“For convenience.”
“Forwhoseconvenience?”
“For both parties, obviously. It could be a mutually beneficial agreement.”
“I provide an heir, in exchange for financial security, you mean?” Livvy raised her brows. “Or are you suggesting I marry a man who prefers the company of other men? Purely for the protection of his name?” She’d heard of such arrangements before, whispered behind the fluttering fans of theTon.
He shrugged, a roll of his broad shoulders, not at all scandalized by her knowledge of such things. “It’s been done before.”
“It would make a mockery of the wedding vows.”
“The bit where the man says, ‘with my body I thee worship’?” His gaze flicked from her head to her toes and a flash of heat swept over her. The thought of being worshipped by someone like him made her feel as if she had a fever and a chill at the same time.
“And the promise to forsake all others,” she added quickly.
“But you’d be endowed with all his worldly goods.”
“He’dcontrol my accessto those worldly goods,” she countered sternly. “I’d be reliant on a husband for everything. Even pin money. He could beat me, imprison me, and I’d have no legal recourse whatsoever. I’d be trapped.”
“I suppose it would be different if he loved you,” he mused, as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather, instead of the merits of Holy Matrimony.
Livvy swallowed. “Well, yes. It would. A loving husband could be trusted to treat his wife well and do everything in his power to make her happy. Her needs would come before his own.”
She shook her head, keen to change the topic to something a little less personal, but he brushed his long fingers slowly over his lips, as though in thought.
Livvy tried not to stare. His lips were utterly sinful, and the size of his hands had always made her a little lightheaded. They were strong, and elegant; she imagined his long fingers encircling her waist. Cupping her jaw. Threading through her hair as he angled his head to kiss her . . .
She shook her head to dispel the wicked thoughts and took a step back from the fire. She was quite warm enough now. “If I’m ever invited to a society event again, they’ll all be gossiping about me behind their fans. Saying I’m desperate to snare a rich husband.”
He made an airy gesture of dismissal. “You don’t need to worry about that. Not while you’re here. To which end, I have a proposition for you.”
Livvy raised her brows. “What sort of proposition?”
His lips twitched at her obvious suspicion. “Perhaps proposition is the wrong word. Let’s call it an invitation.”
“To do what?”
“To stay. Not just until tomorrow, or until the party, but for the rest of the month.”
He raised a hand to forestall her automatic denial, and she snapped her mouth shut.
“Lay low here until the scandal about your father dies down. TheTon’sa fickle beast. In a month’s time everyone will have forgotten about it and moved on, and you can decide what you want to do going forward.”
Livvy narrowed her eyes. The thought of having a few weeks’ respite from the cruel realty of her life sounded wonderful. And far too good to be true. “And why would you offer to help me?”
His teeth glinted in the firelight. “Would you believe me if I said from the goodness of my heart?”
“You don’t have a heart. Or if you do, it’s blacker than soot.”
He chuckled, unoffended. “Too true. Perhaps it’s the novelty of helping a damsel in distress?”
“You already did that when you rescued me from Hubert and we galloped away on Ares,” she said tartly.
“I always assumed the damsel would be more grateful,” he sighed. “I just forfeited six hundred pounds for you, my lady.”
“That was yourownstupid decision. I’m not repaying you. My father’s debts aren’t my responsibility.” Livvy put her hands on her hips. “And I know you, Devlin Hamilton. You always have an ulterior motive. You’re probably worried you’re going to be bored in this huge house all on your own for a month.”
A dimple creased his left cheek. “Iamworried about that.”
