Page 40

He resembled his twin a great deal here with that self-satisfied smile. She hadn’t seen much of Tristan. Only a brief introduction once. Still, she’d recognized the difference in the brothers immediately. Charles’s eyebrows were just a degree farther apart, and his smile broader. More than that, his lack of awareness and devil-may-care attitude practically leapt from his person.

Which was why it rankled her to no end to admit how greatly she enjoyed kissing him last night.

“Who was that man you were speaking with earlier?” she asked.

“Our steward, Mr. Page. I have sworn him to secrecy and subsequently tasked him with learning more about what constitutes grounds for an annulment.”

She stared. “For...us.”

“Well, yes. You told me yourself last night you were forced into this arrangement as much as I was.” He paused. “Unless of course, you were lying...”

She narrowed her eyes. “I was not lying. I was persuaded to accept this marriage.”

“There you have it. I am not well-versed in how to obtain an annulment⁠—”

“Shocking,” she interrupted.

“However, I believe we may be able to obtain one on the grounds of being forced to wed.”

That unsettling feeling continued to creep up behind Marie, a lurking dread of having no future.

“Unless I am mistaken, no pistol was leveled at us to force us to agree to the union,” she said.

He looked away with a shrug. “There may not have been a pistol, but threats were fired clear enough. At any rate, Mr. Page will inform us the moment he learns anything new so that we might both escape this marriage we have no desire to continue.”

He said nothing further, merely tapped his boots against the carriage floor in a rhythmic pattern, appearing perfectly content.

Marie, however, was not. She wasn’t pleased with the husband she’d married, but her future had finally been secured. Now, all thought of leading a somewhat peaceful existence—at least in being financially cared for—vanished.

“You do want the marriage to end, do you not?” Charles asked.

“I...”

She couldn’t answer. Did she wish for that security to end? To return to her family and live with a disappointed father and absent-minded mother? She didn’t think she could bear the whispers that would spread about her spinsterhood and inability to keep a husband even after marriage.

“Marie?” Charles pressed, his brow low.

She needed to explain her hesitance before he assumed something ridiculous—like that she’d miraculously fallen for him.

“I would prefer having a marriage with a man who loved me as much as I loved him.” She spoke the truth, even if she no longer believed love was in her future. “However, I must admit, I do not see how a life after an annulment would be worth living. Particularly for myself as a woman.”

“You refer to your reputation.”

She nodded in silence.

He didn’t speak for a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts. Finally, he leaned forward in his seat across from her, resting his arms on his knees as he laced his fingers together. They were only a few inches away from her own legs, so she scooted farther back in the carriage seat, allotting herself more room in preparation of any wayward bump from the carriage.

“You have every right to be concerned,” he said softly. “but I meant what I said before. I will not proceed if there is a chance that your reputation might be damaged.”

The look in his eyes was unlike anything Marie had seen within them—something akin to sincerity. Her heart fought back against his words, but they slipped beneath her defenses, and for some reason she could not fathom, an emotion rose within her at his intent to protect her.

But Oakleys did not cry.

His eyes lingered a moment too long on her, so she shifted in her seat and averted her gaze.

“When do you expect a response from Mr. Page?” she asked, smoothing out her skirts and staring at his fingers still just out of reach from her legs. “And what of my father? Your parents? How will you assuage them?”

“I have yet to solve those conundrums,” he said. “Perhaps we may work together on that?”