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Marriage? To this man?

She did not know whether he was respectable or scandalous, sane or merely very good at appearing sane. She did know that he had helped her saddle a stolen horse, and now apparently wished to marry her because they had discovered an abandoned infant together.

It is not how mother had described a proper introduction to matrimony.

James waited patiently, but after several moments his brows lifted. "I believe you are supposed to answer," he remarked.

Olivia blinked at him. "I am thinking."

"You have been thinking for some time." He gestured toward the baby with one hand. "I am offering you a proposition. I will marry you, and we will raise the child together."

Olivia stared at him again. "You make it sound remarkably simple."

"It is simple."

"You have clearly never met my mother," Olivia replied, and despite herself she almost smiled. "Nothing concerning marriage is simple when marriage is involved."

She shifted the baby carefully and looked at James with renewed suspicion. "There is also another small difficulty." His expression suggested that he was already regretting asking.

"What difficulty?"

"I do not even know your name," she said.

That appeared to amuse him. "No," he admitted, "you do not."

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Which makes this an exceptionally bold proposal from a man whose name I cannot even put into a wedding announcement."

He gave a quiet laugh, and then his expression changed. "My name is James Delves. The Duke of Glenmore."

Olivia froze, too surprised to respond. She managed to recover before embarrassment struck, but her dignity was beyond rescue. "You are the duke?" she asked, staring at him.

James inclined his head. "I am."

Heat rushed into her face as every moment of their conversation returned to her with cruel clarity. She had criticized northern dukes to his face. She had declared that women were paraded like horses for his benefit. She had complained about his supposed behavior without even knowing she was speaking to him. Most humiliating of all, she had attempted to steal his horse. She closed her eyes briefly. "Oh, dear God."

"I take it you have just remembered something," James said mildly.

Olivia opened her eyes and glared at him. "You allowed me to insult you while knowing precisely who you were."

"You did rather well without my assistance." His mouth twitched. "It would have been ungentlemanly of me to interrupt such an entertaining speech."

Olivia drew herself up as much as she could while holding a sleeping infant. "It was ungentlemanly of you to withhold your identity and play with me."

"I did not play with you."

"You let me believe you were an ordinary gentleman."

"I never said I was ordinary … or a gentleman."

"You certainly behaved like one."

"I saddled your horse."

"Your horse," she corrected, pointing a finger at him. "The horse you were helping me steal."

That finally made him laugh, and Olivia discovered that she rather liked the sound despite her determination to be offended.

James calmly pointed, "You were the criminal in that situation."