«It doesn’t come from my mother’s side,» Wolfe said coolly. «Scandal is a civilized notion.»
He turned back to see if Jessica was over her fright. He saw her eyes widen as her glance went down his body. She turned scarlet and looked away so quickly she almost lost her balance.
Calmly, Wolfe went to the dresser and pulled out a nightshirt. He hated the things, but he didn’t want to distress Jessica any further.
Gore began snoring. Robert spared him an irritated glance before he turned his attention to Jessica. He meant to make his voice kind, but he was too angry at losing his son again to be anything but blunt.
«Is Wolfe your paramour?»
The question brought back Gore’s drunken onslaught. Jessica went pale, then flushed with a force that made her feel dizzy. She put her burning face in her hands and shuddered, fighting for control, wondering if she was caught in one of her nightmares where the wind screamed with a woman’s voice and dawn was an eternity away.
«I can’t — Lord Robert — I —» Jessica said desperately, trying to make him understand that she couldn’t marry Gore. «Dear God. You have been so kind to me. I’m sorry.»
Her voice broke and she trembled. Her distress astonished both Stewarts, for Jessica had never shown anything but composure, even when she was a newly orphaned child.
«WhatJessi is trying to say,» Wolfe said coolly as he buttoned the shirt, «is that we aren’t lovers.»
«But you would have been, if Betsy had not come to me,» Victoria said. «You have wanted Jessica since her fifteenth summer.»
Even as Wolfe opened his mouth to deny it, he knew it was true. The sudden realization that he had wanted Jessica for years made it impossible to speak.
«Wolfe…» Victoria sighed wearily. «If you could not keep your cock in your breeches out of respect for your father, the least you could do is limit your attentions to married women and whores.»
«Enough, wife,» Robert said. «Wolfe is my son. He knows his duty.»
«Which is?» Wolfe asked quietly.
«You seduced Lady Jessica. You shall marry her.»
«There has been no seduction. Gore mauled her, she ran to my room in hysterics, and Gore followed. A minute later, Lady Victoria arrived.»
«Jessica?» Robert asked sharply. «If you are a virgin still, the engagement can be saved. Lord Gore is quite keen on you.»
Jessica held out her hands to Wolfe and whispered, «You promised…»
There was a shocked silence followed by Wolfe’s curt command. «Leave me with Jessica for a moment. And take that drunken swine with you.»
When Victoria started to protest, Robert simply grabbed Gore’s feet and dragged the man into the hall. Gore didn’t awaken. Victoria stepped over him. Betsy hurried after her employers. The door closed firmly. Before Wolfe could speak, Jessica sank to her knees in front of him.
«Please, Wolfe. I beg of you. Marry me. Don’t let that man have me.»
«Are you a virgin?» Wolfe asked tightly.
Jessica’s head snapped up. «Good God, yes! I can’t bear being touched by a man. It makes my stomach heave.»
«Then why were you coming to my room dressed — or rather, undressed — as you are?»
«It was what I was wearing when I realized I had to talk to you,» she said, perplexed. She held out her hand to him in silent plea. Despite the rigid control she exerted on her voice, her fingers trembled. «I came to ask you to save me from Lord Gore.»
«Consider yourself saved. No matter what my father thinks, I doubt that Gore will have you after tonight.»
«But another man might. Victoria will contract another marriage for me.»
For a moment Wolfe said nothing. He hated the thought of another man having Jessica, but there was nothing to be done for it. Even if the Stewarts permitted Wolfe to marry her, the match would be a disaster for him. No matter how much Jessica’s body tempted Wolfe, he knew she simply was all wrong as a wife for him.
«Finding a suitable husband for you is Lady Victoria’s duty,» Wolfe said tightly.
«No.Iwill lie beneath the ground before I lie beneath a man.»
Wolfe’s eyes narrowed at the certainty in Jessica’s voice. She would sooner die than couple with a man.
Any man.
«But you want me to marry you,» he said neutrally.
A smile trembled on Jessica’s lips. «You would never touch me like that. Men marry because they must have heirs. Women marry because they want wealth. You have no need of an heir and I have no need of wealth.»
A dangerous stillness came over Wolfe as Jessica’s words sank into him. «Even a bastard has…needs.»
«What doesbastardy have to do with it?» she asked with exasperation.
For a few taut moments, Wolfe said nothing. Then his breath rushed out in a soundless sigh as he understood that Jessica had meant no insult to him by assuming that a bastard wouldn’t want to couple with his wife; she simply didn’t realize that men wanted more than heirs from a marriage.
«Dear Wolfe,» Jessica said softly, touching the sleeve of his nightshirt. «Do marry me. We are good friends. We would have such fun living in America, hunting and fishing and eating by the campfire.»
«My God, you really mean that,» he said, stunned by the magnitude of her is understanding of what marriage was.
«Oh, yes.» She smiled as the cage of fear loosened around her heart. «I have never enjoyed being with anyone so much as you, my Lord Wolfe. Now we can be together again. What could be better?»
He said something profane, then ran his hand wearily through his black hair. «Did you set me up, Jessi? Did you send your maid to fetch Lady Victoria as a witness while you ran to my room looking like a girl on the way to her lover?»
Jessica shook her head vigorously. The motion made lamplight twist and run through her long hair like streamers of fire.
«No. I didn’t plan this.» She drew in a long, ragged breath. «But now that it has happened, I will swear on my mother’s grave that we have lain together. Then you’ll have to marry me. Then I’ll be free.»
«What of me? What of my freedom?»
Jessica looked up at Wolfe with clear, brilliant eyes. «I’ve thought of that, too. I won’t ask anything of you. You will be free to come or go as you please. If you want a shooting companion, I’ll hunt with you. If you want to travel alone, I won’t complain. If you want a special fly to lure trout, I’ll tie it for you.»
«Jessi —»
She talked right over Wolfe. «If you want my conversation, I’ll be there. If you want silence, I’ll leave the room. I’ll see that your house is well run and that only food you like is served. And when dinner is over I’ll warm your brandy glass in my hands until fragrance fills the crystal globe and then I will give it to you and we will sit together and no storms will ever come inside…»
The silence stretched and shimmered like a candle flame pulled by wind. Finally, Wolfe turned his back to Jessica because he couldn’t trust himself to look at her any longer and not lose his temper in a way that he had never done with any living creature.
«Jessi,» he said finally, softly. «The life you’re describing is the life of an English lord and lady. I’m not a lord. My wife will live in America. She won’t live the life of an aristocratic lady.»
«I love America. I’ve been sick with longing to see the tall grass and great buffalo again. I’ve missed the endless sky. Betsy has taught me American ways. When I’m with her, you can hear my British accent hardly at all. I’ve worked very hard at being American,» Jessica said earnestly. «I knew you wouldn’t want to live in England.»
Wolfe spun around. «Youdidtrap me!»
Jessica bent her head and looked at her tightly laced hands. «No, my Lord Wolfe. When I understood that Victoria meant to see me married, I tried to imagine belonging to a man. And I simply couldn’t imagine belonging to any other man but you, so I had to learn how to belong to you. I’ve thought about this quite a lot, you
