And now he was going to have to marry her.
“Excellent.” He forced cheerfulness into his voice.
“What comes after?”
“After?”
“After we marry?”
Chase rubbed the back of his neck beneath his cravat. Was she asking if they would consummate their union? He’d not allowed himself to contemplate all that a union between the two of them would entail. “Is it hot in here?”
“Presently, for the two of us, it’s hot everywhere.” She wrinkled her pert nose, which tipped up at the end. Not impertinent but ever slightly rebellious. He’d never noticed before.
“Well.” Chase stared at the floor. “I suppose…”
“Will we travel to your country estate immediately after, do you think?”
At last a question for which he knew the answer.
“If we flee London, they will think we are running away.” Besides, he had responsibilities here. Responsibilities that kept him in London throughout most of the year. He hated that he’d not visited Easter Park, his country estate near Herefordshire, for so long, but he did that which was required of him. “Blackheart will announce our marriage at his sisters’ come-out ball—tomorrow night.”
“We can’t steal their spotlight.”
“He said his sisters are all for it—says it will make their soiree stand out. Could even make the papers.”
“They are simply being kind.” Bethany smiled weakly.
Had her lips always been so full? Unsettled by the thought, he dropped his gaze to the rest of her person. Which proved to be concerning, in that doing so merely reminded him of the pliable flesh he’d felt when he’d thought she was…
Eyes. He would look at her eyes.
“That would mean we need to marry…” Panic laced her words.
“Today,” Chase finished for her. Those eyes he was watching so closely teared up.
“I can’t face them. Even after we marry, I can’t. They saw me...” She blinked rapidly, clenched her teeth, and swallowed hard.
“Either you face them tomorrow night, as my wife, and stare them down with all your dignity, or you resign yourself to never facing them again.” Blackheart was right, of course. They couldn’t run away. It was necessary to stand their ground.
Her thumb tapped each finger in succession at her side—and her lips moved just barely—as though she was counting something. Another one of those quirks that had amused him in the past. He’d noticed but never asked why.
He didn’t really know her at all. Would she truly rather spend what remained of her life hiding in the country? His responsibilities were in London. He couldn’t leave his mother. Nor could he abandon Collette, Diana, and Little Sarah. If Bethany went to Easter Park, she’d have to go alone.
What kind of a marriage was this going to be?
“The ball. Tomorrow, then.” She cleared her throat.
“Good girl.” He wasn’t even sure he could allow her to go alone—not while she was under his protection.
“And after that?”
He couldn’t very well be irritated with her questions when he was the person who’d put them in this situation to begin with. “Why don’t we get through the wedding first?”
She dropped her gaze, nodding almost to herself. “I… At least we are friends.”
Confound it, how was one to approach this sort of marriage? It certainly wasn’t a love match, and yet it wasn’t some cold business arrangement either.
None of his rules applied! He would protect her but was he also going to be responsible for her happiness? He at least needed to ensure that she wasn’tunhappy. Not only because she was Westerley’s sister but because it was the right thing to do.
