Cole's mouth dropped open. He'd never heard Harrison sound so passionate. Douglas was just as thunderstruck. "Are you saying you're going to seduce our sister?"
"Yes."
"You can't be serious…" Travis began.
"I meant every word I just said. She's going to belong to me. Forever. She'll carry my name and bear my children."
Travis shook his head. "I can't believe you've got the guts to tell us what you're planning to do."
"Do you really think we'll let you try to touch her?" Cole asked.
Harrison lost his patience. "Try? I don't ever try anything. I do exactly what I say I'm going to do."
Douglas smiled. "Don't you think Mary Rose ought to have a say about her seduction? We all know you wouldn't force her."
"No, I wouldn't ever force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. She loves me, but she hasn't figured it all out just yet. She will though. She's a very intelligent woman. She'll give me permission before I bed her, and bed her I will."
"So you say," Cole snapped. "Adam, what do you think about this?"
"She does love him," Adam replied. " Harrison 's right about that."
" Harrison, you haven't already…" Travis was going to ask if he'd already seduced Mary Rose and then stopped himself. The look Harrison gave him made the hair stand up on the back of his neck.
Cole laughed. "Hell, Travis, he wouldn't be in such a foul mood if he'd bedded her."
"You're talking about our sister, I'll have you remember," Travis muttered.
"What about Lord Elliott?" Adam asked. "You said he'd marry her to someone more willing. Does that mean you're planning to tell him you found his daughter or are you going to let it rest?"
"I'm going to tell him, of course," Harrison answered. "He has a right to know, Adam. His agony will finally be over. The man has suffered long enough."
No one said a word for a long minute. The brothers were all thinking about Mary Rose's father and trying to imagine what it must have been like for him to lose his daughter.
Adam finally broke the silence. "Yes, he has suffered long enough. I wouldn't have stopped looking for my daughter. I'm certain I would have been as obsessed with finding her as Elliott was. Dear God, the agony he and his wife endured. It makes my heart ache to think about it. His misery became our blessing," he added with a nod. "I wonder if he'll understand."
"I'll make him understand," Harrison assured the brother. "He won't blame you or send anyone after you. Mary Rose has a family back in England. There are aunts and uncles and cousins too numerous to count. Your sister has a title and wealth. Elliott won't come here to see her. He won't have to. She'll go to him."
"How can you be so certain?" Douglas asked. "You said a few minutes ago that you wouldn't tell her. Have you changed your mind?"
"No, I haven't changed my mind."
"Well then?" Cole asked.
"I won't tell her. You will."
No one said a word for a long while. Harrison thought the brothers were busy wrestling with their consciences.
They would eventually do the right thing. He had lived with them long enough to know without a doubt that they would be honorable.
Adam made the decision for the others. "Yes, we'll tell her."
"She won't want to leave," Cole argued.
"It doesn't have to be forever," Adam countered. "She does have an obligation, however."
"She won't see it that way," Travis said.
"You know your sister as well as I do. Do you really believe she'll let Elliott suffer any longer?"
"Damn it, she doesn't even know him," Douglas said.
"She'll have to go and meet him. She'll want to put his mind at ease. With gentle prodding, Mary Rose will do the right thing. She'll want to procrastinate perhaps, but we won't let her. You know I'm right, Douglas. I don't like this any better than you do."
Harrison was sympathetic. "You have no one to blame but yourselves," he said. "You raised her to be noble."
"When are you leaving?" Douglas asked.
"Soon," Harrison answered. "I've stayed too long as it is," he added. "Elliott is depending on me to take over the negotiations for a merger he put together."
"The sooner you leave the better as far as I'm concerned," Travis said. "You didn't have to tell us about Elliott, you know. He's an old man, isn't he? And he'd already given up. Why did you have to take over his hunt?"
"Because I felt it was my duty to take over for him. If you knew him, you would understand."
"I think you should leave before we tell Mary Rose," Adam said. "Why?".
"It will be easier for everyone," Adam replied. "Exactly how will it be easier?" Harrison asked. Adam refused to explain. The set look on his face told Harrison it would be pointless to argue.
"When are you going to tell her?" he asked. "When we're ready. My brothers and I are going to discuss the situation first. We'll decide what's to be done, and when. I don't want you to leave just yet, however. I'm certain I'll have more questions I'll want answered before Mary Rose finds out anything." Harrison pushed his chair back and stood up. "I know you've had quite a blow. If I could have changed things, I would have. Hell, Elliott didn't ask to be thrown into purgatory. You've had her long enough. You've watched her grow up. Her father never experienced any of the joy of her childhood. Let him at least meet her now. He needs to see her, to know she's all right."
"I've already explained Mary Rose will want to do that much," Adam responded.
"Don't put it off," Harrison pressed. "I'll give you one week, two, if I can wait that long. I hope to God you decide to tell her soon. I think you're wrong to want me to leave before you talk to her, but the decision is yours to make and I will respect it. I'll wait fourteen days. If you haven't gotten all your questions answered by then, it'll be too late. Don't you dare ask me again, Cole," he added when he caught the look on the brother's face. "I've given you my word. I won't tell Mary Rose about her father now, and I won't tell her in fourteen days. I'll simply leave. I'm going back to London, and I will tell Elliott the minute I see him."
Harrison started to leave the room. "You have quite a lot to talk over. I'll leave you to it."
"Wait a minute," Cole called out. "Are you planning to seduce our sister before or after we've told her about her father?"
"I should wait, but I'm not going to."
"Son-of-a…" Cole whispered.
Harrison interrupted him before he could complete the blasphemy. "I've given you my intentions and my terms. I suggest you accept them."
He pulled the door closed behind him.
The younger brothers turned to Adam. Cole asked, "What are we going to do?"
"We don't have to do anything," Douglas argued. "You heard Harrison. He said Elliott wouldn't come here."
"He also said Elliott wouldn't have to," Travis interjected. "Mary Rose would go to him."
"I want to hate him," Cole whispered, his voice harsh with worry.
"How can you want to hate Elliott?" Adam asked.
"I was talking about Harrison," Cole said. "He's trying to tear this family apart."
"He isn't trying now. He's done it," Travis said.
"We have to do the right thing," Douglas whispered. Oh, how he hated having to admit it. "She's got to go and meet him."
Travis and Cole exchanged a worried look. Of the four brothers, they were the most vulnerable and the most afraid. The future was filled with unknowns, and each was thinking he would have to face it alone.