Patience licked her lips again; under his gaze, they'd started to throb. "Will that-them leaving town-create problems if Gerrard's still in Devil's care?"
"No." Vane lifted his gaze to her eyes. "I'll assume the charge!"
Patience mouthed a silent "Oh."
"But tell me." Vane pushed away from the mantelpiece and straightened. "Has anything happened here?" He started to unbutton his coat.
"No." Patience managed to find enough breath for a sigh. "Alice hasn't been sighted since this morning." She glanced at Vane. "She saw you in the corridor last night."
Vane frowned, and shrugged out of his coat. "What the devil was she doing up at that hour?"
Patience shrugged, and watched him toss his coat on the chair. "Whatever, she didn't come down for dinner. Everyone else did, but all were understandably subdued."
"Even Henry?"
"Even Henry. Whitticombe preserved a censorious silence. The General spent the entire time grumbling, and snapping at anyone who loomed in his path. Edgar and Edith kept their heads down, together for the most part, whispering. About what I know not." Vane's fingers closed about the buttons of his waistcoat. Patience drew a tight breath. "Edmond's succumbed to his muse again. Angela is quietly happy because she got her comb back. Henry, however, was idling about because he couldn't find anyone with whom to play billiards."
Patience shifted, giving Vane space to strip off his waistcoat. "Oh-there was one point of interest-Mrs. Chadwick quietly asked Minnie and me if she could search Gerrard's bureau for her missing earring. Poor dear, it seemed the least we could do. I went with her-we searched high and low, and through all the other drawers, too. There was no sign of it anywhere."
She turned to Vane-just as he freed his cravat and drew the long strip from his neck. His gaze on her, he held it between his hands. "So," he murmured, his tone deep, "nothing of any moment happened here."
Her gaze transfixed by the long strip of linen, Patience tried to speak and couldn't-she shook her head.
"Good." The word was a feral purr. With a negligent flick, Vane sent the cravat to join his coat. "So there's nothing to distract you."
Patience dragged her gaze up to his face. "Distract me?"
"From the subject we need to discuss."
"You want to discuss something?" She hauled in a breath and tried to steady her giddy head.
Vane trapped her gaze. "You. Me." His face hardened. "Us."
With a supreme effort, Patience raised her brows. "What about 'us'?"
A muscle in his jaw flickered. From the corner of her eye, she saw his fist clench. "I," he declared, "have reached the end of my tether."
He stepped toward her; she took a sliding step back.
"I do not approve of any situation that leaves you a target for the likes of such as the Colbys-regardless of whether said situation arises from my actions or otherwise." His lips a thin line, he stepped forward; Patience instinctively edged back. "I cannot, and will not, condone any scenario whereby your reputation is in any way sullied-ev
en by me with the best of intentions."
He continued to stalk her; she continued to retreat. Patience longed to whirl around and scurry out of his reach, but she didn't dare take her eyes from his. "What are you doing here then?"
She was trapped, mesmerized-she knew he'd soon pounce. As if to confirm that, his eyes narrowed, and he tugged his shirt from his waistband. Without taking his eyes from her, he started undoing the buttons, still advancing, still forcing her to retreat. Toward the bed.
"I'm here"-he bit the words off-"because I can't see any sense in being anywhere else. You're mine-henceforth, you sleep with me. As you're sleeping here at the moment, ergo, so do I. If my bed is not yet yours, then yours will have to be mine."
"You just said you didn't want my reputation sullied."
His shirt fell fully open. He continued to advance. Patience didn't know where to look. Where she most wanted to look.
"Precisely. So you'll have to marry me. Soon. Which is what we need to discuss." With that, he looked down, and unlaced his cuffs.
Poised to seize the moment to dash to safety, Patience froze. "I don't have to marry you."
He looked up, and stripped off his shirt. "Not in that sense, no. But for you, marriage to me is inevitable. All we need to determine-what we are going to determine-tonight-is what it's going to take to make you agree."