The sudden rush of bitterness when he saw his brother speaking to his wife had surprised Marcus.
Following their awkward exchange, Dash bowed curtly. "I shall return to the ball." He turned on his heel and stalked away.
"One moment," Marcus muttered to Rain before following his brother. "Dash!"
The younger man stopped and turned around, his expression wary as he watched him approach. Marcus wasn't sure what he wanted to say, or how, just that he needed to say something before he exploded with pent up anger.
"Did you not once think to dissuade me of my belief that you had slept with my wife?" he asked, rather impressed by the impassive tone of his voice.
Dash visibly flinched at the question before standing up straighter and raising his chin. "You never asked."
"You could have bloody well told me!" The anger made him snap, and he could see his brother's blue eyes widen at the rare show of emotion.
"I suppose I did not think it mattered," Dash muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Or did you hope she would leave me for you?"
Dash's gaze faltered. "I know fully that would never happen. Divorcing you would cause a scandal she could never recover from."
He might not be great at reading emotions, but Marcus was rather certain his brother harboured feelings for Rain. Dash had never admitted as much, but all the signs pointed to it.
"She asked me for an annulment," he admitted glumly.
"She did?" Dash perked up.
"You do not need to look so excited about it." Marcus levelled him with a glare. "She will never get one. They are nearly impossible to come by."
"True. But still..."
Marcus took a step closer to his brother, holding his gaze. "Dash. We will never have that annulment. Whatever feelings you may have for my wife, I suggest you bury them deep and never speak of them."
His brother took a step backwards as if someone had slapped him. "What? I..." His blue eyes turned hard. "She never should have married you. It should have been me! I was her friend. We got along splendidly. Then you had to sweep in with your title and steal her right in front of me!"
"At the time, I did not realise that was how you felt. You never made your intentions known." Marcus sighed. "If I had known..."
"You might have done exactly the same thing," Dash bit out. "She was everything you needed. I know the estate was in trouble, and you would do anything to save it. To ensure your tenants did not starve, or you had to let servants go."
"I..." Truth be told, Marcus had never realised his brother knew in how much trouble they had been.
Dash sighed. "I would never want to be in your shoes. The responsibilities. The duty to your title. No, thank you. It is not for me. I have never envied you anything. Not even Father's attention when he would give me little more than a cursory look..." He met Marcus's eyes, and there was a sadness in the blue depths that was like a punch in his gut. "But there was one thing I wanted. One thing that could have been mine. And you took her too."
Marcus cleared his throat. "You realise no one could make Rain do anything? She chose who to marry. I only threw my hat in the ring."
"I know." Dash smiled wryly. "But please allow me my bitterness. I have little strife in my life. Maybe this will make me more appealing to the ladies. That whole tortured brooding look that I can never quite achieve."
An unwilling chuckle escaped Marcus. "Fine." Sobering, he awkwardly put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "But believe me, you are better off not having had Father's attention."
Dash frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Maybe one day I will tell you." He looked over to where Rain sat to make sure she was all right. Her face looked paler than normal in the moonlight, her eyes were closed and her face raised towards the sky.
"You do care for her, don't you?" Dash asked, sounding more surprised than anything, making Marcus look back at him.
"I never did not care."
"Maybe you should tell her that," his brother suggested with another wry smile. "She believes you do not and that the sole reason for marrying her was because you needed her dowry."
"I did need her dowry," Marcus muttered.
Dash groaned. "You do not need to be so bloody literal all the time. Was it the reason for courting her?"
"Initially."
His brother gave him a long-suffering look. "Was it your sole reason for marrying her?"
Marcus hesitated. He'd never said it out loud before. "No."
"There you go." Dash smacked the back of his shoulder with his palm. "Whatever your other reasons were, that's what you need to tell her."
If only it were that easy. Marcus groaned inwardly. It was that easy. And it was that hard.
He frowned. "Why are you helping me? Shouldn't you wish for the breakdown of our marriage?"
Running a hand through his hair, Dash looked over at Rain, his face softening. "Because in the end, no matter what... I want her to be happy."
Another stab of guilt pierced his heart. He had not realised how deeply his brother cared for Rain. Perhaps it had been bad of him to court her two years ago. Had he known Dash loved her, he might not have. He looked over at his wife. Or perhaps he would. Did that make him a terrible man? Probably. But even if he had not pursued her two years ago, he couldn't be sure she would not have caught his attention while he had been investigating other young ladies. There was something about her that drew him to her. It might be her passionate personality—so unlike his own. Always smiling. Chatting with friends. Laughing in that wonderful, carefree way that made him want to kiss her until he was laughing with her.
"You will find someone," he mumbled, hoping to offer his brother some hope.
Dash laughed, but it sounded a little forced. "Do not fret, brother. I am quite enjoying my rakish ways. Speaking of... I have an appointment with a lovely actress, so I must be off."
Before Marcus could say anything else, Dash disappeared. He hoped his brother would find what he was looking for. They had never been very close, but he cared for his brother, and he wanted happiness for him. A lady of his own. But he could not have Rain. She was Marcus's wife. He just needed to convince her to remain so. Somehow.
Rain smiled up at Marcus as he returned to her side. It had been impossible to hear his discussion with Dash, but whatever it had been about, it had looked unpleasant. The two had been at odds since the wedding, possibly longer. Probably not helped by her omitting the truth. At least it was finally out in the open now.
"You look tired," he said. "Let us return home."
Normally, she would be unhappy about leaving early, but tonight it sounded rather good. With a nod, she stood, and they made their way back to the ballroom and into the entrance hall, where they could call for their carriage. As they waited for it to be brought around, Marcus helped her put on a thin cloak.
"Winterbourne!"
They looked up at the sharp exclamation and Rain was a little perturbed to see her brother Nathaniel striding towards them. His blonde wife, Angel, followed in his wake, offering an apologetic smile. Oh dear.
"Pensington," Marcus said curtly as her brother came to stand before them. Nathaniel was a tall man, but even he was a couple of inches shorter than Marcus, and not nearly as wide. It did not seem to deter him.
"I'm surprised to see you out among your peers," Nathaniel said coldly. "Usually I find my sister forced to attend these events by herself."
"I am making an effort." Marcus did not seem bothered by her brother's animosity.
"Nathaniel," Rain said cautiously. "We are on our way home."
He turned his dark eyes on her. "It's barely a home. You live on your own. It is no way to spend your life. If I had known I never would have agreed to this marriage."
"I currently reside at Winterbourne House," Marcus cut in, then added acerbically, "And you did agree to the marriage. She is my wife now."
"I know!" Nathaniel snapped. "I will regret it to the day I die. All I want is for my sisters to be happy, and instead, I see Rain miserable."
She cleared her throat. "That is unfair. I am usually quite enjoying my time in London and the social swirl. And when I am not here, I can travel around to meet you and our sisters. It's not a terrible life."
"It is not the life I wanted for you." Nathaniel raked a hand through his dark hair.
What was going on with him tonight? She glanced at Angel, who grimaced and made a motion as if drinking from a glass. Rain raised an eyebrow. Her brother had over-imbibed? That did not sound like him. As if she could sense Rain questioning it, Angel held three fingers up like a W. Of course. Wortham. Her brother's best friend—married to their sister, Jessica—must have somehow driven him to drink more than usual. The earl did have that effect on people. It would also explain why her brother had dragged his wife outside to fondle her in the shadows. Angel had once told her he got extra affectionate when foxed.
"I can see the two of you talking about me behind my back," Nathaniel muttered. "I am not that foxed. Just enough to want to talk to Winterbourne about his treatment of you."
"What did Wortham do this time?" Rain asked, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.
"He expounded at length about the odds of Nick remaining uncompromised until her wedding day," Angel supplied helpfully.
Rain giggled and looked at her fuming brother, who did not appreciate being reminded of the conversation. "Nathaniel, she is engaged to Lord Winter. He seems like an honourable fellow."
"I found them alone out in the garden at a ball just a few days ago," Nathaniel said. "And while I might think Winter is honourable and would never ruin our sister..." A look of desperation crossed his face. "It is Nick we are speaking of. I do not trust her judgement in this any further than I could throw her."
Angel put a hand on his arm. "I am sure Lord Winter will keep her on the strait and narrow."
Nathaniel scoffed, obviously having a lot less faith in his friend's ability to resist their sister. Rain did not blame him. She had seen how the man looked at Nick and there had definitely been a fair amount of heat between them. It was not something she was willing to share with her brother, though, as she suspected it might give him an apoplexy.
"I do not want to relive the days of Jessica and Wortham. I thought I got off easy with you. A proper proposal and a wedding after reading all the banns. I did not think I would have to worry about you. Until he—" He jabbed a finger in Marcus's direction. To his credit, Marcus didn't even flinch. "Until he broke your heart."
"Let us not become overly dramatic," Rain quickly said with a quick glance towards her husband. He was looking at her, but she could not tell what he was thinking. Hopefully, only that her brother was unusually emotional. She did not want Marcus to realise how hard she had taken his dishonesty. How excited she had been to marry him. Only to find out he did not feel the same. No, she rather he thought she married him for that bloody title.
"Our carriage is here," Marcus said calmly.
"Brilliant!" Relief filled her. She wanted to get out of there before her brother could say anything else embarrassing. Giving Nathaniel and Angel a kiss on the cheek each, she said goodbye and left through the door a footman held open. Hurrying down the steps to the waiting carriage, she could hear Marcus following behind.
"Rain!"
She turned around as he called her name and saw him dashing towards her. Shocked, she froze, and it took her another moment to realise someone else was coming towards her. Someone in a long cloak with the hood pulled so far forward it left their face in shadows. They reached her at the same time, and she caught sight of something glinting in the light of the street lamps. A knife. Marcus's hand shot out to push the attacker away, and the cloaked figure flew backwards and fell on his back a few feet away with a pained groan.
Quickly scrambling to his feet, the attacker ran away. Marcus looked like he was about to follow, but then his eyes fell on her and he cursed. She looked down, still in shock by the whole thing, and saw the blood darkening her light blue dress at the waist. She swallowed as the pain suddenly washed over her as if a floodgate had opened and finally allowed her mind to register that her body had been hurt.
The door to the house was closed. No one had seen the attack other than their driver, who hovered anxiously behind Marcus. Lifting her into the carriage, Marcus told the driver to take them home and send for the doctor as soon as they arrived. Seating Rain on the bench, he kneeled before her and took his jacket off, pressing it to her side. She winced as the carriage lurched into motion.
"What is happening?" she asked, forcing herself to breathe calmly even as she felt lightheaded. "Who was that?"
"I do not know," Marcus said, his voice laced with suppressed anger. "But I suspect it is the same person responsible for you imbibing opium. Maybe the list has been discovered after all."
"Or someone really hates me," she mumbled with a weak smile.
"Do not be silly," he muttered. "No one could hate you."
"You do. Or at least you did," she said. "When you thought I had spent the night with your brother."
He lifted his jacket a little to check on the bleeding but soon pushed it back against the wound. His eyes lifted to meet hers. "I never hated you," he said earnestly.
She wanted to enquire further but was distracted by a sticky feeling on her fingers. Lifting her hand, she stared at the red stains for a moment. She drew a sharp breath. Then another. A vague memory of touching the blade flashed before her eyes.
"I... I should tell you," she mumbled as she saw two of him. "That I tend to faint at the sight of blood."
He frowned. "How is that possible? All the wounded animals you've helped..."
"My... my own blood," she clarified before swallowing another deep breath. And another.
"Rain..."
The carriage went black.
~~~~~~