Read Online Midnight Bride by Barbara Allister - Free Book Online Page B

friend laughed, remembering the incident.
    "That is not to happen again. Not even if someone else offers. Do you understand, Hartley?" Charles asked. His voice was stern and harsh.
    "Turning Methodist on me, Charles?" The older man smiled maliciously. "What will our friends say?"
    "No, but I do respect my sister's right to live here in peace. We shouldn't have come without her permission."
    "But you told me you own the place." Hartley enjoyed nettling him. "Last night you said Elizabeth was trying to take it away from you."
    Charles blanched. He cleared his throat. "You especially should know that you should not believe everything I say when I am in my cups."
    "Do you mean you don't want her to get married so that you can sell off this place?" Hartley got up and walked closer to the fireplace, where a small fire smoldered. He poked it and turned around, his face carefully unconcerned.
    "What are you talking about?" Charles asked, horrified.
    "Oh, just a conversation we had last evening." Hartley walked over and looked him in the eye, his pale blue eyes clear and cold. His smile never reached his eyes. Charles's eyes dropped. He turned away from Hartley.
    "What exactly did I say?" Charles asked hesitantly, afraid of what Hartley was going to tell him. He reminded himself that what a man said when he was drinking was often discounted. But that did not make him feel better.
    "We discussed how unfair it was that your father had not left this estate outright to you. You mentioned it would come to you when your sister married." Realizing his advantage, Hartley went on. "You said if I could arrange a marriage for your sister, you would give me twenty-five percent of what you make when you sell this estate." He pulled out a piece of paper and handed to Charles, whose face blanched as he read his signature under the words.
    "And you believed me?" Charles's voice reflected his astonishment. "After what Ì apparently drank?"
    "But, dear boy, you gave me your solemn oath on it, word of a Beckworth and all that." Hartley moved across the room and leaned casually against the back of the chair. "Do you mean you will not honor your debt of honor?" His tone reflected just the right amount of horrified amazement.
    "No, no. But you must have known I was in no state to promise anything . . ." Charles let his voice trail off into nothingness, remembering how many times he had seen a drunken man bet his family's fortune on the roll of dice or a turn of a card. They had paid up; so must he. He gulped and controlled himself with effort. "Besides, Elizabeth never goes anywhere to meet anyone eligible." He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized the truth of his remark.
    "So you said." His friend plucked a small piece of lint from his otherwise flawless dove-colored pantaloons, looked at it coldly, and threw it in the fire. "You leave everything to me." He walked toward the door and then paused, his hand on the latch. "I think it might be best if the two of us remained after the others leave. What do you think?" When he looked at Charles, the faint smile on his face chilled the younger man.
    "Of course." Charles had never intended to leave with the others anyway. "Keep it to yourself, though. We wouldn't want the rest to change their minds." He watched Hartley leave the room and then took his first deep breath since they had begun the conversation as the door clicked closed. "Idiot, that's what I am. Now how can I get out of it without my sister finding out?" he asked himself. "I am never going to drink again." Hearing a noise in the hall, he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.
    He yanked the bell pull. "Where are my friends, Jeffries?" he asked when the butler arrived. Before long he had seen off all of them except Dunstan. With only a few complaints they had all agreed with him; the country was dull. With company returning to London, there would be more excitement there.
    The person he had had the most trouble convincing was his best