He shrugged.“If she was against it, of course I would never allow the marriage.”
“And if she wasn’t?If she wanted to be a duchess?”
Of course she didn’t.No one wanted to be the Duchess of Death.But deliberately, he kept his face tranquil.“I will always do my duty.”
She searched his eyes.“I believe you will.”
“You see why I forced myself to keep my distance at the George,” he said in a rush.“It was the hardest thing I ever did.”
“But then, you have not been much tried, have you?”
“No,” he said humbly.“But I can recognize good fortune beyond any I could ever hope for.”
Her brow twitched as she continued to stare at him.In the flickering light, colour seemed to seep along the shape of her cheekbone.“Is that why you kissed me?”
“Yes,” he said honestly.“I apologize if it was insulting.I did not intend that.I was only so ridiculously happy it was you.”
She swung one foot back and forward as though deep in thought, but she said nothing.
“Is there a legal contract of betrothal?”he asked at last.
She shook her head.“There is an agreement of intent between her father and yours, signed long before either of you were born.Neither Lily nor I had ever heard of it before.”
“Neither had I,” Jack admitted.
“So why has it suddenly come to the surface now?Why is it so urgent?”
“In case I die.”
Shock sprang into her eyes.“You do not appear to be at death’s door to me.”
“No, I am much better.Which is why my uncles seem to have decided I am fit to marry and produce heirs for Isbourne.”
She was silent for a few moments, then, “Do you trust your uncles?”
“Yes.”
“Really?Then why are you escaping them?”
He drew in his breath, trying to find the words for the explosion that had been building within him before he left.“I have lived with a...a surfeit of goodness.”
“Smothering you,” she said slowly.“Layer after layer until you can’t breathe...Andtheyare in control.”
More than the relief of her understanding, he grasped she was speaking from her own experience.Women were subject to family control, too, and especially to a husband’s.He remembered with fresh distaste that she had been married to an old man.Her surfeit was unlikely to have been of goodness.
“You are escaping, too,” he blurted.
“Oh, death was kind to me,” she drawled.“Now I’m looking for a purpose to it all.I’m not sure there is one.Apart from Lily.”
“You are discontented.”
“I am bored.Fortunately, it is fashionable.”
Without intending to, he reached up and touched her cheek.“You are looking for love.I hope you find it.”
For an instant she stared at him.He had the impression she was holding her breath.And then she rose fluidly to her feet and his hand fell away.
“How intriguing,” she drawled, and he understood he was unbearable.“You are a romantic after all.I shan’t forbid you from courting Lily, but there will be no quick marriage.As for the rest, do write and tell me if you learn anything about Smith.I shall be at Hawthorn Court for the next fortnight.After that, you may always reach me care of the Dower House at Sark Park.Good night.”
