Page 11 of The Beast of Beswick
Thane had only humored her to see how far she would go. He did not intend to marry anyone or to sireanyheirs, as he’d told Fletcher, but in truth, he’d been bowled over by her temerity. The eavesdropping Culbert and Fletcher were, too, if their collective indrawn breaths through the cracked door were any signal.
His eyes narrowed. “You never answered my question about why you’re not yet married.”
“I did, but you chose to go off on an unwelcome tangent of ducal innuendo.”
God, but she was tart. He grinned, his earlier umbrage dissolving into wicked enjoyment. “True, but Iama duke, and ducal innuendo is my forte. Please answer the question as you would to a backward child in your care. Say as if you were a governess.”
She frowned at him so hard, he could see the wheels turning in her head.
“I suppose I’ve been compared to worse,” she said eventually. “Well then, I have not yet married because I have not found the right match.”
“No one has asked you?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Wintry eyes met his, her proud chin hiking. “Not that it’s any of your business, Your Grace, but yes, I have been asked.”
“But if you had said yes and married, you wouldn’t be in this position, would you?” he said. “Begging because you were overly choosy.”
“I’m not begging,” she snapped. “And I wasn’tchoosy.”
He arched an eyebrow. “No?”
“I was sixteen during my first and only Season. That gentleman did not know me or have any interest in getting to know me. He desired me for my face, my fortune, and my body.”
“Aristocratic marriages are arranged on less.”
She loosed an aggravated breath, but her response was noncommittal. “Perhaps.”
“And now? You decided to buck tradition and do the asking yourself?”
“As I’ve said, Your Grace, this is a business arrangement, no more, no less,” she replied.
“Such sangfroid from one so young.”
“I am five and twenty, so no blushing maiden.”
Thane sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers clutching the desk. Her experience did not matter, of course, but now that the chessboard was set and the game was ferociously in play, there was no backing down. “On that point, what may I ask is the status of your virtue?”
Flames obliterated the aloofness in her eyes. “You are too bold, sir!”
“Come now, in your own words, you are not a blushing maiden, and we are negotiating a marriage contract. A man has to be certain of these things, of whether he will be in possession of a soiled dove or a virtuous swallow.”
Her gasp was loud in the silence, as were those of Culbert and Fletcher. If he wasn’t careful, both of them would burst in here to defend the poor woman from their master’s vulgarity. Not that this woman needed anyone rushing to her defense. Her tongue was her sword, and she wielded it with biting finesse.
Sure enough, a blazing gaze met his. “What, might I ask, is the status of yours?”
“Decidedlyunvirtuous.”
That sharp chin of hers elevated a notch. “Then that makes one of us. Clearly I’m nowhere near your sphere of self-proclaimed experience, though I’m hard-pressed to believe any words that come out of your mouth. In my narrow experience, men who boast about their prowess leave much to be desired.”
Thane couldn’t help it. He threw back his head and roared with laughter until tears were brimming in his eyes. No one had ever stood up to him like this slip of a girl.Woman, he amended.
“This was a ridiculous idea,” she muttered, standing to leave and then halting mid-motion as if caught in the midst of some raging internal battle.
She bit at her lips and then sighed heavily, clenching her jaw. When she looked up at him, the sparks of fire had gone from her gaze. What remained was desperation, tinged with despair. She leaned across the desk, and Thane knew she could see every one of his scars at such close proximity, but she did not flinch back or drop her eyes from his.
“Please, Duke, I implore you to consider my offer,” she said.
Despite her choice of words, it was not a plea. This was not someone who begged for anything, but even he could sense her hopelessness. A flicker of a beat in his barren heart wanted him to agree. But his head knew he could not.
