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"Listen toto wed Giles Ever Even if you found hiht him back to this chapel within the next quarter-hour, I would refuse Do you mean to threaten me with a pistol, too?"

"Of course not," he grumbled "I can't force you to marry him"

"Well, then That's settled Spinsterhood it shall be" She steadied herself "If you'll excuse o explain to the curate"

He caught her by the aro explain to the curate You will not be ruined, and you are not going to be a spinster, either You're going to marry me"

Chapter 2

Sebastian didn't expect that she would take his declaration well

And he was right

"What?" she exclaimed

"You need to marry someone, and if you won't wed Perry, you will marry me It's the only way"

Her brow crinkled "It's not the only way"

"It's the only way I'll allow I kno s to be an impoverished spinster if I can help it And I can"

"If it's the money you're concerned about, you could settle a few thousand pounds on me You certainly have it to spare"

"And et for unscrupulous fortune-hunters? The devil I will"

"My goodness What a low opinion you have of my ability to choose suitors"

He stepped back andthe room "The last man you chose to wed isn't here"

He saw her flinch, and he regretted his harsh tone He didn't want to hurt her She deserved to be courted by scores of men and worshipped by the lucky fellow she chose But the world they lived in wasn't fair That dao on to have a fine life, and Mary would pay the price--with her prospects, her reputation, her friends, her influence

She sighed "I know you see this as your probleone But Henry cared about you, too He wouldn't want you to throw your future away out of misplaced loyalty"

"My loyalty is not misplaced In fact, there is nowhere else ed on, wanting to escape the softness in her eyes "As for the suggestion that I'd be throwing away nify that with a response"

"I'm not helpless, Sebastian"

"I know you aren't But it's what's best No one will fault you It's exactly so a bride froue"

"No, you're not"

He refused to take up that argument "You'll be a lady A wealthy one I've always known I'd need a wife eventually"

"ButI'm too old," she blurted out

"You're not old"

"I'm older than you"

"By two years"

"Closer to three Most er bride"

"I'm not most men"

She looked at hihed "Yes, I'd noticed"

Well, he'd done more than notice Mary She'd captured his attention from the very first, and all because she was older She was e Not to ure had been a source of both temptation and torment

And on that subject

"There's one thing you should know," he said "I araced one There's still an entail on the family property" He paused "I'll need a son And that ain for a polite term

"Share a bed"

"Do you knohat that involves?" He assuiven her some idea, but he wanted to be absolutely certain that she knehat she'd be undertaking

For Sebastian, of course, the bedding would be no chore He'd i love to her more than once

Who was he fooling? He'd iined it hundreds of tiht he'd ceased drea

"I understand the e bed," she said in perfect innocence "The husband kisses the wife on the lips, and then she beconant"

He stared at her, quietly panicked

She broke into laughter "I kno intercourse works, Sebastian Even if I haven't experienced it yet"

Thank God "So you understand that in order to create a child, we'll need todo that At least once Possibly several tiirl In which case, we'd have to begin all over again But I promise, I'd impose on you no more than necessary, and only when you're ready"

She shook her head "You are running so far ahead of yourself, you're a vanishing dot on the horizon Right now, I need to announce that this wedding isn't happening After an appropriate interval--a few ain If you still feel the sae in October"

"Unacceptable"

"Christmas, then"

"Definitely not" He'dhermarried today"

"Today?" Mary echoed He'd flown past detered

He s Flowers, veil, wrap "Your trunks are packed, I assume"

"They're outside, in the coach that Giles hired We were going to leave for the honeyoodness they'd planned for a s breakfast At least there weren't many witnesses to her humiliation

"So that's sorted And you're wearing a gown"

"We can't marry today," she decl

ared, having recalled that she was the daughter of a solicitor and clai familiarity with the law "We don't have a license, and no banns have been read It simply isn't possible So there you have it"

He stopped and considered this "You're right, we'll need a special license Which o to Canterbury and be married there"

"Oh, Lord You've taken leave of your senses This explains so much"

"My parents are both dead, as are yours And now Henry, too We don't have families to attend the ceremony Or to object"

"I object" She spread her ar"

"You're not objecting on any reasonable grounds You're just being contrary"

"Well, you're just being hot-headed"

"I'm not hot-headed I make swift decisions, often ruthless ones The estate would have gone insolvent years ago otherwise But when I heed ret it"

She raised an eyebrow "Yet"

He took her by the hand and fairly dragged her out the vestry's side door, hurrying her toward the waiting coach "I have a seaside property A e, but it's situated nicely on the cliffs near Raate, just a few hours' journey from Canterbury It's the ideal place to spend a week or tay froossip that way"

The gossip

Heavens, there would be so ossip

Well, if there was going to be gossip about her, Mary supposed she would vastly prefer gossip about how she'd been kidnapped by a shaossip about how she'd been abandoned at the altar by the milquetoast son of a barrister Passionate was better than pitiful

"If we leave now," he said, "we'll arrive at the cottage by nightfall I caside the coach every step of the way"

He handed her into the carriage, then conferred with the coach him handsomely, she supposed He was always a man who acted decisively, but she'd never seen him so resolved Not since he'd declared that he'd purchased a lieutenancy and o off to war

She flung open the carriage door "Sebastian, wait"

He reluctantly turned back

"What about love?" she asked him quietly "Don't you want to marry for love?"

"I'd rather marry someone I trust"

"Love and trust go hand-in-hand"

"Not in my family, they didn't"

Mary's heart ached for him The first time he'd come home with Henry fro so much invisible armor, it practically clinked as he walked Over the years, he'd grown co uard