Catch a Falling Heiress: An American Heiress in London by Laura Lee Guhrke

didn’t have much time. An announcement tonight of your betrothal would enable him to borrow against his expectations straightaway, pay everyone off, and avoid ruin. Thanks to my interference, his plan to use you to save himself has failed.”
    Her face was composed but pale, and her eyes reminded him of frost-encrusted crocuses peeking out of a snowbank. “My father knows all about your interference, Lord Featherstone.”
    “I do, indeed,” Holland put in. “And by now, so does everyone else in that ballroom. You have a lot to answer for, young man, but I intend to deal with one scoundrel at a time.”
    The older man returned his attention to Van Hausen. “If what Featherstone says is true, it won’t do you any good. In light of this, Linnet has too much sense to marry you, and even if you could get round her, you can’t get round me. I continue to refuse my consent. Try borrowing against your expectations when I declare my refusal publicly.”
    Van Hausen lifted his chin, trying to maintain a shred of dignity, but in Jack’s view, all he managed to do was look even more like a pompous ass. “Declare your refusal in all the papers. It doesn’t matter. I want to marry Linnet because I love her. I just didn’t realize it until she went away.”
    Jack almost laughed. Deuce take it, the fellow almost sounded sincere. He couldn’t possibly be in love with the girl. And yet . . .
    His gaze slid to Miss Holland.
    She was jaw-dropping gorgeous. Any man, even a villain, could be enraptured by those eyes. Jack’s gaze lowered a fraction. And that mouth, he knew full well, was luscious indeed. Jack supposed even a dog like Van Hausen could be smitten. But love?
    He glanced at their joined hands. The memory of them walking toward the door as he and her mother came in entered his mind, and with that, any glimmer of doubt went to the wall.
    “Love?” he scoffed, giving a laugh. “In a pig’s eye. You were spiriting her off. You meant to elope with her.”
    Van Hausen gave a start, and Jack knew his guess had been right. He pushed his advantage. “Cutting things a bit close, aren’t you? Tuesday isn’t far off, remember.”
    “But what you say makes no sense,” Holland put in before Van Hausen could reply. “If he elopes with my daughter, I’d never reward him with her dowry. He must know that.”
    “I don’t want her dowry,” Van Hausen cut in, but though his voice was calmer now, in his eyes, Jack still saw fear.
    “How commendable,” Jack replied, “but we both know there are ways to get money from her father other than a dowry.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t need to listen to any more of your vicious lies, nor does my fiancée. Linnet, shall we go?”
    “Linnet?” Mrs. Holland cried, but if she feared the girl would walk out with Van Hausen, that fear was allayed at once. Despite his pulling at her, the girl didn’t move.
    “What does he have in mind, then?” she asked Jack. “Since you seem to know so much, explain that.”
    “I would be happy to give you my theory, Miss Holland. I have no doubt that when he returned to the ballroom, he heard the gossip about us and realized his plan to borrow against his marital expectations had failed. But he also knew that if he could persuade you to elope with him at once, he could still gain his ends. He probably told you an elopement was the only way you could be together, given your father’s refusal.”
    She flung her head back as if startled, and not for the first time, Jack thanked heaven Van Hausen was so predictable.
    “Don’t listen to him, Linnet,” the other man urged before she could reply. “He’s the one who wants your dowry. Isn’t that obvious?”
    The girl lifted her free hand in a bewildered gesture, then let it fall. “This still doesn’t make sense. If I eloped with Frederick, my father wouldn’t give him anything, even if he is in debt. He’d demand Frederick make good. He might bring him into