“That’s just it, you foolish girl, I’m offering to forgive you and welcome you back to the bosom of the family!”

“All I care about is Dare and ending this stupid duel without him dying. Your bosom will have to wait until later.”

“Dammit woman, it’s you I’m thinking about! I can stop the duel!”

Charlotte stopped and turned to look at her brother. “You can what?” she asked baldly, waiting impatiently as he puffed his way up to her.

“I’ll forgive you. You’ll be reinstated to your rightful place in the eyes of the ton. You’ll have everything you had before—position, a dowry, the force of our family name at your back—everything.”

Charlotte glanced through the trees. She could see the figures of men speaking together next to the carriages. Her heart lightened considerably with the knowledge that the killing hadn’t started yet. “You said you can stop the duel. Did you mean that?”

“I never say anything I don’t mean, sister.”

“Pheasant feathers, you do it all the time. What I want to know is whether you’re telling the truth now. You can stop the duel? You can truly stop it?”

Lord Collins smiled in a way that made Charlotte’s skin prickle. She’d never really liked her brother before. He was always a bit of a bully and a know-it-all, but for the first time she realized that she actively disliked him. He was an unconscionable beast of a man, and she suddenly had the desire to be away from him and his oily smile.

“I can stop the duel. All it will take is cooperation from you, my dear sister.”

She glanced over at the trees again. The men were still talking. “Crouch, would you please go see if they are getting ready to start murdering each other?”

“Aye, m’lady.”

Charlotte turned back to her brother. “What sort of cooperation?”

His oily smile widened. “Nothing very particular, certainly nothing you should balk at if you wish to regain your proper place in Society.”

“And what would ‘nothing very particular’ consist of?”

“An annulment, of course, so that you might make a more advantageous marriage than to a penniless criminal. If you renounce McGregor for the liar and cheat he is, if you are willing to state that he’s a dishonorable blackguard who tried to steal his cousin’s title by having him kidnapped, and an impotent blackguard to boot, I will see to it that you have everything you’ve ever desired.”

Charlotte stared at her brother, aware that her mouth was hanging open in surprise, but unable to do anything about such an unseemly expression, too astounded by his proposal to function properly for a moment.

“Impotent?” That wasn’t what she was intending to say, but it was the first word that came to her tongue.

Collins nodded. His voice was smooth, persuasive as it coiled around her. “You can have it all, Charlotte: a new husband, one who can give you children, a title, money, position, power—it can all be yours. Just give me your word, and I’ll go tell Carlisle that you’ve agreed to testify on his behalf against McGregor. You’ll be a free woman again, but this time you’ll have my blessing to smooth your path in Society. It can all be yours again, Charlotte, everything you’ve ever wanted.”