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"But why lie?" she asked, lifting her eyes again. "Why not simply say that he is an adopted child?"

James’s jaw tightened slightly. "Because I have reasons to require an heir." He glanced toward the baby. "This child needs a home. You need an escape from your marriage arrangement. I need an heir. You are clearly determined not to marry the man she has selected for you, and I have no desire to marry a woman who views me as a convenient title. This arrangement solves several problems at once."

Olivia stared at him. "You make marriage sound like repairing a leaking roof."

"A roof is considerably less complicated."

She laughed despite herself, then immediately tried to suppress it. It was deeply inconvenient that the man could make her laugh while proposing the most astonishing arrangement of her life.

Yet one question remained. "If you require an heir so desperately," she said, tilting her head, "why have you not had one already?"

The change in James was immediate. Whatever amusement had been in his eyes disappeared, and something darker settled over his features. Olivia recognized at once that she had touched upon a subject he did not intend to discuss.

"That," he said coldly, "is something you need not concern yourself with."

His tone left little room for argument. Olivia's curiosity sharpened instantly, because there was nothing she found more irresistible than a locked door with a mysterious keyhole. Unfortunately, she also possessed enough sense to recognize when a question would earn her nothing but trouble. She merely nodded, though she filed the matter away in the safest corner of her mind.

James watched her for another moment before asking, "So, are you in?"

Olivia looked down at the baby again. The question should have required careful consideration. Instead, her heart had already begun answering it.

"How long?" she asked. "How long will you need to discover whether his parents are truly looking for him?"

James glanced toward the road. "No more than three days."

Olivia nodded slowly. Three days was not long. Three days could be survived. Three days would give her time to think, although she suspected her thoughts would be less useful than her instincts.

"Very well," she said quietly. "Three days, then I will have an answer for you if the child is not claimed."

"I will have an answer before then," James assured her. He stepped closer, and Olivia noticed that he seemed almost amused again. "Once I know the truth, I will find you."

She raised an eyebrow. "And where exactly do you imagine I shall be?"

"You will still be in Northumberland."

"You sound very confident," she said.

"I am," he said.

His mouth curved slightly. "I expect you to have an answer by the time I arrive."

Olivia opened her mouth to protest that she had no intention of allowing a duke to dictate the timetable of her life, but before she could say anything, James reached for the baby.

Olivia immediately stepped backwards.

She had not planned to do it. Her body had simply reacted before her mind could interfere, drawing the infant closer against her chest as though James were attempting to steal him away rather than merely take him from her arms.

James stopped and stared at her. Then one corner of his mouth lifted. "You do realize," he said softly, "that you have just answered my question."

Olivia felt her cheeks grow warm. "I have done no such thing."

"You are holding him as though he is already yours," he said. "I was merely going to take him while you get on the horse."

Her heart clenched with that same fierce certainty she had felt moments before. She did not know James, did not understand his secrets, and certainly did not understand how she had gone from escaping an unwanted marriage to considering one with a duke in the space of a single evening. But she knew she could not abandon this child.

Three days.

She had three days to convince her head to agree with what her heart had apparently decided already.