Her Secondhand Groom Read Online Free PDF Page B

marry Lord Drakely as a means to pay off their debt. She’d feel sympathy for Henrietta being forced into a marriage not of her choosing if she didn’t feel swamped with guilt that it was her fault. Perhaps she ought to find the key to the door and let herself in. This debt wasn’t Henrietta’s fault. It was hers. And for as much as she didn’t have any great affections for Lord Drakely, she should be the one who had to endure his unpleasantness, if anyone had to be subjected to it, as a means to pay the debt.
    But she didn’t get up, barge in, and insist she take her sister’s place. She stayed squatted down there with her ear pressed to the keyhole. Though the debt wasn’t Henrietta’s to pay, it was highly unlikely―not just unlikely, but highly unlikely―he’d agree to marry Juliet in Henrietta’s stead.
    A small, somewhat naughty smile curved her lips. They’d actually suit each other well. Henrietta was haughty enough to fit perfectly with him and his ilk.
    Straining with her ear pressed against the door, she listened to their conversation once again as her parents continued to talk with Lord Drakely about the stipulations of the marriage. “Of course I’ll be willing to dower your other daughters, should they require a Season.”
    Juliet frowned. Just who did he think he was buying her sister this way? He must truly have been smitten by her for the whole ten seconds he glanced at her to be offering so much. And what did he mean by: should they require a Season ? They were poor villagers who just happened to have some distant―almost nonexistent―claim to lesser gentry. Juliet and her sisters would not be requiring Seasons. Not unless that was his way of “suggesting” they needed Seasons as a way to make her family appear more acceptable to his kind.
    Pursing her lips, she almost shoved to her feet, bent on finding the key so she could open that door and tell that insufferable man what she thought of him and his “suggestion”; but instead of shoving to her feet like she so desperately wanted, she stayed anchored where she was, paralyzed, and entranced at the mention of her name. “Are you sure you wish to marry Juliet?” Mother asked, her tone full of what sounded like disbelief.
    “ She’s the one who went to school, isn’t she?” Lord Drakely countered.
    “ Well, yes,” Father acknowledged.
    “ Then we understand each other.” Lord Drakely sighed. “I know you two hoped she’d have a Season, and I have no doubt she’d have her pick of the gentleman if she were to go; but surely what I’m offering is the best arrangement for your daughter. She’ll still be close enough for you to see her regularly. She’ll also be guaranteed the title of viscountess―which, as you probably know, should she go to London, she may or may not marry a titled gentleman. And don’t forget, all the debt will be wiped away, so you won’t have to impose on your new son-in-law to pay it.”
    “ And just how will this benefit you?” Mother asked. She’d never been one for subtlety before, why start now?
    “ Well, she’s been to school so she’s been trained in what to expect being married to someone of my position.”
    Juliet cringed at the casual tone in which he spoke those words. Or perhaps it was their meaning. It was hard to know.
    “ All right, then,” Father said. “As her guardian, I give my consent. Where do I need to sign?”
    Lord Drakely chuckled and Juliet seethed. That was it? Nobody was going to ask her opinion?
    “ The idea just came to me last night,” Lord Drakely began nonchalantly. “In my haste to discuss this with you first, I haven’t had time yet to arrange contracts and such. I was actually hoping for a wedding at the end of the week. Would that be a problem?”
    Yes! That would be a problem indeed, Juliet inwardly screamed as she jumped up and ran to the little board in the kitchen where a handful of keys hung from a couple of nails. She was not going to marry a man