WolfeStrike (De Wolfe Pack Generations #2) - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,84
this true?” he said. “You will die alone and unloved, and ignored by your father?”
His eyes were twinkling at her as he said it and Isalyn broke down into a weak smile. “Apparently,” she said. “I am not happy about being alone and unloved, but it might be worth it if he really did ignore me for the rest of my life.”
Tor grinned and shut the door to give them some privacy, but he remained by the panel. He made no move to enter the chamber any more than he already had. He gazed at her a moment, his smile fading.
“May I make a confession?” he asked.
She nodded. “Of course.”
“I was listening outside of the door. I heard everything.”
Her smile vanished. “I see,” she said, averting her gaze as she went to sit down on the only chair in the chamber. “You must understand that I did not mean to insult you. Never did I mean to insult you. But this has all happened so quickly. It is simply not the way I had ever envisioned my life to be.”
He leaned back against the door. “You want to return to London.”
She looked at him, then. “That was my intention,” she said. “But I have made no secret of that. My life is there. My dramas are there, as are my friends. Everything is there.”
He nodded in understanding. “I cannot say that if I was taken away from my family and friends that I would be so agreeable,” he said. “Then… it is nothing I have said or done to make you question this betrothal?”
She shook her head firmly. “Nay,” she said. “I swear it, my lord. Nothing you have said or done. In fact…”
“In fact… what?”
“Would you consider moving to London?”
His grin was back because her question gave him hope. “Not all the time,” he said. “But if my wife loved London so much, I might be convinced to build a home there, one we could stay in while we visited her friends.”
Her eyes widened. “Would you really?”
He nodded. “Of course I would,” he said. “My lady, I was married once and one of the things I remember from that relationship was that it was necessary to compromise if I wanted my wife to be happy. I know that most men view marriage as a monarchy – the man is king and everyone does as he commands. But I found that marriage was better when it was more of an alliance and a partnership. Sometimes I had my way, and sometimes Jane had her way. But the main thing was that we were willing to compromise. I believe that keeps everyone happy.”
Isalyn was listening intently. “And you found that it worked well enough?”
“Indeed, it did.”
She thought very hard on that. “And you would be willing to compromise with me?”
His eyes glimmered at her from across the chamber. “For you and you alone,” he said quietly. “Isalyn, I realize we have not known each other for very long but, in that short time, I have come to see that you have some very good qualities. You are brave and you are honest, and I respect that a great deal. You are also cultured and literate. I know of no other woman who writes dramas. Do you know why I invited you and your father for a visit?”
Isalyn had been hanging on his every word. “Nay… I do not think so.”
He stepped away from the door, moving slowly in her directly. “I invited you because I did not like the thought of never seeing you again,” he said. “You were planning on returning to London and I wanted to see you before you went. But the truth is that I did not want you to go at all.”
Her eyes widened. “You didn’t?”
“Nay.”
Isalyn wasn’t sure what to say. Her cheeks flamed an obvious shade of pink and she grinned, putting a hand to her warm face. She was so flattered that she was actually speechless for a moment. Never in her life had a man said to her what Tor just had. But if he was being so honest, perhaps she should be as well.
His candor gave her the confidence to speak her mind.
“Why do you think we came so soon?” she said, lowering her gaze bashfully. “I did not want you to forget about me.”
He smiled broadly. “You?” he said. “Never. Never would I forget the woman who introduced me to the Crown and Sword.”
She laughed softly. “At least my culinary knowledge