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“I coped!”
“How?”
“I got angry!” Suddenly she was laughing through her tears. Anger always seemed to be her most reliable refuge, and she was finding comfort in it once again.
He swept her up into his arms, high against his heart, and carried her to a deep cushioned chair before the fire. “Bess, I adore you. I swear on my life I'll never let you down again. Give me a second chance—give me your love and your trust once more, and in return I will strive to give you everything you've ever wanted.”
She gave him a level look. “Even if I decided to let you court me, I would never commit adultery with you.”
He ground his teeth in frustration. “Why won't you sleep with me?” he demanded.
“Because you'd give me a baby, of course, and I won't be shamed in the eyes of the world!”
His deep laugh rolled over her. “Bess, you are absolutely priceless! I've never seen a woman so ripe for loving, yet your practical, shrewd head rules your heart and your body. Well, at least we are honest with each other, which is more than most couples are. I'll wait until you're ready to give yourself to me. I let you go once—I'll be damned if I'll do it again!”
“Do you promise that you won't try to seduce me anymore?”
“Of course I'll try to seduce you, but I will stalk you patiently till I have you secure. In any case, we won't have to wait long; my wife is dying—”
Bess quickly put her fingers over his lips to silence him. “Never, never wish for her death, William. Your conscience would plague you forever.”
“I have no conscience,” he said sardonically.
“But I have! I couldn't live with myself if my happiness depended upon another woman's misfortune.”
“I'll never speak of her again. Our time together is too precious to waste on unhappy thoughts. Life is for living, and laughing, and loving. Open your present.”
Bess gasped with appreciation at the sheer beauty of the amethyst necklace. “I can't accept this,” she said, running a finger over the sparkling stones.
“You can and you will. I'm a rich man, Bess. Don't deny me the pleasure of giving you things I know you long for. I enjoy being generous. I want to give you the whole world.” He took the necklace, fastened it about her throat, then kissed her nape, which was usually hidden beneath her glorious hair.
“You are trying to seduce me!” Bess accused. She was no longer blazing mad at him, but she had no intention of giving in to him, or even forgiving him.
“Mea culpa, sweetheart, but I'll allow you to have supper before I demand my reward.”
She saw that his eyes were alight with wicked amusement. “You are a damned rogue!”
“There is almost nothing you can say about me, good or bad, that isn't true. Indeed, I am a rogue and a scoundrel, but that makes me devilishly attractive, don't you think?”
Bess decided that Cavendish was far too cocksure of himself and resolved to put him firmly in his place. She climbed from his knee and looked him directly in the eyes. “That may be true, Sir William, but you are not the only attractive man at Court. If you wish to become my suitor, you will have to join the line. If I receive an offer of marriage, I intend to consider it seriously.”
Her words inflamed him. He had to crush down the urge to push her back on the rug and ravish her right here upon the floor, marking her as his forever. She was the most infuriating female he had ever encountered, but she was also the most intoxicating, and he was willing to bet that when he did finally make her his, the wait would be passionately rewarded.
