She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Are you a thief, a murderess?”
“No.”
“Were you married as a young woman, like Eugenia was, and have an assumed-dead husband who might suddenly put in an appearance one day?”
Aurora raised her chin. “I have never been married.”
“Are you in love?”
“No. Never.”
“Very well then,” he said, and then glanced at a nearby drawer. He sighed, thinking of its only contents. “Is that your final decision? You will not marry me?”
Defiance flashed in her eyes. “I am unsuitable for so lofty a position.”
He frowned at her mention of being unsuitable. Hadn’t she alluded to that before too. “Tell me why, please?”
“I cannot.”
He peered at her face. But she’d closed him off again, and he did not believe she would ever give him a satisfactory answer unless she wanted him to know. He’d given her every chance. There would be no marriage between them. No vows spoken, no wedding breakfast with family and friends. No legitimate children that might inherit his title. “You leave me no choice.”
He caught a flash of various emotions crossing her features.
Sadness. Regret. Acceptance.
“That should have been obvious from the start of our affair,” she whispered.
He smiled wryly and stared at the ceiling a moment.
Aurora likely thought she’d won. Convinced him. Pushed him away at last.
How wrong she was. She had only deepened his commitment to her in a way she’d obviously never imagined.
He retrieved a small, heavy box from a drawer. He sat on the edge of the bed next to her, weighing the wisdom of such a gift as he held. He turned it around and around in his hands. It was not a gift he could give to just anyone. It was a gift for a beloved lover, or a wife. Once seen wearing it, people would know something was between them.
Aurora was slow to stir to curiosity. Like a frightened animal afraid to trust that they’ll be well treated, she reached out to calm his fidgets. Her fingers felt cold, and he raised them to his lips and kissed each one. He held her fingers to his cheek and caught her gaze. “You leave me no choice but to extend an offer that you become my mistress.”
Her eyes widened in shocked surprise, and she gaped at him for a long while.
He had her attention now. He meant to keep it forever. “Aurora Hillcrest, my dear lady, I offer you this town house to live in, a generous allowance, as many servants as you need to do your bidding and more. A town carriage and the finest clothes money can buy.”
“Drew!”
“And me, of course.” He counted her use of his given name a vast improvement of their intimacy. “If you will not be my wife, I have no choice but to suggest the only alternative that is left to me. I will not give you up. No matter how often you run from us. What we have begun is far from over.”
Her eyes were huge, and her pale hand fluttered at her throat. Although a blush brightened her cheeks, she was at last fully engaged with his intentions to have a serious conversation about the future of their association.
Aurora could not be rushed, and he was done fighting the inevitable. Respectability was optional. If the only way Aurora could be his was outside of matrimony, he’d gladly create a scandal to be with her. The days spent apart had been aimless, waiting for the moment they’d be together again. He needed her.
She remained silent, staring at him as if she’d never seen a man so desperately hoping for love before. He went willingly anywhere she led him. Living a scandalous life together was much better than an empty one alone.
“You cannot tell me you’re suddenly adverse to my company and adoration? I know you well, and you know me. If marriage is to be denied us, I will have whatever is left of your life to claim. I want you and no other.”
She stared, wonder in her eyes. “I would never say I didn’t want you. I just never imagined you would be satisfied with anything less than a bride. All the times you spoke of the future it was about finding a wife, from the right family, with the right connections, and it seemed that was all you would accept. I thought you too proper to keep a mistress.”
He shrugged. “I never wanted to before. I will do whatever it takes to be with you, Aurora,” he promised, kissing her fingers. “You are my dream come true.”