“You’re right. It’s not enough. An insult. You’ll have a thousand pounds a year.”
It was a good thing she was sitting down. She gathered her wits and tried to appear only moderately impressed. “For the time we are together?”
“For the rest of my life.”
Tess sucked in a quiet breath. God, if she accepted this outrageous proposal, she really would be selling herself. It would be far worse than marrying the old duke. Then, she’d had no choice. Now, the decision was entirely hers to make.
“I’m sure you’ve considered the fact that we could have an affairwithoutmarrying,” she said.
“I have. But that would still leave me with the expectation of finding a wife. I’ve come to realize that being married might actually be beneficial to my business. Single gentlemen are rarely invited to intimate gatherings unless there’s an unmarried daughter to dispose of. The married men always think we’re plotting to steal their wives. If I appear to be besotted with myownwife, they’ll see me as less of a threat. We’ll be invited to events I never had access to before.”
He smiled, and her heart fluttered at his ridiculous charm. “This arrangement kills two birds with one stone. Businesscombinedwith pleasure.”
Tess’s stomach fluttered at the way he saidpleasure, but she inclined her head again. Marrying her might make his life easier, but it had the potential to complicate her own quite a bit. She’d have to keep her involvement in King & Co. hidden from him, at least for a while.
“You say this is a logical business arrangement, but what about love?” she asked.
“What about it?”
“Don’t you believe in it?”
He frowned, as if giving the matter serious consideration.
“I don’t deny its existence,” he said slowly. “But ‘love’ comes in a thousand different forms. A parent’s love for their child, for example, or a soldier’s brotherly love for his comrade. It’s a powerful force. It can make peopledo extraordinary things.” He paused. “But the love you’re describing,romanticlove, ruins everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the antithesis of reason and logic. History’s littered with fools dying for love, going to war for love. Ruining themselves for love. That’s not romantic. It’simbecilic. Look at Lady Caroline Lamb, smashing a glass and making a scene when Byron ended their affair.” He shook his head. “Ridiculous.”
Tess bit back a laugh at his fervency. For someone who claimed to be dispassionate, he seemed to have very strong views on the subject.
“And what about the Trojan War?” he continued. “That all started because Paris thought he was in love with Helen, another man’s wife. He wasn’t in love, he was inlust. And he dragged thousands of men to their death because of his unruly loins.”
Tess felt her lips twitch at his phrasing. Poor Paris wasn’t the only one at the mercy of unruly loins. Ever since she’d met Thornton, she’d been feeling quite unruly herself.
He glanced up at her, and she sobered at his intense expression.
“You should be under no illusions. This is just two bodies finding physical pleasure. My heart will never be involved.”
“A contract for services,” Tess said solemnly. “I understand. We should be entirely dispassionate.”
He caught the edge of amused irony in her tone and his eyes darkened. “Oh, we won’t lack passion, Your Grace. Far from it.”
Tess suddenly wished she’d brought a fan. Beneath the desk she wiped her damp palms on her skirts. The wayhe veered from cool conviction to bone-melting intensity in the space of a few heartbeats was highly unsettling.
Still, she could hardly complain that he was misleading her in any way. He’d laid all his cards on the table.
“Do you think all this haggling makes me a whore?”
She stilled, shocked at herself. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“No. It makes you an astute businesswoman, which is something I respect.”
He was serious. For some odd reason that made her feel slightly better.
“I asked about love because what happens if you meet someone else in the future, fall in love with them, and want to makethemyour duchess?”
“I believe I mentioned that there will be no divorce between us. Not even if we both take other lovers at a later date.” He held her gaze. “Truthfully, I don’t believe I will ever love anyone in that way. If I desire someone after we part, I will sleep with them. As long as they are in agreement.”
