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“That’s all right. I don’t think I could ever answer to Goddess Divine anyways. I don’t think many goddesses sneak about their homes in the middle of the night. Just call me Dinah.”
Dinah—that he could do. It was simple and straightforward and wouldn’t emphasize their undesirable situation every time he said it.
“Then you must call me Henry.”
“Henry,” she repeated, almost to herself, a small smile coming to her face. “I like the name.”
“It is serviceable enough, I suppose.” He’d never really thought about whether he liked it. It was his name, and it got the job done.
Dinah shifted about in her seat, facing him more fully. “Well then, Henry, perhaps we ought to discuss...”
Yes, boundaries. “I trust you found your bedchamber to your liking?”
“I did,” she said slowly.
“Good. Then I don’t see any reason why you need spend a night elsewhere. And as I find my own bedchamber quite to my liking, I don’t see myself spending the night anywhere else either.” It was the most genteel way he could think to say it. With any luck, she’d leave the conversation at that.
Instead, her eyes widened. “You mean...not ever?”
A prickling unease forced Henry to his feet. He moved over to a sidebar and poured himself more brandy, speaking with his back toward her. “My brother has three sons, any one of which I am confident would make a fine heir. I don’t see any reason to change that.” Would she push back on him? He’d thought for sure she’d at least feel a bit relieved he had no intentions of forcing himself upon her. Still, even with his back to her, he could swear he felt her unease, her disappointment. Well, if love was what she’d wanted, she shouldn’t have been caught with him. She shouldn’t have played it off as a lover’s tryst.
Slowly, Henry turned toward her. She needed to understand. He would make sure all and any questions were put to rest now and that she understood what the future held for both of them. Because the sooner she understood, the sooner she could accept it; the sooner she accepted, the sooner they could move on with this situation and find some sort of comfortable life together.
“I’m not going to fall in love with you,” he said. “Don’t expect me to. If you do, you’ll only end up making us both miserable.”
She held his gaze without flinching. She watched him, silent, but he could see the various thoughts moving through her head. He wasn’t sure what she thought exactly about his declaration, but he could see her turning it over, contemplating one angle and then another. Finally, she tipped her head to the side. “I don’t believe you.”
“You believe in your feminine wiles that much, do you?” She had been the one who’d insisted they had been kissing when her father found them. The thought of him and Dinah in such an embrace sent an unexpected yet powerful shock through him. It was simultaneously unwanted and...strangely desired, and he found himself unwilling to let go of the notion completely.
“I don’t believe thatanyonecan avoid falling in love just because they wish not to.”
Henry shook himself, hiding his sudden upheaval by spreading his arms wide and bowing slightly. “Meet the exception.”
“Oh, come now.” She waved him off and sat back in her chair.
“I am in earnest. As I am now two and thirty, I am certain I can safely assume I have lived a few years longer than you.”
She only shrugged, but it hardly mattered what she would agree to. He could tell just looking at her she wasn’t a day over twenty.
“As thatisthe case, I have come to realize in my old age that I am not built for love.” He leaned back against the table and took a sip of brandy. “Not the romantic, nonsensical type, anyway. I love my family. My brother and his wife and children, my aunt, my uncle, my cousins. But that type of love is not what we are discussing.Romanceis simply not my way nor in my nature.”
“Very well,” Dinah said, standing and smoothing her skirt. “I suppose that simplifies things between us.”
“Indeed.” He shook his head subtly, disentangling himself from the last strands of heat he still felt at the stray thought of him and Dinah kissing.Thatwould never happen. One only had to look at her calm demeanor to see she was coming around to his side of things, and he was glad for it.
* * *
He seemed to think she was coming around to his side of things.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Still, for now, Dinah felt it best to let the matter lie. She didn’t care to have him demanding to enter her bedchamber any time soon, and until she knew him better, this arrangement would suit.
But she was equally sure that this would not suitforever, as Henry seemed to think it would. What kind of life was that? Living with a man who acted more like a friend than a true spouse? Who was more brotherly concern than passion and love?
Good heavens, such would never do.
Nonetheless, now was not the time to press the point. It was as Charlotte had said. An abiding connection would take time. They’d only said their vows that morning; to declare anything close to love at this point would be a mockery. Nothing but pretend.
