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She tried to keep her voice from trembling, but the words came out sharper than she intended. She hadn't meant to ask—hadn't wanted to put herself in the vulnerable position of needing to know. But it was like an itch that wouldn't go away, and now that it had been scratched, it burned painfully.

"Why did you marry me, Andrew?" she asked, peering into his eyes.

His eyes locked with hers, and for a moment, the tension in the room seemed to thicken, the air between them charged with something new. Andrew's lips curved into a half-smile, a teasing glint flickering in his gaze.

"Well, well," he said, his voice soft but laced with a teasing edge. "You can hold eye contact much better now, can't you?"

"I'm not playing games, Andrew," she replied, her voice firm, even though her pulse raced beneath the surface.

Andrew went silent, his eyes drifting away from hers for the first time in what felt like an eternity. His grip on her hands loosened, and he gently pulled his fingers away, as if releasing a tether that bound them both.

He moved to sit across from her, his posture rigid, and his face remained unreadable. For a long moment, the room was thick with the silence between them.

"Robert...he wasn't planning to marry you, Lavinia. He was not a good person." Andrew's voice was low. "He is not a good person."

Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she blinked rapidly as if she had misheard him. "What do you mean?"

Andrew leaned forward slightly. "He had his plan, you see and I happened to find out. He promises women marriage only to bed them. He's a man who understands power in the wrong way. He knows that no woman will ever speak of what truly happens in the dark. No one would dare accuse him in society. They would be shunned, ruined by their own shame. He found the perfect way to ruin someone's life without consequence."

"And...you're saying he wanted to do that to me?" she whispered.

"Yes," Andrew answered, avoiding her gaze. "He told me himself."

Lavinia sat back, her mind racing as she tried to fully grasp Andrew's words. Her body seemed to freeze as his words settled into her chest. She had sensed that Andrew's proposal had something to do with Robert, but she had never imagined it could be tied to such an outrageous scheme. Her eyes flickered to his face, searching for something more, something that could make sense of the chaos in her mind.

Her lips parted slightly, her voice soft but still filled with disbelief. "So...in a way, you saved me?" she asked, titling her head to the side.

Andrew didn't answer immediately. His eyes held hers, studying her, perhaps weighing her reaction before he spoke. "Lavinia, it wasn't pity. I would hate for you to think that it was."

Lavinia shut her eyes. "Andrew —"

"I couldn't let him do it," Andrew interrupted, his voice hardening with a sudden fierceness. "He was only going to take advantage of you, Lavinia. I couldn't stand by and watch him ruin your life, make you a pawn in whatever sick game he was playing. He wasn't interested in marriage, not at all. He was just looking for a way to ruin you."

"And you had a responsibility to make sure that it didn't happen?"

"Lavinia —"

"I'm not upset, Andrew," she said to him. "Now that I think about it, his promises were too good to be true."

"I'm sorry I kept it from you," he said and looked up at her. "I just..."

"Didn't want to hurt my feelings?" she asked with raised eyebrows. "Why? Why are you so concerned about hurting my feelings, Andrew? Why did you take it upon yourself to save my reputation when I nearly trapped you in a marriage?"

Andrew's gaze softened as he struggled to find the right words. "You didn't deserve what would have happened with Grove, and I...I couldn't let that be your reality. I cannot explain it more than that, Lavinia. Marriage might have been the last thing I ever thought I would do this season, and I suppose I am still adjusting to the idea of it, but I made the decision to marry you and I stand by it."

Lavinia remained silent for a moment, letting his words settle in her chest.

"You're free to do as you wish," he continued, leaning back slightly. "Spend as much as you like. I don't care about the money." His voice softened. "But, Lavinia, please...take care of yourself. It's still winter, and you're doing far too much."

Lavinia's voice was firm yet playful as she interrupted him. "One condition," she said, her eyes glinting with mischief. "If I agree to take care of myself, you have to agree to spend some time with me. You will stop avoiding me."

Andrew hesitated, his brow furrowing as he considered her request. "What do you mean, spend time with you?" he asked.

Lavinia leaned forward slightly, her lips curling into a faint smile. "Just an hour each evening. We will do whatever activity I please. Just you and me."

Andrew studied her for a long moment before finally responding. "Fine," he said finally. "An hour. Every night."

Lavinia's eyes sparkled with satisfaction. "It's a deal then."