But he wasn’t laughing now.
Colin was here? Already? Could this family not leave him in peace for one evening? Trick half-feared his visitor meant to challenge him to a duel—which Greystone would surely win.
Trick sighed expansively, causing Compton’s nostrils to flare in disapproval of such a show of emotion. “Bring him in,” Trick muttered, rising to pour himself another drink.
“Congratulations, Amberley,” Colin Chase said from behind him. “Shall we toast your wedding tomorrow afternoon?”
Trick paused, then selected another glass from the cabinet. “Tomorrow, is it?” Turning to proffer the drink, he met Colin’s eyes, which were a deeper green than Kendra’s. “Can you not give a man time to get used to the idea?”
Colin sipped before answering, watching Trick over the rim. “Jason can pull strings if he wants to. And time is of the essence…your heir may be on his way already.”
“We didn’t—”
“I’m not judging you, Amberley.”
Trick’s gaze went to the hilt of Colin’s ever-present sword. His reply was slow and measured. “I’ve told you, nothing untoward happened between Lady Kendra and me.”
“You know, Kendra is claiming much the same thing. Doing her fighting best to convince us of it, too.”
He’d bet she was. “You don’t believe her?”
“Jason doesn’t know what to believe. Frankly, I suspect he doesn’t care. She’s absolutely refused to consider anyone suitable, so as far as he’s concerned, this circumstance is a dream come true. You know, she would never have looked at you twice if she’d realized you’re a duke. A stubborn one, Kendra is.”
“And now that she’s realized?”
“She hasn’t.” Colin laughed. “Thinks you’re an impoverished minor aristocrat forced to highway robbery, and she’s cursing us for condoning the match. To our faces, that is. I suspect that, privately, she’s walking on air. The girl’s clearly in love.”
“Love?” Trick rolled his eyes. He’d forgotten about her naïve ideas on that particular topic. “Don’t tell me you’re another believer in love at first sight?”
“It seems to be the Chase way,” Colin mused. “My wife, Amethyst, had me with a single glance across a jeweler’s counter.”
“It’s insane,” Trick declared, and threw back the rest of his whisky. It burned his raw throat. “You’re all insane. This is utterly outrageous.”
“You’re angry, then?”
Trick considered that for a moment. “Yes,” he said slowly. “And no. I think your strong-arm tactics are obnoxious, but as to the outcome…I suppose I must wed, and your sister’s as good a choice as any.”
Before long, he hoped—just as soon as he’d satisfied the king’s demand—he’d be back at the London docks where he belonged. Having Kendra here in the countryside, awaiting his visits and, eventually, raising his children, was not an unhappy prospect.
“I haven’t the temperament for courtship,” he added, “so a business arrangement suits my purposes just fine.”
“Business arrangement?” Colin raised a single eyebrow. “I know what a fellow looks like when he wants someone, and I saw that look in your eyes. You’d better not hurt my sister.”
“Hurt her? I’m not the one forcing her into this marriage.”
Colin looked astonished at that accusation. “There’s no way she’d be forced into any marriage—this one included—if we weren’t one hundred percent certain this is right for her. If her happiness weren’t our primary concern, she’d have been off our hands already—you’d need only see her list of rejected suitors to be convinced of that.” He met Trick’s gaze. “She wants this.”
Trick realized his mouth was open, and closed it. “You think you know what she wants better than she does?”
Colin sighed. “Pride will keep her from admitting it, even to herself. But you’re the first suitor she hasn’t outright refused, whether she realizes it or not. And maybe it’s true nothing happened today, but there’s something between you two, Amberley—you cannot deny it.”
While Trick attempted to digest that, Colin drew breath and smiled. “I’m sure it will work out all around.” He raised his glass. “To the groom.”
Trick looked at his own empty glass, then shrugged and went to refill it. He might as well get foxed on his last night as a free man, aye? “To the groom,” he echoed wryly before tossing the whisky down in one gulp.
Colin drained his own drink and set it on a table. “Well, I’d best get home. Big day tomorrow for all of us, isn’t it?”
Trick nodded.
Nodding in return, Colin stuck out his hand. “Till tomorrow, then. Let me just send the messenger back to Cainewood. Jason will be relieved to hear you’ve agreed.”
“Agreed?” Incredulous, Trick pulled his hand from Colin’s grasp. “I thought I had no choice.”
“Of course you had a choice. What kind of people do you take us for?”
“But—”
“Did you think I came here to run you through if you failed to cooperate?”
“The thought crossed my mind,” Trick said dryly.
“You said yourself it was a sound decision. Coercion was the last thing in our heads. We’re not looking to gain an enemy for an in-law. We want Kendra to be happy.” He pivoted on a heel, heading for the door. “And you, of course.”
“But you made it sound—”
“Good evening, Amberley. Sleep well,” he said and left.
For the second time that day, Trick found himself wondering what had happened. He was embarking on a new life, his ship about to sail for ports unknown.
For someone accustomed to being in charge, this was not an auspicious start.
EIGHT
“THANK YOU, Jane.” Kendra smiled at her kindly, round-faced maid and put a hand to her carefully coiffed hair. “You did a lovely job.”
Even if it was for nothing, she added silently.
As Jane left, Kendra crossed her bedchamber with a sigh. Pushing the drapes aside, she gazed out the diamond-paned window. In Cainewood’s quadrangle below, her “betrothed” chatted with her three brothers and a clergyman—or someone dressed like one, anyway.
“No, poppet.” Her sister-in-law, Amy, disentangled her eleven-month-old’s hands from her ebony tresses and set
