Price of Desire (11 page)

The important thing was to keep him away from Anna
.
Although they’d never actually discussed the details of her daughter’s birth, his insinuations had made it clear that he suspected – no, knew – the truth
,
and that he wanted his . . . legacy
.
Didn’t soldiers always want a legacy?

He could not have her
.
Rose would deny him until her dying breath
.
He had no claim that she did not g
rant
him.

She rubbed harder at her face, causing the skin to redden
.
She tried to put from her mind that moment when she’d seen him watching Anna, seen the proprietary power of his survey
.
Anna was hers. It didn’t matter who had sired her, what had happe
ned on that sun-drenched afternoon
.
Damn
,
she was doing it again.

Why did he have this effect on her
?
Why did one glance cause fires to flicker in her belly and tingles to spread between her legs
, overr
iding
her every sensible thought
?
He was dangerous, a complication she could not afford
.
She would keep him separate from her
d
aughter, separate from herself
.

She’d given in to lust and passion once
.
She would not do it again
.
Her plan was to find a pliable, easygoing husband, something M
ajor
Beowulf Huntington most decidedly was not
.
She dropped the cloth into the bowl of cool water with a de
finite
splash
.
If she wanted to proceed with her well-ordered life
,
avoiding
Major
Huntington
would
have to
be the first
item
on her list.

Chapter F
our

“Well, what do you think of your suitors?
”
Marguerite slipped in the open door of Rose’s chamber
.
She hadn’t yet dressed for dinner and held a needlework hoop in her hand.

“I believe you mean my guests
.
A
nd
,
I haven’t really had a chance to
form an opinion
.
They have only just
arrived
.
Mr.
Williams, who has recently taken up holdings across the
village
,
has not even arrived
.
I do look forward to furthering my acquaintance with him
.
I hear good things of his character.
”

Rose looked up from the list on her desk
.
Beside each gentleman’s name was a list of desirable characteristics
.
Sober
.
Companionable
.
Pleasant of countenance
.
Should she
merely place a
check
mark next to each criterion a
gentlemen
satisfied, or perhaps actually score them
in
each category
?
Scor
ing them seemed
rather indelicate
, but how else was she to remember the differences
among
them
?
She flipped the paper over
to avoid betraying her list
to Marguerite.

“You’ve already admitted the purpose for the party
.
Why not be candid and admit they are suitors?
”
Marguerite settled herself on the settee and plucked at her embroidery.

“If you want me to be candid,” Rose quipped, “I should call them
commodities
.
At this point
, for all practical purposes,
I am inspecting their wares
, not
searching for romance
.
‘
Suitor
’
implies romance
.
That
is not what I am seeking.”

Marguerite turned, flustered
.
“
That
makes you sound so cold
.
Every woman wants romance
.
Next you will be telling
m
e that
you do not even care about your husband
’
s
appearance
.
Surely you would prefer a tall, handsome man like
Lord
Sommerton to someone
un
attractive.
”

“I am practical.
”
Rose
chose her words carefully
.
“I
would prefer
to cho
o
se a man of adequate countena
nce
.
”

Marguerite pursed her lips
.
“I am not sure that sounds very appetizing.”

Rose flashed a grin at her sister
.
“I am not planning to eat the man, just manage him.”

Marguerite’s gaze dropped
.
She fidgeted with her hoop
, pulling the
muslin
even tighter
.

“Still, you will have relations with him
.
Surely, you want somebody you
find
attractive
.
How could you kiss him otherwise?”

Rose swallowed a further laugh
.
Marguerite was so young and innocent; she just didn’t understand the practicalities of marriage
.
What happened in the bedroom was of little consequence in making a satisfactory marriage
.
Yet f
or a moment she saw Wulf’s
emerald eyes melting with desire
,
and felt phantom hands whisper over her body
.
S
he mentally swatted them away
.

No, passion was not important
.
She would not let it be
.
Wulf
’s presence could be ignored
.
Her marriage to John had been just as hap
py after they stopped . . . n
o, she sought only contentment
.
But the desire to laugh at Marguerite’s innocence vanished
.
Rose had once
prized
such dreams, too.

“I seek to replace
the companionship of marriage, not the passion.
”
It was time for them both to be realistic
.

“Rose, you know that is why I am here
.
Why I finally persuaded Mama that I needed to come.”

“Yes, I do know
.
And I do appreciate the effort you’ve made
.
But it’s not quite the same
.
Life with a husband is so much easier in so many ways
.
I’ve already mentioned Anna, she’s well over four now, and I am not sure she even remembers John
.
She never speaks of him
.
If I don’t remarry, she’ll never experience what it is to have a father
.
If I remarry soon, she’ll probably never remember a time before her new papa
.

“
It’s n
ot that I want her to forget John
.
I’ll always make sure
Anna
knows what a wonderful man he was, but it would be so much easier for her to accept somebody new into her life now than it will be in a couple of years.”

“I suppose that does make sense
.
Practical, again.”

“Practical
?
Yes, that’s right
.
Having a husband is practical
.
Do you know I’ve manage
d the estates for well over five years now
?
For the first four
years it was simple
.
Everybody just assumed that I was
carrying out
John’s plans
.
I never had a question about what I wanted to do
.
Now, since John’s death, that’s all changed
.
Even when the steward doesn’t actually question me, he shoots me a look that makes me question myself
.
I can give exactly the same order now that I did two
years ago, but now – only now –
it’s very questionable and risky
.
Nobody likes having a woman in charge.”

“Well, clearly not
.
It is well known that the female mind is not suited to such tasks
.
We are made for daintier things than managing estates and worrying about numbers.
”
Marguerite spoke without lifting her eyes from her needlework.

Rose swallowed back her reply
.
Even so, she found herself stuttering, “But . . . but . . . how can you say such a thing
?
I’ve run this house and managed this estate for years
.
Why should it matter whether I have a husband or not?”

“Oh, my poor Rose.
”
Marguerite thrust her needle into the stretched fabric and took her sister’s hands in her own
.
“I know you have had a difficult time since Burberry’s death
.
If only Mama would have let me come immediately
.
No wonder you want another husband, somebody to help lift the burden from your shoulders
.
You should not have been left to manage on your own
.
Burberry should have appointed a guardian to manage things for you.”

“No, that’s not what I wanted at all.
”
Rose separated her hands from her sister’s and stood up
.
She resisted the urge to pace
.
“I am perfectly happy managing the estates
.
I don’t want a husband who will come and take it over
.
That’s my biggest problem in choosing a man
.
I need one who doesn’t want to interfere, one who will appreciate my taking care of him.”

Marguerite chewed on her lower lip, her eyes troubled
.
“I just do not understand you sometimes
.
You want a husband, but one who will not bother you?”

“Yes
.
Well, no
.
I want a companion, but one who will leave me to run my own life, my own properties.”

“That does not sound like a companion to me
.
It sounds like a
–
”

“A what?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Planting her feet, Rose glared down at her sister
.
“You’ve fairly begun
.
Now you must say it, Marguerite.”

Marguerite stared down at her hands
.
“
Well, i
t sounds like a  . . . pet.
”
She
flushed deep as she whispered the last word.

Rose drew air deep into her lungs
.
She wanted to protest her sister’s choice of similes, but could not bear to see Marguerite quiver any more
.
Besides, she knew there was some truth to what her sister said
.
She probably would be happy with a faithful hound, if only he could talk to her on stormy nights, play a good game of chess, and be a father to Anna
.
She grinned at the thought
.

She flipped over her list and considered additions.

“That went well
.
You are a charming hostess
.
So organized.
”
Lady Smythe-Burke sat sipping her after
-
dinner tea as they waited for the gentlemen to join them
.
Or at least she would have sipped if she ever stopped talking
.
“And your staff, far better than one would expect in the country
.
I could give you a few hints, of course
.
When one’s been running a house for as long as I have
,
naturally one learns a few secrets
.
For instance, I must say you may be a touch too familiar with your butler, Watson . . .
”