Her fingers lifted up to her cheek.“I’m fine.”
He moved over to sit next to her, placing an arm across the back of the seat just above her shoulders.Then, his other hand tipped her chin, studying her offended cheek.“I think I shall kill him slowly.”
That made her smile.A little.“That’s not what I wish to discuss.”
“I’m not a thief, I swear it.”
She looked up at him, surprised he knew what she’d been about to say, as his dark eyes imploring her.“Charlotte said?—”
“Charlotte saw part of my activities.I’m not trying to steal from people.I’m trying to capture criminals.”
All at once she realized.
The Bushy Hero.
His partner.
She gasped.“You and Ralph?”
He gave a wincing nod.“I couldn’t tell you.”
“Why not?”The words burst from her mouth before she could stop them.
And some part of her swooned like a maiden in a fairytale.Perhaps he could rescue her.Then again, he’d kept the truth from her and that wasn’t heroic at all.
“Because,” he sighed, averting his gaze this time.“It’s not exactly husbandly behavior, risking your life every night, now is it?Nor is it technically legal.And…” He drifted off, looking away.
“Will you continue to put yourself at risk like this after we’re wed?”
“I see no reason to quit.”
She stared at him, her eyes narrowing and her heart twisting in her chest.Why did her silly heart wish he’d offered to stop because he was worried for her?“You understand that with the position my mother and I were left in, I find this behavior worrisome.If something happened to you before we created an heir, what would happen to your title?”
He frowned.“I see your point.Though I’d like to add that my strength is an asset.”
Her mouth dried as she stared at his physique.It most certainly was.“You’re right.But I saw your limp when we first met.It’s dangerous and that makes you ill-suited to the role of husband.”
“Someone has to protect the people of London?—”
“Yes, but why you?”She supposed it was a relief that he wasn’t a thief.She could still wed him, trust him with her father’s inheritance.But something in her ached to know why he’d kept this secret.Which was silly.
He pointed to his scar.“I had retribution on my mind, I suppose.”
Her eyes widened as she understood.Mostly.But that didn’t change the decision she needed to make.Her fanciful daydreams of a hero needed to be set aside for this match to work.“I can’t marry a man who takes so much risk.Not if I’m truly trying to make a better future.”
“Would you consider a temporary truce?I’ll stop until such time as a male heir is born?Then we can both live our lives as we see fit?”
The idea sat like lead in her stomach, but there was no logical reason to disagree and a compelling one to accept the turn.Eugene waited on the other side of the square.“I accept.”
“Good.”
“But I do have one more question.”Her hands twisted together.“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?Anything important that I should know before we’ve wed?”
* * *
Where did he begin?
My father never loved me.I was a disappointment until the day he died.
