Page 65 of Distracting the Duke

She gestured icily toward the chair beneath the window. Dutifully, he took it, folded his hands across his lap, and waited.

She closed the door but didn’t lock it, then sat on the ancient canopied bed and glared at him.

“Clara,” he said gently. “Why did you run away?”

Her chin lifted. “I didn’t run away. I merely removed myself from a scene that was clearly meant to be private.”

“It was not. Both you and Lord Snettisham totally mistook the case. I’m happy to say that what you saw was merely an accidental entanglement of hair and cufflinks. I was helping Miss Soper from her pony and we tangled.”

Clara cocked her head to one side, as she always did when puzzled. “Tangled?” she queried.

“Exactly. There was an issue with her skirts and her boot, and I was helping her down to remedy the situation.” He leveled a gaze at her. “I’m offended by the rapidity with which you chose to condemn me.”

She met his eyes with an unblinking, accusatory glare. “A very convenient excuse. And how typical of you to turn things about and make it seem as if I have wronged you.”

He shrugged. “That is simply the truth of it. If you can’t trust me, you must ask her. Since she became almost immediately insensible when Snetty jumped to the same conclusion as yourself, you can be certain we’ve had no time to concoct a Banbury story. Whatever she tells you will be the truth.”

At last, Clara released him from her stare, and a little color sprang into her cheeks as she looked down at her twined hands.

“Say something, Clara.”

“I… I’m sorry, Marcus.”

“I’m glad to hear it. We have made love and I have offered you the protection of my name. Do you really think I would wish to compromise my chances by dallying with another woman before I even have your answer? I’m disappointed you think so little of me.”

She bit her lip. “My answer? You never really asked me, Marcus. I just thought you said that because of Lord Stranraer or in case I was with child.”

He let his shoulders drop and exhaled slowly. True, he hadn’t bent the knee, but he’d just assumed… She wasn’t thinking of refusing him, was she?

“We haven’t really had a chance to talk about it, have we?” he said. “Believe me, my offer was not just to protect you. I really do want to marry you, Clara.”

She looked up at him. There was a defeated air about her he didn’t like to see. She said, “There are things about me you don’t know.”

All the breath seemed to go out of his body. He kept his expression deliberately calm as he said, “I live in hope that you will come to trust me with your secrets. I’m a patient man but also a very determined one. And I’ve come to realize I want you, Clara Tinniswood, no one else.”

She sighed and fixed her eyes at a point above his head. “This has all happened so suddenly. When affections are so quickly ignited, they can be just as quickly snuffed out. There is no true depth to physical attraction—”

He shook his head. “Let me stop you there. I confess my body wants you very badly. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to come to your bed after you left me last night. But that’s just a small fragment of the whole picture. I’d like to tell you more, but I feel in your current mood you’d consider my words empty flattery. I know I have the ghost of your dead husband to contend with, and it will take time to undo the evil he has done—”

“You can’t even begin to understand—”

He raised a palm to silence her, then moved across the room to kneel on the floor before her.

He took one of her hands in his. “Sweeting, neither of us can predict where this life will take us. The course of love is never easy, and many people manage very successfully without it, because it can bring as much pain as pleasure. Had you not loved Simon to begin with, I imagine his mistreatment of you wouldn’t have hurt so much.”

Her hand felt cold in his. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned Tinniswood. The fear that she might be withdrawing from him made him numb. Quickly he said, “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to remind you of him. But you must understand, we men are not all the same. Surely, last night showed you that I can be trusted. That we suit very well.”

Clara’s head twisted about, and she closed her eyes.

His heart thudded painfully. He was losing her. Why?

“Clara.” He pressed his lips to the chilled fingers and held her hand against his cheek. “If words and kisses are not the way to your heart, then I won’t waste my time on them. It is your heart I want, your loyalty, and your love, if I can work out how they are to be won. I will wait until you are ready to say yes. Only, take pity on me, and don’t make me wait too long.”

She took a deep breath. “I can’t—You should know—” She shook her head as tears fringed her lashes. “Then I should give you a straightforward refusal, here and now.”

His heart felt as if she’d just seized it in her clenched fist and squeezed it mercilessly. His mind went blank, and he realized he was gaping at her. At length, he managed, “If you meant to refuse me, why did you let me make love to you? I don’t understand.”

Her hand jerked out of his and joined the other in covering her face. He stared at her, longing to hold and comfort her, but feared by doing so he would only make things worse. Something was tormenting her and keeping her from him.