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"What makes you so certain that on’t come to care for each other?"
"I just am I’ve looked inside my heart, and it’s not there That’s what I meant before I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust anyone enough to love them Even you"
Leo’s face was expressionless, but she sensed so that hinted of anger, or exasperation "It’s not that you’re unable," he said "It’s that you don’t want to" He released her carefully and went to retrieve his discarded clothes As he dressed, he spoke in a voice that chilled her with its pleasant blandness "I have to leave"
"You’re angry"
"No But if I stay, I’ll end upto you repeatedly, untilAnd even ret and self-reproach hovered on her lips But she held the that it would only infuriate hiinning to coe she presented, some inexplicable quandary that couldn’t be solved
After dressing and shrugging into his coat, Leo returned to the bedside "Don’t try to predict what you’re capable of," he ers beneath her chin He bent to press his lips to her forehead, and added, "You lanced up and down the hallway He glanced at Catherine over his shoulder "Lock the door when I leave"
"Good night," she said with difficulty "And … I’m sorry, my lord I wish I were different I wish I could--" She stopped and shook her head ave her a look of a to lose this battle, Cat And despite yourself, you’re going to be very happy in defeat"
Chapter Twenty-seven
Paying a call on Vanessa Darvin the following day was the last thing Leo wanted to do However, he was curious about why she wanted to see hiiven to him was of a Mayfair residence in South Audley Street, not far froian town house, neat red brick hite trim, fronted by a white pediment with four slender pilaster columns
Leo liked Mayfair immensely, not so much for its fashionable reputation as the fact that it had once been deehteenth century by the Grand Jury of West, bawdy stage plays, prizefighting and ani, and all the attendant vices of criradually gentrified until John Nash had sealed its hard-won respectability with Regent Street and Regent’s Park To Leo, however, Mayfair would always be a respectable lady with a notorious past
Upon arriving at the residence, Leo was shown to a reception rooarden Vanessa Darvin and Countess Ra hiatory s after the health of their family, and his, and the weather, and other safe and polite subjects of an opening acquaintance, Leo found that his impressions of the toed The countess was a garrulous biddy, and Vanessa Darvin was a self-involved beauty
A quarter hour passed, and then a half hour Leo began to wonder if he would ever discover why they had prevailed on him to call
"Dear ot that I had intended to consult with Cook about the evening o at once" She stood, and Leo automatically rose to his feet
"Perhaps I should leave, as well," he said, grateful for the opportunity to escape
"Do stay, my lord," Vanessa said quietly A look passed between Vanessa and the countess before the latter left the roo the obvious pretext to leave them alone, Leo lowered back into the chair He raised a brow as he regarded Vanessa "So there is a point to this"
"There is a point," Vanessa confired in pinned-up curls, her eyes exotic and striking in her porcelain cohly personal matter with you I hope I may rely on your discretion"
"You may" Leo studied her with a flicker of interest There was a hint of uncertainty, urgency, beneath her provocative façade
"I’in," she said
"Be blunt," Leo suggested "Subtleties are usually wasted on me"
"I would like to put forth a proposition, uing I wasn’t aware that we had mutual needs"
"Obviously yours is to marry and have a son quickly, before you die"
Leo was mildly startled "I hadn’t planned to expire any time soon"
"What about the Ramsay curse?"
"I don’t believe in the Ramsay curse"
"Neither did my father," she said pointedly
"Well, then," Leo said, both annoyed and a demise, we shouldn’t waste a moment Tell me what you want, Miss Darvin"
"I need to find a husband as quickly as possible, or I will soon find myself in a very unpleasant position"
Leo watched her alertly, h we are not well acquainted," she continued, "I know a great deal about you Your past exploits are hardly a secret And I believe all the qualities that would make you an unsuitable husband for anyone else would make you ideal for me We are very much alike, you see From all accounts, you are cynical, amoral, and selfish" A deliberate pause "So ae any of those things about you"
Fascinating For a girl no more than twenty, she possessed preternatural self-confidence
"Whenever you chose to stray," Vanessa continued, "I wouldn’t complain I probably wouldn’t even notice, because I would be sie I can give you children to ensure that the Ramsay title and estate will stay in your line of descent Furthermore, I can--"
"Miss Darvin," Leo said carefully, "pray don’t continue" The irony of the situation was hardly lost on hie of convenience, free fros The diae he wanted with Catherine
Not long ago, thatback in his chair, Leo regarded her with detached patience "I don’t deny the stories of my past sins But despite all that … or perhaps because of it … the idea of a sophisticated e doesn’t appeal to me in the least"
He saw by the frozen stillness of Vanessa’s face that he had surprised her She took her ti "Perhaps it should, my lord A better woman would be disappointed and shamed by you, and come to hate you Whereas I "--she touched her chest in a practiced gesture, drawing his attention to her round, perfect bosoement Vanessa Darvin proposed was a perfect recipe for aristocratic domesticity How fantastically bloodless and civilized
"But I need so froh hi Had he really just said it? And did he truly ed? It had been a rief and self-loathing So to die, which was not quite the sah for a while
Until Catherine She had reawakened him like a cold dash of water in his face She made him want to be a better man, not just for her, but for himself, as well He should have known that Catherine would push hie Good God, how she pushed him And he loved it Loved her His small, bespectacled warrior