‘No. That is not true.’
‘I think it is. I have it on good authority that Caville Sharp intends to have you as a mistress. He is already boasting about it. And trust me, after your shine has worn off and he has ruined you, the best you can hope for is to be passed on to one of his friends. Not a pleasant future, is it?’
‘None of that is my fault.’ Grace looked down at her hands in mortification.
Rawden took hold of them. His hands were hot and huge, and his body so close she could smell him – clean linen, cologne, danger.
‘I’m not saying it is. But you are trapped, nonetheless. Marry me, and all this worry will be over. How old are you?’
‘Twenty-two.’
‘What a shame it would be to squander all that youth and beauty on a life of spinsterhood or a rough brute of a man who cannot appreciate it.’
Rawden’s demeanour was coaxing and reasonable, which was far more frightening than his anger. He was older, wealthy, confident and powerful. She had no means to fight him.
Grace swallowed hard. ‘You are insufferably arrogant and hateful.’
‘And you are insufferably poor, so say yes.’
Grace took in the slimy streets and damp dwellings, grimy and dilapidated. ‘Must you be so brutal about my circumstances?’ she said.
‘Must you be so naive, Grace. I could put your situation more gently, but you must see it as it is. Like it or not, you need rescuing from your plight.’
‘But not by you. Anyone but you.’
His jaw worked as if she had hurt him. ‘There is no one else to do it,’ he said.
Grace bit her lip. ‘Why offer marriage. There is no compulsion for you to marry. What use is a wife to a man who enjoys the life of a libertine and a seducer.’
‘I can think of several uses for a wife, which I will forego for my brother’s sake. I will not lay a hand on you. See here, I made a promise to the only person I have ever loved in this world, and I intend to honour it no matter what the cost to myself or others. And there is the added incentive of my father’s disapproval.’
‘I thought you said he was dead?’
‘He is, and I will enjoy picturing him in hell raging at me about polluting our bloodline with a nobody. It is what he would have said to my brother on hearing of his entanglement. I am certain he would have forbidden the match, and do not be offended by the cruelty of that, for I find you to be a worthy enough bride in all the essentials.’
Rawden stared into her eyes, willing her to say yes, and a feeling of hopelessness overcame her. ‘What happened to make you so horrible, Rawden?’
He frowned, his dark eyes bleak and, for a moment, sad. ‘It is how God made me, Grace, and I cannot be otherwise. Now, I must insist on this marriage even if I have to drag you screaming to church by your hair.’
‘No matter the cost to me?’
‘Yes.’
‘I am the last person in the world you should marry. I have no money, no dowry, no grand name.’
‘You have other virtues that I may come to appreciate. I enjoy the sight of you, and you will warm to me in time. We will learn to get along, so it need not be a misery.’ He took a deep, slow breath, like a dog breathing in her scent, and his face softened for a moment, making her weak at the knees. ‘When I look at you, I can see myself rather enjoying matrimony.’ Rawden brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to it, lingering far too long for comfort.
She pushed him away. ‘You said in name only.’
He rolled his eyes.
‘Do you swear it? In name only. I did not like it when you mauled me at the rout.’
Rawden looked her over insolently, his eyes brightened by her possible surrender to his will. ‘Only a fool or a eunuch would swear to that while looking in those beautiful hazel eyes. But if I am to do one honourable thing in this worthless life, it can be this. Wed me, and I swear I will not lay one hand on you that is not welcome.’
His hand gently touched her cheek, and she was frozen in his grasp. A wanton, traitorous part of her had enjoyed this man’s kiss. The devil in her wanted him to do it again.
‘You cannot force me into marriage, Rawden,’ she gasped. ‘I can say no, and I need never see you again.’
