'This probably isn't at all proper, ' she remarked.
'What isn't proper? ' 'Traveling together. It would be frowned on in
England for an unattached man and woman to share a compartment together
without a chaperone.'
'I'm a lawman, ' he reminded her. 'That changes things.'
'You're still a man.'
'Last time I looked I was, ' he told her with a grin.
She looked out the window again, but not before he saw her smile. 'Are
you ready to tell me why you have to get married? ' 'No, I'm not ready
to tell you.'
'Are you in trouble, Grace? ' She didn't look at him when she
answered. 'Yes, I suppose I am.' His mind leapt from one possibility
to another, but she wasn't the type of woman who would let a man touch
her before marriage. She was innocent and sweet and definitely
untouched.
'You aren't pregnant.'
'Good heavens, no, ' she stammered out. 'How could you think that I
.
.
. ' 'You said you had to get married, and you said you were in
trouble.
I simply put the two together, but then I changed my mind. It's a long
trip to Texas, Grace, and eventually you will tell me what I want to
know. You might as well do it now.'
'Daniel, I had no idea that men could be such nags. Very well, you
win.
I made a promise to my parents that I would marry Lord Nigel Edmonds if
things didn't work out here. They haven't, ' she added.
'I still don't understand. What didn't work out? ' She frowned in
vexation. 'My parents are titled and therefore highly positioned in
society. They're also quite poor, and it's been very difficult for
them to keep up appearances. They've borrowed against their land, and
they haven't been able to make the interest payments to their banker.
They've been terribly humiliated.'
