As the horses clip-clopped out of the mews, Corinna snuggled against him. "What do you mean?"
"Deirdre won't be waiting for the divorce to come through before she moves in with Raleigh," he said with a sigh, turning onto the street. "That will take a long while, and she won't be patient. Impulsive, my sister is, not to mention a wee bit wild."
"I guess that wildness runs in your family," Corinna said, grinning up at him. "Her brother posed naked for an artist."
FIFTY-EIGHT
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
