Eyes as blue as her namesake narrowed at him. “So it wasn’t them that drove you away.”
“I’m sure you’re not here at this time of night to chastise me about my time spent at orphanages, Miss Darrington.”
“Maybe I am.” She stared up at him, her gaze direct. “There was a time you called me Sapphire. What changed?”
Matthias swallowed back his groan. Of course he had, because he hadn’t known better. Farmers’ sons didn’t call noble ladies by their first names. “I apologize again for my previous lack of manners.”
“Lack of manners is one of the things I liked about you.” She tilted her head as she regarded him. “I thought perhaps I was just another lady you’d grown tired of, another heart in a string of broken hearts.”
Sir Matthias’s brows puckered. “What are you talking about? What string of broken hearts?”
“You really don’t know?”
Shaking his head, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman socially that hadn’t involved duties for the church.
Sapphire laughed, and the sound filled the sanctuary. “Part of your charm, I suppose. Half the women in Aerius are in love with you, and you’ve already broken the other half’s hearts.”
He straightened his tabard. “Now I’m certain you’re up to mischief as I’ve done no such thing.”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “I didn’t come here to talk about them.”
“If you’re in trouble, in need of something, I’ll do all I can to help.”
“Good. Then you’ll marry me.”
Chapter 3
Matthias’s eyes widened, and he fell back a step. “What?”
“I said-”
“I heard you.” His heart pounded against his ribs, and he swallowed back the metallic bitterness in his mouth. He wanted to agree, call in the Knight on duty, and marry her then and there. But prudence halted him. “Is this a joke, Miss Darrington? If so, it is in very poor taste.”
“I don’t joke about such things. You should know me better than that.” She rose from the pew, her movements fluid and refined but with purpose.
“Why do you want me to marry you?”
“With your reputation, it’s easy for people to believe it’s a love match. And if you jilt me, they’ll understand that, too.”
“I have no such reputation.”
She arched a perfectly sculpted black brow. “It doesn’t matter what you think. It matters what people perceive.”
“And they perceive me as a heartbreaker?”
“Yes. Now say you’ll marry me. I can make it worth your effort.” She reached into her cloak and withdrew a bundle of papers. “You need only stay married to me for four years. At the end of that time, we can annul the marriage.”
Matthias pressed his fingers to his temples. Things like this happened in Knights Tales and bards’ songs, not in the middle of the Dragon Cathedral. It was absurd, yet the legal documents in her hand appeared serious enough. “Annulment’s not easy to get.”
“You’re a Knight of Valor. If you tell the courts we haven’t consummated the marriage, they’ll believe you.”
Sir Matthias sucked in a slow breath as he tried to steady his thoughts. “That means we wouldn’t be married. It would be a lie. Knights don’t lie.”
“Fair enough, and it wouldn’t serve my purposes. A divorce then. You stay married to me for four years, and at the end of that time, you’ll get a generous settlement. You can use it as a nest egg for when you marry a woman you love, give it to your rather extensive family, or donate it to the church.”
Matthias stared at the papers again. None of this made sense. She was a beautiful and wealthy heiress. Charming. Kind. She didn’t need to buy a temporary husband. “Why me?”
“You’re attractive and charismatic.”
He blushed and focused on the papers, not sure either descriptor applied to him, but still foolishly pleased to hear her say it.
Miss Darrington smiled, but there was no mirth in the expression. “So a love match seems plausible, and I need a love match because my grandfather has arranged an excellent social match.”
“I hadn’t heard-”
“I haven’t accepted, and I plan to announce our marriage instead.”
“Our marriage,” he repeated. The words taunted him.
“I can’t just marry a stable hand. I need a match beyond reproach so that if my grandfather challenges my decision to marry, and uses my choice of husband as proof of my insanity, he’ll look the fool.”
“He wouldn’t challenge your sanity based on who you fall in love with.”
“Then you don’t know him very well.” Miss Darrington pushed the papers into Matthias’s hands. “Read them and tell me if the terms are agreeable. If they are, we’ll announce our engagement at Duke Valerian’s ball. Or better yet, our marriage.”
“Sir Marcus?” Things were happening too fast. Matthias couldn’t get his mental feet underneath him.
“You are friends with the duke and his duchess, aren’t you?”
Matthias nodded.
“Then it’s logical to make any announcement there.”
“Who has your grandfather arranged for you to marry?”
“Lord Geoffrey Musgrave, Earl of Castlerock.”
Matthias balled his fist around the papers. “He’s a scoundrel and a snake!”
“A titled and well-connected scoundrel and snake.” Miss Darrington smiled again, but the expression never reached her eyes. “A woman with as muddied a lineage as mine should be ecstatic for such a fortuitous match. Unfortunately for them, I’m not.”
“Can’t you just tell your grandfather you don’t want to marry Lord Musgrave?”
“Then he’ll find a way to force me into it. He’s already laying the groundwork to have me committed to an asylum for the insane.”
“How do you know?”
“I have my sources. And, yes, they’re reliable.”
Sir Matthias stared at her, but he sensed no falsehood. “Why would he do that?”
“He wants control of my fortune, and he has no other way of getting it than marrying me to someone of his choosing. He can’t just kill me and take it, because if I die, it all goes to charity.”
Matthias took her hand between both of his. “You really think he’d kill you? He’s your grandfather.”
“And my father was a merchant captain, much to my grandfather’s chagrin. I’m a stain on the family name, and if he can barter that stain for some prize, he will.”
The bitterness in her words arrowed through Matthias. No wonder she had seldom mentioned her grandfather. “Do you have any proof he’s trying to kill you?”
“Nothing I can bring to the Knights of Valor or I already would have. And if I accuse him without proof, it furthers his insanity claim.” Sapphire stared down at their joined hands. “I am not convinced either of my parent’s deaths was an accident. There could be danger to you in this proposition, but I couldn’t think of anyone else.”