she explained anxiously.
“I talked to her about that,” he said. “She said she was
only unhappy because she thought it was a business
arrangement—that Jean-Paul did not really love her. He
had never breathed a word of any affection to her, of
course. It was all done through me. And Pallas hated the
idea of an arranged, loveless marriage. But she is
attracted to him, all right.”
“Oh, dear, I hope I haven’t harmed them,” said Kate,
biting her lip.
“I doubt it,” Marc said. “Jean-Paul must convince her
he loves her, that’s all. She is still very young. He will
have plenty of time.” He reached for her and kissed her
hard. “Never mind them. What about us? When will you
r /> marry me?”
“I don’t know ...” She wriggled uneasily. “Marc, we
come from such different worlds. Do you think we could
make a marriage work?”
He looked very seriously into her eyes. “It has got to
work. I need you too much to let you go. Don’t start all
that again, Kate. I couldn’t bear it. When I saw you with
Jean-Paul tonight at the concert, holding hands like a
pair of lovers, I almost killed him. And I drove back to his
apartment, only to find him out. I waited around the
corner, where I could see when his lights went on, and
then when I got up there, and found you, with your hair
all tousled, as though he’d been making love to you ...”
he drew a deep breath, looking savage. “I am amazed at
how well I controlled my urge to knock him down.”
Kate shivered at the look on his face. “Don’t!” she said