Page 16 of A Momentary Marriage

“Another brother and a sister.” He seized the conversational diversion. “My sister, Patricia, is given to complaints. Otherwise, she is much like my mother, though less captivating. She is married to Archibald Salstone, whose single virtue is that one day his father will die and Archie will become Lord Salstone. Fortunately, they are not in residence at Grace Hill, but live in some huge and decaying pile of stones in Wiltshire. My youngest brother, Walter, is still at Oxford, though he is as likely to be at home as at school, since he manages to get sent down for something or other regularly.”

“Is that everyone?” she asked when he paused.

James shrugged. “There is Cousin Maurice, but as he will tell you more about himself than you would ever want to hear, I see no need to put you through that twice.”

“You are very hard on them,” Laura said, though she had to laugh at his wry descriptions.

“I assumed you wanted me to be honest.”

“What will they think about our marriage? Will your family dislike it?”

He shrugged. “I hadn’t considered it, really.”

“Of course not.” Laura suppressed a sigh. “They are bound to be taken aback.”

“Because of the haste in which we wed? Or the inconvenient fact that you are in love with my cousin?”

“James!” Laura stiffened. “Surely you cannot think that I would—would—”

“Cuckold me?” He smiled sardonically. “Of course not. I am not the jealous sort. Though I doubt any man would appreciate knowing another man had kissed his wife, however long ago it happened.”

“We didn’t!” Laura protested, heat flooding her cheeks. That wasn’t exactly the truth, but those few innocent kisses weren’t the sort of thing James was implying.

“He never kissed you?” James raised an eyebrow. “What a pity for him.” His eyes flickered to her mouth. “I would not have thought even Graeme was so chaste.”

“Stop it!” Laura straightened, ignoring her deepening blush, as well as the peculiar dancing nerves in her stomach. “What happened between us is none of your business. And I will not stand for you impugning my reputation—or his.”

“Indeed, I would never think of such a thing,” James said gravely. “I know that you and Graeme are both far too saintly to have damaged your reputations—or to do so now. But I see little point in pretending that things are other than they are.”

“I am not in love with your cousin,” Laura told him flatly. “After eleven years, it’s absurd to think that—”

“Is it? And here I believed you quite constant in your affections.”

“Of course I care for Graeme,” she snapped. It was astonishing, really, how easily James could goad her, but even seeing the lurking amusement in his eyes as her temper flared, she could not manage to remain cool and collected. “But I’m not a fool.”

“I never thought you were. Love can make otherwise intelligent people remarkably foolish . . . or so I’ve heard. I will admit that ours is an imperfect situation.” He paused, raising an eyebrow when she snorted indelicately at his words. “Neither of us is our ideal mate, but—”

“Tell me.” Laura leaned forward a little pugnaciously. “Who is your ideal mate? What paragon of virtue would you have chosen if your options had not been, as you said, so ‘limited’?”

“Ah. That stung, did it?” His lips twitched. “Sorry. I was . . . a trifle out of sorts, as I remember.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not true. Come, tell me. You say what you think, whatever your other faults. What sort of woman would you actually want to marry?”

“One who wasn’t so bloody curious, for one thing.”

His words startled Laura into laughter, her irritation fleeing. James looked at her through his thick dark lashes, his smile wickedly teasing, and Laura’s heart stuttered in her chest. She managed to say, “Obviously. What else?”

“Very well, if you must. First . . .” He raised his hand, ticking off his answers on his fingers. “You are much too beautiful.”

She stared. “Your desire was to marry an ugly woman?”

“Not hideous, you understand. She would have to be pleasant enough in appearance that it wouldn’t be a chore to . . . um . . . look at her daily. But truly stunning women require too much time and effort. It’s tiring to be continually paying compliments and fending off admirers.”

“Of course it would be.” Laura rolled her eyes. “But I’m not stunning.”

“There. Already you’re fishing for compliments. You see what I mean about beauties?”

“I’m not asking for compliments!” Laura protested, flushing.