Page 37 of Denying the Duke (Lords and Ladies in Love 3)

He hopped up from his seat and paced. “Let’s start with ‘Your Grace.’ When did you forget my name?”

“I haven’t forgotten it, Alex.”

“Good.” He sat back down. “Now let’s get to the important things. Why are you wearing that hideous gown?”

She glanced down at herself. “Hideous? I don’t think it is so hideous.”

“Patience.” He snarled. “I ask you again, what is going on?”

Raising her chin, her eyes flashed. “Very well. Alex. What is going on is I am tired of being treated like an object for sale. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I realize that under the law, married women are no more than mere possessions for husbands to do with as they will.

“However, I resented being forcefully betrothed as a young girl to a man I loathed, and then when he died in a situation that had all the ton snickering at me, I am almost forced into a betrothal with another man who is even worse, and then you rush in to rescue me, after admitting you did not want to be bothered with all the annoyance of courting.” She stabbed a piece of meat with her fork and waved it at him. “Not once were my feelings considered. By anyone.”

She dropped the fork and took a deep breath. Then throwing down her napkin, she stood. “You told me, quite clearly, that marrying me was a way for you to avoid all the messiness of finding a bride. She is handy, so I might as well marry her. I am a mere convenience.”

Patience pushed her chair back and stepped away from the table, tears shimmering in her eyes. “You have your wish, Your Grace. You have your marriage of convenience.”

With these words, she stiffened her shoulders and marched from the room. Alex stared after her, slack-jawed, as the door between their bedchambers slammed shut. A portrait of one of his ancestors fell to the floor.

A marriage of convenience?

What the hell!

Chapter Twelve

Alex stared at the door for a minute, then stormed across the room, flinging the door open. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Patience had obviously been waiting for him because she stood facing the door, arms crossed, tapping her foot. “What does what mean, Your Grace?”

“A marriage of convenience? Do you know what that means?”

“I believe I do.” She dropped her arms and sat at her dressing table, brushing her long, lush hair.

She was driving him crazy. All he wanted to do was rip off that detestable gown and toss her on the bed. “So, you are denying me my husbandly rights?”

She spun around on the chair. “Denying is such an ugly word, don’t you think?”

Alex sat on the bed, facing her, his legs spread. He leaned his elbows on his thighs. “You are aware that I need an heir?”

Patience nodded.

“And I assume somewhere along the line your mother explained to you the connection between time spent in bed together and the appearance of an heir?”

Her cute little nose rose in the air. “Yes. I am fully aware of the procedure…and the results.”

“Fine. Then how do you propose I gain an heir if you deny me?”

Turning her back on him, she said, “I want to be courted.”

“Courted?”

She nodded.

She wanted to be courted. They’d almost run away together four years ago, and he’d spent those four years trying to forget her because she could never be his. Since his return, he’d had a hard time keeping his hands off her.

They were married.

And now she wanted to be courted?