and it is inevitable that at some time you will be burned. I am unwilling to satisfy your wicked schemes and am most reluctant to take advantage of you—though God knows I would like to and you fully deserve it.’
‘I don’t know if I should be flattered or insulted by that remark, Lord Chadwick,’ Beatrice retorted, her cheeks flushed with indignation.
‘Take it either way. It is immaterial to me. So, it all boils down to the fact that you want to marry me for my money.’
‘Your wealth does make marriage to you more palatable.’
‘You don’t have to go to such lengths as to tie yourself to me for life to return to your former home. When I asked you if you would demand Larkhill as the forfeit I recall you saying it would be nothing as fine or as grand as that—which makes me feel decidedly inferior that you consider me less important than a house.’ He gave her a steady look. ‘Why settle for me?’
‘Because I need you—your money—to restore Larkhill to what it was. You have neglected the property sorely since you took it from my father.’
Shrugging himself away from the wall and thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he began to pace. ‘I understand your resentment. It can’t be a comfortable situation for a woman like you, a young woman robbed of her own family, yet with your whole life ahead of you. While ever you live with your aunt you are in Astrid’s shadow—you, who are the more beautiful of the two.’
Beatrice was so humiliated by his reference to her plight that her heart clenched with the truth of it. It was such a bleak and accurate summary of her life that she almost choked at the future that opened up before her. ‘That’s how it is for a lot of women,’ she said, stung into honesty, ‘especially when a woman finds herself without a family of her own. It’s not what one would choose. I don’t like it and I decided long ago to find my own way out—hence the wager. Do you have family, Lord Chadwick?’
He shook his head. Pain and desolation entered his eyes, but it quickly disappeared and his expression was suddenly guarded. ‘No, Miss Fanshaw, I do not. From the moment I saw you I realised that we might have something in common. Like me, you like to make your own choices. I owe no man a living and I owe no woman a duty. In short, I am my own man, free to do as I choose. That’s the way I like it and how I want it to remain.’
‘It’s different for a woman.’
‘I know. But if all you want is to return to Larkhill, you don’t have to marry me.’
‘No?’ She looked at him warily. ‘It seems to me, Lord Chadwick, that you are trying to wriggle out of your promise. You really are going to renege on your word, aren’t you?’ She took a deep breath, her eyes flashing daggers. ‘Very well. I can’t force you to marry me. Now, I think you’d better leave.’
When she tried to sweep past him, his strong hand gripped her arm and spun her around. He hadn’t known her twenty-four hours and yet somehow she already showed a talent for clouding his cool calculation. He shouldn’t be angry with her—not when he was the one hiding too many dark and brooding secrets. It was himself he should be angry with.
‘Devil take it, woman, I don’t want to marry you! I’m not the marrying kind. I’m no good for you. Can’t you get that through that beautiful head of yours?’
Suddenly he seemed enormous and very close to Beatrice. His powerful body emanated heat, matching the heat that was rising in her cheeks. ‘I don’t want to marry you, either. You are nothing but a—a barbarian. But I will not withdraw the forfeit. I will not make it easy for you. It is up to you to extricate yourself in whichever way you see fit.’
His eyes blazed. ‘Barbarian? Lady,’ he warned, his voice hoarse with fury above her, ‘as yet I haven’t even begun to act the barbarian. If you insist on marrying me, then let me warn you in advance that I have learned from an expert how to make a wife’s life a living hell.’
His hold on her arm tightened and he looked at her for a long moment. She was so lovely, cool, virginal and stunningly arousing—and the most hair-raising