Page 454 of Wicked Highland Heroes

“Is that all?” he asked.

“Should my life consist of balls and pretty dresses?”

“That is a particularly fine day dress you are wearing,” he said.

“I do not have to be obsessed with fashion to dress reasonably well.”

He nodded. “I might agree, if not for the most puzzling thing of all.”

Her heart beat faster.

“Do you deny that there is something amiss between you and your mother?”

“What could possibly be wrong between Mamma and myself?” she asked.

“I wish I knew. I was certain at first, I was mistaken, but you avoid her company, and that is not like you.”

“Is it possible I’m telling the truth when I say I am simply unhappy at the prospect of marrying Nicholas?”

“You are unhappy, I grant you that,” he said. “As to marriage, you are three and twenty. ‘Tis past time you settled down and had children.”

The familiar ache rose in her breast and the burn of tears rose before she could stop it.

“Josephine,” her father said. “What is amiss, lass?”

His anxious face came into focus and she realized her expression had given away her sorrow. “I will not marry simply to have children,” she said.

She would not have children at all, in fact. And Nicholas deserved children—he also deserved not to be bled dry, which is what the man who was blackmailing her would do if she married Nick.

“You and Mamma love each other,” she said—though since discovering the truth, she wondered how her mother could love her father all these years and lie to him. “Do I not deserve to marry a man I love?”

“Aye, lass,” he said in a gentle voice. “But I know you too well. You love Nick. Now, you can tell me what’s bothering you or not, but I will not have a repeat of what happened this afternoon.”

She tensed. “What happened this afternoon?”

“I know you went to the west wing with Lord Beaumond.”

Josephine startled. Surely, Nick hadn’t told her father she had tried to seduce Lord Beaumond? “When did it become a crime to walk with a gentleman?” she asked.

“It is inappropriate for a young, unmarried woman to be alone with a man—as you know. I thank God Nicholas found you and not someone else.”

She seethed. Nicholas had the nerve to tell her father he’d found her with Beaumond, but she would wager he hadn’t said a word about what he had done to her. A tremor went through her with the memory.

“I am quite capable of taking care of myself,” she said, and Nicholas would soon learn that, for she would not allow him to touch her intimately again.

“On that we might disagree,” her father replied, his earlier compassion gone. “But you know that such behavior for a betrothed woman is scandalous. Beware,” he added, when she opened her mouth to interrupt, “you might think a scandal will cause Nicholas to cry off without consequence, but he is determined not to make the same mistake he made six years ago and let you go.”

Her pulse skittered at the thought of not being able to escape Nick, then her ire piqued at her own weakness, and she said, “Then he had better beware. For the girl he let go is no longer a girl.”

Her father’s expression hardened. “Aye, she isn’t. I will make myself plain, Daughter. If you are disloyal to Nicholas before your marriage, I will force you to marry the man with whom you dishonor yourself. Can you imagine yourself married to Beaumond?”

Jo gasped.

“So I thought,” he said. “And make no mistake, I will not risk you giving birth to a bastard. Have you forgotten that as the eldest daughter, the title and all our property passes through you?”

Nay, she thought bitterly. She hadn’t forgotten. That fact was half of what plagued her.

“Nicholas has proven himself worthy to run my estates and give you a son who can take my title along with his title,” her father went on. “I will not have you throw it away in a tantrum.”

“A tantrum—”

“You’re a grown woman acting like a spoilt child,” he cut her off. “I have had enough.” He rose. “Try me, and I will take even more drastic measures.”

Josephine’s heart pounded. What could be more drastic than forcing her to marry a man like Lord Beaumond?

Her father’s gaze sharpened on her. “You may wonder what can be worse than being forced to marry the man you duped into taking your chastity.”

Her father was right, she thought with frustration. He did know her too well.

He lifted a brow. “Perhaps it is marrying the man you love.”