The Offer (Baron 2)

Jesperson shook his head. “No, my lord. She said something about visiting Miss Pixel’s new kittens in the stables.”

“You mean the damned cat isn’t even married?”

Jesperson laughed. He opened the adjoining door to the earl’s bedchamber and motioned the viscount into the room. Phillip drew to a halt and looked at the old man who sat hunched forward in a chair by the fireplace, a tartan blanket wrapped about his legs. The earl turned his head slowly and the viscount found himself staring into a pair of lively blue eyes, sunk beneath a craggy brow. He looked like a tough old bird. Phillip smiled at him.

“You, I presume, are Sabrina’s husband?” the earl said in a rich deep voice, a strong voice, not that of an invalid.

Phillip walked forward and took the earl’s twisted fingers in his hand. “Yes, sir, I’m Sabrina’s husband. Phillip Mercerault.”

“Sit down, my lord.”

Phillip did as he was bid, and sat on a faded brocade chair opposite the earl.

“Forgive my travel dirt, sir. I didn’t wish to take the time to change.”

The earl waved an indifferent hand. “Richard Clarendon told me good things about you, my lord. He said you were a man of honor, no matter that you’d poached upon his preserves.”

“Richard and I have known each other since we were boys at Eton. I’m pleased he didn’t paint me as another devil to you.”

“Oh no. The dear lad wanted desperately to kill Trevor, to strangle the cur, he told me. He said you’d told him he could kill Trevor only after you were done with him.”

Phillip laughed. “That’s close enough. Is Sabrina all right, sir?”

“Well, now, my lord, she will be vastly surprised to see you though I must admit I’m not.”

“Yes, she will be surprised. She has yet to recover her confidence from the drubbing she took in London. Also, she doesn’t seem to understand what effect she has on people, particularly the effect she has on me. I’m here to fetch her home.”

The viscount was handsome, the earl would give him that. He was well spoken, well made. There was no cruelty in his face, no signs of discontent, or displeasure at what he was. He was a man’s man, but with the charm to seduce the skirts easily off any woman he set his sights on. Perhaps he’d been like Phillip Mercerault when he’d been young. He honestly couldn’t remember the man he was before Camilla had come into his life.

A man’s hands told him a lot as well. They were strong hands, well formed. Capable hands. The earl approved of what he saw. He said slowly, his eyes going back to the viscount’s face, “You’ve set yourself a goodly problem, lad. Sabrina just might not choose to go back with you. This is her home, you know, and I won’t force her to return with you if she doesn’t wish to.”

Phillip, tired to his bones, so worried he was nearly cross-eyed, sat forward in his chair, his hands clasped between his knees, and said, “Forgive me, my lord, for being blunt, but Sabrina is my wife, and will do as I bid her. She isn’t yet in the habit of obeying me, but perhaps that will change once she understands what I’m about. Yes, I’m here to get her. That’s an end to it.”

The earl’s blue eyes twinkled. “It surprises me, lad, that my granddaughter hasn’t taken a whip to you, called you a tyrant, and tried to shoot you.”

Phillip smiled, a pained smile. “Actually, she kicked me in the groin. It wasn’t pleasant. I thought I was going to die and for a few minutes there I would have welcomed it. I don’t know how I can smile about it now. I suppose it’s because I’m here and have nearly got her again and I know that she didn’t render me impotent.”

The earl couldn’t help himself. He laughed out loud. He squared his shoulders at the quick burst of pain, a bit difficult, but he managed it. He said quickly, seeing the look of concern on the viscount’s face, “Keep your seat, my lord. Age and infirmity are a damned bore, but it’s what awaits all of us. What is of the most importance now is my granddaughter. She spoke of you as being kind, my lord, kind and noble.”

“She has alternately yelled at me that I’m a conceited ass, then tried to strangle me with what she perceives as my blasted nobility. It will stop.”

“You didn’t wed Sabrina out of duty then? Nobility, if you will?”

Phillip was silent for a moment. He said, finally, “There are rules, sir, codes of behavior that must govern society, else we might well find ourselves back in trees and caves, wearing animal skins. I suppose that in the beginning my offer of marriage to Sabrina was motivated by a sense of duty. She refused me upon several occasions. As you are undoubtedly aware, it was her imminent ruin in London society that finally forced her to wed me. It was she who offered for me then. I didn’t regret wedding her. I doubt I ever will, even if she strikes me in my manhood again. Well, perhaps I’ll entertain visions of strangling her if she does it again. A man can take just so much, you understand.”

“I well understand you. Now, you say you don’t regret marrying her. Still, it was a marriage forced upon both of you,

by the rules of society. I wonder how such a marriage can flourish if there is nothing else to support it.”

“Sabrina loves me. She told me she did.”

“Did you believe her?” The old earl looked down at his twisted fingers, blast the pain of them. “Or did you just think that she was a little girl playing a woman and it was all just infatuation?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I thought because, you see, I didn’t want her to love me. It scared me to my toes, this love of hers that offered me everything. I told her it was just infatuation. I was a fool. I freely admit it. I plan to tell her that, as soon as I get my hands on her.”

“She’s very proud. She’s also very stubborn, just like her grandmother. That woman would get something mired in her mind and it would take the earth tilting to change her opinion. I wish you luck.”

“These two qualities make us well suited, I think.”