“Yes.” She gave her head that little shake he’d come to covet.
“Well,” he said, taking a measured sip, “what choice did I have when you refused to see me?”
Clare let out a slow breath, setting her drink down on the table in front of her with deliberate care. “I refused to see you for good reason.”
He inclined his head. “And that reason was?”
She lifted her chin. “Because I need to leave. And because I can’t dothis.” She rolled a finger in the air.
Ash ignored the sharp pang in his chest. “I don’t want you to leave,” he said quietly.
“You don’t—” She sucked in her breath.
His gaze captured hers and held. “I need time to convince you to marry me.”
Clare froze. For a long moment, she didn’t breathe. Then…
“What?” she said flatly. “Have you lost your mind?” But she could hear it, the inflection in her own voice, the tremor, the emotion she hadn’t wanted to escape.
“I have not lost my mind,” Ash said firmly. “In fact, I’ve done quite a lot of research on the matter.”
Clare made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. “Research.”
“Yes. I’ve made a study of it.” He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “In addition to speaking to Southbury and Grovemont, I?—”
Her head snapped up, panic gripping her heart. “Griffin knows about this?”
“Yes, well, he had to help me identify it. I suspect it’s why he and my sister were so quick to leave an unmarried couple alone in their drawing room.”
Clare’s eyes widened. “Identify what?”
Ash waved a hand. “I’m getting to that. As I was saying…I spoke to Southbury and Grovemont, and I went to the library and read scads of poems about love.”
Clare gasped.Love?
Ash had to bite back a smile at the genuine horror on her face.
“Poems,” she repeated, slowly, as if making sense of his words. “Poems aboutlove?”
He nodded. “Turns out love is a terribly unique feeling. I’d never felt it before, so I didn’t recognize it at first. You can’t blame me, really.”
Clare gaped at him. “Now you’re beginning to frighten me.”
Ash set his glass down and watched her carefully. “Will you stay and give me time to convince you to marry me?”
Clare had begun shaking her head even before he finished his sentence. “No.No. I’m leaving Saturday.”
Ash sighed. “I expected you’d say that.” He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together, contemplating her with narrowed eyes. “And I’ve been thinking quite a bit about your plan to leave England.”
Clare tensed. “What about it?” she asked, her eyes filled with suspicion.
“You said you’d write to Meredith once you arrived in France. To let her know you’re fine.”
She touched a hand to her throat. “Yes.”
Ash inclined his head. “But what if you’renotfine?”
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
