Page 46 of Distracting the Duke

His friend nodded slowly. “That, I concede. But why make a project of Lady Tinniswood? I thought you had enough on your plate, what with balancing the books and keeping the estates viable. Why do you want a further challenge?”

Marcus sighed and gazed toward the window, where a light breeze was making the heads of his prized roses nod gently. He thought of Clara’s lips, of the sheen of her hair, the silk of her skin.

“I suppose,” he answered, flexing his fingers on the stem of his glass, “I suppose it’s because I’ve never met anyone quite like her. Yes, I can look beneath the surface and see the pain that’s there, but why is it there? Why, when I know her body wants mine, does she welcome my touch one moment and reject it another? Why does she sometimes look so deeply saddened, so betrayed?”

Snetty pursed his lips. “All to do with the dead husband and the missing sister, no doubt.”

“He was a cruel, rapacious man, I gather.”

Snetty’s expression darkened, and he looked away.

Marcus’s heart sped up. “What do you know that I don’t?”

A muscle twitched in his friend’s jaw. “I found out something after you left Town that might well explain Lady Tinniswood’s dislike of you. Of all men.”

“That Tinniswood was a brute in the bedchamber? That he spent her fortune on whores and gambling?”

“Well, yes, probably. But that’s not the worst of it.” Snetty paused and held his brandy glass up to the light. “Which reminds me, I got the story from an old family servant of the Westons, who didn’t want to tell me a thing until I greased his palm. You owe me a guinea.”

“Not when you’re drinking my best brandy with such alacrity,” muttered Marcus. “Just get on with your story.”

“No need to fly up into the boughs. Understand there is no proof, and nothing has ever been made public, but the story is…” Snetty paused for effect.

Marcus had to battle the desire to grasp his friend by the lapels and shake the truth out of him.

“All right, all right! You don’t need to growl at me. The servant’s story was that Simon Tinniswood bedded Clara’s younger sister, Katharine.”

Marcus almost dropped his glass. He stared at his friend. “Is it true?”

“The servant swears so.”

“And yet, the ton knows nothing of the scandal…”

“I believe not.”

“We must keep it that way,” Marcus said, fury sweeping through him. “My poor, dear Clara. This explains a great deal.”

“Aye.”

Marcus rose and strode across the room, then stalked back again. “Why did you not tell me this sooner? I could throttle you, Snetty, I really could!”

Snetty leveled a gaze at him. “Why be in such a pet about it? None of it affects the delightful Miss Soper, nor your plans to marry her.”

“It would, if the story got out. A duchess of Ulvercombe, brought up in such a scandalous household? But never mind that. Imagine how Clara’s pride must have been damaged by such ill use. To be betrayed by a husband is one thing, to be betrayed by a sister is quite another. I wonder Clara can hold her head up at all when she’s been through such an ordeal. She really is a remarkable female.”

Snetty’s eyes narrowed. “I say, you have got it bad. You care about the woman.”

“I care about a good deal more than you are aware of, Snetty. I simply choose not to show it.”

His friend got to his feet and slapped him on the back. “Which is why I’ve remained your friend all these years, despite your granite facade. But Lady T. won’t want your pity. Not if she’s as proud as you say. If you want my considered opinion—”

“I don’t.”

“—stop fretting over Clara, and concentrate on wooing Miss Soper. She is gorgeous, young, fresh, and honest. Lady Tinniswood, for all her charms, has built a wall around herself even higher and thicker than yours.”

Marcus groaned, collected his glass, and threw the rest of the brandy down his throat. “I know you’re right,” he said, pushing his free hand through his hair. “Because of the strength of my feelings for Clara, she has it in her power to make me utterly miserable, just as my parents made each other. I don’t feel enough for Miss Soper to ever let her hurt me. Not that she would. I really should make a greater effort with her, shouldn’t I, and avoid Clara?”

“You should. She’s an unnecessary distraction and complication.”