Page 18 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife
Taken aback, Athene swallowed to moisten a mouth that had gone dry.“And you formed this opinion based on two meetings at the back of a bonbon shop?”
He still didn’t smile.“I formed that opinion the first time I saw you, when you glared at me like a stern goddess judging a mere mortal inadequate to her requirements.”
A suitable response moved out of reach.Nobody had ever spoken to her in such terms.“You…”
“When you chose Aphrodite for your nom de plume, you did yourself a disservice.”
And with that, the true danger of what happened here struck her like a whack from a cudgel.It wouldn’t take him much more to discover her real identity and the whole dismal saga of her shame.“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.Nobody in the history of the world has been called Aphrodite de Smith.Why did you choose it?”
Because she was hiding in plain sight.The outlandish name distracted people from looking too close at who she might be.Because it had felt like an act of defiance, as if she claimed a new identity for herself.If she was going to lose everything for love, she might as well proclaim herself a goddess of sensuality.“I…”
Sir Hugo bunched the reins in one hand and reached across to take her gloved hand.When her hand disappeared into his larger one, she fought the strangest idea that he’d always keep her safe.Only one person could keep her safe.The woman who called herself Aphrodite de Smith.Desperately she reminded herself that he might seem trustworthy, but she didn’t know him at all.
Athene couldn’t afford to believe him.She’d already lost everything because she’d fallen prey to idle flattery and a handsome face.It was damned annoying to discover that she remained susceptible, when all these years of struggle should leave her immune to masculine charm.
“Never mind.Your name is hardly the most important issue between us right now.”
She struggled to keep a grip on reality.“We’ve only met twice before this.It’s mad to start imagining we can have a life together.”
“I make my mind up fast, but I’m aware not everyone else does.”He sighed.“Will you at least think about my proposal?”
It required far too much willpower to disengage herself from his grasp, but she managed it.Stupid that she blinked away tears.Stupid to feel so torn about her answer.It wasn’t as if her dealings with Sir Hugo would lead anywhere.
“I’m sorry, Sir Hugo.”Her voice emerged as a terse mutter.“I appreciate your condescension, but I’m not a fit bride for you.I’m not a fit bride for any man.”
Chapter 6
The winter wind blows cold and drear.
I wish, I wish my love was near.
My love who stays so far away.
But he’s my love, let come what may.
Hugo couldn’t doubt that Miss de Smith meant what she said, although he took encouragement from the fact that she was yet to say that she found him unappealing.That gave him a weapon or two in this war between them.What he needed right now was information.He was fighting blind until he knew more about her.“Why?”
She frowned and tried to sound like the dragon from Sweet Little Nothings.But too much had happened for the repressive tone to deter him.“Surely that is my business, sir.We are, after all, strangers.”
“You don’t feel like a stranger.You feel like the other half of my soul.”
He straightaway knew that he’d said something wrong.She went rigid, and that queenly face turned as disdainful as a duchess offered a rotten egg.“Stop it,” she said, sounding just like a duchess, too.“I don’t need flattering lies.”
His brain had been whirling.Now knowledge struck him like a blow.The man who had brought her to build all these prickly defenses had been a silver-tongued Lothario?It was something to go on.Hugo had already guessed that an unhappy love affair lay behind her thorny reaction to his wooing.
“Aphrodite… Damn it, I can’t call you that.It sounds all wrong.”
Her stern expression didn’t ease.“Miss de Smith is perfectly fine.There’s no need for us to use Christian names.In fact, it’s inappropriate when addressing a mere acquaintance.”
He ignored the scold.Rather liked it, in fact.She was like a beautiful governess.“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t.”
He ignored that, too.“We’re only a few minutes from my house.Where there are too many nosy servants.”
He’d let the horses drop back to an amble and he’d taken the long way home, but Mayfair was a small area and he was running out of options for prolonging the drive.“Shall I go around the block again?Although Fogg will have my guts for garters if I let his hot mash go cold.”
