When he said nothing, Isla went on to clarify her question. “Why didn’t you say anything? You could’ve told her it was a mistake.”
I could have. Maybe I should have. And yet something about her… My instinct has said little in a very long time. But something about Isla is right, I can feel it. Besides, the unionmakes enough sense right now; this will solve more than one problem of mine, and I’d like to stop having problems for once.
“That’s the reason I came back to London,” he told her in plain terms. While Ronan still didn’t know what he was doing, the tightness in his chest was lessening. He had a plan. He liked having a plan. And now Isla was part of it. Soon, everything would be sorted out for good. “I need a wife. You have saved me the trouble of announcing that.”
“What?”
Tired of explaining himself, Ronan put on his other glove before reaching for the door. “I’ll contact you soon with the details. Expect an announcement in the papers tomorrow. We don’t need a special license; three weeks will do.”
“You can’t just come here and say nothing to us before you tell me we truly are to wed—” she started.
“I’m leaving, Isla,” Ronan interrupted. “We’ll speak soon.”
CHAPTER 4
Speechless, Isla could only stare through the open door as the tall duke swept away from her home and into the street. A horse was set under the tree across the lane where he untethered the beast. In one motion, he was in the saddle. And then he was gone.
What just happened?
There was a flush on her face that had started creeping over her the moment she saw him.
What a rushed encounter this had been for her. Isla still couldn’t wrap her head around his arrival. The moment in the parlor where nothing happened, and yet… And yet it felt likesomethinghad.
It had all taken place so quickly. Lifting her hands to her face, she tried to understand her expression. Questions flooded hermind. What did he think of her? What was he going to do? He couldn’t really… he couldn’t really mean to keep going forward.
Could he? He must be mad. Goodness gracious, but then so am I.
The confusion she had felt over his short visit twisted inside of her. She had sat down, screaming inside, waiting for him to end the charade.
Thinking of his words didn’t bring her any comfort. “I need a wife. You have saved me the trouble of announcing that.” He couldn’t possibly mean he meant to marry her. And yet––
“Expect an announcement in the papers tomorrow. We don’t need a special license; three weeks will do.”
All I ever said was a lie. A lie! What a confounding man. I should like to step on his foot very, very hard. A lie like this isn’t meant to become the truth. It can’t. I think.
The confusion was giving her a headache, which made Isla irritable. She grumbled under her breath as she closed the door from the dreary day.
“Well, that…” Her mother held the tea tray with a shaky smile while gazing at her through misty eyes. “That was wonderous. Was it not?”
“It was certainly intriguing,” Isla grudgingly said.
Although her mother looked like she wished to say more, Margaret was calling for her elsewhere. “Mother? I’m preparing a bath for Lacey. Can you help me?”
“I’ll return in a moment,” Mrs. MacLaren said but Isla knew as well as she that it would be a very long moment.
And then Isla went on her way, deciding to garden. She needed a distraction. But after gardening, she made a loaf of bread with their cook and then cleaned the hall. The nervous energy she had been feeling for days had to go somewhere.
She eventually tired and decided to find their orange cat, Hector, who had lived with them most of her life back in Scotland. He had practically trapped himself in the attic. The space was large, filled with all sorts of furniture and draperies, with eight windows that saw into the world.
“There you are, you little beast.” She scooped him up, ignoring his growl, and then set him down in a recent pile of white cloths. It was nearly as good as a straw mattress. The two of them settled to look down into the world by a front window. “Have you seen anything interesting up here today?”
He grumbled before creeping closer against her chest and under her chin. The two of them settled in to watch the world below. Her heartbeat finally slowed down alongside Hector, but her mind… That had yet to slow all this time.
It wasn’t supposed to go this far. What am I supposed to do?
Telling a stranger she wasn’t going to marry him shouldn’t have felt so difficult. But she hardly knew how to tell him this. There was so little she actually knew about him. His name, his looks… and how he avoided London.
But he had come back to see her. The thought made her frown. He must have been disappointed, she surmised, and yet not enough to make him flee or tell anyone the truth.
