Page 79 of A Convenient Fiction

He hadn’t known what to expect when he’d approached Laura in the garden. And when she’d consented to marry him—when he’d slipped the ruby ring on her finger—there was a part of him that couldn’t quite take it in.

She’d been right to accuse him of being a chameleon. His life since he’d left North Devon was one of artifice and illusion. But his proposal to Laura had been all too real.

Had she refused him, it would have been a devastating blow.

“When?” Teddy asked.

Alex wiped his hands on the wet cloth that hung beside the basin. “We haven’t set a day yet.” He picked up his shaving razor. “But soon.”

“Tomorrow,” Teddy said.

“If that’s what your sister wants.”

The door creaked open a crack. It was the cat, poking its head through. When it saw Teddy, it trotted the rest of the way into the room and jumped onto his desk.

Teddy gave the beast a cursory stroke. “She will. Her birthday is on Saturday. She’ll want to be married before then.”

“You’re very certain.”

“I know my sister. She’ll do what she thinks is best for everyone—even if it makes her unhappy in the end.”

Alex’s hand stilled on his razor, midway through a downward stroke along the edge of his jaw. He met Teddy’s gaze in the mirror. “You don’t sound as if you approve of our marrying.”

“I don’t disapprove. If not for you, she’d have drowned at Margate. I know that. So does my aunt, though she won’t admit it. You saved Laura’s life. But that doesn’t give you the right to make what’s left of it a misery.”

“I don’t intend to. Which is why I’ll likely be leaving at some point in future.”

“Huh.” Teddy appeared unimpressed by this revelation. “Where will you go?”

“France, probably.” Alex resumed shaving. His beard came off in a series of practiced flicks of the razor. “It would be better for all involved.”

“Better for you, you mean.” Teddy picked up the cat from his desk and dropped it gently onto the floor. “Is the idea of living here with her so unappealing?”

“It’s not about her.”

“In other words—”

“In other words, it’s between your sister and me.” Alex rinsed his razor in the basin. “Some things, my lad, are none of your business.”

“I’m Laura’s brother. She’ll always be my business. If you harm her—”

“I’m not going to harm her.”

“You’ll break her heart.”

“I doubt that,” Alex said.

He didn’t have Laura’s heart. She was fond of him, certainly. Fond enough to accept his proposal. But love was something else entirely. He hadn’t experienced it yet in his life, and he didn’t expect to.

“You don’t know much about women,” Teddy observed.

Alex chuckled as he finished shaving. “And you do?”

“I’ve been in love before.”

“Have you now?” Alex cast Teddy an interested glance. “With whom, may I ask?”

Teddy gave him a wry look. “Henrietta Talbot.”