Page 83 of The Duke and the Lady in Red
“Part of your estates?” The lesser one perhaps. She was fairly certain they’d not traveled to Cornwall. She would dearly love to take a tour of his manor house.
“No, just some pretty property I fancied and so I purchased it.”
“Why? A dowry for your daughter perhaps?” She could see him with a little girl, holding her hand, protecting her from anyone who would take advantage. For all his gruffness and his claims to not being a caring sort, she could easily see an imp of a lass wrapping him around her littlest finger with no trouble at all.
“No, simply for occasions like this when I want to get away from London. My estates are too distant for a short retreat.”
“Will you build something here?” she asked.
He trailed his finger over her hand. “I was thinking of it.”
“I should like to see it when you’re done.”
He lifted his gaze to hers, and with the intensity of it she felt as though a spear had lanced her heart. “Perhaps it will be for you.”
A place for his longtime mistress, she thought, for that was what she would become, for as long as he wanted. She didn’t want to think about that now, didn’t want to acknowledge that she fully recognized what her place in his life would be. She would not regret her role, would not resent the price. He’d already proven that his part of the bargain would far exceed anything that she could give her brother, would far exceed anything she could give Avendale. She wouldn’t give him bastards, though, God help her, she would love being a mother to his child. Although it wouldn’t be fair to the child. Even if Avendale acknowledged him, he could never inherit, would never have a proper position in Society.
She forced back all those thoughts, fought back his implication that they would be together long enough to warrant his building her a house, and simply laughed. “I am a woman who will not accept a gift of jewelry. Do you really think I would accept a residence?”
“I suppose not, not without a great deal of arguing.”
“There you are then. You shall have to find another purpose for the land. Share it with your family perhaps.”
Slowly he shook his head and glanced toward the stream where Harry was tossing pebbles into the water. “He’s fortunate to have you as a sister.”
“I’m the fortunate one. While my father did not set a sterling example, Harry embodies all that a family should be.”
Mr. Granger handed Harry another pebble. She wondered if he had recognized that if Harry bent over to retrieve one, he would in all likelihood topple into the water.
“What will you do when he’s gone?” Avendale asked quietly, yet Rose felt as though he’d bludgeoned her.
She gave him her most menacing glare. Here she’d thought he was understanding and kind—
“You have to have given it some thought. And no one would blame you for doing so. You’re a realist, Rose, and you claimed last night not to lie to yourself, so you’ve thought about it.”
Damn him. He was coming to know her too well, learning to read her far too easily. Her strength rested in remaining an enigma. And if she had to leave him before the bargain was done, how would she do it if he could read through her lies? “Doesn’t mean that I don’t feel guilty when I do.”
“So what will you do?”
Arching a brow, angling her chin, she said succinctly, “Honor the bargain I made with you.”
“And if there were no bargain to be honored?”
“What good comes from speculating on theoretical scenarios?”
“I’m simply curious. Before you met me, what were your plans for when the time came that you didn’t have to watch over him?”
“Why do you care?”
He trailed his blunt-tipped finger along the back of her hand, and she was astounded as always that his faint touch in such a small area could lure her in, could make her want to kiss him. “If you’re not comfortable with thoughts of Harry being gone, what will you do when you’re free of me?”
Weep uncontrollably for days, nights, weeks. No, she was too pragmatic for such nonsense. She would cry for a few hours, then straighten her spine and carry on. Rolling onto her back, she stared at the blue sky, still finding it difficult to believe that she’d journeyed through it. She would never forget this day. He was creating as many memories for her as for Harry. How could she ever in a thousand years repay that debt? “I shall awaken each morning and go wherever I want. Perhaps even to India. I’ll have no responsibilities, no duties, no obligations. I’ll wander, with nothing to tie me down. I’ll have no plans, no strategies, no compelling need to do anything except breathe.”
“How will you survive?”
She shrugged. “The occasional swindle.”
As he moved nearer, she could no longer see the brilliant blue. Only his face as he gazed down on her. “I thought you did that out of necessity.”
