Page 99 of In the Prince's Bed

“I know, my darling.” Guilt assailed her again. “But I’m here, and everything will be fine now.”

“You’re here…” He stiffened and tried to sit up, alarm on his face. “You’re here! What the hell are you doing here?”

“It’s all right,” she said quickly, guessing the reason for his alarm. “I know everything now. I know that you’re poor.”

He scowled. “Add insult to injury, why don’t you?”

She gave a relieved laugh. “It doesn’t matter, not to me. Not now that you’re all right.”

“I don’t feel all right,” he complained, rubbing his head. “I have a devil of a headache.”

“I suspect that will last for a while,” Mrs. Brown said.

He sat up, then struggled to stand. Katherine leaped up beside him. “No, you must rest!”

“I’m not going to lie on the blasted floor.” But he swayed on his feet.

She looped his arm quickly about her shoulders. “Come on then, we’ll get you to the bed.” She called back to Mrs. Brown, “Fetch some warm water, will you? And a cloth to clean his wound with.”

“At once, miss,” the housekeeper said cheerily, clearly happy to be of use.

“Katherine, I need to speak to you,” her mother put in.

“Not now, Mama,” she answered as she helped Alec to the bed.

“But, my angel—”

“Mrs. Brown,” Katherine called to the woman as she was leaving the room. “Take my mother with you, will you? We’ve had a long trip, and she could use some tea and something to eat.”

“Yes, miss,” the old servant chirped, “and I’ll bring something for you and his lordship, too.”

“Nothing too heavy for him!” Katherine cried, as the old housekeeper rather firmly led her mother off.

She caught Alec staring down at her with a bemused expression. “You take charge right away, don’t you?” he said.

“Somebody has to.” She helped him sit on the bed. “Since I’m the one responsible—”

“It was an accident.” He pulled her down to sit beside him. “Though I still can’t figure out why you’re here.” There was definite tension in his voice.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “All that matters is we’re together, and I know the truth about you.”

He went still. “But you aren’t…angry.”

“That you’re poor?” When his lips tightened at that bald phrase, she hastened to add, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, my darling. You can’t help what your father did.”

He only stared at her as if she’d gone mad. “You could have married Sydney, and instead I convinced you to marry me.”

“Yes, and I’m glad you did!Glad,do you hear?” She was giddy with relief, aware of nothing but the joy of knowing he was all right. And that he was a man of character, for clearly he cared about his estate and was trying to turn things round. “But you should have told me, Alec. If anyone would understand, you should have known it would be me, for goodness sake.”

He still looked confused. “I thought you’d refuse to marry me if you knew.”

“No, indeed! How could you think it? Have I ever cared about such things?” Memories came flooding back. “Oh, that’s why you asked me if I were marrying Sydney for money—because you thought it mattered to me. But it doesn’t. Indeed, it means that I can at last give you something. You see, I have a fortune myself, left to me by my grandfather! What do you think of that? Now we can restore Edenmore exactly how we want. Isn’t that marvelous?”

Chapter Twenty-four

A rake is always in the mood for seduction.

—Anonymous,A Rake’s Rhetorick