Page 28

Moreland

I t seemed I was incapable of letting this woman out of my sight. I’d breached my tenuous grasp on my restraint, and I was no longer capable of holding back.

I expected Victoria to protest when I kept her in bed for the rest of the evening, but she surprised me. She was the one who called for her maid to have dinner brought up to us.

I didn’t make love to her again. She would be too sore after I’d taken her maidenhead. But I’d already initiated her into some of the other ways of giving pleasure, and she was an apt student.

The damnable thing was that I enjoyed being in her company far too much. For one so young, she was surprisingly well-read. And she had a knowledge of horrid novels that surprised me.

My education had centered on the classics, but she insisted on telling me most animatedly about all I was missing. I had the errant thought that I could easily grow addicted to having her recount the details of all the ridiculous plots in so many of those stories.

She scrunched her nose when I remarked on one particularly ridiculous novel about a young woman trapped in a cliffside castle with a brooding older hero. “The situation isn’t that different from the one in which I now find myself.”

I smirked, conceding the point. “At least here, there are no mysterious moans in the middle of the night or rattling of chains.”

“Well,” she said, “there have been no moans up to this point.”

With that, she began an exploration of my body while I lay there and waited to see what she would do. I was, of course, hard when she finally touched me. Her mouth formed a little O of interest, and I had to close my eyes at the sight.

I definitely wanted to do other things with Victoria but not yet. Despite everything we’d shared, she was still far too innocent. I didn’t want her to be just another woman with whom I sated my desires. I was fond of her, and that was a dangerous discovery.

We didn’t leave her room until the following morning, when we headed downstairs for breakfast. I waited for her to fill her plate, then did the same.

My emotions had been in turmoil yesterday after nearly losing Victoria.

But when I woke this morning, it was with certainty that we had only one way to assure she would stay safe.

She took a sip of her tea, narrowing her eyes at me over the cup’s rim. “You seem to be pondering something.” She set the cup on its saucer. “If it’s about my careless behavior yesterday, you can rest assured that I won’t leave the house again without you or my brother.”

I shook my head. Victoria wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. “I’m not worried about that. But I must admit that Mirabelle surprised me as well. I didn’t think her capable of such betrayal.”

Victoria bit her bottom lip, then sighed. “I believe she convinced herself that she was helping me.”

I’d suggested as much to her yesterday when she’d learned of Mirabelle’s betrayal, but I couldn’t believe it was true. “Or she was helping herself to the reward that Sherbourne no doubt offered her.”

Victoria winced. “Perhaps. But during her initial visit, she told me about her first protector, and the memory made her sad. I don’t think she wanted this life.

She was once a young woman who dreamed of finding true love.

” She shook her head. “You’ve seen how beautiful she is, and her family didn’t have money.

So, while men were interested in her, their intentions weren’t honorable. ”

I could imagine all too well the situation that had led to Mirabelle’s downfall.

But she’d landed on her feet and was no victim.

Still, I couldn’t help but remember the article in The Mayfair Chronicle about a potential marriage between her and Kendrick.

Was she still hoping to find a man who would save her from her current life?

“Her intentions don’t matter. We both know that you’re much better off with me than in your father’s care. He clearly isn’t looking for someone who will see to your emotional well-being when you marry.”

She shuddered. “Lord Heddington would have just one use for me. Well, perhaps two. Giving him children and acting as a hostess for his guests.”

I didn’t want to think about how close she’d come to marrying that man. If Rexford hadn’t installed people in his father’s house to look after his sister, nothing could have stopped Sherbourne.

“So, what were you considering so earnestly, my lord?” She watched me as she nibbled a corner of her toast.

I stared down at my full plate, realizing that my hunger had vanished. I knew this day would arrive, but I’d thought I had years ahead of me.

“I think you and I should marry.”

Victoria paused, her eyes opening wide with shock, then she burst into laughter. I waited, feeling far from amused. But I had to concede that it was understandable that she would think my offer wasn’t real.

When she realized I wasn’t laughing or even smiling, she sobered. “You’re having fun at my expense, are you not?”

I raised a brow. “I must admit, I never expected that, when I proposed, it would be met with such amusement.”

“But you’re one of the Legendary Lords. You don’t offer women proposals of marriage.”

My gaze remained fixed on her. “Clearly, that isn’t true.”

She frowned, and I wondered what was happening in that distractingly attractive head of hers. I should have realized that she was too smart not to consider the possibility that I was only offering her marriage out of a sense of duty.

“No.” She shook her head and pushed her plate away.

She took another sip of tea, then carefully placed the cup back on the saucer before meeting my gaze again.

“I don’t expect such a sacrifice from you.

I know that me acting as your mistress—” She waved her hands, becoming animated on the subject matter.

“You’ve admitted that you’ve never had a mistress before, but you do have a reputation as a rake. ” Her mouth firmed into a line.

“And what, Victoria? Go ahead and ask me what it is you want to know.”

She let out a shaky breath. “I don’t think I could be married to you and find myself alone at home while you…” She waved her hands again.

“While I what, exactly?”

She made a soft sound of disgust. “While you continued bedding other women.”

It was a valid concern, and I could certainly see why she would believe such a thing of me. “My father was a philanderer.”

Both her brows shot up at my admission. I’d never offered her information about my family before. I didn’t like speaking about them.

“And that is why you’re one as well?”

“No.” I frowned. “My father…” I shrugged.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I have quite a few half brothers and sisters.

I’ve never met them, but from what my mother has implied, it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility.

Still, I saw how unhappy my father’s infidelities made my mother. When my parents passed away…”

I stopped, my mind shying from wanting to share the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The carriage ride had been deemed an accident, but a part of me had always wondered if that was true.

My father had been driving my mother in a phaeton, which she hated.

And given how the two argued, I wouldn’t be surprised if my father had caused the accident, intending to hurt my mother. He’d always been less than kind to her.

“I have been… free with my attention when it came to the fairer sex because I always knew that when I married, I wouldn’t cause my wife similar pain.”

It wasn’t an admission of love. I wasn’t sure I was capable of that. But Victoria had shown me that I was capable of fondness and fidelity. It would be no sacrifice being married to her.

Her eyes widened with shock. “And you would be fine with that?”

I leaned back in my chair, folded my arms across my chest, and didn’t try to hide my amusement. “I think you and I have proven to one another that we are quite compatible in the bedroom. And that was just the beginning.”

Her cheeks reddened. “I don’t know. Would Rexford allow it?” Then she gasped. “I am still underage. My father will never grant his permission.”

“I know. We’ll need to speak with your brother. Perhaps we can do something to change his mind.”

“We could elope,” Victoria said.

I’d already considered that possibility. “It might still come to that. But we’ll go to King’s after breakfast and speak to your brother. He’s proven resourceful when it comes to outsmarting your father.”