Page 67 of Corrupting his Duchess

She nodded once.

“I won’t offer promises I haven’t considered,” he continued. “But I would rather you doubt my future than doubt my honesty.”

“I don’t,” she said softly. “Not anymore.”

He took another step, now only a breath between them. “Then know this, I will not marry for advantage. Not for politics. Not to rescue anyone. Not even you.”

Something flickered in her eyes…hurt, perhaps, but it passed too quickly to read clearly.

He saw it. He leaned in slightly, his voice lower and gentle. “But I will not marry if I don’t wish to.”

Anna’s throat tightened. She didn’t speak.

He said it simply, without force.

Saying it aloud surprised him. He had never voiced such a thing before. Not to his mother. Not to Nathaniel. And yet here, in this room that smelled faintly of lavender and candlewax, the words came easily.

He wouldn’t marry to please a room. But to please her? That was an altogether different temptation.

It wasn't a vow, not even an invitation. But the door… was not shut.

Anna lowered her gaze, her voice careful. “Thank you, Your Grace. For what you said.”

He inclined his head slightly. “I meant every word.”

A pause.

Anna’s gaze dropped, then lifted again. “I shouldn’t be alone with you.”

“No,” he said quietly. “But I’d still rather be here than anywhere else.”

She moved toward the door, hand brushing the handle. “You should go.”

He didn’t move. “And if I don’t?”

She hesitated. “Then I suppose you’ll be the next scandal the ladies whisper about.”

He stepped closer, just a pace. “Then let them whisper.”

Then she added, more quietly, “They already whisper, but you should go.”

He didn’t move. “Because you want me to?”

“No,” she said at once. Too quickly. She caught herself. “Because if you’re found here…”

He stepped closer, a half-smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “What would happen, do you think?”

Her lips parted. “Ruination.”

“For whom?”

She looked up at him.

He tilted his head. “Because I assure you, Anna, if scandal were to follow, I’d have little choice but to make it right.”

Her breath caught. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?”