“And I needed you to say yes,” he carried on when she said nothing. “You see, my father knew of my determination to never marry or father an heir, and he despised me for it. So he left a clause in his will which states that the majority of his fortune would be withheld from me until I married. It was his last and most mortal blow against me. I wasn’t sure how to get around it. I needed the money in order to clean up the duchy.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why is it so important for you to clean up the duchy?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” he said at once. “And because these gangs trample over my tenants. They harass them, extort them, recruit them, and sometimes even physically harm them. When a farmer is slow to pay the protection fee the gang requires, they will send men to beat him up. Sometimes even burn his house. So I want to do this for my tenants, for the dogs, and also for myself. I hated what my father did to this land and its people, and I want to undo it.”
He heard Violet roll over onto her side. “So you decided to marry me and inherit the money you needed to end these illegal activities?”
“I did,” James said, exhaling slowly. “Personally, I don’t care about wealth. I would have been glad to let the money rot in the bank if I didn’t need it to fight the criminals my father let flourish. But until you snuck into my study, I didn’t know how I was going to root them all out. Because I refused to take a wife who wanted the kind of marriage I couldn’t give. And then you showed up, and I saw a way for both of us to benefit from marriage.”
“So when you said that you needed to marry in order to finish the work that is most important to you…?”
“I meant destroying my father’s legacy of criminality and disrepute and making this duchy honorable and noble again.”
There was a long silence during which James felt uncharacteristically nervous, as if he were worried that the truth would make her hate him.
But when she spoke, she didn’t sound angry—she sounded thoughtful. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
He wished he could have seen her face, to try and decipher exactly what she was feeling, but she was still invisible in the darkness.
“Are you… all right?” he asked tentatively.
“You’ve given me much to think about,” she admitted. “But for now, I think it best if we both get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow.”
He heard her turn away from him, and several minutes later, the sound of her gentle breathing filled the room, and he knew she was asleep. But he had trouble sleeping, and all night, he tossed and turned.
The next morning, he woke up very suddenly, when the silvery morning light was just beginning to filter through the window. For a second, he couldn’t figure out why he had woken up so suddenly. But then he realized that his wife was sitting on the edge of the settee, staring at him.
“W-what are you doing?” he asked, sitting up quickly.
She was fully dressed and looked ready to go out. She was even wearing thick leather walking boots and an outdoor coat.
“I’ve thought of a solution to the problem with the guards,” she said, her tone brooking no argument. “We’re coming with you.”
Chapter Ten
“There is no scenario where you are coming with me!” James sputtered, scrambling to his feet as Violet continued to calmly watch him. “It is far too dangerous!”
“And it’s far too dangerous for us to stay here without protection.”
“Which is why the guards are staying with you.”
“And thenyouwill be in danger.”
They stared at each other, and Violet felt a thrill at once again finding herself going head-to-head with her husband. But she clenched her jaw, revealing nothing as she stared him down.
“My life means little to me,” he said finally. “And I think you’d be relieved if I were to perish, because then you could remarry and find yourself a husband whowillgive you children.”
“If you perish,” she shot back, “then this whole farce of a marriage will have been for nothing. Who, then, will protect us from my father? Iris and the Duke of Eavestone are still in Italy.” She shook her head. “No, I need you alive if I am to keep my sister and my mother safe.”
James hesitated, but she could see that he found this argument somewhat compelling.
“And what about you?” he asked. “Won’t keeping you and your family safe be all in vain if you are killed by gangsters?”
“But we won’t be,” she countered briskly, “if the guards are there.”
When he still looked unconvinced, she sighed and folded her arms across her chest. “Think of it like this—if you don’t bring the guards, and you are harmed in some way, then you might not be able to achieve your main goal, which is to clean up the duchy. And if you don’t clean up the duchy, then you will have failed to undo your father’s legacy. So really, it is in your interest to bring us along.”
“I…” James looked as if he were struggling to find words to argue with her.
