A Deal with a Duke (The Daring Drake Sisters 2)

“True, but I want more than that for her.”

“Give her time. She’s young still.”

“Bolton is never going to be the right man for her.”

Staring into her eyes, he knew he had to tell her the truth. God, he hated causing her more pain.

“What is wrong, Harry?”

“Simon and I discovered who paid Collingwood.”

“Who?”

He wanted to look away, but instead, he said it quickly as if that would lessen her pain. “Your mother.”

Her mouth gaped as she sat up and stared down at him. “Mamma?”

He nodded. “We broke into Collingwood’s study and found two letters detailing the offer of five thousand pounds to marry you.”

“Five thousand?” Louisa’s shoulders relaxed as she smiled at him. “It has to be a forgery, Harry. Mamma doesn’t have that kind of money. She lives off what Tessa and Lord Hammond give her.”

Harry eased off the bed and pulled his waistcoat off the floor where she’d tossed it. After handing the letters to her, he waited. Sitting naked on his bed with her hair down to her shoulders, she looked incredibly vulnerable as she stared at the handwriting on the letter.

“It’s her handwriting,” she muttered.

He waited for her to come to terms with the idea that her mother had attempted to bribe a man to take Louisa off her hands. Louisa covered her mouth with her hand as she read. Her lashes fluttered as if to keep the tears at bay. One lone tear fell down her cheek followed quickly by another. Returning to the bed, he brought her into his arms.

“Did you read the one from two days ago?” she whispered in an aching tone. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “She was arranging my abduction by Collingwood to Gretna Green. She said she would invent a story that I went to visit Collingwood and his mother at his estate and that after a week we two decided to marry by special license. All Collingwood would need to do was take me back to Hertfordshire after marrying him at Gretna to make the story plausible. Oh my God, she even gave him the name of a man who would marry us without my permission!”

Tears tracked down her cheek to his chest as he held her. “Shh, darling. It’s over now. You and I will marry, and she will never be able to hurt you again.”

She nodded slowly. “Damn her, Harry. I used to blame everything that happened on my father. Now, I don’t know what to think.”

He wanted to take her pain away. See her smile. “Perhaps you should talk to your father. Write to him.”

“I need to confront her.” She wiped away her tears and looked up at him with a fire in her blue eyes. “I want her to understand that I know and will use it against her if she tries to interfere with our marriage.”

Smiling, he reached out and caressed her cheek. “You are my little fighter.”

“Tomorrow, we will see her together. I will let her know that we are marrying and about the letters.” She moved back into his arms. “But right now, I want to be with the man I love.”

Chapter 26

THE NEXT DAY, THEY pulled up to her mother’s house. Louisa’s hand trembled as she reached for Harry’s assistance disembarking the carriage. She wondered if she could have faced this without him by her side. For the past seven years, she’d blamed her father for what had happened, until now.

“Come along. After we speak to your mother, I must get a special license.”

“Very well.” Louisa and Harry climbed the steps together.

Davis opened the door with a look of shock. “Miss Drake, you have returned...and with His Grace.”

“Where is my mother?”

“In the salon with Mrs. Raynerson and Miss Emma.”

Louisa blew out a breath. She’d hoped she would be able to speak to Mamma alone. She opened the door to the salon and plastered a smile on her face.

“I’m home.”