“Not that I know of.” The worst criticism he’d heard of Miss Saunders was that she was a trifle insipid. “But I have already tried marrying the girl Lady Colfax chose for me, and I am not eager to repeat the experiment.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What was wrong with your first wife?”
Dev sucked in his breath. He could write an entire essay about what went wrong between him and Elisabeth. It would not make for pleasant reading.
Miss Halliwell quickly backed away from the question. “I am sorry, sir. It is none of my business.”
“It would be your business if you married me.” He did not enjoy talking about his short-lived marriage, but Miss Halliwell had a right to know what happened to her predecessor.
He stared down at his half-eaten toast, searching for the right words. “Elisabeth and I were a bad match. She was the daughter of a viscount, and she loved London society. Wanted to spend every Season there. We could not afford that. We lived on a limited allowance. I had not yet inherited the estate.”
Sir Graham Colfax had given his heir an adequate allowance for a simple life in the country. Unfortunately, that was not enough for Elisabeth.
Dev forced himself to continue the unhappy story. “Elisabeth and I quarreled. Repeatedly. Then she sickened and died. In the end, she got her wish, in a manner of speaking. She will spend every Season in Highgate now.”
Dev had wanted to bury his wife in the parish churchyard, alongside other Colfax dead, but Lord Dewsbury had insisted on the fashionable cemetery that had just opened north of London. Elisabeth would have loved the handsome statuary that marked her grave.
Miss Halliwell drew back from the table, looking frankly horrified.Damn!This wasn’t helping his case, was it?
“I apologize if I seem hard-hearted,” Dev added. “I believe the marriage was doomed from the start. She accused me of cruelty in denying her the social life she wanted; I accused her of frivolity and extravagance. In the long run, we would never have been happy together.”
“I see.” Miss Halliwell took a sip of her tea, though it must have gone cold.
Dev could tell he was losing ground. “You are probably wondering why I married someone so obviously unsuited to me.”
She flicked her eyes back up, her expression suggesting that she had indeed wondered.
“Remember, my father and my stepmother chose a bride for me. I trusted their choice. Elisabeth was attractive and amiable, and I thought we would deal well together.” He smiled bitterly. “After we married, it became clear that her opinions, her tastes, and her desires were incompatible with mine. I would never have proposed to her if I’d better understood her character.”
“Surely the lesson here is that you should get to know a potential bride very well before you marry,” Miss Halliwell argued. “Not that you should marry a random stranger you picked up at the crossroads.”
That drew a reluctant chuckle from him. She might have a point. “The thing is, I don’t need a wife forever. Just long enough to foil my stepmother’s matchmaking scheme.”
“But marriageisforever! It’s not as if you can simply walk away after the ceremony.” Even her frown looked prim and proper.
“Oh, but you could,” Dev argued. “After the wedding, you could set up your own household. You need not live here at Hethersleigh unless you wish. You need not—” He floundered, not sure how best to introduce this delicate subject.
“Need not what?” She eyed him with visible suspicion.
Dev took the plunge. “While I would prefer to at least try sharing bed and board together, we need not consummate the marriage if you dislike the idea.” He had cousins aplenty who could inherit the baronetcy after him.
A bright flush filled her cheeks. “Sir, this is a most improper subject of conversation.” She sounded frostier than ever.
“Is it, though?” Dev gentled his voice. “If we are to be married, we had better lay out the ground rules now.” He knew better than anyone that it was not always possible to avoid nasty post-wedding surprises, but it would help if they entered the arrangement sharing the same understanding.
“We arenotto be married. It is a ridiculous proposal.” She met his gaze without flinching. “How do I know you would keep your end of the bargain?”
“I will write a contract, if you like,” he offered. “Specifying the amount of allowance you would receive in your lifetime, the details of your jointure, and the terms of our agreement.” There might be just enough time for his solicitor to help him draft a document tight enough to hold water in court.
She sat still, but the teacup in her hand trembled slightly. Was she considering it?Please say yes, he silently begged. He could not let Mabel win again. If he was going to make a mess of another marriage, he might as well do it on his own terms.
“Would it not be better to observe a courtship period before becoming officially betrothed?” she suggested. “This is very sudden.”
His shoulders slumped. “Yes, I know. Unfortunately, time is of the essence. I made a very rash promise to my stepmother and I have only a little time left to fulfill it.”
Miss Halliwell raised her eyebrows. “A rash promise?”
Dev winced. “Rash” was an understatement. “After my father’s death, Lady Colfax started lecturing me about the need to marry again. I made a deal with her: I told her that if she stopped badgering me, I would find a bride on my own, before my father had been in his grave for a year. I promised that if I was not married by the first of November, she could choose abride for me. My stepmother kept her end of the bargain, so now I must keep mine.”
