Page 29 of His Unwanted Duchess

Stephen considered pointing out that a scoundrel like himself might have slipped anything into her cup, and that she shouldbe more careful, but then decided against it. She might, quite realistically, assume that hehadput something in her tea.

She clearly has not read enough novels to know a real villain when she sees one.

He suppressed a smile at that thought.

“So, you intend to marry to avoid being forced into marriage?” she said, after a pause.

“More or less. I will be left alone once I have a wife, and there will be no danger of some silly girl claiming that I took her virtue and that I must now marry her.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Andhaveyou ever…”

“No, I am not in the habit of debauching innocents,” he snapped. “And I would certainly not be foolish enough to target ladies with powerful friends and families. But I am tired of dodging would-be duchesses. That, my dear, is where you come in.”

“It seems like a great deal of effort to put in simply to dodge a few Society mamas,” Miss Haversham responded.

He inclined his head, setting down his teacup. “Very true. Fear not, I have some ground rules which I think will make our situation much clearer.”

She leaned back in her seat, watching him through narrowed eyes. “Rules?”

“Yes. I believe I mentioned earlier that there would be rules.”

“I assumed you were exaggerating.”

“That was your mistake, not mine. I suggest you avoid assuming anything about me in the future, Miss Haversham.”

“Well then, I suppose I had better hear these rules.”

He smiled thinly. “You’ll do more than simply hear them, I’m afraid. Before we can announce our engagement—I will make the arrangements for that and the wedding, of course—I will require your signature and your verbal understanding concerning these rules.”

Miss Haversham stared at him for a long moment, as if trying to read his expression. Stephen merely looked back at her, waiting patiently for her response.

“Very well,” she said, at last. “I’ll hear them, at least.”

He gave a dry smile and pulled a piece of neatly folded paper from his breast pocket. She reached for it, but he held it out of her reach.

“Patience, my dear, patience. I shall read them aloud to you, and we can discuss each rule. Yes?”

“Yes,” she muttered.

He unfolded the paper and began to read.

Heavens, I had forgotten that I wrote that particular rule at the top of the list.

“Rule number one,” he began, not looking at her. “There will be no issue from our marriage. I do not require an heir, and I will not produce any children. Naturally, that means neither will you.”

Her head shot up at that. “You don’t want an heir?”

“I do not.”

“But what about?—”

“This rule is non-negotiable,” he interrupted. “If I die before you, you’ll have a sizeable widow’s jointure and will remain a rich woman. You can do as you like, and it will not matter that you have no children to care for you. I do not want children, Miss Haversham. This will not change.”

She bit her lip, nodding slowly. “Alright. Next rule.”

He paused, eyeing her. “I thought you might be upset. I thought women loved babies.”

She gave him a blank stare. “You thinkallwomen love babies?”

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