Page 64 of The Earl and the Reluctant Lady
Chapter Twenty
Fletcher released a shaky breath, but he would not give Chris the pleasure of seeing him wince in pain.
“Did you take her virtue?” Christopher asked after hitting him one more time. “Did you?”
“Christopher, enough,” Agnes whispered. Embarrassment heated her cheeks and she looked anywhere but at Fletcher.
Chris shifted his gaze to Agnes and glared at her. “I shall deal with you later.”
“Do not speak to her like that,” Fletcher said between his clenched teeth.
Chris’s brows rose slightly. “Don’t tell me how to speak to my sister.” The veins in his neck bulged and his face was red. “Answer my question. Now.”
“No,” Fletcher said.
“Then we are finished here. Agnes, get your things,” Chris said.
“I’m going to marry her,” Fletcher said. Damnation! That is not how this was supposed to go. He’d had the arguments all ready to give to Chris when he returned to London. And ones prepared to convince Agnes. He’d been prepared, but not for this kind of confrontation.
“You’re going to marry me?” Agnes asked.
At the same time her brother asked, “What do you mean you’re going to marry her?” Then Chris added, “The hell you are.”
Fletcher looked away from Agnes’s face. The emotion on her face beckoned to him—pure hope and adoration—or perhaps that latter part was merely wishful thinking on his part.
“We’ve talked about this, Wakefield,” Chris said. “Furthermore,” he continued but only loud enough for Fletcher to hear him, “I’ll make everything you ever wanted to happen with the Seven come to fruition. You’ll get your assignments abroad that you’ve been craving. In fact, I’ll send you abroad for the rest of your damned life. You’ll never see her. You’ll certainly never touch her. Do you understand me?”
The bastard would make him choose? Keep the position that would pay to keep Agnes in the lifestyle in which she was comfortable and afford a house away from his grandfather only to have to lose her in the end because he’d been shipped off? Fletcher grit his teeth. There was no reasoning with him now.
“You are not good enough for my sister.” Chris shook his head. “I trusted you, you son of a bitch.”
Agnes sucked in a breath. She hadn’t started crying, but judging by the look in her eyes, the tears weren’t far away. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but he knew that now was not the time.
“There are things that you do not know,” Fletcher said.
“Unless you took her virtue, then I need know nothing else,” Chris said. “I will not stand by and watch you break her heart because you refuse to be faithful. This union will not happen.” He grabbed Agnes’s arm. “You’re coming with me.”
She ripped her arm away. “Do not touch me.” She took one last look over her shoulder at Fletcher, then turned and walked away.
He should fight for her, but he knew right now it wouldn’t work. Nothing he said would change Chris’s mind. And damned if the man wasn’t right. Fletcher knew he had nothing to offer her. He didn’t deserve her. He’d do everything he could to protect her, which meant that once Chris let his anger cool, Fletcher would have to tell him about the men and their ill-treatment of Agnes. Perhaps they could arrange for her to marry someone like Sullivan, and Fletcher would go back to…seducing a never-ending line of widows. None of that appealed to him in the least. He felt no desire for any other woman. But at the end of the day, being the greatest lover in London was the only thing he had to offer.
…
Fletcher wanted to marry her. Her heart soared. How had she gone so long not realizing that he was what she’d truly wanted? She did want to marry, but only him.
She sat across the carriage from her brother, but neither of them spoke. She wanted to scream at him, but she hadn’t yet decided what to say. And all she could think about was that Fletcher had wanted to marry her. At least that’s what he’d said.
“He wants to marry me,” she said abruptly.
Christopher leveled a glare at her. “I heard him say those words, but did you see him fight for you? You deserve a man who will fight for you, Agnes. Fletcher is not that man.”
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.
“I don’t know what all he told you,” Christopher began, “but you don’t know Fletcher like I do.”
“I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“Good, then you can just listen. What you need to understand is that this is what he does. He seduces women. Lots and lots of women, Agnes. You’re not special to him.”
