He was right.
Blast him, he was right.
“Flesh is weak,” she said.
“I cannot argue the point.” His stare was intense, holding her captive. “I have never felt more incapable of denying myself what I want than when I am in your presence.”
She should not ask him, she knew it, and yet his words had sent an arrow of heat through her. “What is it you want, my lord?”
“You.” He paused, his countenance turning rueful. “Even though I should not.”
“You want my dowry,” she corrected. “You are in need of funds, yes?”
“Yes,” he startled her by admitting, “I am in desperate need of a wealthy bride.”
She had not expected candor from him. But still, she would not be swayed.
“You want to marry me because you require my dowry,” she pressed.
“No, Eugie.” He inched a bit closer on the bed. “I want to marry you because I made love to you. You could be carrying my babe. Marrying you is the right thing to do.”
“I am certain the prospect of assuaging all your troubles with my fortune has nothing at all to do with it,” she said drily, forcing herself to remain stern.
His scent and his mouth and his words would not persuade her she was wrong.
“Do you know what I am called?” he asked then, taking her by surprise once more with the sudden change of subjects.
“The Earl of Hertford.” She frowned at him, wondering what manner of game he was about now. “And if you move any nearer to me, you shall be called a man with a blackened eye as well.”
His lips twitched into a half smile, almost as if he were repressing a burst of laughter. “No, Eugie. My sobriquet. Do you not know what all society calls me?”
Lady Emilia’s words returned to her then, swiftly. “The Prince of Proper.”
His lips firmed once more, no hint of levity remaining. “Precisely. And do you know why they call me that?”
He was wearing her down, and she knew it. Exploiting her weakness. Her body’s incurable yearning for him was playing upon her emotions. She had to remain strong. Unyielding.
“Presumably not because you make a habit of hauling ladies into your chamber at house parties and stealing their innocence,” she drawled.
His lips twitched again. “No, I do not make a habit of it. Nor did Ihaulyou, as I recall. Someone was coming, and I feared we would be seen.”
“It is reassuring to know the rest of the company is not in danger of falling victim to your insatiable carnal appetite,” she murmured. “But now, you truly must go, Hertford. I do not care what your sobriquet is or why you have earned it. I will not wed you.”
He did not heed her, however. He remained where he was, encroaching upon her bed, his stare riveted upon her. “I am known as the Prince of Proper because I have always taken great care to be above reproach. My father was a scoundrel, forever courting scandal and ruin, and I have lived each day of my life striving to be as different from him as the sun is from the moon.”
His revelation affected her, although it should not. His tone, like his expression, was open. Earnest. For all his faults, the Earl of Hertford did not strike her as a liar.
“Thank you for enlightening me,” she forced herself to say, determined to remain impervious to him. “Now go, my lord.”
“I am not finished,” he said firmly but gently. “I am attempting, in my muddled way, to explain to you that what came over me several nights ago was an aberration. It still defies logic and reasoning. I do not despoil innocents. I do not find myself in unwed ladies’ chambers.”
“It would seem you do,” she interjected.
“I do now,” he agreed, his sensual lips unsmiling. “Because of you.”
“Because of my wealth,” she countered. “Pray do not attempt to pretend you want to marry me for any other reason. As I have told you, I will not marry a fortune hunter. I would sooner carry out my life in a cottage in the country, tending roses and forgetting I ever had the bad sense to go into that chamber with you.”
“There is no pretense here.” His voice was steady. Sure. “There is only truth. I need a wealthy bride, but I do not needyou. However, I have taken your innocence, and I must now pay the forfeit for my scandalous lack of self-control.”
