“But we can dissolve the marriage later so I can marry…” She shook her head. Harry was gone, but her mind still struggled with the loss. A fresh set of tears flowed down her cheeks at the cruelty of life that stole the people she loved. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly before rephrasing her response. “We can part ways later so I can live my own life.”
“After my sisters are settled, we will have the marriage annulled or I will sue for divorce,” he promised.
She blinked. Neither prospect would leave her with any sort of good reputation. “A short-term arrangement would be preferred. It could take years for them to fall in love.”
“Or a season—if you help me with them.” Captain Ford folded his arms across his chest as he swayed from foot to foot. “There are a number of things I need to know for the marriage contract. Your exact age, please?”
“I am not yet twenty years.”
He grunted. “Do you have a relation or guardian I need to speak with to obtain permission to marry you?”
“I have no one.” She pressed her hand over her face. Her mother, a gypsy with a restless nature, had discarded her years ago and could hardly care what she did with her life or worry what might have become of her. “I had no one but Harry, and now he’s gone.”
“As I feared.” He sighed deeply. “The season is drawing to a close, and for the ruse to work you must act the part of my wife immediately. There are gowns to be fitted, invitations to accept if we are to chaperone my sisters in society during the coming weeks. You cannot continue to weep over your former betrothed like this.”
She dropped her hands. “I just heard he was gone.”
“He left a year ago.” His face set into stubborn lines. “You’ve had adequate time to forget him.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “There will never be enough time for that.”
“Then I suggest you weep in private.”
“How can you be so unfeeling?” She clenched her hands until her nails dug into her palms, her anger giving her the courage to confront him. Something she’d never done before. “Don’t you dare tell me what I may feel. You may think you control my actions because I am—was—in your service, but my thoughts are very much my own and always have been.”
His jaw clenched and his arms unfolded slowly. “Be careful how you speak to me, Matilda. Do not forget who I am.”
“How could I forget that?” But she trembled at the tone of his voice. “You care only for your own comfort.”
“Which is how it is supposed to be when a man is a bachelor and lives alone.” He sighed. “I have depended on you, trusted you above anyone else these past months. Trust me now. I will take care of you, I promise. You will have a very comfortable life ahead if you just do as I ask for now.”
He sounded sincere enough that her temper subsided. Matilda turned away from him. “I will keep my heartbreak to myself because it is mine alone.”
He grasped her shoulders, preventing her from straying far. “No one in London society knows who you are, so that is to our advantage. You’ve been by my side for months and understood my moods better than anyone, even when I could not speak. Given the depths of our acquaintance, I think you could fool anyone into believing we’re man and wife. Acting as my wife would put me forever in your debt.”
“You were not so complicated when you were confined to bed,” she grumbled. Matilda had liked caring for him though, knowing he improved every day because of her efforts. But marriage was madness. She might have once been curious about London society, having listened to the Fords speak so often about their friends and acquaintances, including all the wild and wonderful entertainments to be found in other houses, but she’d never expected to be part of that life. Not even for a little while.
Their eventual separation would cause scandal for his family. The duke would not be pleased. However, with William’s sisters married off, would there really be no impediment to prevent it?
She turned when the captain remained silent for several minutes. Captain Ford’s face was tipped downward, his attention lowered. With a start she formed a suspicion he had been staring at a part of her anatomy only he had ever seen.
His gaze rose very slowly; his lips were parted and the tip of his tongue rested on his teeth. She shivered at the heated intensity of his expression.
Matilda drew herself up straight, determined not to be intimidated by him. “Was the prospect of marrying Miss Chudleigh so utterly terrifying, Captain, that you’d offer so much without limits?”
“There are limits. To my purse and my patience, as you well know.”
She shivered at the mention of his temper. If she did something he didn’t like, would he turn her over his knee again?
“Let me clarify my relationship with Miss Chudleigh because you need to know what I don’t like about the woman. Our fathers are close friends. Because of that connection, my female cousins befriended her, an awkward girl who was never asked to dance. They eased her way into society. I was persuaded to stand up with her once, and since that day she has followed me around with melting eyes in the hopes I’d single her out again. I have needed to leave entertainments because she followed me relentlessly round and round the ballroom in the most embarrassing fashion. Enough so people were laughing about her infatuation and commenting upon it. She knows nothing of me except that I’m the grandson of a duke.”
“You can be kind when it suits,” Matilda whispered, concerned for the woman’s state of mind. One dance was not enough reason to bind yourself to William Ford. “If your sisters do not make a match in two years will I be able to retire from society regardless?”
“You have my word this marriage is a temporary arrangement. If my sisters choose not to marry at all, we will discuss together what to do next.” He frowned as his hands fell away, his fingers curled into a fist at his side. “Society will be easy to fool.”
“Forgive me that I have not your confidence. I might know your nature, but you do not have the faintest idea of mine. I have no experience in being a lady.”
“I will ensure you have everything you need.”