Today, unlike most other days she had been in his presence, he wore his ducal authority as regal as any prince. He was dressed in the same elegant black coat, waistcoat, and trousers he had worn to their wedding ceremony, the stark white shirt beneath setting off his dark hair and eyes to perfection.
She found herself wishing he was less handsome. That his features were harsher, his nose longer, his chin weaker. Anything to lessen the unwanted effect he had upon her. How difficult it was to see him now with that equally unwelcome word springing into her mind like the report of a pistol.
Husband.
Dear God, she had bound herself to this man.
As he stalked toward her, his expression as formidable and unreadable as ever, she took an instinctive step in retreat.
Certainly, he was not expecting to consummate their union, was he?
Their marriage would be ended as soon as it was feasible to procure an annulment. He had promised.
He stopped short of her, a mocking smile quirking his well-molded lips. “You need not fear I have come to exercise my husbandly rights, banshee. I have merely come here to have a frank discussion with you regarding the nature of this union. And do cease wringing your bloody hands, or I shall have to bind your wrists once more.”
She clasped her hands at her waist. “I was not wringing my hands.”
“You have been at it all day, madam.”
Perhaps she had, unwittingly. She was not ordinarily so easily worried or vexed. But then, neither was she ordinarily forced to marry her enemy. And she must not forget nemesis was what the Duke of Carlisle was to her, regardless of any other title he wore, and despite the vows she had spoken that morning. She did not dare trust him.
“Forgive me if it would seem I have reason for my disquiet.”
His lips flattened. “If anyone ought to be experiencing disquiet, it is the man who has just somehow shackled himself to a lying, manipulative Fenian conspirator who attempted to abduct his own nephew.”
She suppressed a flinch at the viciousness of his words. “I am not a monster, Your Grace.”
“You are far too beautiful to be a monster, my dear.” His smile faded, and the smoldering quality of his gaze intensified. “More like a siren, luring men to their demise.”
Was it possible the almighty Duke of Carlisle feared her? That he feared how much he wanted her? Or did he refer to her connection to the ring of plotters responsible for the death of the Duke of Burghly?
In truth, she hated what they had done. Their violence had been despicable. Cowardly.
But she would not think of that now.
“I never lured you or any other man,” she denied softly.
“It matters not. What does matter, however, is the information you can provide me.” His unyielding tone was a bitter reminder of why he had married her. Likewise, why she had married him.
And what she must now do.
She inhaled slowly, keeping her face as devoid of expression as possible. “What do you wish to know?”
“Who sent you to Harlton Hall?”
If she told him the truth, John would be arrested, and any chance she had of freeing Cullen would be over. If she lied, she betrayed her sister. The decision, even now, when she’d had days to consider it and weigh the good against the bad, was not an easy one. Daisy had saved her when she had not needed to, and Bridget would forever be grateful for the reprieve. But she had known Cullen since he was a babe wrapped in swaddling, red-faced and wrinkly with a crop of inky hair. She had helped their mother to raise him. She would sooner betray Daisy than see Cullen swing from the gallows.
“Who sent you to take the Duke of Burghly?” he demanded again.
“Thomas O’Shea.” It was the name she had devised, the one she had practiced in the three days she spent waiting for her dreaded nuptials.
She knew no one by that name, but the time it would take for Carlisle and his men to investigate would be all the time she required to escape him. It was Cullen’s only chance.
“Look me in the eye when you speak,” Carlisle demanded roughly.
Drat.
She had not realized her gaze had strayed. It snapped back to him now with unerring precision, and she wondered what he saw when he looked upon her.
