“Better that than to be forced into a marriage that can never make either one of us happy,” she said. “Why would I want this? Why would anyone? You know you don’t want it, so you should understand, even if it angers you that I have the courage to say it out loud. You should be able to admit that this is not a good thing for either one of us, and I don’t know why you persist in acting as if the opposite is true when we know that it is not.”
He sighed yet again. “You are going to be exhausting to deal with, aren’t you?”
“You didn’t have to deal with me. We could have gone home without putting ourselves through any of this, but you chose this. You can hardly pretend now that you are a victim of circumstance, Your Grace.”
Leonard sat forward. “You know, you act as though everything happened according to my design,” he said. “You said it yourself, Lady Prudence. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I didn’t want to marry today. I didn’t want to marry at all. I didn’t want to clean up yet another of my errant brother’s messes. I don’t want to have to take responsibility for a young lady who cannot seem to take responsibility for herself. But this is the situation in which we find ourselves, and what I will not do is spend the rest of the day, and the remainder of my life, complaining about things that are already done. This has happened, and there can be no changing it now. We might as well make the best of things.”
Lady Prudence sat back and stared out the window in obvious consternation.
“It won’t be as bad as you may think, you know,” Leonard told her. “I will make no demands of you. You will be free, in my house, to live as you would like—within the bounds of proper conduct, that is.”
Her eyes flashed to him, as if there was something he had said that had shocked or upset her.
He studied her briefly, trying to figure out what he might have said to provoke her. For the first time, he noticed that she was quite lovely. He had seen her sisters today at the church, and she was the loveliest of the three of them. They shared the same slender figure and light brown hair, and all three had the same charming freckles, but there was something about Lady Prudence’s eyes that stood out to him. They were larger than either of her sisters’ with long lashes that swept up and down distractingly every time she blinked. A man could forget himself looking into those eyes.
He forced himself to look away quickly. It wouldn’t do to lose his head. This wasn’t going to be that kind of marriage. There would be no stolen moments of affection between the two of them. They would merely be cohabitating. And if that was to occur successfully, he would have to ensure that he wasn’t distracted by her beauty. The whole affair had to be treated as a business matter and nothing more.
“What do you consider improper conduct?” she asked him.
“I suppose Iwouldhave to explain it to you,” he mused.
“And what does that mean?”
“It means everyone in London knows that you are the rebel who fled her engagement. And now everyone knows you are the lady who allowed herself to be caught alone with my brother.”
“You do know, don’t you, that nothing happened between Lord Hall and myself?”
“He says the same. For my part, I don’t much care,” Leonard told her. “What may or may not have happened is in the past and has nothing to do with either of us no. But whatdoesconcern us is the future. And that sort of behavior won’t be tolerated moving forward because it will reflect badly on both of us. If we attend events, you’ll be expected to remain by my side so that I can be sure you’re acting appropriately.”
It was Prudence’s turn to sigh. She did so heavily, as if she was trying to blow all the air out of the carriage, and she turned to stare out of the window once more.
The rest of the ride passed in relative silence. Leonard made no more attempts at conversation. He felt no desire for talk. As for Prudence, she spoke only once, asking him how long the journey was going to be. When he told her that they had nearly arrived, she nodded and resumed her staring out the window.
As they arrived, Leonard opened the door and disembarked. Then he turned back to assist Prudence. She hesitated, and for a moment he thought she might actually refuse his hand, but after a moment’s pause, she took it and allowed herself to be helped down. She stood on the walk looking up at his manor, her eyes narrowed in dislike.
“It’s a rather forbidding place, isn’t it?” she asked.
Leonard pressed his lips together. “Tell me,” he said tightly, “do you ever cease your complaining?”
“I’m not complaining.”
“You are. You’ve had nothing remotely pleasant to say since we left the church, and it makes me wonder whether I should even bother bringing you out in public if this is the way you’re going to present yourself. Perhaps you would be better served staying inside all the time.”
“Perhaps I would,” she agreed hotly. “If this is what you married me for, so that you would be able to parade a lady about town as your wife, you may have selected the wrong person for the job. I have no intention of softening myself or putting on a show of submissiveness for the ladies and gentlemen of the ton. If you don’t like who I am, you shouldn’t have married me, Your Grace. You have had plenty to say about what people believe about me—well, you can hardly claim to be surprised now that you see for yourself how forceful my character can be. You must have known all along what I would be like and what you could expect when we came back here together.”
“I’ll tell you what I expect.” He took hold of her chin and forced her to look in his direction. Her eyes widened at his grip on her, but she didn’t try to pull free of him. “I expect you to do as you’re told,” he said. “I expect you to take the things I have to say to you seriously and to follow my guidance now that the two of us are married. Remember, I have done you a service here. You have plenty of complaints about it, but Ihaverescued your reputation by marrying you whether you wish to see it or not. I cannot force you to be grateful, but I will not tolerate disobedience.”
He released her chin and stepped back, wondering if she would be cowed at all by his sudden forcefulness.
If she was, she didn’t show it. She kept her chin erect and stared him down, not the slightest trace of fear or intimidation in her eyes.
And through his frustration, Leonard could admit to another feeling.
He was impressed.
It wasn’t just anyone—man or woman—who found the strength and the courage to stand up to him, to face him down like this. Lady Prudence was clearly extraordinary.
Of course, that means she will be that much more difficult to tame. But she’s right. I did know that all along. I never should have doubted that a marriage to this lady would be extraordinarily difficult. Curse Peter for putting me in this position! When I get my hands on him, there will be hell to pay.
