You do not wish to enter a marriage with a man with a title?
She raised a hand to brush a loose strand of hair from her face. He noted that her fingers still trembled despite his earlier efforts to make her relax. The lady was very frightened indeed and was doing her utmost best to appear unflappable.
“I believed a man with little connections would be more willing to marry me. From the tone of your letters, what seemed important was a wife with influential connections, not her beauty, her wealth, and certainly not sentiments. Knowing that, I thought…I hoped my current circumstances could be accepted, even when I knew in my heart it was unlikely any gentleman could overlook it.”
And yet she was here. She’d either acted with foolhardiness or bravery, but her actions surely revealed the depth of her desperation.
I gather you no longer believe love to be an important matter in a marriage.
Her eyes darkened, and her chin tilted even higher. “Love is for fools.”
I am pleased to see in that we are like-minded.
Lady Phoebe took a deep breath, as if to steady herself, then said, “I truly believed that when I met you, you would reveal to be a rich merchant with social aspirations like many in society. Your advertising for a wife was unnecessary, as your consequences are so elevated you can pick any female from the marriage mart and make an offer. How can I then dare to think you could overlook my situation, my lord?”
And what situation is that, Lady Phoebe?
She stared at him, and he returned her regard unflinchingly. The lady was quite pretty, beautiful really, and a beguiling mix of vulnerability and courage. It was evident that she fought tears with impressive willpower.
“It is a matter of some delicacy.”
Do you fear for my sensibilities?
“If you do not agree to marriage after, I would ask upon your honor that you keep my confidence.”
A silence fell, throbbing with undertones of tension.
You have my word.
Hugh lifted a hand to encourage her to speak. She stood and went some distance from him. Instinct urged him to stand, so he did. With fingers that trembled, she untied the strings that held her cloak together and allowed it to fall from her shoulders to the carpet. Her cheeks flushed a delicate shade of rose, but her eyes shone with fierce pride and a bit of defiance. Yet behind it all, he still saw the fear. He had spent too much of his life observing others to miss that expression. An unexpectedly odd and fierce surge of protectiveness went through him.
You have nothing to fear from me, he thought but did not sign.
The cut of her traveling gown accented all her generous curves. She lifted her chin, which pushed her delightful bosom out more, and it was then he noted the high roundedness of her belly. For a moment, Hugh could not breathe. The shock was an icy blast to his heart. Now he understood why she wanted to leave despite the desperate air that surrounded her.
“You are with child,” he signed before he could stop himself. Foolish, of course, as she would not understand. But she had perceived some of his signs, especially the one that created the shape of a baby being cradled.
Her throat worked on a swallow. “Yes. I am five and a half months with child.”
Hugh faltered into remarkable stillness. And for all intent and purpose, I am an earl…who will need his heir.
At his silence, she lifted a hand to cradle her stomach tenderly and glanced down briefly. When she looked up, her eyes revealed so much hurt and fear, he flinched. He felt something tearing in his chest, a rush of emotion that was almost as frightening as it was inexplicable.
He took a few steps toward her before he turned around, marched over to the table, and with quick, almost violent motions scrawled, Is there someone who needs to be killed?
Then he spun around and thrust the paper toward her.
Shock widened her eyes. “No!”
He spun back to the table and scratched the quill over the paper. Hugh felt her moving closer, and when he turned around, she was right there… If he wished it, one step would have him in touching distance. Hugh could smell the faint scent of her perfume, a whiff of jasmine and roses. He could see the wild flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat, the wetness on her lips.
She was too close. Yet he did not retreat.
He lifted the paper. Given the influence of your parents, why did your father not force this bounder to marry you?
She was blushing furiously now, and for the first time, he saw a dark wash of shame in her beautiful eyes. The rawness of that emotion strangled his breath.
“I…I was not forced or seduced by a rake!”
She was not forced. Ah…so this was the folly of believing herself to be in love. Do you love this man still? Something elusive whispered through Hugh, but it was gone too quickly for him to intercept or even begin to understand its nature. But it felt dark and turbulent, something different from the icy indifference that had served him well for so many years.
Her entire body trembled. “I…I wanted to escape a marriage my parents were trying to force me into, and I acted with reckless disregard, and now…now I am ruined. The man I thought I could build a life with…he is beneath my parents, and when he asked to marry me, they offered him twenty thousand pounds instead. And he took it.”
She swiped furiously at the tears that finally ran down her cheeks. “When I found out my circumstance, I was so confused and uncertain as to my future path, I informed my mother.” Lady Phoebe’s voice cracked, and she pressed a hand over her mouth. Her entire body shuddered as she regained her composure.
“The duchess made arrangements for me to be taken to the country and held in a remote location under guard until the child…until my child was born, and then it was to be taken from me and given away to an orphanage or a baby farm. I…I could not bear it, so I ran.”
To me.
“I ran to you,” she whispered as if she had read his thoughts.
Suddenly aware that every emotion of his might be revealed on his face, he schooled his expression into an indifferent mask.
“I know our union is improbable; I only ask that you keep my confidence and do not alert my family that I am here.”
She glanced longingly at the bed, and when she stepped away, she swayed. He lunged and grasped her elbows gently, causing her to lean against him slightly. Unexpected desire skittered across Hugh’s nerve endings, and he released her immediately but hovered close. She sucked in a sharp breath and glanced up at him. The beauty of her eyes stole his reasoning for precious moments. Hugh scowled, and with a soft gasp, she stepped further away.
“I’ll only need a few days to rest before I leave your home. Once again, I am dreadfully sorry to have importuned upon your household.”
He nodded once. A yawn seemed to catch her by surprise, and she flushed. Her lovely face was then suffused with exhaustion, and another wide yawn escaped from her. Hugh waved toward the bed. A pulse of tenderness swept through him, and he frowned at the oddity of it. He wanted to give her some words of reassurance, but he could not.