A Marriage Made in Mayfair by Tamara Gill Page A

said, meeting his cold stare with one of her own.
    “You will not, for I believe Lord Danning has not been as honest with you as he should. Would you care to enlighten my sister as to why you wish to marry her or should I?”
    “Henry, I know not of what you speak but please stop this nonsense and be happy for me,” Suzanna pleaded.
    “Well, Danning?” Henry said, ignoring her.
    “I love Suzanna; what more is there to say?” Royce smiled over to her but the light in his blue orbs had dimmed. Dread clawed at Suzanna’s innards.
    “Since you’re unwilling to be truthful, allow me,” Henry said meeting her gaze. “I had hoped to spare you this pain, Suzanna. I truly did. I tried to warn you. But, I would never willingly hurt you and what I’m about to disclose I fear will hurt you immensely.”
    He threw down his quill. “It was one of the reasons why I welcomed your moving in a completely different set to Lord Danning and his calibre of friends for I hoped you would meet a man worthy of your heart. But,” he sighed, “it seems my wish has not been granted.”
    “Say what you will, Henry,” Suzanna said, all hope of her brother and Royce becoming friends fading to an impossible dream.
    “At the beginning of last year’s season, I attended a gambling den in the bowels of East London where I had the opportune delight, I would say, of playing Lord Danning’s younger brother in a game of cards.”
    “Now what started out as a simple game of Piquet soon turned into a game of high stakes.” Henry stood and marched to the window, his gaze on the street for a time. “I won, of course, George Durnham’s inebriation and lack of concentration enabled me to win a sizable fortune from him. Of course, he signed a vowel, and I thought to receive payment in a week or two.”
    “I forgot all about the money he owed me until the night he started to spout off in Whites how he believed my sister had a tendre for his brother, and what a fool she was to think herself equal to such a match.” Henry’s eyes narrowed on Royce. “I should not have allowed the little fool to vex me, yet he did; and so I challenged him to a second game of cards. All or nothing. It was a challenge no gambling enthusiast could refuse.”
    Royce’s hands clenched in his lap.
    “I triumphed again over George Durnham. His lordship’s brother wrote another vowel at my agreement. It was only when I received word of Lord Danning’s cold and callous treatment of you that I demanded payment in full. For too long we’ve been shadows in the ton due to our family’s heritage. The opportunity arose and I seized our revenge.”
    “Henry, what happened between me and Lord Danning was all a misunderstanding. Why do you continue to bring...?”
    “Let me finish, Suzanna.”
    She remained silent and looked to Royce for support only to see him scowling at her brother.
    “I demanded payment. Money I knew neither Lord Danning nor his brother had. For months I have been pulling the noose tighter about their necks. I am within my rights to obtain the money owed to me.” Henry shrugged. “That the viscount’s family has fallen on hard times is not my concern. But now as the head of the family and knowing Lord Danning wishes to marry my heiress sister, that,” Henry said, striding back to the desk, and leaning over it, “concerns me greatly.”
    Suzanna was stunned into silence, not knowing how to react to such news. Her brother, for all his faults, was not normally a revengeful person. Yet after many months of snubs and exclusion from Lord Danning’s set, perhaps her even-tempered brother had been pushed too far. As for Royce being out of funds, this was a shocking revelation. Not that she cared if he were poor, but more because he had hidden it from her.
    An awful thought crawled into her mind. All the dances, the teasing remarks, and stolen kisses were an act and a way for Royce to make her fall in love with him so she’d marry him. And she had done