Page 23 of The Risk of Rogues
“Lady Anne,” murmured a low male voice next to her. “Might I have a word with you?”
She whirled around, hoping to see Hart, but it was only Lord Fulkham. “Of course.”
He nodded to a door leading onto a balcony, and as soon as they went out onto it, he blocked the door handily with a potted plant. “First, do you know where Hart has gone? I need to talk to him.”
She shook her head. “He and I had... a bit of an argument last night, so I fear he’s returned to London.”
His features softened. “Don’t worry about that. I checked with the grooms and they said he took a horse and left late last night. But he had no bags, and he promised to return the horse today. I thought perhaps he told youwherehe was going.”
“No.” Still, relief coursed through her. At least she hadn’t driven him beyond reach.
“There’s something else we should discuss. I fear that I may have given you the wrong impression about your fiancé last night.” He glanced out over the extensive grounds of Lord Knightford’s hunting lodge. “I should have regarded your questions more seriously, instead of using them to torment Hart. But he’s such a joking fellow that I sometimes forget the true nature lying beneath the easygoing façade.”
She swallowed. “What true nature is that?”
“Surely you’ve noticed it yourself. He’s loyal, responsible, and thorough. He takes his work very seriously, and I consider him an asset to my office. Which is what I should have told you.”
“You didn’t know who I was to him,” she said. “At least not until last night.”
“But I did know.” He turned to fix her with a hard stare. “He asked me about you, remember?”
“Yes, but you didn’t knowwhyhe was asking.”
“Actually, I did. Because when I asked why he wanted to know, he told me he’d offered marriage to you in your youth and had been turned down by your father.”
She blinked at him, shocked to hear that Hart had been so truthful about it, even from the beginning.
“He and I have no secrets, Lady Anne. Indeed, he told me he wished to renew his courtship of you. If you’d allow it.”
As hope wormed its way into her heart, she sucked in a breath. “But... but last night you seemed not to know... not to be aware of who I—”
“Because I never show my cards first. It’s always best to see the hand of one’s opponent before making a play.” He scrutinized her closely. “I assume Hart told you what he actually does for me?”
She drew into herself, unsure how much she should say.
“It’s all right. I assumed he would—he’s in love. And a man in love will reveal whatever he must to gain the woman of his dreams.”
Pain sliced through her. “How can you be sure he’s in love?”
Lord Fulkham chuckled softly. “My dear lady. Not for nothing have I been a spymaster all these years. It’s written all over his face when he speaks of you, talks to you, looks at you. I’ve never seen Hart like that with any other woman.” He fixed her with a serious glance. “But I haven’t quite determined how you feel abouthim.”
She tipped up her chin. “That’s not your concern.”
“It is, if it means that marrying you will distract him or throw him off his game. I have to be sure you’ll support him if I make his position more permanent.”
“Of course I’ll support him!” she said hotly. “If I marry him, it will only be because I intend to put everything I have into the marriage.”
“Ifyou marry him? Why wouldn’t you?” He frowned. “Don’t you share his feelings?”
“Why don’t you tellme,” she snapped, “since you seem to have a knack for reading minds?”
That made him laugh. “Very well. I think you’re in love but scared. Though I haven’t quite figured out what it is about the prospect of being married to him that scares you.”
Her throat tightened. “I... I fear he’s only marrying me to help his career now that I’m the daughter of an earl and no longer that of a provincial merchant.”
“Ah. Well, if it helps, when he came to me that first night, he didn’t ask one word about your dowry or financial prospects. He asked if you were engaged or married or widowed. He asked about your parents. That’s all.”
It did help, even though she’d already ruled out the possibility that Hart had been after her fortune. It reinforced what she’d been coming to see more and more. That this older, wiser Hart was a man of character.
