A Most Unsuitable Earl (Regency Collection Book 3) (4 page)

“What’s there to explain?” she
asked, again using a high pitch voice
that would wake the dead.  “You just told Mrs. and Miss Duffy that Lady Catherine’s your intended.” She clasped her hands together and sighed.  “It’s so romantic.  Just like Romeo and Juliet
, except your mother heartily approves
of
the match
.  It’s time to
tell her father, so you
and
Lady Catherine can finally be together
.
  Even he can’t deny true love.
”

“I wouldn’t
call it true love, Mother
,” he protested, heat rising up in his face.  Everyone—and that meant ev
ery single person in that room—
was watching them!
  Didn’t they have anything better to do?

His mother giggled and slipped her arm around his.  “Let’s talk to her father.  Perhaps he and I can work something out.  After all, your little secret is out.  Everyone knows.” She motioned to
the stunned expressions on the
onlookers’ faces.

He felt sick to his stomach.  He prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him, but no such relief was going to come.
  She led him forward.  H
alfway to the Duke of Rumsey, he dug his heels into the floor and shook his head.  “I’m sorry, Mother, but I can’t do it.  It would break her dear father’s heart.  The gentleman is insistent she find someone
who deserves her
.”

“You will deserve her
.  From this moment forward, you will stop doing the dastardly things mentioned in the
Tittletattle
. 
You will be a respectable gentleman.”

She pushed him forward, so now they were within a few feet of the duke.  Panicked, he whispered, “I was lying to Mrs. and Miss Duffy to get away from them.  Lady Catherine and I hardly know each other.”

“Well, we’ll resolve that soon enough.”

She shoved him again, and he was so stunned that she was still insistent on talking to the duke that he lunged forward and ended up tripping.  The world went spinning around him as he toppled to the floor.  He was barely aware of the giggles and snickers around him as his mother hovered over him.

“Oh, my poor son,” she
said in a loud voice, glancing at everyone who turned to look at them.  “I keep telling him the Duke of Rumsey is a
reasonable gentleman.  He’ll understand that true love must flourish.  His daughter and my son are in love.  What could be nobler than that?”

To Ethan’s horror, the duke stopped talking to Lord Roderick and looked at Ethan’s mother.

“Mother, please,” Ethan hissed through his teeth.  “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

She raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge, and
with a wide smile
, she swirled around to face
the duke and curtsied.  “Your G
race,
I hate to bother you in a middle of such an exquisite ball—one of your finest, might I add—but I just learned of a secret engagement between my son and your daughter.” Glancing at Ethan, she motioned for him to stand up.

He
shook his head.  No way was he going to face the wrath of the Duke of Rumsey!

With an exaggerated sigh, she returned her attention to the duke.  “
It’s a simple thing, Your G
race.  Everyone knows about the engagement, so it seems proper to allow the two to finally marry.”

The duke’s face paled.  “Uh…” He scanned the large room where most of the people had stopped talking and dancing to watch them.  “Where’s my daughter?”

From among the
crowd, someone pushed Lady Catherine
toward Ethan
.  She looked horrified.  Absolutely and completely horrified.  Ethan couldn’t blame her.  He felt the exact same way.  And worse, he was the rea
son this was happening
.  Who was to know one simple lie could result in such a catastrophe?

“What’s going on here?” her father demanded, looking from Ethan to her.

Lady Catherine gulped.  “Nothing.”

“Now, now, my lady,” his moth
er began in a soothing tone
, “there’s no need to worry.  My son is one of the wealthiest earls around.  He will provide very well for you.” Glancing at the Duke of Rumsey, she added, “He can even buy her a separate house if she desires.  But—” she wrapped her arm around Lady Catherine’s shoulders and urged her over to Ethan—“I don’t think it’ll come to that.  They are deeply in love.  Can’t you tell just by looking at them?”

Ethan grew dizzy and his
vision blurred
.
A
few people
chuckled
, and
Lady Catherine mumbled
something about not knowing what any of this was about.  But everything was starting to grow dim around him, except for the grave disapproval on the duke’s
face, which
would be forever seared into his memory
. 
He was trapped.  His mother was going on and on about the beauty of love, going so far as to quote William Shakespeare.  It was
too much to take.  The room whirled
around him, and the next thing he knew, everything went black
and he collapsed
.

***

As Lord Edon collapsed,
Catherine gasped and moved away from
him
.  Everyone stood silent for the longest moment.  But no one was more stunned than sh
e was!  Just what was Lord Edon
’s mother thinking in staging this horrific thing?

“Tell me it’s not true,” her father demanded, looking at her.

“It’s not,” she blurted out, but not before Lord Edon’s mother stepped in front of her, blocking
her view of
her father.

“It is true.  We heard it directly from my son, and I have witnesses.  Mrs. and Miss Duffy can testify
to it
,” his mother insisted.

Ignoring Lord Edon’s body, the two ladies stepped forward and nodde
d.  “We can,” Mrs. Duffy said. 
“And when he told us Lady Catherine was his intended, Lady Catherine made no protest.”

Her father tried to peer around Lord Edon’s mother, but she spread her fan out and blocked his view of her.  “Your Grace, it is not my place to intrude, but the respectability of my son and your daughter is at stake.  Think of how it would look to the Ton if you didn’t allow the two to marry.”

“I’m sure this is a misunderstanding,” he stammered.  “I’m sure we can discuss this further in private.”

“
I don’t see how my son’s declaration of a secret engagement to Mrs. and Miss Duffy could be a misunderstanding,” she replied.  “And I happen to know for a fact that Mrs. and Miss Duffy wouldn’t lie about such a thing.”

The crowd murmured their approval and waited for him to speak.

A prolonged silence filled the room, and Catherine stopped trying to make eye contact with her father.  The shame of it all!  Who in their right mind would believe she’d be with someone like Lord Edon?  A quick scan of the crowd revealed that they not only believed it, but they were enjoying every moment of her humiliation.  Her gaze went back to Lord Edon who remained in an unconscious heap
on the floor
.  She had a mind to pour a pitcher of water on him and demand he face this like a gentleman instead of taking the coward’s way out.

Lord Edon’s mother
faced Catherine, clasped her hands in hers, and
softly said
, “You have nothing to worry about, my lady.  I’ll see to it my son takes good care of you.” Turning to the duke, she continued, “What do you say, Your Grace?  Will you give
them
the opportunity to be together or not?”

Catherine lowered her gaze.  If she had to see the disappointment on her father’s face, she’d break down and cry.  This was the worst thing that could have happened to her.  Even a life of spinsterhood would have been more tolerable than the curse of marrying a notorious rake like Lord Edon.

With a resigned sigh, her father muttered, “I give my consent.”

From there,
the people around them started speaking to one another, and while Catherine felt relief from not being watched anymore, she also became aware of the feeling of dread that grew in the pit of her stomach.  She was about to be married to Lord Edon.
  Her gaze went back to Lord Edon.  Resisting the urge to slap him so he’d wake up and see what a mess his lie
made
, she let out a slight huff and stepped aside so a couple of gentlemen could carry his useless body to another room.

***

The first thing Ethan noticed was the excitement in his mother’s voice as she rambled on about the wedding.
 
“It’ll be lovely,” she gushed.  “We’ll have it at St. George’s Church.  I’ll put forth the money necessary to make your dress, Catherine.  It’ll be made of white satin with a striped-gauze overdress and
trimmed with
Brussels lace.  The pearl necklace you’re wearing now will be just the thing to go with it.”

Ethan groaned and rubbed his forehead.  “Mother, stop trying to control what she’s going to wear.”

From across the room, his mother gasped.  “I’m not controlling anything.  I figure since this is my doing, I’ll pay for the dress and anything else your bride needs.”

Bride?  He bolted up
, but his head spun so he
settled back onto the settee in the drawing room
and closed his eyes. 
Goodness gracious, she was talking about
his
bride!  For a moment there, he thought she was talking about someone else’s wedding, but he recalled the horrifying events and was assured that she was, indeed, talking about
his
wedding.

“Just what I need for a son-in-law,” Catherine’s father muttered.  “
He’s nothing but a pansy.”

At that, E
than’s eyes flew open and he eased
into an upright position
. 
“I am
not
a pansy!”

“Of course, you’r
e not, my dear,” his mother replied
as she hurried over to
him and wiped the sweat off his
forehead with a handkerchief.

“Mother!” He pushed her hand away.  “I can take
care
of myself.” He caught sight of the duke smirking
at him
and snatched the handkerchief from her when she dabbed his forehead again.  “I’m a grown gentleman.  Leave me alone.”

With a shrug, she returned to her seat, which happened to be next to Catherine’s, and sat down.  Undaunted by her son’s bad mood, she smiled in contentment.  “Did I mention how happy I am that Ethan has finally found a good lady to marry?”

“Several times,” Catherine’s father muttered, rubbing his eyes.

Ethan ventured a look at Catherine who stared at his mother with wide eyes, her face even more pale than usual and her hands clenched together in her lap.

“Forgive me for repeating myself.  It’s just that I was beginning to give up hope
, and now I see that all my fretting has been for nothing.  What
a relief!” Catherine, her father, and Ethan
grumbled, but she pressed on as if she hadn’t heard them.  “I want this to be your special day, Catherine, so tell me what I can do to make your fairytale wedding come true.”

Catherine glanced at her father who looked heavenward, sighed, and shook his head.  “Uh…well…”

Ethan knew exactly what they were thinking.  They wanted out of the wedding just as badly as he did.  “This is nonsense, Mother.  You know very well I didn’t have a secret engagement with…with,” he motioned to Catherine, “her.”

Catherine glared at him.  “Her?”

Her father, just as quick to respond, snapped, “Lady Catherine is how you will refer to her.”

“Now, now…  Let’s not be hasty,” his mother replied, still using the cheerful tone that was grating on his nerves.  “This benefits everyone in this room.  Catherine will live very well off my son’s assets.  He’s amassed a surprising fortune over the years.”

“Through gambling,” the duke muttered.

“He won’t do that anymore.” She shot Ethan a pointed look.  “Right, Ethan?”

He sighed.  “I’m a grown gentleman, Mother.” Why did he have to keep saying it?  And seriously, it wasn’t like he enjoyed it.  He only wanted to lose his fortune, but for the life of him, he couldn’t lose a hand.  He came close once, but at the last minute, the other gentleman quit and left him with more money.  How was he supposed to
deal with that?  Why was he gambling?  Obviously, it was only getting him into more trouble because it made him more attractive to
the
ladies.  “I will give it up.” Before his mother could take credit for his change of heart, he added, “And not because you said to do it, Mother.  I’ve never lost a game.  Something is wrong with me.  I can’t lose to save my life.”