“Yes, of course,” Lady Campbell said with another simpering smile. “Frederica, dear,” she said, the endearment sounding somewhat false. “Show your…betrothedout.” She giggled like a child.
Allan couldn’t help looking at the ceiling himself now, wishing for patience he did not have.
He moved toward the door, aware that Frederica followed behind him. The moment they were in the corridor, and she had shut the door behind them, her lips parted, and a torrent of words came out.
“Are you in earnest?” she said in a somewhat strained tone, hurrying to keep up with him as he marched through the corridor. “You cannot be. You cannot seriously be considering connecting yourself with my family. After all that has happened? If my reputation was not poor enough to dissuade you, then surely my parents’ behavior would be enough.”
“Frederica,” he said coolly, trying to get a word in edgeways. That pain in his gut was growing worse again.
She does not want to marry me. I would not be the man of her choosing.
“In case you have not noticed, our hands are tied.”
“Tied?” she spluttered as they stepped into the entrance hall together. “Of course, they aren’t. You could survive any scandal. I am the one who would suffer after what happened last night.”
He halted walking, turning back to face her. His expression must have been even sharper than he had intended, for she took a step back.
“And what kind of man would I be if I allowed that to happen?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
She said nothing. She stared at him, those blue eyes as powerful as they had always been. He looked away from her, repeating in his mind to shut down any attraction to her he had ever had.
Evidently, she didn’t feel the same attraction. A marriage for anything above convenience was not possible, but he would do his duty. He would marry her to save her reputation and to maintain his own dignity in the ton.
Eventually, when he had control of his attraction, he turned to look at her again.
“I do not know what sort of men you have had dealings with before or even if the rumors of your last suitor are true?—”
“Do not mention him.” It was the first time he had ever seen her truly incensed. She blushed such a shade of purple that he was startled.
“Either way, I am not a man like him or any other,” Allan pushed on. He stepped toward her, needing her to understand something about his character. “I was still in the wrong last night. When I saw you there alone, I should have left. I jeopardized your reputation by risking being seen with you.”
“Strange, I thought you were being protective in wishing to see me safely home.” The apt way she had judged his character made him raise both his eyebrows.
“You understand me a little then,” he pointed out.
“Just a little,” she whispered.
“The point is, I should have left.” He pushed on, for she was looking at him with such power now that he feared he’d lose control of himself and steal a kiss, just to know what it was like to kiss her. He backed up from her, increasing the distance between them. “What I am offering to you is a marriage of convenience.”
“Convenience?” she repeated, her voice very small indeed.
“You will not be burdened by me,” he explained. “I will not put demands on you. I will not even demand you sire me an heir if that is something you do not wish for.”
Her lips parted once again, that purple hue deepening. He was trying to tell her in the best of ways that he was not a man who would force himself into her bed.
I am no animal, no matter what attraction I feel for her.
“You will be free to live your life, and your reputation will be saved. Now.” He stood taller, the best he could to try and ignore the tightening in his gut and push away the frustration that she still hadn’t given him an answer. “Your parents have given me an answer. They are clearly happy for the marriage to take place, but what is yours?”
“Wait…” She paused, shifting her weight between her feet. “You actually want my answer?”
“Why would I not?”
“Because the last time someone wished to marry me, they were not interested in the answer I wished to give. They only wished for my father’s blessing.” Her expression darkened, and she looked down at her feet, wringing her hands together.
Allan felt a new shadow creeping into him, a suspicion, a feeling that he had a notion that would haunt him.
She speaks of this other man, does she not? The one who tried to force himself on her…
