“Caroline, please. Can I speak to you?”
Chapter Three
Tristan had never felt more guilty about anything in his life. He had only meant to tease Caroline Whitby, not ruin the engagement she’d clearly had her heart set on. When she coldly bade her brother farewell and left without so much as a look in Tristan’s direction, he was certain he’d done something monumentally wrong.
Saving her from marriage to an insipid horse-mad bore was not, evidently, a good thing.
Tristan loved horses. His twin loved horses. Any decent gentlemen with an ounce of sense appreciated horses. Edwin Dennison? He was utterly engrossed with the animals, and not in a pleasing way.
But that was none of Tristan’s business. His only task at present was to apologize for inadvertently wronging her. Tristan chased Caroline from the room. When he asked to speak to her, she stopped, then immediately resumed walking away from him.
“Caroline, please?” he repeated.
She spun to face him, anger sparking in her striking blueeyes. Her dark hair was styled back and her graceful neck bent so she could look up into his face. Had he known what a beauty she’d become, he would have broached the idea of courting her himself when he’d talked to James earlier, instead of proclaiming that they wouldn’t be a good fit. Disregard his earlier remarks.Hecertainly didn’t care if his wife disliked horses.
“I have no interest in speaking to you,” she said.
“Will you at least permit me to apologize? I hadn’t any idea my foolish words would come in the way of you and Dennison.”
Her mouth pinched, her cheeks glowing. “Yet, you’ve done just that.”
“I was only speaking the truth.”
Caroline glared.
Tristan needed to appeal to her. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” She gave a quiet scoff. “I’ve only spent six weeks convincing him I’m worthy of marriage, despite having nothing to recommend me but a decent dowry, and now you’ve ruined my chances.”
“You love him?” he asked.
Caroline lowered her chin. “That is presumptuous of you.”
She was correct. Tristan should never have asked. And yet…her dismay appeared to be a result of losing an offer of marriage, not losing Dennison in particular.
“It’s relevant,” he said. “I promise.”
Caroline’s blue eyes narrowed. She stepped toward the wall in the corridor, allowing another couple to pass. “The state of my heart is irrelevant. You’ve taken my security, Tristan. Something you would never understand.”
“I understand far more than you know.” If he did not secure a wife with—how did she say it?—a decent dowry, hismoney would dry up before long. If he did not find a bride before all his friends, he would lose that money even faster.
She closed her eyes briefly. “It doesn’t signify now. What’s done is done.”
“Not entirely.” Tristan’s heart raced. He hadn’t been in Caroline’s company for at least five years, but she didn’t appear much altered. He knew her to have a good, kind heart. He enjoyed being around her family. Her home neighbored his. It was a prime situation for marriage. If she was willing to remove clear to Yorkshire, surely she would find a home in Mayfair amenable.
Besides, Tristan merely needed a wife. He’d prefer a woman he knew he could trust over a stranger he only met this month.
“Do you mean to imply that Mr. Dennison could change his mind?” she asked.
Tristan cringed. The look on that man’s face had spoken of deep betrayal. He was hurting. Knowing Dennison, he could never respect a person who did not like horses, either. “That’s impossible for me to know.”
Caroline huffed. “Then allow me to leave.”
“Not until you’ve heard my proposal.”
She stilled, her eyes flicking up to meet his.
Poor choice in words, perhaps, but he meant them. “I will marry you, Caro. We are not strangers to one another, and I have come tonight in search of a bride. Perhaps we can solve one another’s dilemmas.”
