“Tell us what happened, Marianne,” Sidonie said.
What could she say that wouldn’t make her sound a wanton? She licked dry lips and made herself respond. “I received a note asking me to go to the conservatory. When I got there, Lord Tranter proposed. I said no and he…he took it badly.”
Somehow admitting that he’d hit her seemed too humiliating. She’d worked out that Tranter had employed slaps not punches to avoid incriminating bruises. However raw her cheeks felt, his assault would have left little visible trace. Even at the height of violence, he’d been cool-headed enough to resist marking her. Another reminder how blind she’d been to his true nature.
“I credit you for trying to save your reputation, but we were caught, my dear,” Tranter said. “Time to pay the piper.”
Her hands clenched on the arms of the chair. How she wished she was a man and she could smash this lying worm to a bloody pulp. “I’d rather beg on the streets than take you.”
“You may have to.” The disappointment in her father’s eyes threatened to crush her. “I can see that if the fellow turned nasty, you feel some reluctance, but you’ll have to learn to live with that. A wedding is the only way to rescue the family name.”
“I won’t marry Lord Tranter,” she said stubbornly, wondering what on earth she could do if her father threw her out. A woman without a reputation had few choices. All respectable employment was closed to her, as was a decent marriage.
“Lady Marianne is welcome to stay at Ferney as long as she wishes,” Hillbrook said. “Sidonie and I would be honored to have her as our guest.”
“You don’t see that my daughter must restore the Seaton honor?” her father asked in rising umbrage. “In that case, you’re not a man I want to do business with.”
“Regrettable.” Lord Hillbrook’s tone indicated he didn’t care. “My offer of hospitality stands.”
“Don’t stick your nose in,” Tranter said nastily. “She’s marrying me, and that’s that.”
“I’d shoot myself first,” Marianne stated.
From near the door, Desborough cleared his throat. “Lord Baildon, I have made a commitment to your daughter. If she won’t have Tranter, my proposal of marriage stands.”
Shocked, Marianne stared at her staid suitor. She’d forgotten he was present. “My lord, that’s astonishingly generous.”
“Too generous,” her father said. “She’s made her bed with Tranter. However much I despise the way he went about winning her, it’s Tranter she’ll lie with.”
“Just so,” said Tranter, shifting toward her.
“If you come any nearer, I’ll scratch your eyes out—and this time I’ll succeed,” she said in a low bitter voice. “Nothing on this earth would make me accept you as my husband. You’re a bully and a liar and you won’t salvage your fortunes by tying my life to yours.”
“Ah,” Lord Hillbrook said.
The single syllable dropped into the room like a pebble into a pond. All eyes focused on him.
“I know you don’t like me.” Tranter sounded childish. “But I ruined Lady Marianne. I should make it right.”
“Perhaps.” Hillbrook paused. “The question is why stir up such an outcry. I’ll wager you bribed that maid who came shrieking to us about nasty doings in the conservatory. The timing was too apt. We have to suspect some agenda.”
Tranter shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but maintained his defiance. “I wanted Lord Baildon to hear of our engagement as soon as possible.”
“Yet expecting Lady Marianne’s father to appear, you went ahead with seducing her?”
“He didn’t seduce me,” Marianne protested, turning frantically to the Hillbrooks. She wished she could tell whether Elias believed her, but he didn’t look up from the fire.
“I know.” Sidonie placed a hand on her shoulder. “He wants it to look that way so you’re forced to accept him.”
Marianne sucked in a great relieved breath. The Hillbrooks had already fathomed Tranter’s wicked scheme.
“What rubbish,” Tranter blustered. “I’ve been dancing attendance on the chit for weeks. Everyone knows there’s a match in the offing.”
Lord Hillbrook bared his teeth. “At least that’s what your creditors thought. They delayed pursuing payment because they heard you were about to wed the Seaton heiress.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Tranter said, looking shifty.
Hillbrook continued in that measured, condemning voice. “Then they learned that Lady Marianne was likely to marry Lord Desborough. It’s no accident you followed her down to Ferney. You were desperate to stake your claim in any way you could.”