Chapter Two

L ouisa nearly dropped the ancient artifact she held. "You cannot be serious. Only moments ago, you stated—and rather firmly, I might add—that I was not suitable."

"I have reconsidered my stance, and my opinion has altered significantly," he replied.

"I will not be made fun of this way!" Louisa could feel her face flaming with indignation. The whole business reminded her of the cruel teasing she'd endured as a young child. Offers of friendship had been extended simply to lure her into a situation where she could be humiliated before everyone. "It's one thing to have brought me here at great expense and difficulty; it is quite another to laugh at me in the process."

"I am not making fun of you. I can assure you, Miss Jones, that the offer is very real," he said. "My intentions are honorable. If you would permit me to explain?"

Reluctantly, Louisa nodded. She didn't trust herself to respond verbally.

"My uncle, whom I inherited Rosehaven from, died nearly a year ago. I was still with the army then. Between the difficulties in resigning my commission and the lengthy journey home, the year that he allotted for me to find myself a bride has nearly gone. While you are not the sort of young lady I imagined marrying, you are the only one to whom I can be wed in the amount of time I have left—if I fail, all is forfeit. Not the house, because it is entailed, but the fortune with which to sustain it will go to a cousin, who will then have one year to find a bride, and so on... until it reaches someone down the line of inheritance that is already married or willing to become so."

Louisa's eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline. She'd never been so insulted in her life. Given that she'd lived a good portion of her young life either in the rookeries or on the street, that was certainly saying something. "So I'm not what you want, but I'll do?"

He sighed, a sound of frustration and, she could only imagine, disappointment. "I am explaining this all very badly. Had Mr. Hatton been more forthcoming about my reasons, this might have been avoided. I specifically told him to seek a spinster with limited prospects. Someone who would not balk at the sort of arrangement I am offering."

"I am a spinster with limited prospects," she insisted.

"On that point I must beg to differ. No woman, Miss Jones, who looks as you do is ever without prospects."

Louisa blushed furiously under the weight of his regard. He looked at her in a way that she understood, a way that many men had looked at her in her life. But she'd never enjoyed their attentions. With him, it was another matter altogether.

"But what sort of arrangement?"

"We will live here as man and wife, with all that entails, for one year. Long enough to meet the terms of the will. Then we will part and live very separate lives."

Louisa could not imagine any man making such a choice. "Why? Why would you choose such an arrangement?"

He shrugged. "I dislike disorder, Miss Jones. I prefer my life to be regimented, dull, boring, and entirely uneventful. I seek to avoid anything that will spike my temper or even positive feelings. Emotional upheaval is to be avoided at all cost."

Lies. At the very minimum, what he'd offered was certainly no better than a half truth. "And you think I would cause you emotional upheaval ?"

"Not intentionally. The failing lies entirely with me, Miss Jones. I am well aware of how peculiar all of this is. But my time is limited. And while you do not meet the parameters I set forth for Mr. Hatton, I would still offer you this opportunity. It could mean a life without being in servitude to anyone else."

"But no chance for love or even contentment in marriage," she pointed out. There was a hint of response. A slight tightening of his jaw that made her wonder if perhaps what he'd described wasn't what he wanted but what he thought he should have. "What about children?"

"There will be no children. The marriage will be consummated so that no one can challenge its legitimacy, but precautions will be taken." He didn't elaborate, and she hadn't the nerve to ask. So he continued, "In return for your sacrifices, you would have financial security, an elevated position in society, and a kind of independence few married ladies—or unmarried ladies, for that matter—enjoy. I will have a room prepared for you, Miss Jones. You will remain here for the night and you may consider the offer. If you choose to accept it, I will obtain a common license and we shall wed immediately. If you elect to disdain this offer, I will arrange for your transportation back to London and see that you are well compensated for your time."

He sketched a slight bow, then turned on his heel and left. Once more, she was alone in the library. With the dagger still in her hand, she turned and replaced it carefully on the shelf. On unsteady legs, she returned to the chair she'd occupied before. How she wished she could talk to Effie! Or even Alexandra. The young girl had become a confidant of sorts over the years. Of course, given Alexandra's obsession with gothic novels, her opinion could hardly be counted. The whole thing sounded remarkably like the plot of one of her fanciful books!

What am I going to do? It was insanity to even consider it. But he'd offered her something that she had craved throughout her life. Not simply independence or security—but independence with security. To have financial security without having to work for others was a fantasy for most young women of her class. She could hardly imagine what it would be like to live her life with no threat of being sacked at the whim of a capricious employer. No fighting off unwanted advances. No bowing and scraping in the face of unreasonable demands. She could have her dignity and her pride as well as a roof over her head. And all she'd have to sacrifice was the possibility of things she might never have anyway—or worse, things that never lasted and only led to bitterness and heartache.