Don’t shilly-shally, she told herself. Get this over with as quickly as you can.
“None the worse for the wear, Your Grace,” she said.
“Your Grace?” He studied her, then murmured, “After last night… We are back to that?”
“Nothing ’as changed since last night,” she forced herself to say.
“I disagree, Fancy. Everything has changed.”
Not fooled by his mild tone, she forged on, “We agreed before we…did what we did that it would be for the pleasure o’ the moment only. The moment is over, and you needn’t feel an obligation to make it more than it was.”
His gaze hooded. “We were discovered, Fancy. By your family and the Taylors. Your reputation is at stake.”
“My family isn’t going to disown me.” She managed a dismissive wave. “And the Taylors are like family and won’t be wagging their tongues. No one’ll know beyond them.”
“I will know.” Lines bracketed Knight’s mouth. “Do you think me so lacking in honor that I would not do what is right, what any gentleman ought to do?”
She tamped down her longing. “We made a bargain, you and me. I aim to keep my part o’ it.”
“There was no bargain.” His jaw muscle flexed. “I was a scoundrel for taking advantage of you in your vulnerable state.”
“You were honest about what you were offering,” she insisted.
“On the contrary, I was lying to you and myself. You are an unmarried miss, and I am a gentleman. For us, there would always be consequences.”
“It’s not as if I’m a lady—”
“Don’t.” The hot flash in his eyes, like bottled lightning, cut her off. “Don’t ever say that you are less than anyone, Fancy, because you are not.”
Squaring her shoulders, she said, “You don’t know everything about me. I am a foundling—”
“I know. Your father told me,” he clarified at her look of surprise. “Regardless of your origins, you deserve respect, and I was a bastard for implying otherwise with my foolish actions.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I ain’t right for you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “Not two weeks ago, you wanted Bea because she’s a lady. You never even noticed me.”
“I noticed.”
His eyes were still heated, but now in a different way. And the memories of their passion came rushing back, weakening her knees and her resolve. But she couldn’t let herself weaken; she had to end what never should have begun.
“You…you didn’t want to kiss me,” she blurted.
She didn’t mean for it to sound like an accusation. He bit out an oath, the vehemence of it surprising her. For an instant, she glimpsed beneath his veneer of ruthless restraint: a hot-blooded man stared back at her with hunger and strange torment.
“It is not a question of wanting.” His voice had a guttural edge.
Why else wouldn’t he kiss her? She drew herself up. “You needn’t make excuses. I know that I’m not the sort o’ female you want for a wife.”
“Damnit, Fancy. This isn’t about you; it is about me and my situation.” He exhaled. “There are things I need to tell you so that you fully understand what I’m offering you.”
“You don’t ’ave to offer me anything.”
“Christ, are you always this stubborn?” He dragged a hand through his hair, a gesture of male frustration that she hadn’t seen from him before. “Will you do me the courtesy of listening to what I have to say? What I have never told anyone else?”
Curiosity punctured her shield of pride. Stiffly, she nodded.
“Thank you.” His gaze lowered briefly before meeting hers. “The reason I didn’t kiss you was because of a promise I made years ago. To a lady. I gave her my vow not to kiss anyone else.”
A sudden throbbing filled Fancy’s ears. She remembered the bright yearning in his eyes that instant she’d caught him unawares staring over the pond.
“Who…who is she?” she asked in a scratchy voice.
“Her name is Imogen Hammond. I met her when I was fifteen and she was thirteen,” he said gruffly. “Well, not met exactly—I pushed her out of the path of a runaway carriage. Her family was grateful, and her father hired me on. As the stable boy I did not socialize with the family, but Imogen was kind to me. She would sneak out to see me…and eventually we fell in love.”
Fancy felt disoriented, as if she were awakening from an episode of sleepwalking. Far from being a cynic about love, Knight did indeed have a romantic story. One in which the part of the princess was played by Imogen Hammond.