A Reckless Promise. Kasey Michaels

might want to apply to Rigby on that one, as he believes the feat extraordinary when he does it. I can, however, see the merit in a marriage of convenience between us. Purely a business arrangement. And think how pleased Marley will be, to know for certain that you’re not going to leave her. Consider the child, Sadie Grace.”

      “I can’t believe this is happening.”

      “Oh, come now, am I that terrible? I’m fairly attractive, even with the patch. My teeth are good, I bathe on a regular basis and am complimented on my abilities on the dance floor. Oh, yes, I’m also so very wealthy I could grow old just counting my money. In short, I’m quite the coup.”

      “And so modest with it all, although I suppose I do appreciate the bathe regularly part of your self-serving description. You did, however, neglect to mention that you can be exceedingly annoying, entirely too enthralled by your own wit, not to exclude the fact that you don’t really do anything, do you, my lord?”

      “Do anything? I’m a viscount. That’s what I do.”

      Why couldn’t she stop talking? Was she trying to get herself booted out the door?

      “That was an accident of birth. But what have you done that you can point to and say, ‘I did this thing. I made this difference’?”

      He pushed at his left temple. “Are we having our first fight, Sadie Grace?”

      “Do you feel useful, my lord?”

      “At the moment? No. Shall we make it a part of our business arrangement that you save me from my feckless ways and point my toes in the direction of good works?”

      “There could be worse fates,” Sadie said, suddenly feeling more in control of her own future, which she hadn’t done for a long, long time. “I do not wish for Marley to grow up believing she is nothing more than a fashionable ornament.”

      “So you’re accepting my proposal?”

      She looked at him curiously. Why so suddenly formal? “I thought I had no real choice.”

      “There are always choices, Sadie Grace. I need to hear you tell me that we will marry.”

      “Perhaps you’d like me to write it down?” she asked, yes, facetiously.

      “I’ve already seen one example of your letter-writing skills. A simple yes will do.”

      “Very well, then,” she said, getting to her feet once more. “Yes. Yes, my lord, I agree to our arrangement.”

      “Not my lord, but Darby,” he said as he rose, as well. “And I like to think of our marriage more as a bargain, with benefits on both sides.”

      “That only seems fair. A bargain, with benefits on both sides, I imagine, although I’m not quite certain what you believe to be your benefits. But we really must rejoin the ladies now.”

      He followed behind her, down the hallway, down the stairs, and only said as they stepped into the drawing room: “About my benefits, Sadie Grace. Did I perhaps fail to mention that I’ll want an heir?”