‘So why could you not have told me who you were, instead of...?’
‘Shop-owner, ship-owner, mercer and merchant. I am proud of what I do, mistress. I have not lied to you, but nor did I tell you everything, either. What man would be flattered to know that it was his wealth and status that won the heart of a woman, rather than the man himself? Fathers may arrange marriages for their daughters along such lines, but I don’t entirely fall in with that principle. And don’t pretend you were not interested, because I know differently.’
‘In a wily knave like you, my lord? Never. I would rather—’
Whatever her high-flown protest was to have been, it was cut short by his kiss, hard, thorough and long enough to make her forget. Wedged with her head on his shoulder and unable to move away, she could only wonder at the change in him from soft-spoken courteous gentleman to this, as if the sudden revelation of his title had endowed him with an authority of a far more potent kind. If this change had any direct link to the change in her, too, then she conveniently forgot it. It was, however, a side of him she had not expected and one which, if the truth be told, she found exciting, for it suggested that she could protest all she liked but would still be as desired as she was before. ‘Let me go,’ she said, not quite as emphatically as she had intended. ‘If you think I appeared to be interested in you, my lord, you are mistaken. I was more interested in what you had to tell me about the fabrics That’s why I returned—to take another look at them.’
His hold on her relaxed. ‘And look where that got you, mistress,’ he said. ‘Was it worth all the effort?’
‘No, it certainly was not, my lord. How could you ever have believed I would take kindly to being manipulated in this way?’
‘I believed your father when he assured me it was probably the only way, mistress. He still does. But if you’d come down off your high horse, you’d see the advantages rather than the hurt to your pride. Recall, if you will, how you enjoyed talking with me about fabrics and the exotic places they come from, and about the latest trends in fashion. I could show you much more than that: the warehouses, the furriers and cordwainers for your leathers, the shoemakers, the very finest tailors.’
Her stony expression almost softened at that, but there was yet another cause to keep her anger simmering, too good not to use as ammunition. ‘I wish to attend the royal court,’ she said. ‘Of what use would finery be if I could not show it there? I believe the Queen knows of me, my lord, and it is my dearest wish to meet her.’
Placing an arm across her back, he moved her along the allée and out into the knot garden where a tiny wren flitted beneath their feet into the foliage. ‘It’s not quite as rosy as that, mistress. Surely Lord and Lady Raemon have explained the position to you?’
‘If you mean they have doubts about her wish to see me, then, yes, they have done their best to pour cold water on the idea. I’m not at all convinced.’
‘Then I don’t suppose I shall be any more successful, mistress. But I think you should be aware of the problems that would arise. The young Queen will not tolerate any competition, especially on a personal level. She has sent most of the late Queen Mary’s women home and now retains only six maids. Her ladies are either personal friends or women the late Queen didn’t like. What’s more, even if I did attend court regularly, she would be unlikely to accept you simply because you were my wife. I understand that she enjoys having men around her, but she doesn’t make any accommodation available to their wives. Nor will she feed them.’
‘She would accept me. How could she not like her own half-sister?’
Their stroll along the gravel came to a halt as he turned her to face him. ‘Listen to me, Henrietta. In many respects, you are alike and from a distance you could be taken for her, but anyone who’s seen her at close quarters would see that she doesn’t have your beauty. And that’s the first thing she’d see. I shall not be taking you to meet her. That would be asking for trouble.’
‘That’s as roundabout a compliment as ever I heard,’ she said, beginning to walk away. ‘You paint a harsh picture of her, my lord, and a fulsome one of me. I refuse to believe she and I are so very different.’
Again, his hand caught a fistful of her fur cloak, pulling her back to him. ‘You have a lot to learn then,’ he said, ‘and one is that I don’t flatter women as other men do to soften them up. The second is that your obstinacy and wilfulness are on a par with hers and that when I said it could be tamed, I meant it. You would do well to take my advice, Henrietta, if only to keep out of trouble.’
Etta glared at him with all the indignation of a thwarted young woman seeing for the first time that she would have to deal with a man as obdurate as herself. ‘Tamed, my lord? You would prefer a pliant and obedient wife, then?’
‘Yes, woman,’ he said, holding her still by her elbows. ‘I would prefer a pliant and obedient wife to a shrew. What man would not?’ He bent his head to hers, looking deeply into her eyes with a piercing glare that made her blink. ‘But you will not be twisting me round your little finger as you have been used to doing with your father. Your relationship to the Queen will not help you as much as you think. In fact, you may discover that you’d rather not be related. And, yes, you may glare at me like a tigress, Henrietta, but with me you’ve met your match. And tomorrow, we shall discuss our wedding plans.’
‘No need to wait for tomorrow for that, my lord,’ she said sharply, shaking his hands off her arms. ‘That can be arranged in one word. Simple! The shortest possible ceremony with the fewest possible witnesses. There, how does that sound?’
She did not fully expect to be taken at her word on this, when everything she had said so far had been countered with some argument, and she had anticipated that publicity, grand guests and a show of his good fortune would be essential requirements for a man of his considerable standing and wealth. So when he agreed with her that a simple ceremony was very much to his taste, she realised with a nasty thud under her ribs that her retaliation had rebounded on herself instead of him.
‘Excellent,’ he said. ‘I shall go ahead and buy a special licence to avoid all that time-wasting, if that’s what you prefer. It’s not cheap, but probably cheaper than feasts and dresses and all the trimmings. Worth it, to get things over and done with.’
Etta tried out what she hoped might be an impediment. ‘But what about the Queen?’ she said, frowning at his eagerness to comply. ‘As a relative, surely I shall need her permission?’
‘I don’t see that that will be necessary, mistress, when she has not yet recognised you as her relative. Has she?’
‘No. Not yet.’
‘Well then, the sooner we get the formalities out of the way, the better. She’s very unlikely to go searching for beautiful young female relatives, is she? In fact, quite the opposite, I’d say.’
This was not at all what she had wanted, or expected, but to say so was now impossible. By pretending to oblige her, he must know that he was acting to the contrary. And whose fault was that? ‘It will take a while for you and Father to complete the formalities,’ she said. ‘There’s the matter of dowries and jointures.’
‘That’s already in hand,’ he said, setting off towards the house. ‘Our lawyers are already drawing up draft agreements. I’m not difficult to please.’
‘Already? What do you mean, already? When?’ she yelled.
Ahead of her, he stopped and turned, his face a picture of merriment. Shaking his head with laughter, he came back to her. ‘When?’ he repeated. ‘As soon as I saw you, Henrietta. At the Mercers’ banquet. I spoke to your father the very next day. I know my own mind, too, you see.’
‘And you had the audacity, my lord, to flirt with me at only our second meeting? Because you thought you were on safe ground? I find that behaviour disgraceful. Does my father know you went so far?’
‘What,