He was surprised into silence.
“You do realize, if you marry me, you’ll be laughed at unmercifully?”
Once more, he twirled her about the floor, completely unhindered by others. “You do realize I don’t give a damn?”
“Well, then,” she said as the music came to an end, “shall I expect you to call on the morrow?”
He offered his arm. “Will you receive me?”
“Of course. You are a duke and it would be the height of rudeness not to. I am plain spoken, Your Grace. Never rude.”
“That was not my question, Lady Jane. If I call, will you be receptive to a brief courtship?”
She looked up at him as they walked from the dance floor. “Yes, Your Grace. My aversion to matrimony only extends to toads.”
“And I am not a toad?”
“Not tonight.”
Well. That was something, wasn’t it?
“Incidentally, why are you here, uninvited?” He wondered if she would tell him the truth of it and was pleased when she attempted no artful dodge.
She stopped when she reached the periphery and faced him. “To see you, of course. Sherbourne nearly went into apoplexy, but he sees it is the only way.”
“Do you mean to say you knew I’d come, knew I’d offer again?”
Her eyes were frosty. “As I said, Your Grace, a lot can happen in four years. You are not the only one for whom time did not stand still.”
“You sound positively mysterious, Lady Jane.”
“Nothing of the sort. I am only grown up, you see.”
Grown up, indeed. Her height was the same, but she had bloomed into a ravishing beauty, her bosom full, her arms graceful and slender. “Why did you follow me last night? Come to think of it, how did you follow me?”
“I am furlongs ahead of you, Blixford. When I decided to come home, I knew it would not be permanent unless I could redeem myself, and my only avenue to redemption is marriage. It took me all of one day to determine that no one but you will suit. Without the benefit of my previous friendships and associations, I was unable to gain any satisfactory information about you, thus my discreet investigation. I’ve actually been following you two days past.” She frowned slightly. “You really should attend to your driver a bit more closely. While you stopped off at your club, he entertained a woman within your coach. I was quite shocked.” Her frown disappeared. “As to how I followed, I’d rather not say.”
“I’d rather you did.”
“I will demonstrate at a later date.”
“I’ll look forward to it. In the meantime, I ask that you leave off shadowing me, Lady Jane. I find the thought unnerving.”
“Never fear, Your Grace. With the exception of your visit to your mistress, your activities are exceedingly dull. I daresay two days of boring reconnaissance were quite paid off by that.” The frown returned. “You will give her up, will you not?”
She was perfectly safe from death by his demon seed. This marriage would kill him long before he could get her pregnant. “I will give her up. By this time next week, she’ll be another man’s responsibility.”
“Do be sure to give her a large settlement.”
“That is hardly something with which you should concern yourself.”
“I am to take her place as your lover. It would soothe my conscience to know she’s been handsomely taken care of.”
“You will be my wife, Lady Jane. There is a difference.”
Her gaze was direct and halfway to icy. “I’m merely a brood mare, then? You will get a child on me with due haste and perform the duty without passion?” She nodded. “Of course you will. It is what I’d expect of you, a man of controlled emotion.”
She was insulting him. “I am not an automaton, ma’am.”
“And I will not be merely a brood mare. I fully expect to find pleasure in our marriage bed. Whether or not you enjoy the experience is entirely up to you.”
“Well.” He took a deep breath and let it out on a huff. “Well.”
“My brothers are correct. You are a stick. Perhaps this is a mistake. Perhaps I should return to Scotland and marry MacDougal, after all. He was most insistent and, I think, heartbroken when I left.”
She was a sly one. Michael caught himself enjoying their conversation, in spite of the true wretchedness of his situation. “Idle threats can sometimes have a way of haunting one, Lady Jane. In future, once we are married, I’d prefer never to hear the name MacDougal again. I’d also prefer you give off attempting to goad me by pointing out what you and your brothers perceive to be character flaws. If I am a stick, you are a hoyden.”