Two Wrongs Make a Marriage by Christine Merrill

best of that unfortunate mistake. We are just coming to Spayne Court. Let us tell all to the earl and see what he makes of it. I am sure that, once he has explained the advantages of the situation, you will be a most happy widow.’
    ‘Once I know you better, I am sure I shall.’ She snatched her hand back from his, ignoring the tingling in the fingers where his lips had touched it, and hurried to exit the coach as soon as the servants could open the door.

Chapter Five
    E ven before she’d set her cap for Kenton, Thea had known that Spayne Court was as venerable a house as one could hope to find in England. As the guidebooks had assured her, it looked like a castle. And that was what it had been when the first earl was awarded the land and title. The current Spayne was rumoured to be an enigma. He made few trips to London for Parliament, and none at all for social reasons. By turns the gossips described him as frail, in ill health, and healthy but suffering tragically from grief after the death of his wife, though this had occurred some ten years earlier. The ton speculated that the sudden appearance of Kenton was a sign that he was failing at last and the coronet was likely to be passed sooner rather than later.
    But the man that greeted them when they entered the great hall seemed spry enough. He was healthy, well groomed and barely past middle age. He was also smiling broadly at Thea and gave no evidence of debilitating grief.
    She could see from the first why he might have chosen Jack to imitate his heir. Though the resemblance was not strong, their blond hair, straight noses and sparkling blue eyes were close enough to alike that it was not hard to believe them father and son.
    ‘Jack.’ Spayne stepped forwards to clap the back of the mock Kenton, as though there were nothing strange or unfamiliar about him. ‘Back from London at last and with your lovely bride. Let me have a look at the girl.’ He stepped away again, turning to Thea and giving her a thorough, head-to-toe examination before holding out his hands to her in what seemed to be a sincere gesture of welcome. ‘My dear Cynthia.’
    ‘Lord Spayne.’ Her knees buckled instinctively into a curtsy and her head bowed in respect, even as she reminded herself that the man had been instrumental in her recent undoing. No matter her personal feelings about his scheme, he was a peer and her training would permit nothing less than total respect.
    He took her hands and lifted her back to face him, beaming. ‘You were certainly right in your letters, Jack. She is magnificent.’
    Jack cleared his throat as though embarrassed to be caught in praise of her. ‘I said she was well suited to your needs.’
    Without looking away from her, Spayne corrected him. ‘That is not what you said at all.’
    ‘I think, if you were to read the letter again—’ Jack said, sounding rather desperate.
    Spayne cut him off. ‘Sometimes it is better to read between the lines to find the meaning. Yours was quite clear. The girl is a great beauty, you were smitten and so you presented her as the logical choice for my needs.’
    ‘That is not at all what I...’ For the first time, her faux husband seemed totally out of countenance, and perhaps a little in awe of the man before him.
    The earl held up a finger. ‘I do not blame you for it. One has but to see her to understand.’ But he did not understand at all. As Jack had taken pains to remind her, she was not the daughter he had wanted at all. After all the effort she had taken to be otherwise, it was distressing to be such a disappointment to the father of the man she had thought to marry. Rank and honours aside, he did seem to be a most personable gentleman.
    Beside her, Jack cleared his throat again. ‘My lord. If we could speak in private for a moment. The situation has grown rather complicated.’
    The earl looked at him with a tip of the head.
    Jack glanced around to make sure the servants were not so close as to