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‘But you’ll marry me for the money?’
‘Yes, to be blunt. Forgive me, Miss Harper, I don’t say it to upset you. I say it because I want to be honest. I want the money, but I want you to be content, too. I don’t want you to become desperate like Arthur. I have enough on my conscience.’
She inhaled sharply. ‘I would never do what he did!’
‘I’m glad to hear it. But what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to force you. I wasn’t there for Arthur, but I am here for you. I want to do the right thing for once in my life. I know I’ve acted badly so far—worse than that, even. You were right to call me a beast. I behaved like one. I understand that you don’t want to marry me, but tell me this, what do you want?’
She stared at him open-mouthed, apparently struck dumb by the question.
‘Miss Harper?’ he prodded her. ‘If you tell me, then I might be able to provide it.’
‘I don’t understand.’ She looked genuinely confused. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You said that you had some kind of plan when you ran away. I presume it was something you wanted a great deal since you were prepared to risk penury for it?’ He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him. ‘Or was it someone rather than something? Is there someone else you’d prefer to marry?’
‘You mean a man?’
‘That would generally be the case, yes.’
‘No!’
He cocked an eyebrow, surprised by a feeling of relief. Any other woman and he might have thought she protested too much, but Miss Harper appeared genuinely shocked. Still, he wanted to be sure...
‘You said you were meeting someone in Helmsley.’
‘That was Ianthe’s Aunt Sophoria.’ Her brow creased suddenly. ‘She’ll be worried about me.’
‘Will she still be there?’
‘We reserved a room at the inn for last night. After that we were going to take the train to York, but I expect she’ll have gone back to Pickering by now.’
‘Then I’ll send Martin with a message as soon as he thinks he can get through. If anyone can weather these conditions, it’s him.’
‘But last night you said...’
‘Last night I was a beast, remember? Today I hope I’m a man again—and not so bad that I’d let your friends worry about you.’
‘Thank you.’ Her frown eased gradually. ‘And I didn’t have a plan, not exactly. It was more of an idea. I wanted to see York.’
‘Just see it? Haven’t you been before?’
‘I’ve never been anywhere. My father said I was too delicate to travel. He thought it wouldn’t be good for me.’
‘So why York?’
‘I wanted to walk around the city walls.’
He stared at her for a moment incredulously. ‘Are you saying that you were willing to lose your inheritance just to walk around some old walls?’
‘Yes.’ She seemed nonplussed by his reaction. ‘My mother had a book about them. I used to look at the pictures when I was little. I’ve always wanted to go.’
‘Indeed.’ He didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended. ‘You must have heard some very interesting stories about me, Miss Harper. I’ve always flattered myself that I was more attractive than crumbling stone.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not the wall itself—more the idea of it. The freedom to do something I want to do. That’s what I want, freedom.’
‘Freedom.’ He repeated the word thoughtfully. Just how little of it had she had that she was prepared to risk so much to get it? His memory skittered back to the first time he’d seen her, when he’d thought she must have been raised in a tower—a fairy-tale prison like the one he’d put her in last night. How ironic that the only thing she wanted was the one thing he’d already taken away.
But perhaps it wasn’t too late. She seemed to have accepted his apology and they were already on better terms than yesterday. She hadn’t said that she hated him that morning yet—that was progress—and he’d meant what he’d told her. As much as he wanted her money, he wanted her to be content, too. For some reason, that seemed particularly important now. Perhaps he could still put things right between them and persuade her to marry him after all...
