A Virgin for the Rakish Marquess (In War and Love #3)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Pins and Needles

“ O uch!” Diana was ready to curse louder as the needle pricked her.

“You sure are less careful these days,” Elizabeth remarked, staring at her over her book. “Perhaps you should try something less sharp. I am sure you run less risk of getting blood all over yourself with watercolors.”

“I prefer to be armed when Selina decides to visit,” Diana murmured. “Though drowning her in colored water doesn’t sound like a terrible idea right now.”

“In truth, I am sure she won’t dare show her face here so soon.”

“You do realize we are talking about Selina, right?” Diana looked at her sister-in-law.

“I stand corrected.” Elizabeth let out a boisterous laugh.

Diana joined her, grateful for the pillar of humor that her sister-in-law was. She felt the mirth warming her body and soul. That was until the butler walked into the parlor.

“Lady Diana, you have a visitor.”

Diana was tempted to pin her needle in her eye out of frustration. Perhaps a sudden injury like that would stop the vexing aftermath of that fateful auction. It had been days, and during each of them, Diana had been forced to receive visitors. Eligible bachelors. Suitors. Everyone but him.

Word about the auction got out and spread like wildfire. Everyone was talking about how Lord Crawford paid a ridiculous amount to have the honor of five promenades with the jilted wallflower. A man of his reputation, who monopolized the attention of the ton the rare times he graced their events with his presence, had noticed her. Ergo, she was considered a prize. Overnight, she became a rare commodity. She was the ton’s most eligible bachelorette, her value high in the market.

In simple words, boys saw one of their own play with a toy they had forgotten, and now they wanted to play too.

Male folly at its finest .

But the question remained. Why did he want to play with her? And why suddenly he didn’t?

“My Lady?” the butler prompted. “Should I show Lord Herrington here?”

Diana nodded reluctantly. She would love to throw decorum out of the window along with her valuables and run away from all of this. To her dismay, Elizabeth took her book and went to sit on the armchair by the window, leaving her alone on the sofa.

Diana cast a sharp glance at her sister-in-law and lady of the house. After all, if Elizabeth had chosen any other moment to visit the powder room that fateful night, all of this would have been avoided.

“My fair Lady!” Lord Herrington busted in with an overflowing flower basket that he dropped in Diana’s lap.

She forced the distant cousin of what could be considered a smile.

Lord Herrington bowed, and that made him even shorter. Despite his pale skin, blonde hair, and hazel eyes, he was…

Well, not as tall as him .

Diana motioned for him to sit, and she smiled and nodded and responded as best as she could to his benign small talk. And she was forced to do so again. And again. Day in and day out.

One after the other, every eligible bachelor visited her parlor, and not even one thought to bring chocolate—which would have made the whole ordeal more bearable.

Her once quiet haven, filled with books and her beloved needles and threads, was invaded by an endless procession of suitors she had no use for. Men who had never noticed her before, and even used to snicker behind her back, now seemed fascinated by her. Men who never even spared her a second glance were now vying for her attention, squeezing into the seats of her light blue sofa.

A distressing realization dawned on her. This was never about her. All this attention and the extermination of gardens upon gardens of flowers was not for her. This was about him .

A man like him taking notice? Paying for her company? Openly kissing her hand? It was his worth that raised her worth. And she was angry at this absurdity that ruined her days. And she was not alone.

“You are not thinking of honoring the auction offer, are you?” Stephen demanded, rather than asked.

Between the rare moments she had to herself, she had to suffer that as well. Stephen was the other reason that the hospital Selina had chosen for her charity event would see an influx of money. He was the one bidding against the Marquess. Not to save her from humiliation. After all, there was no humiliation. Diana was told that the moment Selina started the auction, Lord Crawford bid an outrageous amount. It was Stephen who had hastened to outbid him.

“That man is a rake. The worst kind.”

There is the reason.

Diana inhaled. Her overbearing brother had outbid the Marquess because he was not ready to see his little sister walking around with him. He had decided that a man of his reputation was not to be seen around Diana, let alone be her companion on romantic promenades. Diana had no desire to deal with him as well.

“Perhaps you should be talking to our sister about the matter.” She sipped on her tea. “I, on my part, am not going to give the Marquess any reason to withdraw his generous offer to the hospital.”

“Oh, trust me, I will have a serious conversation with Selina about this matter. But do not even jest on the matter. I forbid you to go!”

Forbid?

Diana looked at her brother, who was seething, and was ready to ask him to reconsider his words lest he wanted to hear what she had to say on the matter.

“I do think that Lord Crawford’s actions, dubious and questionable as they may be, have had a wonderful impact, dear.”

Her voice and tone were enough to distract him and lighten the heavy atmosphere, which was seconds away from blowing into a fight only a brother and a sister could have.

“Pray, do tell us how any of this is wonderful , Elizabeth?” Stephen demanded.

Diana nodded, forgetting that she was ready to have his head moments ago. She too wondered about Elizabeth’s mental health.

“All of the eligible bachelors are now competing for Diana’s attention. Respectable men,” Elizabeth interjected. “I am sure our wise Diana could choose any of them. Five promenades mean nothing, but they can bring you closer to the man you really want, Diana.”

Diana was ready to scream, “But I want none of them!”

But such overly emotional responses did not fly well under Stephen’s roof. Ever since that fateful evening—when the man who had all but promised himself to her turned to another woman in front of the whole ton—she had lived in the shadow of that mortifying spectacle. Being away from her wall and into the limelight was exhausting. She had more pressing matters at hand than disillusioning her sister-in-law.

“You are not wrong, Lizzy.” Stephen smiled at his wife. “Smithwick, for example, is a good fellow. I know him well. We both went to Eton. And Langam. He is respectable, has no debts, and never drinks.”

Diana tuned the rest of the conversation out. There was an insight she would love to share with her brother after spending almost a week with the crème de la crème of the marriage mart . What was presented as a virtue was the same thing that made them boring: none of them was Lord Crawford.

None had that devilish smile that would make a nun blush. None could dwarf her with his height. None had that deep voice that said so much more than words. None had that sharp wit that challenged her. And none had those piercing blue eyes that saw her. Truly saw her.

Stop that!

This was the really draining part of her days. To constantly try to stop herself from thinking about him. Caught in a purgatory between dreading his arrival and anticipating it, she found no peace. Each time the butler announced a caller, her breath would hitch… only for her pulse to slow when it was not him . And then, absurdly, disappointment would follow.

She lived in fear of seeing those blues again and in dread at the notion that she might not see them again. She squirmed at the idea that his massive body would make her poor sofa creak, and she sprang up just thinking of him seated too close to her.

Because she knew exactly what he would do when he was too close. He would just get closer. Oh, she could see him enter her haven with that smug smile on his lips and that swagger that made him less stiff than the other gentlemen of the ton. But so much more dangerous.

No, she didn’t need ‘dangerous’ in her life. Her poor sofa had suffered enough from the endless string of men occupying it. It was better that she was spared his presence.

Lies , a voice in her head intoned.

Her heart raced just picturing him so close, daring enough, testing limits and propriety with his words and hands. But his eyes and his lips would betray his real thoughts. The way he would convey how he could just?—

“Ouch!” She had pricked herself, again.

Elizabeth was about to comment on her clumsiness. Diana was never clumsy, especially with her needles. Her astute sister-in-law was ready to make that observation when Stephen was right there, and that was the last thing Diana needed. She didn’t want him to worry even more than he usually did.

Yet, in a stroke of luck—or calamity—the door flew open, and Selina entered in a light green dress, a bundle of books in her arms and a smile on her face. A very wide, very contented smile.

“What a glorious, sunny day!” she gushed.

Three pairs of eyes landed on her in disbelief at her carefree manner. In a pure Selina way, her audacity momentarily stunned everyone. And to add salt to injury, Herbert followed, walked past her, and flopped down on an armchair, grabbing a biscuit as he did.

If the two siblings felt the room temperature drop despite the sunlight pouring in, they did not show it. But judging by the way Selina occupied herself with untangling her hat from her hair and the way Herbert munched on his biscuits, Diana was inclined to believe that they were blissfully oblivious.

“Selina!” Stephen would, of course, be the first to snap out of it. “What on earth do you think you are doing?”

Selina turned and smiled. “I was under the impression I was visiting family.”

Stephen was ready to stand up and erupt, but Diana beat him to it.

“I was under the same impression, dear sister,” she bit out. “That we were family, I mean.”

“Are we not?”

“We might need to reevaluate the meaning of the word. Because I find that our definitions of what family is vastly differ. You see, I was raised with the notion that family supports each other.”

“You are angry,” Selina noted.

“Always so perceptive, dear sister. And for the less insightful”—Diana turned to Herbert—“that feeling extends to you, too.”

Selina rushed to her side and sat down, ready to take her hands in her own.

“Do not tempt me, Selina. I am armed with needles, and I am not afraid to use them.”

Selina must have sensed the seriousness of the threat, since she quickly drew her hands away from her sister’s embroidery.

“But why are you mad at me?” she asked. “At us?”

Diana blinked. She turned to Stephen and Elizabeth to make sure that she was hearing her correctly. The couple seemed equally appalled.

“Why am I mad? Because you auctioned me off like cattle!”

“I doubt the best cow would fetch the amount you did,” Herbert muttered and reached for another biscuit.

His hand paused mid-air, for it seemed that he finally caught on and was fully aware of the icicles dripping from the occupants of the parlor, except for Selina.

“I know how you feel, Diana.”

“I assure you, you have no idea how I feel right now because, then, you wouldn’t have sat so close to me while there is boiling tea in the vicinity.”

Selina nodded a few times somberly. “What I have done was?—”

“Unforgivable? Stupid? Appalling? Humiliating? Deplorable?”

“Necessary,” Selina offered.

“Lizzy, leave the room!” Stephen was on his feet instantly and started rolling up his sleeves. “I have never spanked any of you, but there is always time to remedy things.”

Elizabeth didn’t move, her whole attention focused on the muscular arms her husband revealed. She seemed lost in a haze of thoughts Diana didn’t want her to have in front of the rest of her siblings.

“Elizabeth!” Diana hissed, snapping her sister-in-law out of wherever she was. “I think it’s best you took Stephen somewhere else.”

“Oh, I will take Stephen alright.”

Diana’s cheeks flushed, but one touch from Elizabeth and the couple was out of the room. Now, she could focus on the problem at hand.

“I should have let him make good on his promise, Selina. Maybe I might.”

“May I speak?” Selina smiled.

“I think you said enough. Humiliating me like that was necessary, then?”

“It was! You were wasting away, and I was not prepared to sit back and watch it happen.”

Diana gasped. Her fire turned cold.

Selina spoke a hard truth. She wasn’t here to mock her or just dismiss the whole thing. She was going to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.

“It’s not about marriage, Diana.” Selina risked it all and took her hand. “I couldn’t care less if you got married or not. If that made you truly happy, I would be right there beside you. But to allow you to wither away because of something that happened years ago? No, my sweet sister. I had to do something.”

“And that something was degrading me without my consent?”

Selina looked down with embarrassment. She was indeed feeling guilty. She indeed took it too far.

“The auction was my idea,” Herbert spoke up, leaning in.

“You had better keep your mouth shut, or I am calling Stephen back in.”

“I am sure that as long those sleeves are rolled up, he is thoroughly occupied.”

“Herbert!” both sisters exclaimed in shock.

“There, I got you to agree on something.” Herbert smirked.

“Diana.” Selina drew her sister’s attention to spare Herbert from finding out how much damage a pair of scissors could do. “I know it was too… drastic.”

Diana frowned, and Selina swallowed.

“I am not shying away from saying it was wrong.”

“And yet you do.” Diana smiled that fake, dangerous smile.

“Fine, it was wrong. But I would do it again.”

“I thought survival instinct was ingrained in all creatures, yet you seem to lack that ability that has kept our species flourishing. I am sure killing you might be called drastic but necessary .”

“It got you out of that endless loop of nothingness, did it not?”

“Being visited by all the bachelors and hearing their empty comments and empty compliments constitutes a good thing for you?”

“Perhaps not, but going out there, being forced to put down the books and threads and simply promenade is something more.”

The reminder that the auction came with an offer made Diana’s jaw clench.

Was he part of the scheme?

It was logical to think so. He was Richard’s best friend, and her brother-in-law was known to bend over backward to keep her sister happy. Asking his best friend to bid in the auction, knowing the reaction that would follow, was something he would gladly do.

Oh, the betrayal runs deep.

“Of course, I never expected Lord Crawford to bid. Especially that obscene amount that made everyone back down. Except for that thickhead brother of ours. It made the plan even better.”

What?

That had Diana’s head spinning. So, the Marquess made a bid because he really wanted the prize? Then why had he not claimed it? Was he trying to ridicule her more? Paying for the honor of escorting her and then never doing it? Just because she challenged him?

“Diana, will you ever forgive me?”

If there was ever a perfect opportunity for Selina to ask that, she sure found it. Diana was so flustered by her thoughts that she nodded without thinking.

“Oh, my sweet sister. You’ll see. This is for the best.”

Oh, I seriously doubt that.