Engaging the Earl. Mandy Goff

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СКАЧАТЬ for him to build a political career. The earl wasn’t fighting for any reason other than to right a wrong.

      The stares had almost a tangible weight. Though he noticed the person closest to him was studiously avoiding his gaze. Interesting.

      Marcus could honestly say he’d never been so glad to have a preacher begin to pray. At least then everyone should have their eyes closed instead of training them on him. When the congregation was dismissed, Marcus didn’t stand right away. He wanted to give the curious folks time to make it out the door.

      As though the rest of the family sitting on the pew wished to show their solidarity, neither Olivia, Nick nor even Miss Mercer moved. The four of them watched as others strolled along, chatting with their friends and acquaintances.

      â€œAre you all right?” Miss Mercer leaned over to whisper.

      The lovely lady couldn’t have surprised Marcus more if she’d kissed him on the cheek.

      Instead of answering, he turned to smile politely at her. “Am I that obvious?” he asked.

      â€œNo,” Miss Mercer rushed to assure him. “I was just watching closely.”

      His strained smile shifted into an honest grin. When she realized what she’d said, Miss Mercer’s face flushed. “That’s not exactly what I meant,” she said.

      â€œI’m fine, thank you,” Marcus said quietly instead of pressing her on her statement.

      â€œGood,” Miss Mercer said on a sigh. Marcus wasn’t sure if that was necessarily a statement about his well-being.

      â€œEmma, look,” Olivia hissed, gesturing in a manner that Marcus supposed his sister considered subtle. “There’s Baron Chivers—and he’s looking right at you.”

      Marcus had heard of the baron. Actually, the man was supposed to be a decent sort—if a bit young still. And Chivers’s mother was actually one of the most giving, generous women Marcus had ever met. Baroness Chivers ran a charity for downtrodden ladies.

      Marcus looked casually over in the direction his sister had indicated. Though he hadn’t met the baron before, it wasn’t difficult to identify him. In fact, it would have been nearly impossible to miss him. He had his mother’s hair, his father’s bearing and an absolutely besotted expression on his face as he stared unabashedly at Miss Mercer. The speed with which Chivers took an interest in Miss Mercer bothered him … although Marcus wasn’t precisely sure why.

      Well, he had an idea of why, but it was better not to think about ridiculously foolish things. It would be absurd to be jealous. Even before the recent stress to his finances, marriage had not been in his plans for several more years, at least. And now, of all times, the burden and expense of a society wife was the last thing he could handle. Besides, he was all wrong for a woman like Emma Mercer—even his sister, Olivia, had said so, and every ounce of reason and practicality he possessed told him that was for the best.

      So why did it feel wrong to think of Miss Mercer becoming the wife of any man in London except him?

      Chapter Six

      Three days later, it had become widely known that there was an incredibly beautiful, unmarried lady staying with the Marquess and Marchioness of Huntsford. As a result, Marcus found himself having to fight a sea of callers to get in the front door of his sister’s house.

      Not that he was vying to add his name into the sea of potential suitors, of course. He’d simply wanted to get away from his home and the pile of letters on his desk reminding him of the work he could no longer do, the assistance he could no longer offer. Some time spent with Em—that is, with Olivia would be the perfect distraction.

      â€œUnusual burst of activity, isn’t there, Mathis?” he asked the butler once he was shown inside.

      â€œThanks to Miss Mercer, my lord,” the old man said with a surprising grin.

      That stopped Marcus in his tracks. He’d never seen Mathis smile. Ever.

      It was almost enough to make him remain in the foyer and interrogate the servant as to what had truly happened, but the door was opening once again to let in two more ladies, a mother and daughter. Marcus knew them by sight, although not by name. The younger of the two looked like she’d just swallowed an entire lemon. The mother, on the other hand, looked like she’d be glad to wipe the sour expression off her daughter’s face so long as no one was around to see her do it.

      â€œI suppose my sister is …” he began asking Mathis.

      Only to be interrupted with, “In the yellow parlor, my lord.”

      â€œOf course,” he muttered, hurrying to beat the newest arrivals in there.

      But Nick caught him in the hallway before he could make it to the parlor.

      â€œMarcus?” Nick asked in surprise. “I didn’t know you were coming by today.”

      Why did Marcus feel guilty to be caught by his friend? It wasn’t as though he was doing anything wrong. He was paying a call on his sister … and on the woman he’d promised to help find matrimonial happiness.

      When Marcus didn’t say anything, Nick steered him toward the stairs. “You don’t want to go anywhere near that part of the house. Trust me on that,” he said.

      â€œIs that so?” Marcus asked, hoping that he didn’t sound overly interested.

      Because he wasn’t … overly interested, that was.

      â€œI can’t count how many people have been in and out in the last day or two. I think I’m going to have to send Mathis away to one of my country estates to recuperate for a while,” Nick said with a laugh.

      â€œThat bad?” Marcus asked. His voice was a little more dispassionate than he might have preferred it to be. Because there was an incredibly fine line between sounding too interested and not sounding interested enough. Either way was suspicious. And with someone like Nick, a former spy who thrived on the subtle clues a person unwittingly gave away, Marcus wanted to be certain not to draw any undue attention.

      â€œIt’s almost humorous,” Nick said. “I think I understand better how you felt being responsible for Olivia all those years.”

      Marcus thought back to having to fend off Olivia’s more ardent suitors and found that the thought of Miss Mercer receiving similar attention bothered him just as much.

      But only in a different sort of way.

      â€œAny offers for her hand?” Marcus asked, only joking in an effort to keep the conversation going while Marcus tried to figure out how much information he could pry for without Nick reporting to Olivia that he was interested.

      â€œOne yesterday,” Nick said without laughing.

      â€œYou jest,” Marcus said, so surprised that he almost stumbled on the steps. “Miss Mercer hasn’t even СКАЧАТЬ