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“He did not want a daughter,” he said, and noticed the way she flinched. “He did not love my sister, and she did not love him. But she would have stayed with him for the sake of the child. However, after she passed, he decided he wished to start over. He sent her to me, but I believe if I had not kept her, he might have deposited her in an orphanage.”

He heard the anger creeping into his voice again. “I could not allow that to happen.”

He watched as she looked at Emma, who was falling asleep once more.

“And you took her in.”

“Of course. I know what it is not to be wanted.”

She took this in and then, gently, placed Emma back in her crib. Then, she rose to her full height and faced him, her visage illuminated by the moonlight.

“I accept. I shall marry you.”

Nine

“Iaccept. I shall marry you.”

The words had scarcely left Marina’s lips before their significance settled upon her. She had agreed to marry the Duke of Griffin.

Good heavens.

For a moment, she could do nothing but stare at him. He seemed equally incapable of speech, which was a remarkable achievement for a gentleman who had shown himself quite capable of finding something to say on almost every occasion they had met.

His brows had risen ever so slightly. For one fleeting moment, the formidable Duke of Griffin looked like a man who had never truly expected to be accepted, and the discovery caused something tender and altogether unfamiliar to stir within her.

He understood loneliness and rejection. Despite his bravado all evening, he had been acting, pretending. Just as she often had.

She didn’t know how she could be so certain based only on the way he had looked in that split second, but she knew it.

Then she remembered precisely what she had agreed to.

“However,” she said quickly, before either of them could become too comfortable with the arrangement, “there is something we must make perfectly clear.”

His expression changed, though whether he was amused or alarmed, she could not tell.

“Only one thing, Lady Whitmore?”

“Yes. One thing. And it is of vital importance.” She took him by the arm and walked him out of the nursery, not wishing to wake the baby. Oh, the baby. It was true that the precious little one had inspired her quick acceptance. But not only her. His impassioned speech and his evident disgust at Emma’s father’s actions had also played their part. He had reacted in almost the opposite way to her first husband and that had moved her to accept him as her second.

Well. Provided he met her condition.

Out in the hall, they stopped. Sconces burned brightly, casting shadows along the hall.

“So? You have my undivided attention.”

Marina drew herself up.

“I have lived independently for six years. I have my cottage, my glasshouse, my books, and a life I have made for myself. I do not intend to surrender all of it simply because I have agreed to become your wife.”

Ambrose regarded her steadily.

“I have not asked you to surrender it.”

“Not yet.”

“Nor shall I.”

The simplicity of his answer took her somewhat by surprise.