Mystique (18 page)

“Alice—”

“I cannot allow it, sir. Indeed, I will not allow it.”

“You won’t?”

“We made a bargain, sir. I owe it to you to keep you from breaking it.”

Hugh braced himself on his elbows. “I promise you, I am in full control of my passion.”

“You may believe that to be true, sir, but ‘tis obvious you are not at all in control. Just look at yourself, my lord. If you were exerting your usual degree of self-mastery, you would have stopped several minutes ago.”

“Why?” he asked flatly.

“Because you would not wish to find yourself caught in a trap,” she snapped, thoroughly exasperated.

“Alice,” he said with ill-concealed impatience, “what if I told you that I am quite willing to go through with the marriage?”

“That’s impossible.”

“Give me one good reason why it’s impossible,” he growled.

She glared up at him. “I can think of a hundred but the most obvious is that I would make you a dreadful wife.”

Hugh stilled. Then, very slowly, he sat up beside her. “What in the name of the devil makes you say that?”

“I am not at all what you require in a wife, my lord.” Alice fumbled with her clothing. “We both know that.”

“Do we? I disagree. I do not think we both know that.” Hugh loomed over her. “In truth, I believe one of us is confused.”

“I know, my lord, but try not to become overanxious about it. You will soon come to your senses.”

“I am not the one who is confused, Alice.”

She eyed him warily. “You’re not?”

“Nay.” He watched her coldly. “What makes you think that you would not make me a good wife?”

She was taken aback by the outrageous question. “‘Tis obvious, my lord.”

“Not to me.”

A strange sense of desperation descended on her. “I can bring you nothing. As the lord of a manor, you are in a position to wed an heiress.”

He shrugged. “I do not require an heiress.”

“Is this some sort of nasty game you are playing with me, sir?”

“I do not play games. I believe that you would make me a good wife and I am willing to turn our bargain into a true betrothal. Where is the problem?”

Realization hit her. She narrowed her eyes. “Have you come to this decision simply because I am convenient, sir?”

“That is only one of several reasons,” he assured her.

Alice had an overwhelming urge to kick him in the shin. She restrained herself with an effort and because, given their present positions, such an action was not practical.

“What are the other reasons, pray tell?” she asked through her teeth.

He seemed to find nothing odd about her tone of
voice. Instead, he took the question quite literally. “From what I have observed of you during the past three days, Alice, ‘tis apparent that you have a sound understanding of loyalty, duty, and honor.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

“The manner in which you have fought to defend your brother’s future,” he explained.

“I see. Anything else?”

“You are intelligent and practical by nature. I admire that in a woman. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

“Pray continue, sir.”

“You appear to be well versed in the arts of household management.” Hugh was clearly warming to his subject. “I place a high value on professional abilities of any kind. I believe in employing only the most skilled craftsmen and the most talented stewards, for example.”

“Do go on, sir.” Alice could barely speak. “This is fascinating.”

“You are obviously healthy and strong. That is important, of course.”

“Aye.” She would throttle him, Alice decided. “Is there more?”

He shrugged. “That is all, I think. Except for the obvious fact that you are free to wed, as am I. And we are already betrothed. That makes everything quite simple and straightforward.”

“Efficiency and convenience.”

“Aye.” Hugh looked pleased at her intelligent grasp of the matter.

“My lord, I would have you know that I do not consider it any great thing to be wed simply because I can manage a household and I happen to be conveniently at hand.”

Hugh frowned. “Why not?”

Because if I am to marry, I wish it to be for love
, her heart whispered silently. Alice beat back the illogical response. Hugh would never comprehend it. “It seems somewhat cold-blooded.”

“Cold-blooded?” Hugh looked startled. “Nonsense. ‘Tis a most reasonable approach.”

“Reasonable?”

“Aye. It seems to me that you and I are in the unusual position of being able to make our own decision on the matter. That decision will be based upon a practical knowledge of each other’s temperaments and skills. Think of it as a continuation of our bargain, Alice.”

Alice felt herself turn warm. “But I had plans to enter a convent. I had intended to devote myself to investigations of natural philosophy.”

“You can study natural philosophy as my wife,” Hugh said in a soft, deeply seductive tone. “You shall have both the time and the income with which to finance your investigations if you wed me.”

“Hmm.”

“Think of it, Alice,” Hugh said as though offering her a treasure chest of gems. “Unlimited opportunities to purchase books, astrolabes, and alchemical apparatus shall be yours. You will be able to collect all the odd stones that catch your attention. You may have any number of dried insects. Pile them all the way to the ceiling of your study chamber, if you like.”

“My lord, I do not know what to say. Everything is spinning about in my head. I do not believe that I have recovered from your kisses. I think you had best leave.”

He hesitated for a tension-filled moment. Alice held her breath, sensing the struggle going on within him. He was a passionate man, she thought. But he was completely in control of that passion.

“If that is your wish.” He rose from the pallet with predatory grace. “Think upon what I have said, Alice. You and I will suit each other well, I can offer you everything the convent can offer and more.”

“My lord, I pray that you will give me ample time to contemplate this proposal.” Alice fumbled with her gown as she got to her feet. She felt tousled and disheveled and more than a little disgruntled. “This is all happening much too quickly.”

Hugh narrowed his eyes. He looked as if he wanted to argue. Instead, he brushed his mouth lightly across hers. In the instant of fleeting contact, Alice could feel the powerful force of the control he was exerting over himself. She shivered.

“Very well.” Hugh lifted his head. “There is no need to give me your answer tonight. You may think upon it.”

“Thank you, sir.” She wondered if he noticed the tart sarcasm in her words.

“But do not take too long,” Hugh advised. “I do not have a great deal of time to waste on such a simple matter. There is much to be done at Scarcliffe. I need a wife who is also a reliable business partner.”

He was gone before Alice thought to dump the contents of the flagon of wine over his head.

She consoled herself with the realization that there would doubtless be other opportunities.

H
ugh had not realized how dreary the village of Scarcliffe was until he rode into it three days later with Alice at his side. This was the place where he had been born. It was where he now intended to carve out a future for himself and his descendants. It had not appeared nearly so drab to him when he had set out from it in search of the green crystal a short while ago.

The image of Scarcliffe that had burned in his imagination for weeks now was of how it would appear in the future.

He had plans for this manor. Great plans.

In a year or two Scarcliffe would begin to sparkle as brightly as a fine jewel. The fields would burst with an abundance of crops. The wool on the sheep would be thick and soft. The cottages would be clean and in good repair. The villagers would be content, prosperous, and well-fed.

But today he was forced to view it through Alice’s eyes. He had to admit that one could say the village bore more resemblance to a lump of coal than a polished gem.

Hugh, who normally paid little attention to such minor
inconveniences as the weather, was irritated to see that it had recently rained. The ominous, leaden sky did not add to the questionable charms of Scarcliffe. The stone keep itself, which loomed beyond the village, was hidden in a shroud of gray fog.

Hugh cast an uneasy glance at Alice to gauge her reaction to his new lands. She did not notice his wary scrutiny.

She was slender and graceful in the saddle. Her red hair blazed, a bright, cheerful flame set to ward off the encroaching gray mist. She appeared intent on her surroundings, her intelligent features serious and studious as she examined the village.

Her curiosity, as always, was aroused, Hugh realized, but he could not tell what she thought about that which she viewed. He wondered if she was dismayed, disgusted, or disdainful.

Given the bleak picture of Scarcliffe, it was very possible that she was experiencing all three emotions. She was, after all, a lady who was too fastidious to eat in a man’s great hall. She ordered her food specially cooked and her clothes seemed to be always fresh and sweet-scented.

She no doubt found the barren fields and dismal little village distasteful.

Hugh was forced to admit that the untidy collection of thatched cottages, most of which were in need of repair, together with their accompanying goat pens and pigsties, did not present an inspiring sight. The afternoon air was heavy. It bore the unmistakably rank odor of the village ditch where the refuse of years lay moldering.

The tumbledown stone wall that surrounded the small convent and the church spoke of long neglect. The recent rain had done nothing to cleanse Scarcliffe. It had merely deepened the mud in the single rutted street.

Hugh clenched his teeth. If Alice was not particularly impressed with this view of the village and nearby fields, she was going to be appalled by the sight of Scarcliffe Keep.

He told himself he would worry about that problem later. In the meantime he had an announcement to make, one he intended should carry across his lands and into the halls of his neighbors. All would know that Hugh the Relentless
had returned with proof that he was the rightful lord of Scarcliffe.

He had pushed his company hard, determined to arrive in Scarcliffe on market day. As he had anticipated, virtually everyone who belonged on the manor and its surrounding farms was gathered in the narrow street to witness the triumphant return of their new lord.

This should have been a moment of enormous satisfaction, Hugh thought. He had it all now. He had retrieved the green crystal and he had betrothed himself to a suitable lady. He was ready to settle down as lord of Scarcliffe.

But things were not going as smoothly as he had planned and that made him uneasy. He was said to have a talent for stratagems. Some claimed he had a mage’s skill at such. But something had gone badly awry the other night when he had tried to convince Alice to make their betrothal genuine.

He was still stinging from the blow she had unwittingly landed.
She acted as though she preferred the convent to sharing a marriage bed with him
.

That news did not set well, especially now that he suspected that he would very likely walk through hell if it meant an opportunity to finish what he had begun between her soft thighs.

His body grew taut and hard whenever he recalled the way she had shivered in his arms. As he had spent much of the journey with just such thoughts plaguing him, he had passed the time in an uncomfortable condition.

Leaving Alice alone in the tent the other night and the two nights since had taken more heroic effort than a dozen forays on the jousting field. What annoyed Hugh the most was the realization that in her innocence, she had no appreciation of how much self-mastery he had been forced to wield. In truth, the stunningly volatile nature of his own need made him deeply wary but it did nothing to lessen his desire.

Acknowledging his own ravenous appetite for Alice’s sweet, warm body had been one of the most difficult things Hugh had ever done.

He had spent the past three nights staring at the stars
while he concocted excuses for his fierce urge to claim her. There were logical reasons for his thundering blood and deep hunger and he had enumerated all of them as though he were doing sums on his abacus.

He had been too long without a woman
.

He had always been attracted to the unusual and Alice was nothing if not unique
.

The promise of passion in her green eyes was enough to compel any man with the wit to perceive it
.

And touching her had been akin to touching the heart of a storm
.

Aye, there were reasons enough to explain why he had just finished a hard ride in a state of near arousal.

But unlike his abacus, which always gave him a satisfactory answer, none of the explanations had done much to lighten Hugh’s grim mood. If anything, they darkened it.

No matter how he examined the situation he was forced to come to the same conclusion. He wanted Alice with a degree of desire that was dangerous. He would have to exert more care in the future.