LITMIR.BIZ

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to you carry more weight than one penned by a grieving sister.”

      He was still staring.

      She squirmed in her seat. What else did he want her to say?

      And why couldn’t she simply shut up?

      “And yes, I will say it did occur to me the precariousness of my position. I was bringing my niece to what I believed, rightly, to be a male household. Alone as I was, with only a child with me, I did not want to be perceived as...as fair game.”

      At last, a reaction.

      He allowed his hand to drop into his lap. “By me? Good God, woman, what in bloody hell did John tell you about me?”

      “Lovely things, all of them,” she hastened to assure him. “But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t, am not, an unmarried woman straight from the country, with limited resources of my own, without the slightest protection and determined to do anything I could to assure my niece’s well-being.”

      “And safety. Let’s not forget her safety, as that’s what piqued my curiosity in the first place. Are we finished now? Is there anything else I should know?”

      Sadie thought for a moment. Was there anything else she should tell him? Probably. Anything else she wanted to tell him? No, definitely not.

      “Yes, there is. I want you to know that I have agonized over what I’ve done and am heartily sorry. My plan was hastily formed and badly flawed. And...despicable.”

      “Surely not despicable. Unfortunate perhaps. Poorly conceived. Misleading at the least, and maddening at the most. You’ve caused me several uncomfortable hours, Sadie Grace, for reasons I will not discuss. Yet at the same time, you’ve eased my mind considerably. You are who you say you are. Marley is whom you say she is. I suppose I’d rather your misguided lies than know I’ve foisted a pair of imposters upon my friends.”

      “How you comfort me.”

      “I won’t even point out that your last remark could be construed as facetious. I’m a gentleman that way. Now we will put all of this behind us. She likes the dog, you know,” he said. “The stable bitch whelped over a month ago, and suddenly it struck me that Marley might feel safer with a companion. I think I did well.”

      “You could have brought her a kitten. A female kitten,” Sadie pointed out, getting to her feet, so that he did also. “It would have made everything so much easier.”

      “Don’t look a gift puppy in the mouth. You’ve saved yourself a rather intense grilling, Sadie, and should be thankful Marley and the ladies were present when the magic penny finally was dropped into my suspicious brain.”

      Was that it? Was he done? She’d like to believe so.

      “I suppose I did, yes. I knew you didn’t believe me. I’m...I’m not at all used to not being taken at my word. It came as a terrible shock, especially when I realized you had to either take my word on faith or toss us both back into the streets. I began to regret my lie in earnest then.”

      “I wouldn’t relax just yet. I’m fairly certain those ladies downstairs have been busy putting two and two together and coming up with a solid four. In other words, no, you can’t continue as Mrs. Boxer. You have considerable explaining to do, I’m afraid, but I know they’ll keep your secret.”

      “I’d much rather hide in shame up here for eternity than disappoint them, but if I must, I must. I imagine they’re appalled to know I haven’t been totally honest with them.”

      Now Darby actually laughed out loud. “On the contrary. Knowing the ladies, I imagine they’ll be too busy complimenting you before pointing out ways you could have done it better. But we can discuss this in greater depth once we’re out of this room and safely public in the square. For now, let’s go see how Marley and Max are rubbing along.”

      She was more than happy to leave the subject of her lies behind them, and latched on to the subject of the puppies. “You said a litter, didn’t you? What are you doing with the rest of them?”

      “Naturally, needing only the one, I had the rest drowned in a bucket. Is that what you want to hear?”

      Since her relief wasn’t exactly total, she could forgive him for his lingering anger.

      “I’m not that eager to make you into a monster, my lord. I only hope they find good homes if you can’t keep them in the stables.”

      “There were only four. Arrangements were made. Come along, we were going for a stroll, remember?”

      Sadie looked at the closed door in horror as another thought struck her with the force of a slap to the face. “You followed me upstairs. They all saw you. The duke saw you. We’ve been gone for a long time. What are they thinking? Oh, Lord, Clarice will giggle, and the duchess will probably ask me outrageous questions. Or worse, wink at me.”

      “I applaud you on your belated ability to see too late what you should have realized sooner. But I’m afraid it’s worse than that. It was one thing for me to have a private talk with the widow Boxer, my ward’s aunt. Not precisely proper, considering this is your bedchamber, but rules are meant to be bent. Some of them, but not all.”

      Sadie felt a figurative pit opening beneath her feet.

      “But that’s ridiculous. You can’t possibly mean—”

      “No, actually, I don’t. Knowing these particular ladies as I do, I imagine they’d all think it simply deliciously naughty. Lord knows the duchess doesn’t care a snap for convention. Coop’s mother believes conventions were invented by men simply to annoy women, and Clarice, bless her, has no real idea as to what they are.”

      Sadie sagged back into the chair. “Thank God. For a moment I thought—”

      “You thought I’d say convention dictates that we marry. Yes, I know. However, the idea has merit. Speaking practically.”

      Sadie believed her eyes just might pop out of her head.

      “I beg your—what?” To look any more smug he’d have to push out his chest like a pouter pigeon, drat him.

      “Speaking practically,” he repeated, retaking his own seat. “Marley is now mine. You? You’re rather just floating about, aren’t you? Neither here nor there, neither fish nor fowl, as it were. The aunt. The spinster aunt, well past her first blush of youth.”

      “I beg your pardon!”

      “You cut your wisdoms years ago, Sadie Grace, even if you are not yet at your last prayers. I can’t hire you as governess and pretend you are no more than a paid employee, not when you’re the aunt. I can’t allow you to wander about my household in the aforementioned neither fish nor fowl category until Marley is grown and gone—or until you molt. If I were to marry, how on earth would I explain you to my bride? Oh, and one thing more—I’ll be damned if I’ll give you a Season. So what does that leave us, Sadie Grace, hmm?”

      “You can’t mean this.”

      “I can’t do myriad things. I can’t fly. I can’t swim across an ocean. I can’t pat my head and rub my stomach at one and the same time—but you might want to apply to Rigby on that one, as he believes the feat extraordinary when he does it. I can, however, see the merit in a marriage of convenience between us. Purely a business arrangement. And think how pleased Marley will be, to know for certain that you’re not going to leave her. Consider the child, Sadie Grace.”

      “I can’t believe this is happening.”

      “Oh, come now, am I that terrible? I’m fairly attractive, even with the patch. My teeth are good, I bathe on a regular basis and am complimented on my abilities on the dance floor. Oh, yes, I’m also so very wealthy I could grow old just counting my money. In short, I’m quite the coup.”

      “And so modest with it all, although I suppose I do appreciate the bathe regularly part of your self-serving description. You did, however, neglect

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