A SHORT TIME later, Griffin found himself seated on a sofa in his drawing room, surrounded by members of his family and a couple of near strangers with Irish accents. And each and every one of them—except for the baby—wanted something.
His two brothers-in-law wanted to go home. That he could understand. If he weren't already home, he would want to go home now, too.
Alexandra wanted to know how Lincolnshire had come to learn everything his will had revealed. He couldn't blame her for that, as he'd be clamoring for the information himself if he didn't already have it.
Juliana wanted Corinna to marry Delaney. Corinna wanted to marry Delaney. Delaney's sister wanted Delaney to marry Corinna. And Delaney wanted to marry Corinna.
These four people were responsible for half of the new cracks in his teeth.
And then there was Rachael, sitting beside him on the sofa, enveloping him in her come-hither scent. She wanted to marry him.
Which made her responsible for the rest of the cracks.
The beginnings of a headache pulsed in his temples. Alexandra wasn't seated. Holding little Harry, she was bouncing him unceasingly in a rather frantic, rhythmic fashion. While it worked to keep the baby from crying, Griffin's headache escalated just watching her.
"How on earth did Lord Lincolnshire learn everything?" she asked for the third time.
He decided to give her what she wanted first.
But before he could unclench his jaw to do so, Delaney answered. "I'm thinking Lincolnshire got the facts from your brother," the man told her. "A mere two days before he died." Sitting on a sofa across the drawing room, with Corinna beside him—right beside him—he looked to Griffin for confirmation. "That morning he summoned you…it wasn't to say good-bye, was it?"
"No, it wasn't," Griffin said. "He wanted information. I take it he asked you to find future employment for all of his staff?"
"He asked me to continue employing them all at Lincolnshire House, which I knew Hamilton wouldn't do. So I offered to find alternative employment for them instead."
"Well, you did too good a job of it, raising his suspicions. He subsequently requested that Mr. Lawless hire someone to investigate the various concerns where his servants would eventually work, to make certain they all existed and his people would be treated well. In the process, Lawless discovered all of the establishments were owned by a single man, a certain Mr. Sean Delaney." Griffin paused, feeling rather awed despite his suspicions that this man had kissed his sister. "You own a lot of property, Delaney."
"Among other things. You needn't worry that your sister might ever want for anything."
Griffin snorted. "You'll keep her in dresses, I expect—should I agree to let you have her." When Corinna opened her mouth to protest, he forged ahead. "From there, Lawless made further inquiries and learned you were posing as Hamilton, and furthermore, that Hamilton was your brother-in-law. Feeling you were a good man"—this uttered with more than a little irony—"Lincolnshire summoned me to ask if I knew why you might have done such a thing."
"And you confirmed his suspicions?" Corinna asked.
"He was close enough to confirming them for himself. I told him Delaney agreed to the hoax for his sister's sake and attested that Hamilton was quite deserving of his less-than-stellar reputation. Lincolnshire seemed especially incensed that his nephew had refused Mrs. Hamilton the divorce she wanted." He looked to Delaney's sister. "He was quite taken with you, if you didn't know."
"I loved him, too," she whispered, tears in her eyes.
"He considered your brother a saint, and he compared you to the angels. He wanted you happy. And he requested that I not reveal what he knew. He wanted to settle everything his own way. I expect his will was rewritten that very afternoon."
"Didn't you think we'd have wanted to know?" Corinna asked rather indignantly. "I was devastated, and Sean thought he was being set up to take a fall—"
"I agreed to keep Lincolnshire's secret in order to make the old man happy. The exact reason you kept secrets, if you'll recall. I followed through after his death because I like to think I'm a man of my word. I felt Lincolnshire deserved to resolve the matter as he wished. And furthermore"—he glared daggers at her—"I had no knowledge the two of you were involved, so I had no reason to worry for your happiness should Delaney be discredited. You denied any interest in him, and you told me you were saddened over the loss of Lord Lincolnshire and because your painting isn't likely to be accepted for the Summer Exhibition."
That tirade rendered his youngest sister speechless, a rare state for Corinna. Griffin found a measure of satisfaction in that.
He was going to allow her to marry Delaney, of course. He was thinking a late summer wedding at Cainewood Castle, after the season ended, would be perfect. While he wished he knew Delaney better, he liked what he'd learned of the man thus far. Lincolnshire had considered him worthy, and Griffin trusted the earl's judgment. Most important, Corinna was in love, and Griffin wanted to see her happy.
But he was sick and tired of being manipulated by all the people he loved.
Before he granted his permission, he was planning to make everyone else squirm for a change. And he planned to enjoy it.
"Do you not like Sean?" Corinna finally asked.
"I would like to have his skill for investing," Griffin said dryly, leaving it at that for now. He shifted to look at the man in question. "Given Lincolnshire's attitude, I suspected he wasn't planning to make you pay for your deception. But I felt no responsibility either way. As far as I was concerned, you had dug your own grave."
Slowly Delaney nodded. "And now I expect I have to lie in it."
"No, you don't," Corinna disagreed heatedly. "Griffin will allow us to marry. I have a secret that will ensure it."
"Another secret?" Suddenly Griffin wasn't finding this so enjoyable. His headache was getting worse. "What the hell sort of secret?"
"Maybe he kissed her for half an hour," Rachael suggested sweetly.
Griffin cracked another tooth.
"Open your eyes, Griffin," Juliana put in. "A blind man could see they belong together."
"I see they seem to be glued together," he said darkly.
Delaney immediately put space between himself and Corinna, and Corinna immediately scooted right back against him. Griffin found that slightly amusing, which worked to calm him down a bit.
Delaney's pretty blond sister cleared her throat. "Lord Cainewood, you admired Lord Lincolnshire, didn't you? I'm thinking you should trust his judgment regarding my brother."
"I'm thinking this is none of your concern," he said, thinking she was the only one with an intelligent argument.
Unsurprisingly, Juliana wasn't ready to give up. "What do you think, James?"
Her husband looked at her as though flowers had just sprouted from her ears. "I think I'm staying out of this."
"Alexandra, Tristan?"
They both shook their heads, Alexandra doing so while still maniacally bouncing the baby.
Crossing her arms, Juliana looked back to Griffin. "You have to let them marry."
"I don't have to do anything."
"They can elope to Gretna Green," she pointed out with more than a little smugness.
"I won't do that," Delaney put in quickly. "I won't go behind her brother's back."
"I knew you'd say that," Corinna said. "That's why I'm prepared to use the secret."
Griffin swung back to her. "What secret?"
"Maybe he kissed her for more than half an hour," Rachael suggested.
Which made Griffin wonder if maybe things had gone beyond kissing. "Did he paw you, Corinna?"
She looked confused. "Did he what?"
An awful thought occurred to him. "You aren't in the family way, are you?"
"No, I'm not in the family way! He didn't do anything that could get me in the family way. Sean's much too honorable to even consider such a thing. He's the son of a vicar, if you didn't know."
Griffin hadn't known, and he was rather pleased to hear it. "So, then, what's the secret? What did he do?"
She hesitated, her gaze darting about the room. She appeared to be holding her breath. Beside her, Delaney looked like he wished the floor would open up and swallow him. Alexandra stopped bouncing, and the baby began crying.
Griffin saw Corinna's breath rush out, saw her suck in another one—a single, shuddering, ragged breath—and then she opened her mouth—
"You know what? I don't want to hear it." Suddenly, he didn't. He was absolutely certain it was something that would make him furious, something that would make him demand Delaney marry his sister immediately.
In fact, he was going to do just that, just in case.
So much for a late summer wedding at Cainewood.
"You two will be married tomorrow."
Corinna finally left Delaney's side, rushing over to smother Griffin in a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for not making me use my secret. You won't be sorry."
"I'm sorry already," he muttered. "It's a miracle I have any teeth left in my mouth."
"They cannot marry tomorrow," Juliana said. Smugly. "They'll need a special license. And she'll need a dress."
"She has dozens of dresses. I know, because I paid for all of them." Griffin disentangled himself from his sister and set her away. "Very well, then, you have until Friday to get a license and pick a dress. Not a day later. And you and the vicar's son will not be alone together until then." The baby was still bawling, a racket loud enough to rattle his aching teeth. He had a raging headache. "Leave, all of you, please. Except for Corinna. Now."
Most of the family shuffled out. Mercifully, the baby's cries faded away with them, and as they left the house, the noise ceased altogether.
"I'm going to walk Sean and Deirdre to the door," Corinna said quietly. "I'm not leaving." The three of them walked into the foyer.
Rachael had stayed put, naturally. Now she moved closer, enveloping Griffin in her damned come-hither scent again. Against his better judgment, he shifted to face her.
"I've reconsidered your offer," she said in her low, sultry voice.
"What do you mean?" he asked, fearing he knew what she meant.
"I said I wouldn't wait until your sister married. But as I can wait until Friday without becoming a shriveled old lady, I've changed my mind."
She moved closer, so close her mouth was a whisper from his.
And she licked her lips.
"Do you want to kiss me, Griffin?"
His head hurt. He felt beaten down. And he was being manipulated again, damn it.
But he very much wanted to kiss her.
He loved Rachael. She was so open and refreshing, so competent and levelheaded. Having run an earldom for a number of years, she would be a fine helpmate. He didn't want to lose her to a rake with the gall to touch her luscious derrière.
The next man to touch her luscious derrière was going to be him.
Her sweet breath washed over him, tantalizing him, making his own breath catch. Her mouth was so close he could taste her already. Struggling for control, his heart pounding double-time, he leaned in. She met him halfway and nipped at his bottom lip, and he yanked her close, feeling his control snap, crushing his mouth against hers.
A bloodcurdling scream came from the foyer.
His heart pounding triple-time, he leapt to his feet and rushed out to see who was being murdered.
No one was dead. But it was difficult to be thankful for that when he saw the way Corinna was wrapped around Delaney. No man should ever see his sister in such an embrace. She was literally hanging on the fellow, her arms around his neck, her legs all but around his waist.
She was sobbing, and she clutched a crumpled letter. Delaney's sister plucked it out of her hand and brought it to Griffin.
Somerset House, Monday 26 May
Lady Corinna Chase:
The Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition Committee is pleased to inform you that your painting has been accepted for our 1817 Exhibition. Please be advised that Varnishing Day will take place Friday 30 May in preparation for the Exhibition's opening on Monday 2 June.
Congratulations,
Benjamin West
President
"I cannot believe it," Corinna choked out through a sob.
"I'm not at all surprised," Griffin said.
She slid off Delaney, thank God, and dashed the tears from her face. "You're not?"
"You're very talented, Corinna." He was pleased as punch for her. "Since Varnishing Day is Friday, we'll move the wedding to Saturday."
"And make it a double wedding," a sultry voice added behind him.