uneasily in the frayed red silk and gilt chair and tried to rescue the desperate situation by saying in a soothing tone, "I know he's a terrible person. All I've told you about him and more is perfectly true. But short of selling everything we have and moving away, nothing less will satisfy him.



"It won't be so bad, dear sister. I'll be right here to protect you. Moreover, the censure of public opinion will buffer you from his more rampant excesses."



She flung out her hand impatiently. "And exactly who will protect me in my chamber at night? In my bed?" she hissed. "You talk of this as if it were a business arrangement. As if marrying me to a criminal and debaucher means nothing! But it means everything to me. It's my safety and happiness we're discussing. Surely there must be another solution? I refuse to sell myself to anyone like a common whore, not even to help you."



"Now, now, Vanessa, language, please! As the head of this family, you will do as I say," he stated firmly.



She snorted in derision. "You may well be head of the family, Gerald, but it is I who possess the fortune. Money is power. I'm certainly not going to hand my power or my person over to anyone without sober consideration. I'll simply speak to my solicitors. Apply to them for funds. You will have no objection to me clearing the debt, I take it, and there will be an end of the matter."



Gerald struggled to keep his face impassive and his tone even. "But nothing less will satisfy him than to be paid immediately, and to wed you. It will take too long to settle the matter with the solicitors."



Vanessa presented a stiff black satin-covered back to him. "Not as long and painful as my life will be married to a man I fear, a man I could never esteem, respect or love."



"But what of the gossip? You'll be ruined."



She spun to face him again. "You gambled me! I've done nothing to be ashamed of! And you should have thought of that gossip before you made the Devil's own bargain.



"I'm sure no one at the table proposed such a monstrous arrangement. It was all the product of your greedy little mind. I know we are only half-brother and sister and weren't really raised together. I can't blame you entirely for a lack of appropriate feeling toward me. But I can't believe you would think so little of me that you could have attempted to deal with my entire future in so high-handed and cavalier a manner."



"Please, Vanessa. I want only the best for you, and there did not appear to be any harm. I would be more than happy to see you wed to any one of my friends, or either of our cousins, Peter or Toby. Any of the men who played would have been a good match. Clifford was the worst of them," he fibbed, "and sadly, he won. But you could do worse too in terms of material goods. Stone Court is a magnificent estate, and as chatelaine there you will have more status than you ever dreamt of."



She stared. "But you told me he was financially desperate enough to want me for my money--"



"And there can be no false expectations, for it is all up front and above board. He is marrying you for your fortune, plain and simple. Better to know that now than to get all sorts of fustian notions of romance in your head. Marriage is a business arrangement, plain and simple. You would have been in the Mart now looking for a good match had your dear aunt not died in her sleep, God rest her."



Vanessa froze in front of the hearth, as tense as a cobra about to strike. At the mention of her aunt she sniffed, and flung herself down on the ragged footstool next to her.



"I know I have been raised quietly in Dorset with my books and stable and the estate affairs, and am not quite as fly to the time of day as you are, Brother. It is true, the Marriage Mart is as you say. But I had hoped to escape it for some time yet. I was hoping to enjoy some freedom, my intellectual and charitable activities, with you as my escort."



"Bah," Gerald said dismissively. "I'm a horse and hounds sort of a chap. I'd rather have my teeth pulled than attend one of your bluestockings' soirees. Clifford isn't a complete dolt. He did go to Eton and Oxford, after all. He would do well enough for you in that department. And there will be few restrictions upon you as a married woman so long as you observe the proprieties."



Vanessa shook her head. "I have little enough freedom as a spinster in a man's world. As a wife I would have even less if my husband proved a tyrant. I'm sorry, Gerald. It's out of the question."



"My dear girl, please reconsider," he began to wheedle. "I know it's an enormous sacrifice to have to make. If there were any other way to save our family home, I would do it gladly. I need that money to help offset the mortgage on Hawkesworth House." He gave a tragic smile for dramatic effect. "Our father would turn in his grave if he found out that Clifford Stone had taken over our ancestral home, had tricked and duped us."