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“Is that so?”
“I know that your full name is Nicolas Philip Arthur Hatherly. I know you fence at Angelo’s, have a fondness for steak and kidney pie, and never gamble. You ride fast horses and squire scandalous ladies to the opera, with a preference for buxom brunettes. Your favorite jewelers is—”
“Not the ordinary details, clever Alice.” Nick drew circles on her lower back. “If we’re truly thinking of marriage I want to be completely honest with you about the fact that I will never sire an heir. I may go mad someday, and I’ve no intention of passing on the curse. My cousin will inherit the dukedom after I’m gone, and during my lifetime I will always take the necessary precautions to ensure I never produce issue. So if you want to have a child, you shouldn’t marry me.”
“I hadn’t considered offspring,” she said softly, her eyes clouding over. “They were always something that came with the marriage. An eventuality, but a distant one. I always had more pressing things to think about. I think... I think maybe if I wanted a child I would have known that by now.”
He soothed her back with both hands, warming her cold flesh. “I’ll give you time to think it over. As much time as you need. Your father can’t force you to marry me. We could find a way out of this if we worked together.”
She smiled. “Why, Lord Hatherly, what’s gotten into you? Are you trying to repel me?”
There were those deep indentations, appearing on either side of her curving lips. Nick realized he’d been waiting for her dimples to reappear like a child promised a pudding.
“My mother is already planning the wedding,” she said. “It’s to be a grand affair.”
“I’d rather have a small, private ceremony.”
“As would I, but this means so much to Mama. She’ll want the world to know we’ve arrived into the upper echelons. And Papa will want to parade you before his investors.”
“I’ve no doubt.” Nick wondered how his life had changed so much in the space of a few days. Here he was discussing what type of wedding to have with the young, innocent lady in his arms.
He had to keep his arms around her because the night air held a frigid chill.
It wasn’t because he never wanted to stop holding her. Or because she really was ridiculously pretty. The kind of pretty that made him feel like a fish out of water, flopping about waiting to be clubbed over the head and served on a platter with a sprig of parsley in his gaping mouth.
Or because she possessed a radiant, inner beauty and intelligence that glowed from her wide-set aquamarine eyes.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, Lord Hatherly, but Papa only inherited the title four years ago and it was a shock to everyone. At first he didn’t even want to move to London, but Mama needled him until he agreed.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I’ve been miserable here. I loathe balls. I could see that all the gentlemen only wanted my father’s fortune, and they weren’t really asking me to dance. I was even invited to your friend the Duke of Harland’s house as one of his four potential brides. He overlooked my inferior bloodlines in favor of my father’s shipping lines.”
He’d heard that she’d been there, of course. All of London had followed Harland’s bride hunt with bated breath.
“Of course I swiftly repelled him,” Alice said, with a note of pride.
“You’ve been avoiding marriage for years. A gentleman has to admire your resourcefulness.”
“I was rather successful. I had dozens of dissuasive tactics at my disposal. More than the many suitors after Papa’s vast fortune.”
“Your dimples may have had something to do with their advances,” he teased.
“I doubt that. During my years in society, I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I want and don’t want. You may think I’m being forced into this marriage of convenience, but I’ve decided to choose you, Lord Hatherly, because you are perfect for my purposes.”
“You mean your travel plans.”
She nodded. “My brother Fred and I had planned to voyage to Calcutta on a merchant ship in my father’s fleet, which departs in two months. I will be on that ship, even if Fred will not be, and I shall be a respectable matron. Perhaps I’ll even hire a respectable spinster as my companion.”
“You shall?” Nick tried to catch up.
“Yes. Which means that after we marry, you will have exactly one month to fulfill your end of our bargain.”
“One month.” Stop repeating everything she says, you fool.
“If you choose to accept my terms, which I will now enumerate, we may wed. If not, I will find another gentleman.”
Now who had whom over a barrel?
