Bewildered, she read the few lines on the sheet of paper and felt sick as she did so. “I’d almost feel better if you did take control of my property.”
“What the devil?”
Kit swallowed to shift the massive lump of dismay and guilt in her throat. And longing. When she was with Quentin, longing was always paramount.
She raised a bleak gaze to him. “At least if you kept my fortune, I’d feel you got something out of this marriage.”
With those words, all the spun sugar illusion of her wedding day dissolved to nothing.
Yet Quentin frowned as if he didn’t understand. “I get something out of this marriage. I get you.”
She made a despairing gesture, and her voice was toneless as she fought not to cry. “Stop being kind, Quentin. We both know you were cornered into this wedding. You’d never have done it, if you hadn’t had to.”
She braced to hear him protest about what she said. Right now, she didn’t think she could bear more of his kindness.
But instead of giving her another comforting lie, he bent his head and stared into the flames. When he spoke, his tone was somber as she’d never heard it before. “I know you didn’t want to marry me.”
It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say, so surprise made her respond with more candor than perhaps was wise. “Don’t be a blockhead, Quentin. Of course I wanted to marry you. You’re wonderful.”
His head jerked up, and he went white with shock. Which seemed an odd reaction. “Wonderful?”
She released a grim little laugh. “I’ve been mooning around after you since the day I first saw you. It was most unbecoming behavior in a stableboy.”
He spread his hands in confusion, for once lost for words. “I…”
She signaled him to silence. “But I hate that you were trapped into taking me as your wife. You deserve better.”
He shook his head, and that chiseled jaw set with stubbornness. “No, I don’t.”
She battled tears. Crying right now would be the last straw. “I told you not to be kind.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. And don’t worry, I won’t embarrass you by making scenes or letting my fondness for you become an issue. Once we’ve seen Neil off, we can separate. You can go on with your life as if I don’t exist.”
A muscle jerked in his cheek, and he looked annoyed. Which was odd, because she thought he’d be grateful that she made it so easy for him to ignore his obligations to his bride. “Except you’re my wife.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t change that. I would if I could.”
Skeptical eyebrows rose. “Would you indeed?”
Quentin had stopped looking quite so devastated, she noticed, although she supposed her unwelcome confession meant he now felt sorry for her. This evening slid into a complete debacle.
“For your sake.”
“How very…self-sacrificing.”
He still sounded annoyed. She supposed the revelation that his unwanted wife harbored a penchant for him must come as a nasty surprise.
Not really understanding what he wanted from her, she made a helpless gesture. “I wish I could set you free.”
“Aye?”
Actually he was right to doubt her. Kit wasn’t sure she was quite so noble, although she wished she was. It was absurd to hope, but hope she did. Perhaps Quentin might learn to want her in time. Perhaps he might come to care.
“I’m sorry I blighted your life,” she said in a low miserable voice.
Without moving from the mantel, he studied her the way he’d studied her before he announced that he knew she was a girl. She shifted uncomfortably on the chair. When he stared at her like this, she felt like he saw right to her heart. And she was humiliatingly aware that her heart carried an image of his face.
“Well, this is a surprise,” he said in a neutral voice after a long silence.
She couldn’t help feeling that he was toying with her. Her response emerged with a hint of a snap. “I can’t help what I feel.”
He went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Because I’ve spent the last two days convinced I’ve blighted your life.”
Actually the prospect of a lifetime of unrequited love could fit that description. But she met his eyes as bravely as she could. “I’m proud to be your wife.”
To her relief, his stern expression lightened. “And I’m proud to be your husband.”
“You…you are?”
“Aye, with all my heart.” His eyes warmed, as his lips curved into a smile. “Because you see, I’m very happy to marry you, Christabel Urquhart. I’m even happier now that I know you’re not averse to the idea either.”
She frowned, as she struggled to make sense of how the world had changed in these last few seconds. “Are you saying…”
His smile broadened. “I’m saying that if the stableboy was looking inappropriately lovelorn, so was the laird’s nephew.”
A frail seedling of hope unfurled in her chest. This sounded promising. It did indeed. Perhaps the day wasn’t proving such a disaster after all. Lovelorn mightn’t be love, but it was a good start.
“Are you…are you saying you’re content with how things have turned out?”
“I’m saying that there’s nobody I’d rather spend the rest of my life with. What made me feel as low as a snake’s belly was that I was sure my damned curiosity meant you’d been forced into marrying me, when it was the last thing you wanted.”
The seedling of hope stretched toward the light. “We…we seem to have been mistaken in each other.”
He kept watching her, as if he saw every breath she took. “We do.”
She seized her courage in both hands and met his burning gaze. “So what are we going to do about it?”
Chapter 10
Quentin had spent the last two days racked between lacerating guilt for snaring Kit in this marriage and unworthy happiness that he’d caught the girl he wanted.
Now it turned out his happiness wasn’t so unworthy after all. Because it seemed the girl he wanted wanted him, too.
It was all too huge a change for his mind to encompass. So when his lovely bride asked him what he intended to do, he spoke of his most immediate concern. “What I’d like to do is take my wife to bed.”
Shining blue eyes widened, and he rushed to continue before she could send him to the devil. Or run out of the room, shrieking in terror. “But I’m well aware that you hardly know me and we had no opportunity to court, so if you’d like to wait, I understand.”
When Kit licked her lips, he closed his eyes and reminded himself he was a gentleman. He also reminded himself that she’d been bullied and mistreated. He owed it to her to let her set the timetable for her seduction.
At least there was some satisfaction now in knowing that there would indeed be a seduction. He opened his eyes to catch her watching him.
“That’s very generous,” she said, her expression unreadable.
He smiled. “I’m a prince after all. Ask Mrs. McCluskey.”
“I don’t need to.” She stood up and approached him. “Will you kiss me, Quentin?”