He was confused by her remoteness. He’d assumed she would be furious with him, having imagined she would be bequeathed money, not this mess. But she stood before him, elegant, beautiful and cooly remote. Very different from the natural creature he’d seen in the park. He shrugged. He guessed this wasn’t exactly a normal situation.
“Do you wish to accept my father’s conditions? Mr. Jackson said we can appeal it.”
She looked at him with intelligent, deep brown eyes. He was struck by how dark her eyes were. They were like dark chocolate, inviting and warm, with a depth which made him realize he had to be on guard. She might appear meek at first glance but he understood instinctively he underestimated her at his own peril.
“Yes, I wish to accept.”
“I’m curious. Why would you choose to accept such barbarous conditions?”
“For the same reasons as you, I imagine. It will give me something I desire.”
“I suppose such wealth and status is hard to turn your back on when you came from nothing.”
Her beautiful lips tightened. “I didn’t come from nothing,” she said haughtily.
His ears pricked up. No one had been able to tell him what her and her mother’s background was. “Then where did you come from?”
It was a direct question, and he expected a direct answer. He didn’t expect to be ignored.
“The reason I wish to accept my beloved step-father’s conditions is because…” The lips, which had been tight only moments before, suddenly trembled as she pressed them together, as if trying to stop herself from being overwhelmed by emotion. “Because I love this place. It’s home. It’s the only place I want to be.”
Of all the things he’d imagined her saying, this hadn’t even entered his mind. She shifted her intelligent gaze to him once more.
“You’re surprised,” she said.
“Of course. I imagined you’d have expected a handout.”
She gritted her teeth at his description. “I had imagined,” she said with dignity, “that he might wish to provide for me in some way. After all, we had been close. But no, not a handout. I wouldn’t have accepted a handout. I never asked anything from him. I loved him like a daughter and I believe he’d loved me like a father. More than he’d loved his own sons, that much is certain. More thanyoulovedhim,” she added, the anger bubbling out before she could prevent it.
He thrust his fists into his pockets. “You don’t know what I felt for him. And don’t imagine you do.”
“Imagination plays little part in what I’m doing. It’s crystal clear. I’ve been living here for ten years and neither you, nor your brothers, have ever bothered to pay a visit. Not even when he was sick.”
He opened his mouth to snap back, but sighed instead. She was correct on the facts, but not on the reasons behind them.
“We didn’t know he was sick. No one told us.”
She angled her head. “What do you mean? He told me he’d contacted you all.”
He gave a disdainful laugh. “Truth and lies were all the same to my father.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You can believe what you like. I didn’t suggest we meet because I have any need to convince you of anything. I don’t want your understanding. The only thing I want from you is agreement on how we can manage this ridiculous situation.”
“If this is too ridiculous for you, you can simply walk away. Return to your career of what was it? Ah, I know, gambling and loose women.”
He would have been more angry if the words ‘loose women’ hadn’t amused him with their old-fashioned overtones.
“Put like that and it sounds most appealing.”
“You don’t need the money.”
“How do you know?” Then it dawned on him. “Ah, you must have been doing a little research.” He nodded approvingly. “Good to see my fiancée has a business head on her shoulders.”
“And I don’t care what you think, either,” she retorted sharply. “You haven’t answered my question. Why don’t you walk away?”
“And why would I want to do that?”