Page 81 of The Dangerous Love of a Rogue
He liked her backbone. Some men preferred meek, mild and mouldable women. Mary had fire and passion, he would rather she stood up to him than be timid. But he did not like her weakness for the false perspectives of her family.
He sighed.
‘Do you have a mistress?’
The question shocked him, not the subject, but the detachment in her voice.
‘No, Mary. Even if I had wanted one, I could not have afforded one. So, it is a good thing I did not want a mistress and I still do not. What I wanted was a wife. You.’
‘A man does not need to pay to have an affair, I am not that naïve. You propositioned my sister-in-law, how many others?’
She looked ahead, her expression blank; no one would guess the subject of their conversation.
‘I have not kept a tally. I do not notch my lovers up on my bedpost, as you will see when we get home. It is not usual for men to be celibate before they wed. I know your brother was not, he had an affair with my older sister. I made an indecent proposal to his wife, yes. It was tit for tat, if not exactly an eye for an eye. It annoyed me that he spoke badly of me. You should ask your brother, and your father, the same question. How many women? I am sure even your father will not answer none.’
They glanced at each other in the same moment, their gazes clashing and parting.
‘Am I a tooth for a tooth, then?’ she asked.
‘You are nothing to do with that. It was long ago.’I have said I love you, and I have never said that to another woman.He did not voice his thought because they were in the street.
She was silent for several yards, then she abruptly swung about on the seat and faced him. ‘What is it that you want from me?’
A landau passed containing three matrons of high society.
He was inclined to pull over and let the passing traffic stare if she wished to argue in public. He took a deep breath. ‘I want nothing from you.’ That was the best lie he had ever told.I want all from you and I want to be all to you. I want you to ignore your family and believe me!
‘Other than my dowry.’
He did not answer. They had pursued this conversation a dozen times, he was not returning to it. If she chose to believe her brother over him, let her. He had paid off half his debts today. He would pay the other half tomorrow. There would be no more duns knocking at his door with their threats. He wanted to feel happy…
He felt empty. Sad.
28
As soon as they reached the mews where he stabled his horses and curricle, the grooms came out.
Drew tied off the reins as they managed the horses, jumped down and walked about the vehicle to help Mary.
She had already lifted her dress and carefully climbed down.
He took her bag out from beneath the seat and set it at her feet, then walked on to speak to his horses. He slapped Athena’s flank lightly. It was good to have his horses back. He’d always found solace in them. He rubbed the animals’ cheeks. They nuzzled his shoulders, snorting against his ears. Saying they were pleased to see him too. He rested his forehead against Hera’s bent head, whispering his gratitude. ‘I shall never lose you now.’
He smiled at the groom who began unharnessing them. The man tugged his forelock.
When Drew turned back to Mary, emotions exploded in his chest. He smothered the fireworks that would have had him lifting her off her feet and swinging her around, because she clutched her bag like a weapon, anger glinting in her eyes.
He held out his hand to take the bag.
‘I will carry it,’ she said.
He ought let her, just to spite her. Instead, he gripped the handle and pulled it from her. Fortunately, she did not embarrass them both by fighting for it.
He offered his free arm to her.
She lay her fingers on it but in the same dispassionate way she had at the church.
At the street corner they waited for a street sweep to clear a path and when they reached the other side Drew gave the boy a ha’penny.
