will definitely give it to ye, but now ye must go.”
She wondered then. . . Did he even know he had slipped into the strange language of his past? She wasn’t certain he did, and she wouldn’t point it out to him, lest it changed his mind.
She slipped her hand from his, backed away, and just as she was about to leave, he called, now in perfect Etonian tones, “My footmen will escort you home. I will not have you traversing the streets alone. My God, it is a miracle you are in one piece here tonight.”
She wasn’t sure she was in one piece anymore.
She felt as if that kiss had taken her apart, and she had a funny feeling that she would never be put back together the same again.
Chapter 4
“What the blazes do you mean you don’t wish to marry her?” demanded the Duke of Blackstone.
His dark eyes flashed with fury. The bloodshot whites of one consumed by opium and wine were sunken in his yellowing face.
Richard Heath sat back in his chair, completely unintimidated by one of the most powerful men in the land. At least, he should have been. But the Duke of Blackstone had abdicated that power some years ago when he’d chosen the path of laudanum, wine, women, and gambling.
Now, he was but a shadow of the powerful man he should have been. Heath had far more power. For, the Duke of Blackstone was unable to exercising any sort of authority over anyone anymore. Not truly.
He had no money. He’d lost several of his estates, and Parliament viewed him as a fool. Still, he was capable of committing great damage to his family.
Heath easily drummed his fingers along his polished desk. “That’s correct, Your Grace. I’m not going to marry Lady Mary.”
Blackstone spat, “It is a wonderful opportunity for you to marry the daughter of a duke.”
“You’re right, of course,” Heath agreed, leaning back to show his ease. “It would be a wonderful opportunity for a man like me.”
“You came from nothing, man,” Blackstone intoned. “Born in a gutter, I’ve heard. To marry the daughter of a duke? It is far past your dreaming.”
“You’d be surprised what I’ve dreamt about,” Heath responded.
And it was true.
As a child, he’d never even thought to attain such heights.
He hadn’t even known what a building like the one he owned and operated out of looked like.
The beauty of it, had taken him years to understand, to cultivate, but he had. He’d clawed his way up from the very bottom of society. And he had taught himself to be, if not a gentleman, someone who understood the ways of society and appreciated the beauty society seemed to think so important.
But still, he was not going to marry Lady Mary.
He appreciated her far too much for that. He wouldn’t condemn her to a life married to a man like himself. Besides, he was not desperate for position. Wealth was his position, and the various toughs he controlled.
And so, he cocked his head to the side. “Your Grace, I do not aspire to the lofty heights of society that you seem to think I do.”
“Of course you do, man!” Blackstone snapped. “Every man like you does. All the Cits want to marry girls from the aristocracy. It gives them future position for their children.”
“I don’t wish to have children,” Heath said honestly. “And I don’t wish for position. At least, not the kind that you are suggesting. I have position over enough.”
Blackstone sneered. “You’re a fool, then.”
“Am I, Your Grace?” He smiled his cold smile. “I do not think you’re in a position to be insulting me. Besides, I have no desire to become your personal bank.”
Blackstone stopped. “What the devil do you mean?”
Heath cocked his head to the side. “If I married your daughter now, yes, it would eradicate your 30,000 pound debt. But I do not think it would stop you from spending, and you’d come to me every other day, asking for another handout.”
Blackstone’s body all but shook with his fury. He was in need, no doubt, of more laudanum. “My God, who the devil do you think you are?”
“Richard Heath is who I am,” he said. And that was quite enough. He didn’t need to say any more about his identity. “You are no longer capable of ordering men about, Your Grace, except for perhaps a few servants. And soon, even they will not listen to you, for you do not have the financial ability to pay