“Yes, I should have.” Self-disgust twisted his gut. “But, Sophie, an honorable man doesn’t risk compromising the woman he loves.”
Her rage didn’t abate. He hadn’t expected that it would. “Now James is sending me to my great-aunt in Northumberland.”
He’d expected something like this, but hearing about it still struck him like a blow. He fought back the despair that had gripped him since Leath’s brusque dismissal. “I’ll follow you.”
She shook her head. “My great-aunt is a dragon and she lives in the middle of a village full of busybodies. James told her that I’m allowed to go to church and that’s it.”
Harry surged to his feet and seized her hands. “When do you leave?”
Halfheartedly she tried to pull away. “Tomorrow.”
His heart plunged. “So soon?”
“Yes.”
Still Harry refused to accept that Leath had won. “And how long are you away?”
“A month.” Tears trembled on Sophie’s long eyelashes. “If I’m good.”
Harry wanted to curse Leath’s tyranny, but he was worldly enough to recognize that the man acted in what he considered were Sophie’s best interests. “I’m up to circumventing a mere aunt.”
An unconvincing attempt at a smile. “She’s not a mere aunt. She’s a bluestocking and a man-hater and she has huge dogs.”
“For you, I’d brave a pack of hungry lions. What’s a dog or two?”
“Harry, stop it,” she said on a pleading note. “When we’re parted, you’ll forget me.”
Shock made him drop her hands and step back, drawing up to his full height until he towered over her. “What the hell do you mean?”
She twisted her hands in her filmy skirts. “There are so many pretty debutantes this year.”
“Oh, my darling.” Devastation flooded him. How could she think him so fickle? He caught her in his arms. “Never, never think that.”
“How can I help it? James does nothing but talk about your intrigues.” She stood stiffly in his embrace. “You’re so handsome and charming. Every girl in London wants you.”
He was appalled to realize that this vulnerability predated today’s quarrel. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.” His voice lowered. “I’ve laid my heart at your feet, sweetheart, and there it will stay. I’ll kindly ask you not to kick it.”
“Of course I won’t kick it.” He was mightily relieved to see the doubt fade from her eyes. “I’m glad that you’ll love me forever.”
“Forever. So what’s a month?” Endless purgatory, but he didn’t say that. “We can write.”
She rested her head on his chest. Touching her made Harry’s world revolve in the right direction. Heaven help him if she succumbed to family pressure and accepted Desborough. Harry would be useless to man and beast.
“No, we can’t. I need to buckle down and behave or James won’t let me finish the season. He said he’s happy to let me rusticate until I marry Desborough.”
Harry’s heart pounded in frantic denial against her cheek. “You’re not marrying Desborough.”
“I don’t want to.” She released a broken sigh. “Why is this so difficult? I think I hate James.”
“No, you don’t. He’s just trying to protect you.”
“But he won’t let me marry you. He was scathing about your request to court me.”
Harry grimaced. “I’ll wager he was more scathing to my face. It was perfectly clear that he’d give you to a rabid dog before he’d give you to Harry Thorne.”
She stared at him. “If he knew you as I do, he’d understand.”
“Perhaps.” Harry was far from sure. “He isn’t completely wrong, my darling. I have no fortune and the world considers me a wastrel. Even if we marry, I only have my allowance from Elias and even that’s looking devilish shaky right now.” His voice descended into glumness. “Perhaps you’d be better off marrying someone else.”