“Your father is a cautious man,” he muttered to himself as she narrated why she did not ride alone to the park. That was information about his future wife that he needed to take note – she had the tendency to run away. Next thing he needed to learn was the reason for her to run away. Maybe he could induce the circumstances where she would steal one of the horses and ride away from home in the middle of the night. Her leaving him was one way to quickly end the marriage. Then again, until he was done with his mission, it might be wise to stick to the plan rather than waste more time fetching another bride.

He stepped aside, allowing Claire to approach Nightshade. Ms. Abbott seemed to like Nightshade and the horse liked her the same way. In a way, she was lucky that Nicholas’ favorite steed was tame and almost friendly with strangers. There were a couple of horses in the stables which he thought were socially dysfunctional. Nevertheless, he watched with mild amusement as the lady let her bare hand stroke the horse’s neck. She spoke without looking at him as if Nightshade was a more interesting visual subject than himself. He should be insulted had it not be Nightshade, but Nicholas adored the creature he conceded to its majesty. 

[i]“First of all, I know it isn’t polite to meet in secret. You don’t have to act like I’m a child that doesn’t know how to act. I understand the confusion with my…background. But I simply meant away from our fathers. They obviously have too much influence, I’m sorry for the confusion. So if meeting at the park is making you uncomfortable, we can go elsewhere.”[/i]

She sounded offended, he thought. Was it something he said or wrote? As far as he was concerned, he did just state the facts that proper ladies should not consent to meet with a gentleman alone. She seemed comfortable with private meetings, perhaps she did it often. Perhaps in his spare time, he could investigate the gentlemen who were previously invited by Ms. Claire Abbott to join her in a private meeting. He wanted to point out how comfortable seemed, appearing alone in Hyde Park, with just one coachman who she sent away, but that was not his goal that afternoon.

“Did I offend you, Ms. Abbott?” he asked, pretending to be confused with the way her pretty eyes were glaring at him. “If I did, then I must apologize. I did not mean any insult, I was just teasing.” 

It didn’t help. The coldness in her glare didn’t waver, if anything, he only accomplished to maybe give her more reasons to get mad at him. [i] “Nicholas, why are you doing this? Please stop being polite and be frank with me. After last night nothing you say will convince me this is out of love. So is it the money? Because there are some very wealthy women out there that would need only a few sweet nothings whispered in their ear before they were yours. I guess what I’m asking is- my reputation has kept everyone else away. Why not you?”[/i]

What a difficult question. Nick closed his eyes and massaged his temples as if he was starting to have a headache. “I knew you would interpret it in a bad way, but last night was not what it looked like,” he sighed, opened his eyes and took a step closer to her. “Although you, as my bride, have the right to know that I did flirt with a couple of other women last night. But before you start cursing me in your head, hear me out. I did that because I represent our family’s business. It’s, ah…. It’s a strategy to attract new clients and widen our network. I need to build rapport with potential customers or business partners that was why I spoke to several other ladies other than you.” He covered her hand, which was stroking Nightshade’s neck, with his, then carefully withdrew it from the steed only to capture with both his hands. “I would kneel here and now in front of you Ms. Abbott if that is what your forgiveness requires. I do not wish to enter into this marriage because of money, my family is rich I have no further need of it.” 

Claire was not the typical lady, he was sure of it. Whether or not he liked her, she was going to be his wife and he would be living with her for a period of time. The only way, he thought, to make that period of time peaceful, was to keep her happy. If she would not back down from the marriage, then he had no choice but to charm her to submission.

Nicholas lifted the knuckles of her ungloved hand to his lips. Her hand was so soft and pale, the hands of a princess who perhaps had no idea regarding the difference of house chore and hard labor. “I am not like everyone else,” he whispered, lifting his blue gaze to hers. “I don’t want to be, because what I do want is to be around you day and night. I want to fall asleep every night, watching your sleeping face, and then wake up the following morning to your embrace. I you require reason why I am doing this, here it is – you.”

To be able to say it with an honest longing on his face was something he would brag about in the future. Truth was, he wanted to give her one of the horses in his stables just so she would run away and never return.