room and paused next to the bed. "I never gave this much thought until lately, but I suppose that the walls I erected between myself and my father carried over into other areas. That's why my relationship with Lady Dangerfield was so convenient. It met certain of my needs, and yet I never had to open my heart...."
"What made you seek this arranged marriage with me?" Micheline asked softly, puzzled.
"I didn't! The duke—my father—arrived here one day in February and announced the bloody thing to me! He and the king had made all the plans, and if I didn't go through with it, all the family estates and wealth would pass to my illegitimate twit of a half brother, Rupert Topping."
"But I was told that you had a weakness for Frenchwomen!"
Sandhurst smiled dryly. "I know. St. Briac mentioned that. Quite amusing. I, on the other hand, was told that someone in the French court wanted to get rid of you and had asked King Henry to find you an English husband. Since he is looking for French help with the pope regarding his divorce, he was happy to oblige. Enter my father, who had been nagging me to marry and provide him with an heir. I was caught like a rabbit in a trap."
"I don't understand! Why were we told different stories?"
"Who knows?" He shrugged. "My instincts tell me that Anne d'Heilly was behind the plan. Francois's unrequited desire for you was beginning to worry her. However, it hardly seems important now. Once the thing was agreed upon, it took on a life of its own."
Sandhurst paused, staring out the window. "At that point I felt trapped but was determined to wriggle free. I decided to tell my father to go to the devil and take King Henry with him. I didn't care if I lost the family wealth... until Jeremy reminded me that Rupert would have everything that rightfully would have gone to my children. He had a point. Odds were that I probably would marry one day, and I did want children. I couldn't agree to marry a stranger for that reason alone, though, so Jeremy and I hit on a compromise."
It all fell into place in Micheline's mind then. "You decided to go to France and have a look at me," she supplied.
Andrew laughed softly. "It seemed a great adventure at the time, and it was a perfect counter-strategy against my father." He dropped down beside her on the bed and lifted one of Micheline's delicate hands. "To be honest, I never expected anything to come of it. I half hoped I'd find you repulsive so that I would feel completely justified in spitting in the duke's face... and theoretically in the king's as well."
She felt the corners of her mouth turning up. "It didn't quite work out the way you planned, did it?"
"Oh, Michelle." Sandhurst closed his eyes for a moment as a warm rush of emotion swept over him. "I think I was lost when I first saw you on the staircase at Fontainebleau. I didn't even know who you were! I was standing with Anne d'Heilly. I asked her your name, and when she replied, I was stunned. Of course, I wasn't thinking in terms of love then. What drove me mad for so long was your seeming indifference! Every time you pushed me away and declared that you were betrothed to the Marquess of Sandhurst, I burned with jealousy."
"For yourself?" she murmured, swallowing irrepressible laughter.
"That's what Jeremy kept saying. He'd shout. 'But that's you!" ' Andrew chuckled at the memory. "I didn't care. All I knew was that you were rejecting me for a stranger. It drove me mad, and I was determined that if I couldn't win you on my own merit, there would be no wedding."
All of Micheline's outraged anger seemed to be melting away, but enough doubt lingered to prompt her to wonder, "Andrew, how can you be certain that your feelings for me are rooted in love rather than in the challenge of winning me?"
"I'm not a boy; I'm a grown man. I may not have been well acquainted with love in the past, but I am wise enough to recognize it now." Leaning forward, his mouth grazed her cheek. "In any case, I could ask the same of you. You thought you loved Tevoulere, but in Paris you told me that you never knew the meaning of the word until you met me. How do I know that