Page 100 of In the Prince's Bed

The thundering in Alec’s head intensified as his muddled brain put two and two together and came up with a hundred thousand. Pounds, to be precise. A fortune that Katherine thought he didn’t know about.

Blast it all. No wonder she wasn’t angry—she hadn’t yet figured out that he’d courted her precisely because of that fortune.

He should tell her the truth while she was still feeling guilty for causing his little accident. He should lay his case before her, beg her to forgive him for all his deceptions, and convince her that they should still marry despite his wretched behavior. Because later, when she wasn’t in this state of relief, she might figure it all out. And then it would be worse for him.

But she might not figure it out. Or at least not until after the wedding.

“Alec? Did you hear me?” she asked. “I have a fortune.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he stalled, “my head is still spinning and…”

“Oh, yes, of course!” She leaped up from the bed. “Where is Mrs. Brown with that water?” She hurried to the door just as Emson walked in carrying a pan, towels draped over his arm.

After his butler set the pan down, she dipped a cloth in the warm water and came back to Alec’s side to dab at the drying blood. “At least the bleeding has stopped.”

“Has it?” he said hoarsely. What in God’s name was he going to do? He didn’t want this to end, and it would certainly end if he told her the truth. He liked having her fuss over him. No woman had fussed over him in years, unless he could count Mrs. Brown’s constant attempts to get him to eat more of her awful cooking.

Katherine touched the cloth to the gash, and he cursed as fire streaked through his head.

Remorse flooded her face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you—”

He choked back more curses. “It’s all right, sweetheart.”

Emson watched them warily.

“We’ll get a doctor to look at it,” she said. When he started to protest, she added, “You mustn’t worry about the cost, do you hear? I told you, I can afford it. Or I’ll be able to once we marry.”

The moment of truth had arrived. He hesitated, loathing the idea of letting her continue in her mistaken assumption.

But he had no choice. His servants and tenants were depending on him. Emson was watching him even now, waiting for what he would do, hoping that he wouldn’t ruin Edenmore’s chance for a future. Their chance for a future.

Damn. “Yes, you said something about…a fortune. But you told me before that you had no money.”

Every lying word filled him with self-disgust. It had been one thing to avoid telling her the truth before, but this was a more deliberate deception. How could he lie to her so egregiously when she trusted him and even accepted his situation?

Because she would never marry him if she knew the truth. He was sure of that.

“Appearances to the contrary,” she said brightly as she threw the soiled rag aside and got a fresh one, “I have a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds that will come to me upon my marriage. My grandfather left it to me.”

“Really?” He glanced to Emson, whose face showed relief that Alec was pretending not to know of her fortune. “You may go now, Emson,” he snapped, unable to bear having the man watch him lie.

Emson nodded, then left, obviously satisfied that all was well.

All was not well. The man didn’t know Katherine, so he didn’t care if Alec lied to her. But Alec knew that every lie drove a wedge between them that he’d have to push past after they married. Every evasion was one more eventual stake in her heart.

Would it be worth it? God, he hoped so. Because he was now committed to that path.

“It’s true.” She wiped away the rest of the dried blood. “Aren’t you pleased? You look as if you aren’t.”

“Of course I’m pleased. It’s just my…head, that’s all. I’m still a little shaky.” When her face clouded over, he added quickly, “But I feel much better now that you’re taking care of me.”Forgive me, sweetheart, if you can.

“It’s the least I can do after causing this,” she said sorrowfully.

“It was merely an accident. Besides, it’s well worth it to have you here.”

Watching me lie like a fiend.How could he continue this deception until the wedding? He could hardly speak the lies now without gagging on them.

He forced himself to continue. “But you never did explain why you decided to come here. I thought we’d agreed that you would stay in London.”