A Scot to the Heart (Desperately Seeking Duke #2) - Caroline Linden Page 0,75
be a state secret, but I didn’t wish for it to be the talk of the town.”
“I told no one,” she said quickly.
He nodded. “Thank you. My family didn’t, and my mates think it’ll turn out to be a lie in the end, so they didn’t trouble themselves to tell.”
“Mr. MacGill knew,” she said quietly.
A frown touched his brow. “Would he announce it?”
She lifted one hand. “In my experience he delights in being seen in the orbit of important and powerful people.”
“Ah. Well, it cannot be undone, so it hardly matters who did it.” He seemed to shrug it off. “I’m glad to find you out here.”
Her heart fluttered. “Oh?”
“I hoped we might have a chance to talk.”
Ilsa took a deep breath. “Of course. I shall go first.” He looked startled but gave a nod. “I want to assure you that I expect nothing from you,” she said. “I have known for some time that you have . . . obligations that will require you to leave Edinburgh and settle in England. I know it is your duty to find a wife who can stand by your side and support you in your future role.” She paused, not looking at him. “Someone who will know intimately, and be accepted by, the society you are to join, who will be able to guide your sisters in their new lives as sisters of a duke, and help them make respectable, proper marriages. Marriage is the currency of the aristocracy. It is no secret that your own marriage will be of signal importance, and while some women might have schemed to take advantage of our—our attraction, please believe I have not.”
There. She was pleased with how reasonable that sounded. Only one betraying little quaver on the words our attraction—as if they shared nothing but a passing flirtation.
It was so much more than that to her. But she knew what had to be done, and she’d done it.
“I see,” he said gravely. “Attraction.”
Ilsa flushed at the way he growled the word. “Did I misspeak?”
“No,” he said after a moment. “’Tis merely a mild word for it, in my opinion.”
She tried to ignore the rush of pleasure that gave her. “No matter how strong, there are many factors that overrule it.”
“Indeed.” He folded his arms and gazed across the rocky slope toward town. “Did you enjoy yourself last night at the tavern with me?”
Ilsa blinked. “Yes.”
He nodded. “Were you glad to see me this morning?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sorry you spent the night in my bed at Stormont?”
“No!” She blushed at the quick glance he shot her way.
“Are you frightened of what people will say if you are seen with me?”
She stiffened. She didn’t look forward to the whispers, but she wasn’t frightened. “Of course not.”
“Are you firmly resolved never to marry again?”
“I—” She bit her lip, suddenly unsure. Resolved? “No . . .”
He gave a firm nod. “So, if I have the right of it, you enjoy my company—in bed and out of it—aren’t put off by salacious gossip, and haven’t renounced all thought of marriage.”
“You’re not going to marry me!”
“Well,” he said sadly, “not if you’ll never have me.”
Without thinking she poked his shoulder because he was threatening to make her laugh again when she had resolved to be very detached and assure him she was a worldly, modern widow able to have an affair without losing her head, not someone scheming to be a duchess. Quick as a blink he caught her hand.
“Ilsa.” He brought her hand to his lips, then pressed her knuckles against his cheek. “Stop thinking of Carlyle. His Grace might live another thirty years, and I’ll remain just as I am now—a simple Scot wanting a wife to love and cherish, and perhaps a child or two for my mother to dote upon.”
“People will expect things of you,” she began.
He watched her, running his thumb over the back of her hand in absentminded affection. It made her want to lean against him and let him drape that arm around her. “People,” he said with mild disdain. “I’ve no duty to obey the wishes of a fickle mob of people. Surely you’re not so cowed by them?”
She stood in silent indecision. Yes, she did like being with him—beyond any other person she could think of. Yes, she had seduced him because she wanted him—rather madly, and the feeling had not abated after a single night in his bed. Yes, she thought she could fall in love with him—might even already be