Page 92 of Falling Into Bed with a Duke
“We don’t like the notion of your not marrying,” her mother said. “Of being alone.”
“I’m not alone. I have friends. And I have family. I don’t need a husband to complete my life. So take the dowry. I have no problem with that. It’s not as though a man will marry me without it. And I don’t want to marry a man who”—she swallowed hard, the words difficult to say—“needs it.”
“Like Ashebury?” her mother asked.
“Like any number of men,” Minerva said impatiently. “As for Ashebury, I’m quite over him.”
Smiling, her mother squeezed her hand. “I’m glad to hear that, as he’s joining us for dinner this evening.”
Traitorwas her first thought, but she didn’t voice it aloud. After all this was her mother, the woman who had brought her into the world. “You can’t be serious.”
“I thought it would be nice to hear about his travels to Africa.”
Unbelievable. Minerva scoffed. “If you want to hear about Africa, invite one of the other hellions. But I see no reason to burden us with a deceiver such as Ashebury.”
“Yet Ashebury is here, isn’t he.” It was a statement, not a question.
Minerva had heard through the grapevine that Ashebury had left the city. “You mean in London?”
“No, well, he’s in the residence, so he’s technically in London. He’s waiting in your father’s library.”
Minerva leaped to her feet and glared at her father. “You let him in? You welcomed him? Knowing that I despise the man, that I find him despicable?”
“He brought his photographs,” her mother said as though that made everything all right. Why were mothers—including hers—so willing to forgive the hellions all sorts of bad behavior?
“He will not be staying for dinner.” In a rush, she pushed past her mother and headed for the door. “He will not!”
“I don’t think she’s as over him as she thought,” she heard her father say. She seldom was out of sorts with her parents, but at that moment, she was furious. She was not only going to travel to Texas, she was going to move there.
Seething, she marched down the hallway. How dare he show up here! In her home, in her sanctuary.
The library doorway was open. She swept through and staggered to a stop at the sight of him standing at the window. He looked awful, completely, absolutely awful. As though he’d gone without sleep, as though he’d lost weight.
Yet at the same time he somehow managed to look wonderful, completely, absolutely wonderful. Immaculately groomed, his clothing pressed to perfection, everything in order. And he smelled wonderful. Sandalwood mixed with his own unique scent. She had not stopped as soon as she should have because she was near enough that she was able to detect its presence, could see the crystal blue of his eyes, could see not a whisker. He’d shaved before he came over.
“So I understand you’ve been invited to dinner,” she said tartly.
“It was kind of your mother to ask.”
“I’m rescinding the invitation.”
“I thought that you might.”
“If you were any gentleman at all, you wouldn’t have accepted it.”
“Except that I wanted to see you more than I wanted to be a gentleman.”
She slammed her eyes closed. “Don’t.” Opening her eyes, she glared at him. “Don’t say all the right things that are designed to make a woman lose her head. They won’t work on me, and they are a total waste. I’ve just been informed that my father has withdrawn my dowry, so you will need to search elsewhere for your funds.”
“I know about the state of your dowry,” he said quietly. “I asked him to take it away.”
In confusion she shook her head. “Why would you do that?”
“Because as long as you had it, you wouldn’t believe that it was possible that I wanted you more than I wanted the fortune.”
“But you need the fortune.”
“I need you more.”
