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" W here have you been all day?" Victoria asked.

She had been looking forward to spending the day with James, hopeful that their kiss yesterday would serve as a doorway opening to something else—something more.

He had as good as confessed to having feelings for her.

Surely they were going to talk about that, even if he had walked away after he had kissed her.

He had needed time to process what had happened, that was all.

She could understand that. She had needed the same thing herself.

"I was at the gentlemen's club," he said. "I went for a drink."

"Oh," she said. "I would have thought you would have told me, that's all."

"You never tell me when you're going out."

"That isn't true and you know it. I've done a much better job lately at communicating with you. And you made it abundantly clear that for me to go out without telling you where I would be was unacceptable—so why is it all right for you to do the same thing?"

"The rules are different for the two of us," James said. "I can go to the gentlemen's club without your permission, Victoria."

"But it would certainly be cordial of you to let me know that you weren't going to be in the house," Victoria said. "I mean, that would be the kind thing to do. If you were interested in showing me kindness, that is."

"Don't say such things. You know I've been more than kind. I've allowed you to go on living in this house. I've provided for you. You've had two years here on your own to live the life you saw fit. I have been very generous with you, and you know that."

Victoria sighed. "I don't want to argue," she said. She wasn't even sure how the argument had begun. "I can't pretend that I wouldn't prefer to be told when you're going out, but you're right, of course. You don't have to tell me anything. It's just that I wish you would."

"You won't have to worry about it for long," James said. "Soon enough, you'll be married."

Victoria's stomach dropped.

This was not what she had expected. She had assumed, now that they had shared a kiss, that at the very least there would be a conversation about what it meant for their future. She had assumed that things might , at least, have changed thanks to what had happened between them.

"You still mean for me to marry?" she asked him.

"Of course," he said. "You need a husband, Victoria. That hasn't changed."

"But…" She trailed off. She couldn't bring herself to tell him what had been on her mind. She couldn't admit to it. He would find it laughable, she thought. He would think she was a fool for having believed such a thing was possible, and she couldn't bear to have him mock her.

"A gentleman will be arriving tomorrow to propose to you," James said.

She couldn't have been any more shocked if he had told her that the sun was coming down from the sky. "What? What gentleman?"

"You know him. Lord Harbury. The two of you got along well, so I'm sure it won't be any problem for you."

"You told me that you would allow me to choose my own husband," she reminded him. "You said that I could make the choice. That was the agreement."

"I haven't broken that agreement," he said. "I'm merely telling you that you are going to receive a proposal tomorrow, that's all."

"But I don't understand how that could happen," she said. "I've only met Lord Harbury once. And yes, we got along well, but he couldn't possibly have decided that he wished to marry me based solely on that interaction!"

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," James said. "He has decided that. He approached me in the club today and let me know that his intention is to propose marriage."

"And you gave your permission for that?" Victoria asked.

"Well, it's as you said, isn't it? I told you that the choice would be yours.

I'm not going to deny someone permission to ask you—especially not someone you seemed to get along with so well.

I think you would have been angry with me if I had done that—but you can tell me if I have that wrong.

You wouldn't have wanted me to deny him permission to propose to you, would you? "

"I…" Victoria frowned. What could she say? Everything he was saying was right. She had insisted on having the right to choose her own husband. Why was it that she now felt betrayed by the fact that James was allowing someone to propose to her? This was what she had wanted, wasn't it?

She supposed she'd grown to count on the fact that he wouldn't want it.

She had gotten used to his jealousy, to the fact that every time he thought someone was interested in her, he would get upset about it.

Now here he was, telling her that a proposal was coming as though it made no difference to him at all.

As if it was nothing more than an everyday occurrence, and he didn't care whether she said yes or no to the offer.

"I thought you didn't like Lord Harbury," she said weakly.

"Well, it doesn't matter if I like him or not. I'm not the one he wants to marry, am I? The important thing is whether or not you like him—and we know that you do, right? The two of you got along so well at that dinner party. I can't imagine that you wouldn't be happy with this turn of events."

"I don't want to marry Lord Harbury," Victoria said.

"I can't see why not. You told me yourself that you thought he was a good man. That you enjoyed his company. What is it you want in a husband that he doesn't have? He's wealthy enough to provide for you, if that's what you're concerned about."

"That's not what I'm concerned about. I just don't understand how this can be happening so quickly.

It's coming out of nowhere." Her heart was pounding, and she couldn't help feeling as if she was engaged in a fight for her very life.

She hadn't felt as if James was her adversary since the day he'd arrived here.

She had warmed up to him so much more quickly than she had ever expected to.

And lately, she had even begun to feel as if the two of them were friends.

Friends—or something more.

It was dizzying to see him turning on her now, to see that the kiss they'd shared had so clearly meant nothing to him.

It was hard to believe that he could so easily allow her to consider marriage to someone else, especially when he had been so obvious in his jealousy every time she had so much as spoken to a gentleman before now.

What had happened? What was different?

There had to be something she wasn't seeing in all this.

Something she had failed to understand. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"James, listen," she said. "I'm not in a hurry to marry.

I don't mind waiting a while. We don't need to rush this, to force a marriage with the first gentleman who asks.

I don't know if you solicited his interest or something… "

"I didn't. It's like I told you—he approached me. You saw how interested he was in you at that dinner party, so I don't know how you can be surprised by this. I think you must have known it was coming."

"I didn't! We didn't speak about anything like this at dinner. I didn't know he was interested in marriage at all, much less to me. How could I have known? And I was never interested in marriage to him, I promise you that."

"You don't have to convince me. This has nothing to do with me. This affair is between the two of you."

"Well, I'm going to tell him no, of course," Victoria said.

Perhaps James was behaving like this because he was fearful that she would choose someone else over him.

Maybe he was pulling away from her now that she was on the verge of receiving another offer because he didn't know how she would respond, and because he didn't want to get hurt.

She thought that if their places had been reversed, she might have done the same thing, and that it was understandable.

But James shook his head. "You should accept his proposal," he said. "It's a good offer. It's one of the best you're likely to get, and you should say yes to it."

"I don't understand," she said. "You didn't even like him. How can you tell me now that his offer is a good one? You really think that I should take it?"

"That's right. I really think so," he said.

She shook her head. "I don't believe you," she told him. "I think you're lying. I just don't know why."

"Why would I be lying to you? I've told you from the beginning that the goal is to find you a good marriage. That's been my focus all along."

"That's not what you were focusing on when you kissed me," she snapped. "Don't speak to me as if I'm ignorant, because I'm not. I know there was something behind that kiss. You feel something for me."

"That kiss was an error in judgment, nothing more.

I should never have done it, and I certainly won't do it again," he said.

"But it would be a grievous mistake indeed if you allowed that slip of sensibility to prevent you from accepting a good marriage.

You should say yes to Lord Harbury. Do not pass up on a good offer because you're distracted by some frivolous thing that occurred between the two of us. "

"How can you call it frivolous?" She felt sick to her stomach. "It wasn't like that. I was there. It meant something. I know it did."

"You don't have enough experience in the world to evaluate these things," he said.

"I don't see how you can say that. You know what experiences I've had.

I've confided in you." She had told him the truth about Jonathan, for heaven's sake, and that was a story she hardly shared with anyone at all.

To think that he could have heard that and still chosen to believe she was so unworldly that she would fail to understand the meaning of a kiss…

to think that he could have heard that story and chosen to bestow a meaningless kiss, knowing what she had been through…

Victoria didn't believe any of it. He was lying, and she knew it. The only thing she didn't know was why .

But the one thing she felt confident about was that there was no way she would be able to get him to change his tune.

Whatever this was, he had clearly made up his mind about it.

It was obviously his intention to see it through.

And if that meant she ended up married to Lord Harbury, it seemed that was an outcome he was prepared to accept.

She couldn't understand how this could have happened.

But she wasn't going to stand here and listen to it.

"I know you're lying," she said. "I know the kiss meant something to you.

I know I mean something to you. I don't know why you're pushing me into another marriage now, but I can only assume it's because you're afraid. And for that, I feel sorry for you."

She turned and strode from the room, unable to bear the thought of spending so much as another moment in his presence.

And as she left, she tried her best to ignore the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes.