The Marquis Takes a Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the beautiful baby girl who would grow up to be his bride. He had put it far in the back of his mind, being for years too concerned with the managing of his estates which he had found in bad repair after a three years’ absence in the Peninsular Wars.
    As the years passed and no communication arrived from the Bemyss family, the Marquis had begun to think they had either forgotten about the whole thing or had found this “baby betrothal” as ridiculous as he did himself. That was until a letter had arrived from Lord Charles informing him bluntly of Jennie’s approaching eighteenth birthday and firmly stating that the Marquis was expected to honor his dead parents’ wishes.
    So he had traveled to Runbury Manor to tell Lord Charles, in the politest manner possible, that he had no intention of wedding some young miss who was little more than a schoolgirl.
    Then he had seen Jennie. The Marquis smiled reflectively as he remembered the turmoil of his emotions on first seeing that wilful, infuriating,
darling
little beauty.
    If he wished her infatuation for that unsuitable cousin to die out, then he would have to play his cards very carefully and keep a tight rein on his emotions. Miss Jennie Bemyss was going to need very careful handling indeed!
    A little distance away in a slim house in Manchester Square, the news of the Marquis’ engagement was received with more horror than even the sensitive and jealous Perry could muster.
    Alice Waring was clutching the lapels of Guy Chalmer’s coat and staring up into his face. “Tell me it’s all a hum!” she cried. “Chemmy was to marry
me!
”
    Guy disengaged himself and said cruelly, “You ain’t the marrying kind. Lord Trace was keeping you before Chemmy, and before that, Richards.”
    “But I am good
ton
,” sobbed Alice. “Everyone has liaisons.”
    “But not so blatantly as you,” shrugged Guy. “Anyway, you’re nearly thirty, Alice, and Jennie Bemyss is a gorgeous virgin of eighteen. Now, don’t claw my eyes out, and let me think. I can help you.”
    Alice Waring dried her tears and looked at him hopefully. She was a statuesque woman with a magnificent figure and a classically beautiful face with a pair of brown, almost oriental, eyes which surveyed the world with lazy sensuality from under a cloud of spun-gold hair.
    She was the daughter of a bankrupt Irish peer and had repaired her fortunes by marrying a rich and elderly merchant, Mr. Josiah Waring, who had the good grace to take the smell of the shop and his unfashionable presence off into the other world two months after his marriage, leaving the grateful Alice with his very fashionable fortune. She had not wished to marry again, preferring to enjoy her freedom as a beautiful widow. She could not forget the straightened circumstances of her youth and made sure that her lovers were generous. She had not thought of marriage until the advent of Chemmy. The thought that she was no longer a girl, combined with her ambition to become a marchioness, had made her change her mind. She had convinced herself that Chemmy was as besotted as her other admirers and that it was only a matter of time before he legalized their relationship. The thought that he was now to marry some country nobody who, if Guy were to be believed, had more hair than wit, made her grind her teeth with jealousy and frustration.
    “Well?” she demanded impatiently.
    Guy looked up. “There is hope for you,” he said. “Jennie don’t want the Marquis. She thinks Chemmy’s a fop and she’s told him she wants a marriage of convenience and he’s agreed to it. It’s up to us to see they keep it that way. Jennie’s in love with me. It’s up to you to keep Chemmy in love with you.”
    Alice’s magnificent eyes gleamed with hope. Then she said softly, “And what do you want out of it, my so dear Mr. Chalmers?”
    He looked at her thoughtfully. They were seated in her boudoir. She was wearing an elaborate silk and lace negligee which did