by Candace Camp
Tears suddenly filled Laura’s eyes. She had not cried for a few days, but somehow now, at his casual mention of her father’s name, she was pierced all anew.
“Papa died two weeks ago,” she told him baldly. No need to couch things in a genteel manner with this man.
Despair gazed back at her from his eyes for an instant, before the mask descended once again. “I see. Well, that’s that, then.” He glanced away. “My condolences.” Then, awkwardly, “I am sorry, Laura.”
“Thank you.” His use of her given name startled her; he had not addressed her so since they were children. Though he was Graeme’s cousin, he had never been Laura’s friend. But there was a genuineness to the brief statement that unexpectedly touched her. “Would you like to come inside?”
He looked as if he needed to sit down. And he had just rescued her from Merton’s unwelcome attentions. Surely that deserved some politeness.
“Oh. Well.” James cast a glance around with an uncertainty she had never seen in him. “Yes, thank you.”
Both man and dog trailed after her as she led them to the parlor. As soon as they stepped into the room, memories flooded Laura. It had been here that James, in a voice devoid of emotion, had listed Laura’s many deficiencies as a bride to the future Earl of Montclair. His cousin Graeme, he told her, must marry an American heiress. Laura would ruin Graeme’s life.
She sent him a covert glance. Was James remembering that moment, too? No, in all likelihood, it had been only a minor bit of business for him, barely a bump in the road.
“Would you care for tea?” she asked in a brittle voice.
“Thank you, no,” he replied. He seemed lost in thought.
Laura cast about for something to start a conversation, wishing she had not given into courtesy and invited him in.
“Miss Hinsdale . . .”
“Yes?”
“I have a question to ask of you.”
“What?” Laura looked at him warily.
“Are you always so suspicious?”
“I have had conversations with you before . . .”
He grimaced. “Well, I’m not here to blight your life this time. I am proposing an arrangement of mutual benefit.”
Laura gaped at him, her mind reeling. “Pardon? Are you . . . are you offering me a carte blanche?”
He was the one who stared now. “Good God. No, Miss Hinsdale. I am not trying to lure your nubile body into my bed, lovely as I am sure it is.”
Laura crossed her arms over her chest. “Just what are you doing?”
“I am asking for your hand in marriage.”
His words were so far from anything Laura expected to hear that she could hardly grasp them. “Are you joking?”
“I rarely jest about marriage, I assure you.”
“I . . . uh . . . why?”
“I would think the advantages to you are clear.” He raised one eyebrow. “I hope it is not too vain of me to point out that you would have a much more agreeable future than the one you are currently facing, which, with your father’s demise, offers only penury and the less than alluring prospect of throwing yourself upon your relatives’ generosity. On the other hand, I can offer you a gracious home, a generous allowance, and a respectable, dare I say, honored name.”
He sounded as if he were offering her employment. “But why would you want to? What possible reason could you have for proposing to me?” Long-buried resentment bubbled up in Laura. “If I was not good enough to be Graeme’s wife, as you so kindly told me, how could I possibly be acceptable as yours?”
“I never said you were unworthy.” It was some balm to her feelings that James looked taken aback. “The only issue was saving the Montclair estate. I can assure you I never questioned your character. In fact, it was precisely your good character I counted on. I was certain that once you understood how ruinous it would be to Graeme to wed you, you would break it off. I knew I could use your sense of honor against you.”
“What a cold and calculating man you are.” His words were mollifying, at least in regard to his opinion of her, but it amazed her that he would admit it. “It’s hard to believe you’re related to Graeme.”
“It’s a wonder, isn’t it? But I have never tried to appear otherwise.”
“I don’t know that it makes it any better.” She studied him. “Still, I fail to see any cold calculation in proposing to me.”
He gave her a wry look. “I would guess that most women would regard marriage to me a cold thing indeed.”
“No doubt. But that’s not an explanation.”
“My motive doesn’t matter.”
“It makes a difference to me. It isn’t as if you like me. You barely know me. And I am relatively certain I am not the sort of woman whom you would choose.”
“You’re right,” he shot back, temper flaring in his eyes. “You are not the sort of woman I planned to marry. However, at the moment my choices are rather limited.”
Her eyes widened. “I can understand why if this is your manner of wooing.”
“I have not tried to ‘woo’ anyone.”
“I am your first attempt at a proposal?”
“Yes.”
“But why? Why would you choose me?”
“I am beginning to wonder that myself.” When Laura did not respond, but simply crossed her arms and waited, he continued, “There are many reasons a man would want to marry you.”
“I want to know your reasons.”
“Well . . . you are attractive . . . genteel . . . um . . .” Laura lifted a brow. “Oh, the devil with it. I chose you because I thought you were in such exigent circumstances that you would agree.”
“At least you are candid.”
“I usually am.”
“Then let me be equally straightforward. I may be in exigent circumstances, but I would rather remain in my penniless state, here in my ungracious home, with my unrespectable name, than share your bed.”
He let out a dry laugh, surprising her. “Trust me, Miss Hinsdale, the way I feel now, lust is the furthest thing from my mind.”
“What about in the future?”
“There won’t be any future. I am dying.” He delivered his news with a flat calm, almost as if he were discussing someone else.
“Oh.” Laura’s face softened.
“I don’t want your pity.” His voice was sharp as a knife. “I am telling you this so that you understand I have no intention of robbing you of your virtue. I won’t demand my husbandly rights. And you will not have to be my wife long before you are my widow.”
ANASTASIA HOPCUS
CANDACE CAMP is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than sixty novels of contemporary and historical romance, including the bestselling Regency series Secrets of the Loch, the Legend of St. Dwynwen, and the Willowmere trilogy. She grew up in Texas in a newspaper family, which explains her love of writing, but she earned a law degree and practiced law before making the decision to write full-time. She has received several writing awards, including the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award. Visit her at www.candace-camp.com.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Candace-Camp
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Also from Candace Camp and Pocket Books
The Secrets of the Loch Series
Enraptured
Pleasured
Treasured
The Marrying Season
A Summer Seduction
A Winter Scandal
An Affair Without End
A Gentleman Always Remembers
A Lady Never Tells
We hope you enjoyed reading this Pocket Books eBook.
* * *
Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Pocket Books and Simon & Schuster.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.
com
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Candace Camp
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Pocket Books paperback edition April 2017
POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Interior design by Carly Loman
Cover illustration by Jon Paul Studios
Hand lettering by Ron Zinn
ISBN 978-1-5011-4157-7
ISBN 978-1-5011-4158-4 (ebook)