Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

There was nothing but nature ahead, left as God had made it, or at least as the Saxons had cleared it hundreds of years ago.

It was marvelous, and marvelously wild. If one kept one’s back to the castle, one might be able to forget the existence of civilization. There was almost the sense that if you kept walking, you could just go on and on . . . away. Disappear.

He had pondered this on occasion. It was tempting.

But behind him lay his birthright. It was huge and imposing, and from the outside, not particularly friendly.

Thomas thought of his grandmother. Belgrave wasn’t always particularly friendly on the inside, either.

But it was his, and he loved it, even with the massive weight of responsibility that came with it. Belgrave Castle was in his bones. It was in his soul. And no matter how much he was occasionally tempted, he could never walk away.

There were other, more immediate obligations, however, the most pressing of which was walking at his side.

He sighed inside, the only indication of weariness an ever so slight roll of his eyes. He probably should have danced attendance on Lady Amelia when he’d seen her in the drawing room. Hell, he probably should have spoken to her before addressing Grace. In fact, he knew he should have done, but the scene with the painting had been so farcical, he had to tell someone about it, and it wasn’t as if Lady Amelia would have understood.

Still, he had kissed her last night, and even if he had a perfect right to do so, he supposed that required a bit of postencounter finesse. “I trust your journey home last evening went without incident,” he said, deciding that was as good a conversational introduction as any.

Her eyes remained focused on the trees ahead. “We were not accosted by highwaymen,” she confirmed.

He glanced over at her, attempting to gauge her tone.

There had been a hint of irony in her voice, but her face was magnificently placid.

She caught him looking at her and murmured, “I thank you for your concern.”

He could not help wondering if she thought she was mocking him. “Lovely weather this morning,” he said, because it seemed like the right thing to say to needle her. He wasn’t sure why. And he wasn’t sure why he wanted to.

“It’s very pleasant,” she agreed.

“And you are feeling improved?”

“Since last night?” she asked, blinking with surprise.

He looked down at her pinking cheeks with some amusement. “I’d thought since five minutes ago, but last night will do just as well.”

It was good to know he still knew how to kiss a blush onto a woman’s cheeks.

“I am much better now,” she said crisply, batting at her hair, which, unconfined by a bonnet, was now blowing about in the breeze. It kept getting caught in the corner of her mouth. He would have found that vastly annoying. How did women tolerate it?

“I was feeling overly closed-in in the drawing room,”

she added.

“Ah yes,” he murmured. “The drawing room is a bit confined.”

It could seat forty.

“The company was stifling,” she said pointedly.

He smiled to himself. “I had no idea you were on such uncomfortable terms with your sister.”

She’d been directing her barbs at the trees down the hill, but at this she snapped her head in his direction. “I wasn’t talking about my sister.”

“I was aware,” he murmured.

Her skin flushed even deeper, and he wondered which was the cause—anger or embarrassment. Both, probably. “Why are you here?” she demanded.

He paused to consider this. “I live here.”

“With me.” This, between her teeth.

“Unless I am mistaken, you are to be my wife.”

She stopped walking, turned, and looked him straight in the eye. “You don’t like me.”

She didn’t sound particularly saddened by this, more exasperated than anything. Which he found curious.

“That’s not true,” he replied. Because it wasn’t. There was a huge difference between dislike and disregard.

“You don’t,” she persisted.

“Why would you think so?”

“How could I not?”

He offered her a sultry gaze. “I believe I liked you quite well last night.”

She said nothing, but her body was so tense, and her face such a picture of concentration, that he could almost hear her counting to ten before grinding out, “I am a duty to you.”

“True,” he agreed, “but possibly a pleasant one.”

Her face moved with charming intensity. He had no idea what she was thinking; any man who said he could read females was a fool or a liar. But he found it rather entertaining to watch her think, to see her expressions shift and sway as she tried to figure out how best to deal with him.

“Do you ever think about me?” she finally asked.

It was such a typically female question; he felt as if he were defending mankind everywhere when he promptly answered, “I’m thinking about you right now.”

“You know what I mean.”

He thought about lying. It was, most likely, the kind thing to do. But he’d recently discovered that this creature he was meant to marry was far more intelligent than she’d originally let on, and he didn’t think she would be appeased by platitudes. And so he told the truth.

“No.”

She blinked. And then again. And then several more times. Clearly, this was not what she had been expecting. “No?” she finally echoed.

“You should consider it a compliment,” he instructed.

“If I thought less of you, I’d lie.”