A Deceptive Wager (Marriage by Design #3) - Ruth Ann Nordin Page 0,65

friend through any more discomfort, Kitty headed for the veranda. He would probably follow her. But even if he didn’t, being outside would give her a moment to compose herself.

Up to now, she’d been having a pleasant evening. Seeing him had changed that. The most she could hope for was that he wouldn’t completely ruin it for her. As she suspected, he followed her out onto the veranda. She let out a frustrated sigh and decided to lean against one of the columns.

Without looking at him, she said, “I don’t care if people assume I’m out here to engage in some dalliance with a lover. I’m going to stay out here. You, however, need to leave. I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“I know you don’t, and I don’t blame you for being angry. I just…I mean…I know that…” After a long moment of silence, he continued, “I’m sorry. I was wrong to hire a chaperone to watch over you, and I was wrong to demand that you leave once you give me a son.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re sorry you won’t get that heir.” She turned so that she was facing away from him.

He hurried to get back in front of her. “No, that’s not true. I’m sorry because I now understand how terrible I was being to you. I have a difficult time trusting ladies.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” She moved around the column so she was, once again, away from him.

He, however, got back in front of her. “It was my mother. She had many lovers. I wasn’t the only child she had. I just happened to be the only one she had with my father. They didn’t marry because they loved each other. I don’t know the details about their relationship. All I know is that my father did his best to put up the appearance of a love match. My mother, on the other hand, didn’t care to keep up the pretense, and it was a source of embarrassment to him.”

“I don’t appreciate being compared to your mother.” This time she moved away from the column and went to a bench.

She wasn’t all that surprised when he followed her, but she was surprised when he got on his knees in front of her.

“I know you don’t appreciate it,” he said. “I wouldn’t appreciate it, either, if you were to do it to me. I never once concerned myself with a love match. It didn’t matter to me if we liked each other or not.”

“Yes, I noticed.” She would have left the bench if she thought it’d do any good, but it was apparent that he was determined to stay with her regardless of where she went. She crossed her arms and sat back.

“Even if I didn’t find value in making an honest attempt to get along with you, I did find value in having a child. I just assumed that ladies didn’t care about their children, so I didn’t think it would matter to you if you were a mother to our child or not. If I had known having a child was important to you, I wouldn’t have suggested you get your own townhouse once you had a baby.”

“You didn’t suggest it. You demanded it.”

He winced. “I know. You’re right. And I apologize for that. I had wished for my mother to take an interest in me, but she never did. When she left, she didn’t even say anything to me. She just left. I think she only took the other children because my father refused to accept them since they weren’t his.”

She wondered if he was telling her all of this because it was the truth or because he wanted an heir so desperately that he’d say anything to get her in the family way.

But if he had wanted to get her with child so badly, he would have tried for one as soon as he found out she wasn’t expecting one. She had made the mistake of offering to try for one when they were in the drawing room. If having a child was the only thing that mattered to him, he wouldn’t have refused the offer. That had to say something about his sincerity right now, didn’t it?

“I don’t know what I can say or do to make things right,” he said. “I’ve never been in a position where I’ve had to admit I’ve been unreasonable.”

She looked at him in disbelief.

“I mean before we married,” he clarified. “Believe it