The Offer (Baron 2)

“Very well. You may have your way for a while longer.” He sat down beside her and took her hands in his. Her fingers were sticky with honey. “Sabrina, will you marry me? Will you be my wife? We’ve known each other for a full five days. I think we could do well together. What do you say?”

“Marry you,” she repeated, never looking away from him.

“Yes. Just listen. We actually know quite a bit about each other. We’ve only disagreed when you’ve shut me out. That would have to end. You would have to trust me, to admit me into all your thoughts. Do you think you can do that?”

“You don’t know what you’re saying. Why are you doing this to yourself? Why do you want to marry me? I’m a stranger to you. You haven’t any idea who I am or what I’m like or—”

“I know enough. Now, will you marry me?”

She gazed at him intently, trying to understand why he was doing this. It made no sense. She realized immediately, of course, that it would solve all her problems. She’d be free of Trevor. She’d be free of Elizabeth. She could visit her grandfather without worrying about either of them hurting her. She wouldn’t have to deal with Aunt Barresford whom Elizabeth had called an old dog. Why was he doing this? It made no sense at all. She said aloud, “No, Phillip, of course I won’t marry you. Perhaps you’ll be good enough to tell me why

you asked me in the first place. Ah, I understand. Goodness, I guess my head is still fogged with sleep. I’m sorry it took me so long. You’re obviously trying to protect me, but I assure you that isn’t necessary.”

“You need protection more than my lame cat, Dorkus.”

“Why is she lame?”

“That’s not to the point. Forget I said that. Dorkus went to cat afterlife five years ago. She managed to tip the years at twenty before she took her leave. Now, would you rather have Richard Clarendon, Sabrina? Is it because he’s a marquess and is very probably richer than I am?”

“Richard,” she said blankly. “Richard Clarendon? Of course I don’t prefer him. I scarcely even know him. It’s true that he visited us rather frequently during the summer.” Her voice dropped off like a stone off a cliff. “Oh, dear, there’s more to this, isn’t there? How do you know about Richard?”

“Charles Askbridge has been here.”

She nodded slowly and began tearing up the rest of the bread. He knew everything then.

“Yes, now everything is blindingly clear to me. It was Charlie who mentioned Clarendon and made me remember why it was that the name Eversleigh was so familiar to me. I thought it was a connection to your father, but it wasn’t. Richard told me himself, some three months ago in London, that he wanted you, that he was waiting only until you reached your eighteenth birthday. I brought Richard’s name into this to see if you had any tender feelings toward him. If you did, why then you would simply marry him, not me.” He rose and sat down in the chair next to her bed, a chair he’d grown quite used to over the past five days. “Yes, I see that you understand everything now. Poor Charles, if only you had seen his face when he walked in here to see you sleeping in my arms and me staring at him ready to leap at him and tear out his throat.”

“Why?”

“Why was he here? The caretaker for this house was scared that villains had taken over the house. Charles came to see what was going on. Although he wasn’t overly surprised to see me, his shock at seeing you made him speechless for a good three minutes, a record for Charles. In short, Sabrina, Charles is off to tell your grandfather that you are all right and to fetch a carriage so that we can go back to Monmouth Abbey.”

She turned whiter than the sheets. “Oh no. I can’t go back there, Phillip, I can’t. I won’t. You can’t force me back there.”

“It’s time you told me exactly what happened. It’s time you told me all about Trevor and Elizabeth and why your grandfather couldn’t protect you.”

He already knew everything, but he wanted it out of her mouth. “There’s no need for me to tell you anything.”

“Trust is a very important thing, Sabrina. I demand your trust. Yes, I know that Trevor is your grandfather’s nephew and heir and that he’s married to your older sister Elizabeth. Now I want you to tell me the rest. I must know everything so that I can protect you.”

“I really hoped Elizabeth would be happy.”

He said nothing, merely nodded at her, his hands folded in his lap, and waited.

She looked at him straightly. “Trevor tried to rape me. But you know that.”

“All right. The important thing is that he failed. Now tell me the rest of it.”

“I thought when he first came to Monmouth Abbey that he was well enough, that he was charming, that he truly cared for Elizabeth. To be the future Countess of Monmouth was the most important thing in life to her. She floated about the Abbey, she was so pleased. But none of us saw beyond his handsome face and charming manners.” She paused a moment. It was odd, but just thinking of him, saying the words to describe him, frightened her. She said, “It’s odd. He’s very handsome. He’s slender, beautifully mannered, but he looked kind of soft, like a woman would look. The truth of the matter is that he’s vicious and cruel. He seems to delight in inflicting pain. He trapped me in the picture gallery, away from the family and the servants. He would have succeeded in raping me had he not become overly excited, and thus for the time being, unable.”

“You mean, he—”

“Yes, I suppose what you’re thinking is what I mean. There was a big stain on his britches and he was all out of breath and seemed suddenly weak.”

Thank the good Lord that the bastard hadn’t been able to control himself. “Yes, I understand. Go on.”

“I hurt him, but not badly. After he, well, lost himself, then I ran away.”

“You mean you didn’t take one of the portraits off the wall and hit him with it?”