“I’m not sure ‘choice’ is precisely the right term to use,” Lady Theodora countered. “I realize you are likely unaware that he had sold the family estate some time ago, as well as all the plate and horses and carriages, to pay his gambling debts. All we had left were some clothes and the money he played with the night he lost to you. That was the last of his fortune, except, as I said, for a small sum in my care.”
“Have you come here to ask me to release him from his debts?” Dev asked, deciding that would be the easiest way to deal with her, and his own remorse. “Or perhaps to ask for another loan?”
Her expression as stern as Sir Randolf’s, she shook her head. “I am not a beggar, Sir Develin.”
His eyebrows lowered with confusion. “Then why have you come? If it’s to chastise and berate me, you may spare yourself the trouble. I gave your father every opportunity to leave the game.”
Finally she blushed, yet she still kept her steadfast gaze on his face. “However it came about, you were the beneficiary of my father’s final wagers.”
A dreadful thought came to him. Men had killed themselves over smaller debts. “Why isn’t your father here?”
“He’s sailed for Canada.”
Relief washed over him, and yet—“Without you?”
Her blush deepened. “He was too ashamed to tell me of his plans. He left a letter explaining why he’d taken the remainder of our funds and sailed for Halifax.”
“Good God, he left you with nothing?” Dev exclaimed, appalled.
Lady Theodora’s resolute expression returned and she straightened her slender shoulders. “He left me my name and my pride, Sir Develin, and the hope of his eventual return. Be that as it may, I didn’t come here to discuss my father’s recent actions. I have a business proposition.”
A business proposition? That was as unexpected as her arrival.
“A goodly portion of the sum you won from my father was intended to be my dowry,” she went on briskly, giving him no chance to interrupt with either comments or a question. “I propose that since you’ve got my dowry, you now take the bride.”
Dev had gotten the wind knocked out of him once before. He felt exactly the same way now. “What did you say?”
“I said, since you’ve got the dowry, you should also take the bride.”
He still couldn’t believe he understood her correctly. “What exactly do you mean?”
She continued to regard him steadily with those grave gray eyes and spoke with that same stern resolve. “I mean, Sir Develin, that you should marry me.”
“Marry?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “I need a home and you need a wife. You are nearly thirty, Sir Develin, as well as rich, titled and handsome. Since you haven’t yet taken a bride, I gather you enjoy the freedom to do what you will, when you will, with whomever you want.
“However, because you are rich, titled and handsome, you are also the target of every marriage-minded young lady and her mama in England. If you marry me, in return for the comfort and security being your wife will afford me, you will have a wife who will run your household and maintain a position in society. My family may have become poor, but it was not always so. I’ve been properly educated and know what’s expected of a baronet’s wife. I will also give you the freedom to do as you will within the bounds of the law. I will not question where you go or what you do or with whom you do it. In short, I will have a comfortable life free from worry and you may have the carefree life of a bachelor without guilt or harassment from your wife or other marriage-minded females.”
Dev could only stare in amazement. This brazen, yet undoubtedly serious, dowdily dressed young woman standing before him had just made the most outrageous proposition he had ever heard—and he had heard a few outrageous ones in his time. To be sure, there was a certain logic to her suggestion...but her proposal was still outrageous and out of the question. “You must be joking,” he said at last.
“I am quite in earnest, I assure you,” she replied with that same calm determination. “Being a woman and without funds, I have limited opportunities. I could become a governess or teacher or a lady’s companion, but I thought first I would see if you would accept a measure of responsibility for what you’ve done in a way that will also relieve you of some difficulties.”
As she spoke, he managed to regain his composure. “I didn’t bring your father to that gaming hell, or force him to play cards, and I am not the one who left you without resources, so my conscience is quite clean in that regard,” he replied, even if it wasn’t...quite.
But although he had some regret for what had happened that night, he had no intention of binding himself for life to this bizarre woman.
Or so he told himself until he remembered the last ball he’d attended and the women who had watched him like a cat stalking a mouse. His objections diminished further when he recalled the trap the daughter of the Duke of Scane might have set.
Lady Theodora was right about certain elements of his current existence. And what other lady of his acquaintance would let him do as he liked and without complaint once he was wed?
None came to mind.
Regardless of whatever appeal her proposition held, there was something else she’d apparently failed to consider. “Suppose I were to accept this outrageous proposal, what about children, Lady Theodora? Have you considered that in your planning? I shall want an heir and a spare at least.”
If he thought he’d found the chink in her armor, the way she raised her head and thrust out her chin proved him wrong. “I am not an ignorant schoolgirl, Sir Develin. I shall do what is required.”
“Required? Hardly an enticement,” he noted dryly.
She raised an eyebrow. “It’s my understanding you need very little enticement.”
He would not be embarrassed or ashamed of his natural appetites. “I enjoy the pleasures of the bedroom and make no apologies for that.”
“None are necessary,” she replied. “As I said, I shall do what is required of your wife and expect you to do what is required of a husband. What else you do will be your own affair.”
He strolled closer. “Provided I agree to this astonishing proposal.”
She nodded. “Yes, provided you agree.”
“I just might,” he murmured before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her full on the lips.
* * *
Surprised and stunned, Thea’s immediate instinct was to pull away and slap Sir Develin’s face—except that this was no harsh, demanding, punishing kiss. It was tentative, tender and tempting. And she had come here to ask this man to marry her.
Moreover, the man kissing her was Sir Develin Dundrake. He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, with those dark eyes, fine nose and strong jaw. She also knew a kind heart resided in that manly form, in spite of what had happened with her father.
Leaning against his body, she parted her lips and let his tongue slid into her mouth, not even moving back when his hand slid up her side and beneath her pelisse to cup her breast. Instead she held him closer still, gliding her hands over his back, feeling the play of his muscles through his broadcloth jacket. This was what she’d dreamed of since she first saw him months ago.
Nevertheless, reality was far more overwhelming, just as he was even more good-looking up close. She’d only seen him from a distance before. Here, in his impressive house, wearing those fine, well-fitting trousers, shirt, jacket and expertly tied cravat, his thick, dark wavy hair slightly disheveled as if he’d recently awakened, he was the perfect example of the perfect man.
He broke the kiss and