In the Prince’s Bed by Sabrina Jeffries (22)

Chapter Twenty-eight

Sydney had only a moment to relish his triumph before Kit started toward the door. He caught her just in time. “Let him go, for God’s sake. You’re finally free of him.”

She cast Sydney a sad smile. “I don’t want to be free of him. Not now that I know he truly cares for me.”

“Because he refused my offer? Of course he did. He knew that would bring you to him as nothing else would, and then he’d have your fortune—”

“Sydney, my dear friend,” she said in an indulgent tone, “he’s not the monster you paint him. If you could only see what I’ve seen—how hard he’s fighting to restore his estate, how well he treats his servants, how strongly he feels for his country. There are so many good things about him that you don’t know.”

“All I’ve seen is him being reckless and wicked and—”

“Yes, he’s that too, sometimes. But then, so am I.”

“Never. You’re like me—you know what’s right and proper and try to follow it.”

She laughed. “After all these years, you know me so little.”

“I know you well enough. Dash it all, you could never be happy with a man who wants you only for your fortune.”

She removed his hand from her arm. “I’m going to tell you something I shouldn’t. But I can think of no other way to put your mind at ease.” She glanced away. “If Alec had wanted to ruin my chances with you forever, he could have. All he needed to say was the truth—that he and I have been…intimate.”

Sydney gaped at her. “What?”

With a blush, she met his gaze. “Twice, as a matter of fact. Don’t you see? If he’d wished to, he could have told you I wasn’t chaste, and you would never have wanted to marry me. But he didn’t. And more than anything else, that proves his sincerity.” She took his hand and squeezed. “I only hope you won’t think too ill of me for it.”

“I could never think ill of you,” he swore.

“Good. Because I want to remain your friend. But right now I must go.”

“To him,” he said bitterly.

She smiled. “Yes. I love him, you know. In a way that I never loved you. And perhaps in a way that you never loved me, either?”

He didn’t answer.

“I thought so. But you deserve someone who truly loves you, whom you can truly love in return. I promise you, true love is better even than poetry.”

Sydney swallowed. “Go on, then. Don’t worry about me.”

“Thank you.” She stretched up to kiss his cheek. Then she was gone.

After she left, Sydney wandered the drawing room aimlessly. He ought to feel bereft, but all he felt was relief. Iversley’s refusal of the money had shaken his certainty that the man was wrong for her; Katherine’s revelation had ground it to dust. She was right—he didn’t know her.

Or perhaps he’d always known what she was…and that it wasn’t what he wanted. No, he wanted something else entirely.

Someone else entirely.

His pulse began to race. He hadn’t spoken to Jules since the day he’d left Napier House. The day Jules had demanded that Sydney choose a path once and for all: the trip to Greece and a life with Jules…or never seeing Jules again and trying to win Katherine back. Jules had said he could no longer bear to be with Sydney as a friend when he felt something different for him.

Sydney had chosen to leave. Because he’d been afraid to face his own true nature, his own wickedness.

Yet here were Katherine and Iversley both freely admitting theirs, willing to do almost anything to be together, even if it meant turning both their lives and their futures upside down.

It humbled him. Inspired him. Gave him hope.

He strode out into the hall and called to the footman on duty. “Have the carriage brought round, will you? And tell Mother that I’ve gone out to Lord Napier’s estate.”

Surely if Iversley could refuse a fortune and Katherine risk marrying a fortune hunter for love, then he could take a risk of his own.

Because Katherine was right. True love was better than poetry.

*   *   *

Katherine’s heart thundered as the hackney coach approached the Stephens Hotel. What if Alec wasn’t there? What if he’d returned to Edenmore? Or worse yet, gone somewhere she’d never find him? But no, Sydney’s footman had said he was on horseback. Alec couldn’t have gone far.

Still, she should never have let Sydney delay her. She shouldn’t have stood there gaping at Alec like a fool when he’d said those lovely words renouncing her fortune. But she’d been so stunned. She knew how badly he needed the money. And for him to give it up…

The hack shuddered to a halt. Thank goodness! Over Molly’s protests, she ordered the maid to stay with the hack, then she jumped out without waiting for the driver to help her down. She raced into the hotel and halted as every eye stared at her, an unaccompanied lady. Never mind. She had to find Alec, even if it meant dealing with the secretive owner again on her own.

But if Alec had told the man of Katherine’s defection, he would probably be even more stubborn than before. Then she spotted the footboy who’d delivered Alec’s message when he’d left town. With a surge of relief, she hurried up to him.

“I need to see Lord Iversley. Is he here?”

“Well…I…the thing is—”

“Look,” she said impatiently. “I know he lives here, I know he’s poor, I know everything I need to know about him except where he is at this moment. And if you don’t tell me, I swear I’ll start wandering the halls screaming his name until somebody does.” She’d already made a complete spectacle of herself; she might as well finish the job.

The servant blinked, then nodded. “This way, miss. He’s in a dining room with his friends.”

“Friends?” she asked as he led her through the halls.

“Mr. Byrne and Lord Draker.”

Those two again. How strange that Alec should happen to be friendly with not one, but two of Prinny’s by-blows. What could that possibly mean?

The boy opened the door to a room, but when she heard someone speak her name, she motioned to him to be silent, then waved him away. She stood outside the cracked open door, straining to hear their conversation.

“You might as well take Beleza now,” Alec said. “I don’t know when I can repay your loan.”

“I’m not taking your horse,” a man’s gruff voice answered. It wasn’t Mr. Byrne, so it must be the other one, the Dragon Viscount.

“Why not?” Alec answered. “I knew what I was doing when I offered her as collateral for the money to buy my tillers. With any luck, this crop will help me succeed with Edenmore, so I may be able to buy her back from you one day.”

Katherine’s heart twisted in her chest. He’d given up Beleza? Oh, her poor sweet darling. She started to push the door open and put an end to this right now when another voice arrested her, one she knew only too well.

“I don’t understand why you can’t marry another heiress. I know of a woman whose brother owes me money—”

“Absolutely not,” Alec snapped. “If I can’t have Katherine, I don’t want another woman. You’ll have to ask me for some other favor, Byrne, because marrying to help you get your money is no longer something I’m willing to do.”

Her heart had begun to soar when one of the men said, “Wait a minute.”

Before she could react, the door swung open, bringing her face-to-face with a bearded giant who bore a fierce scowl and hands that looked capable of crushing her with one blow.

“Who are you, skulking about, listening in on private conversations?” he growled.

This could only be the Dragon Viscount in the flesh. “I beg your pardon, but I—”

“Katherine?” Alec said. Coming up behind Lord Draker, he thrust the man aside. “For God’s sake, stop scowling at her. You’re scaring her to death.”

Draker crossed his arms over his burly chest. “She was eavesdropping.”

“I don’t care.” Alec’s gaze never left her face. “What are you doing here?”

Gathering her courage, she stepped into the room. “You never answered my question. About why you’d be willing to give up my fortune if I’d marry you.”

The leap of hope in his face sparked her own hope even higher. Then his expression changed to a troubled frown. “Before I do, I have to tell you something. No matter what happens between us, I’m done with keeping secrets from you.”

She forced a smile. “That sounds ominous. I’m not sure I can take many more of your secrets.”

“Forgive me, sweetheart, but this one’s important.” Shutting the door behind her, he nodded to his companions. “You know Byrne, and you’ve heard me speak of Draker. They’re…well…”

“Your friends. Yes, I know.”

“They’re not just my friends, Katherine.” He sucked in a deep breath. “They’re my brothers. My half brothers.”

She stared at him in complete bewilderment. “But that would mean—”

“That my father is His Highness. My mother had a short-lived affair with Prinny. I am the result.”

She could hardly take it in. “Does the prince know?”

“Nobody knows except my brothers and two of the old earl’s servants.”

Yet he’d trusted her with the secret, too. He was Prinny’s son. Oh, of course! That explained so much—why the previous earl had treated him cruelly, why he didn’t like to discuss his parents…

Why he was regarding her now with an air of expectant dread.

She cast him a reassuring smile. “It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care who your father is. I don’t care who your friends or your brothers are. I only care who you are.”

Alec went still. Then, as if suddenly aware of their audience, he flashed his half brothers a glance. Muttering something about going in search of more brandy, they vanished past her into the hall.

As soon as the door closed behind his half brothers, she said, “Now will you answer my question?”

With his face alight, he stepped nearer. “Surely you know the answer.”

“I need to hear the words.”

“Very well.” He laid his hands on her waist. “I love you, Katherine.” He drew her close. “I love you.” He bent his head toward her. “I will always love you.”

As his lips met hers, her heart expanded near to bursting. His kiss was so tender, so loving, that she couldn’t believe she’d ever thought to give him up.

When he pulled back, he added, “I think I began falling in love with you the minute you told me I was careless for turning my life into a cliché.” His eyes darkened. “But when you tried to seduce me just to get me to rest, I knew I could never live without you.”

She cupped his face in her hands, so happy she was beaming. “Oh, Alec, I love you, too. So very much.”

“Enough to marry me?” he said hoarsely. “I have little to offer right now, but if we rent out Edenmore—”

“We are not renting out Edenmore.” She looped her arms about his neck. “My fortune will give us all we need to restore it.”

He scowled down at her. “I meant what I said—I don’t want your money. I can take care of you on my own.”

“If you think I’ll let you march off to get yourself killed in the cavalry or go riding about Astley’s ring with some other pretty senhora, think again.”

That seemed to give him pause. Then he shook his head mutinously. “No, I can’t. Lovelace will claim I used my kisses to gain your fortune.”

“Why do you care what he says? I certainly don’t.”

He arched one brow. “You’ve changed your mind about him? You’ve decided he’s not the better man after all?”

“Of course he’s the better man.” When Alec frowned, she added with a smile, “But I don’t want the better man. I want Alexander the Great, who is reckless and wicked and does exactly as he pleases, who thinks that poetry is boring and that women should speak their minds. I want you, Alec. And my fortune. I refuse to marry you unless I can have both.”

He began to smile. “Oh, you do, do you?”

“I’m not going to eat Mrs. Brown’s cooking or put up with a sculpture of Lady Godiva in the bedroom because we can’t afford anything else. So you might as well accept my fortune now.”

His eyes gleamed down at her. “All right. But only under two conditions.”

She eyed him askance. “Oh?”

“The first is that you set aside a substantial portion for our children.”

She relaxed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She smiled up at him. “And the second?”

“That you invite Senhora Encantador to join us from time to time.”

She smothered a laugh. “I don’t know. Senhora Encantador is very particular. She only likes rakehells.”

“She’ll have to settle for the son of a rakehell. And what about you? Will you take this wild and reckless by-blow of a notorious profligate to be your husband?”

“Yes, my great Alexander,” she whispered, lifting her head for his kiss. “Most definitely yes.”