Page 44 of Wicked Highland Heroes

“I am sure she will marry the man she loves,” Eve said.

He gave a condescending laugh. “Such alliances aren’t based on affection.”

“If she has the pick of the lot, why not choose a man she cares for?”

“Females are not capable of soft emotion.”

“On the contrary, we are known for our tender emotion.” Though Eve knew he was more right than she. Many women were, in fact, incapable of any emotion other than jealousy and pride.

Lord Halifax studied her. “Are you saying you could love a man?”

“I would marry for no other reason.” A fact that had her well on the way to a lonely spinsterhood.

“I would not object if my wife loved me.”

Her heart jumped more with anger than fear. He spoke nothing of loving his wife, but she kept her voice genial and said, “Of course. You should insist that your wife love you.”

“I am speaking of you.”

Eve laughed. “You need not take the joke so far, my lord. The world will believe I ran away with you. That is all we need.”

“Your father would believe we eloped because you loved me.”

She startled at the strange statement. “Forgive me, but I do not love you and, as you say, you want a wife who loves you.”

“You don’t really know me,” he said. “You could learn.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless you love Rushton.”

“I do not know him. How can I possibly love him?” But she hadn’t been able to forget the play of muscle beneath her hand while her fingers were wrapped around his arm, the moist warmth of his mouth on hers, the hard planes of his body when she’d been mashed up against him…and the deceptively lazy way he’d warned Lord Halifax away from Lady Gallagher in the garden.

“I will make you forget him.”

Eve startled at the wonder of how Lord Halifax had read her mind, then realized he hadn’t. “This is a joke, sir, a way to embarrass Lord Rushton. You know I have no wish to marry.”

“I hadn’t given it any thought, but the carriage ride has given me time to reflect. Three thousand pounds will sustain my property. You will live as well as you always have.”

“I am sorry, but I will not marry you any more than I will marry Lord Rushton.”

“We have spent the night alone in my carriage while racing to Gretna Green. There’s no turning back.” His mouth twisted into a smile. “Particularly if we consummated the wedding before the ceremony.”

*****

“You say they passed through two hours ago?” Erroll asked the farmer in Shap.

“Aye,” he replied. “We was having breakfast when he stopped and demanded new horses.”

“You are sure it was Halifax?” Somerset asked.

“The crest was a silver shield with three red inescutcheons like his lordship here said,” the farmer replied.

“That’s the one,” Erroll said. “We will need horses.”

“I only have his horses and one chestnut,” the farmer replied. “He promised to send my horses back in exchange for them.”

“Those are his horses?” Erroll nodded at the two bays grazing in the corral alongside the barn.

“Aye.”

Erroll nodded. “They will do.”