Part 33 (1/2)

She swore some more, bent and swiped up the telltale garment, scrunching the silk in her hand-then realized she had nowhere to hide it.

”Give it to me.” He held out a hand.

She slapped the chemise into it. He shook out the garment, then folded it and tucked it into his breeches pocket, taking the opportunity to rearrange a few other things at the same time. Glancing at Helena, he noted that her nipples, no longer screened by the chemise, stood proudly erect under the silk sheath of her toga. Looking at her face, he decided not to mention it.

She already looked . . . distraught.

”My apologies,mignonne. That is not how I planned to ask you to be my wife.”

Her head rose. She blinked at him, her expression blanked. ”Wh-what?”

”I had, strangely enough, imagined making some reasonable attempt at a proposal.” When she simply stared at him, clearly stunned, Sebastian frowned. ”It's customary, you know.”

”No! I mean . . .” Helena clapped a hand to her forehead in a vain attempt to halt her whirling wits. ”We were not discussingmarriage ! We were discussing me accepting your protection.”

It was his turn to blink, then his features hardened. ”And precisely what sort of protection did you imagine I would extend to anunmarried n.o.blewoman ?”

She knew the answer to that. ”You-we-were talking of me marrying some complaisant gentleman andthen -”

”No. That was not what I was talking about.I was talking of marrying you.”

She narrowed her eyes. ”Not until those foolish people came in-I have told you before I am more than eight.”

”Seven.”

She frowned.”Comment?”

He shook his head. ”Never mind. But contrary to your misguided notions, I wasalways thinking of marrying you.”

”Pull my other arm, Your Grace.” Putting her nose in the air, she went to sweep past him.

He caught her arm and swung her back to face him. ”No. We are settling this here and now.”

The look in his face, in his eyes-the tension that emanated from him-warned her not even to attempt to gainsay him.

”I had already decided that I would have to marry before I met you again. Years ago I made it plain that I would not-I have three brothers who were quite willing to see to the succession, and I did not, in my estimation, possess the most amenable temperament for marriage. However . . .” He hesitated, then said, ”You have met my sister-in-law.”

Helena nodded. ”Lady Almira.”

”Indeed. If I tell you that she does not improve on further acquaintance, you will understand that the thought of her as the next d.u.c.h.ess of St. Ives has been seriously agitating many members of the family.”

She frowned. ”I do not understand. Was her marriage to your brother not . . .” She gestured. ”Vetted and approved?”

”No, it was not. Arthur, who's next in line for the t.i.tle, is the mildest of the four of us. Almira trapped him into marriage with the oldest trick known.”

”She claimed she was pregnant?”

Sebastian nodded. ”She wasn't, as it turned out, but by the time Arthur realized, the wedding had been announced.” He sighed. ”What's done cannot be undone.” He refocused on her. ”Which brings me to my point. You understand what it is to be the holder of a t.i.tle, what responsibilities-whether one wishes them or not-lie on one's shoulders. I waited to see how Almira would develop, whether she had it in her to become more . . . gracious, more tolerant. But she has not. And now she has a son who would ultimately inherit and whom she is clearly intent on ruling-ultimately ruling through.”

He shook his head. ”I cannot in all conscience permit that. And so I decided I must marry and sire a son of my own.”