Eden stared into Raven’s eyes, searching for some glimmer of hope that what he said was untrue, but all she saw was the confidence that marked all his actions. He was wrong, though, for he was not the one she could not resist. It was the ease with which he brought Alex back to life that captivated her.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need time to think things through. Losing Alex, the prospect of making a life with you, its all coming too fast. Don’t ask me to make any decisions today. I need more time.”
Raven responded with another possessive kiss. “You know I could keep you in that bed all day and make you agree to anything I want, don’t you?”
Eden nodded. She missed Alex so badly she could not fight the way Raven made her feel. “Please don’t,” she begged softly.
This time when Raven pulled her into his arms, she rested her head on his shoulder. He brushed her hair aside and patted her bare back lightly, glad that she could not see the width of his smile. “You’ll have to make up your mind by the time we leave for Jamaica, because once we set sail, there will be no way for us to marry. I can give you only that long to make your decision.”
“What about Alex’s townhouse?” Eden remembered suddenly. “I could live there!”
That he had completely forgotten about the place annoyed Raven to no end, but he didn’t allow his disgust at that oversight to show in his expression when Eden sat back to face him. “I’m afraid you’d encounter even worse problems in London than here. Your aunt’s circle of friends would shun you for embarrassing her while the men interested in your wealth would simply find it more convenient to call on you there. You would be alone except for the servants, and while they are a competent group, they aren’t fit company for a lady. No, I wouldn’t feel right about leaving you alone in London and I’m certain Alex wouldn’t approve.”
“He’d not approve of my being your mistress either.”
“That, Lady Clairbourne, is entirely up to you. I’ve offered marriage, but if you refuse”
He left the consequences unspoken, but Eden understood. They were not even friends, but she would
not be so foolish as to try and convince herself she could stay away from him. She felt utterly defeated, trapped, and then realized he must feel the same way. “I still think this is unfair to you. You should choose your own bride, not take me because Alex hoped that we might one day wed.”
Raven wondered if it were merely the unusual topaz shade of her eyes that made her glance appear sincere, but she looked truly troubled. He placed a light kiss on her forehead, and rose to his feet. “I owe Alex a great deal, but had he married Stephanie, I wouldn’t have shown her that letter.”
“But Stephanie could have just gone home to her mother.”
Raven shrugged, “I suppose that’s true, but I don’t regard marrying you as an obligation I’ve no choice but to honor. I can think for myself, and I’ll never do anything I don’t truly want to do just because someone else thinks I should.”
“Not even Alex?”
“No, not even Alex. Now let’s not discuss the issue anymore today. I want to visit all the tenants. Alex never raised their rent and I want to assure them that I won’t either. I think the men who have grown wealthy by charging industrious peasants exorbitant rents ought to be prosecuted as criminals. I don’t want any of the people who’ve spent their whole lives on this estate fearing I’ll ever show that type of greed.”
“That’s very generous of you.”
Unable to accept Eden’s compliment graciously, Raven ignored it. “Will you be all right today on your own?”
Eden felt not only tired, but sick to her stomach. Certain that discomfort was due to mental rather than physical anguish, she attempted to smile bravely. “Yes. You needn’t worry about me.”
Eden waited until Raven had left the room before again donning her nightgown and leaving the bed. Still clutching Alex’s letter tightly, she carried it into her room and put it away so that it would not become lost. She just wished Alex had told her he would like her to marry Raven so the suggestion would not have come as such a dreadful shock.
“Oh Alex, I miss you so,” she murmured to herself.
As she bathed and dressed, Eden forced herself to concentrate on the tenants’ welfare. She wanted Briarcliff to always be the beautiful estate Alex had loved and she was grateful that Raven obviously had the same goal.
Raven returned to the manor in time to join Eden for tea. She provided only a vague reply to his inquiry about how she had spent her day, but she looked pale and drawn as though it had been a very difficult one for her. That surprised him since she had buried Alex with such ease. Meaning to dress for dinner, they started up the broad staircase together, but Eden stopped to admire the portrait of Alex that hung on the landing.
“There’s a far better likeness of him in our home on Jamaica,” Raven told her.
“Really? I’m very fond of this one.”
Alex had been only twenty-five at the time but his hair had already begun to turn gray. Raven glanced up the stairway. All of Alex’s ancestors had been handsome, and all the portraits were of them in their twenties since none had lived to any great age.
“Raven?”
“Um?”
“How old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty-seven in November.” When Eden looked back at Alex’s portrait, he understood the full import of her question. “I didn’t inherit the heart condition that killed him. Is that what worries you?”