He turned to glance at the sink basin. He was silent for a long moment before saying, “I believe your wash water is growing cold.”
***
He could’ve strangled the quack that told her she was useless. Was motherhood the be all and end all of womanhood?
Cassandra Staunton had value. She was important tohim—even if she never reciprocated his ardor.
He had let his guard down with her. He’d never admitted his loneliness to anyone. Not even Simon knew of his aching isolation. Wade always dreaded returning home because there was no one there for him, just empty mansions and empty rooms.
He relied on his friends’ hospitality to stave off boredom. He drank to excess because there was nothing better to do with his time, and when he crawled into bed with a woman, physical satisfaction was fleeting.
Everyone always had somewhere better to go. Someone who was waiting for them.
Cassandra had loving sisters and a comfortable home. Friends and neighbors, and a lively community to take up her time. She might not have a husband or children, yet she did not know how good she had it—though Wade could not fault her for wanting more, as it was human nature to want what one could never have.
The object of his heart’s desire stood with her hands plunged into the wash water. She had rolled back her sleeves and was currently scrubbing a plate. He stood beside her with a towel in his hand, ready to dry.
Cassandra had put him to work.
“Do you truly enjoy this?” he asked as she rinsed the plate.
“I told you, I like keeping busy.”
She handed over the plate, which he wiped dry. Wade placed it on the on the worktop with the others.
“Imagine how busy you could keep with a household of your own, perhaps two households—one in the country and one in town.”
Her eyes met his. “Is that a proposal?”
If it was, it had been badly done. Women wanted love words and romance. Even practical women like Miss Staunton deserved something tender and heartfelt.
“No.”
She returned her focus to the sink basin. “Good. I would’ve refused you.”
“Why, because you cannot have children? Because you have some mysterious woman’s trouble that keeps you from a man’s bed? Because some doctor said you were better off staying at home?”
Cassandra passed him a tea cup with some force. “Is a duke’s word above a doctor’s?”
He scrubbed it dry until it squeaked. “Take the word of a man who cares something for you rather than a cold and impartial stranger. You needn’t spend your life alone.”
“I don’t want to be alone!” She snatched the cup from his grasp. “I want to be happy, and loved, andfulfilled!You think an afternoon in my company, sipping tea and making yourself agreeable will change anything? I have been proposed to by a dozen men, Your Grace, yet I have refused them all!”
Cassandra Staunton looked up at him, blue eyes flashing. Her chest heaved beneath the delicate muslin of her frock. Every nerve seemed to spark.
“You are tempestuous,” he said, calmly.
“Yes.” She was angry, perhaps insulted.
“You are opinionated.”
She jerked her chin. “Yes.”
Wade held her gaze as high color flooded her cheeks. They would quarrel often. They would likely disagree on some matter quite regularly, and with some passion. She would be firm, her standards would be high. She would never, ever be his doormat.
He felt his own cheeks flame. “Cassandra, you are magnificent.”
“I beg your pardon?”
