She had no idea how wrong she was. “I have sufficient titles, wealth, and land that I needn’t go seeking them in a wife. I only require an intelligent, well-bred lady of marriageable age who will bear my children.”
“Under your requirements, you would find hundreds of suitable ladies.”
He spread his hands, feigning regret. “Alas, the laws of Italy decree I cannot marry hundreds. I’ve chosen you.”
“But for all you know, I could be unchaste.” She leaned forward meaningfully. “Or a candidate for bedlam.”
“Are you?” he inquired.
She drew back. “I’d hardly reveal it if I were.”
He smiled, enjoying her. “It’s of no moment. Our contract allows me to annul our marriage on several counts, including those you mentioned. Come, unlike your aunt, I would not have you ignorant.” He drew her to sit at the desk. Leaning over her, he began to outline the meaning of each paragraph of the agreement in turn.
“Here I require you to accept the surname of Satyr rather than keeping that of your father, as would be customary in Italian marriages.”
His desire to stamp his name on his wife didn’t surprise her. But it was the least of her concerns.
“And here it says the marriage may be annulled for a number of reasons.”
“Voided, you mean?” she interrupted. “As though it had never existed?”
He nodded, and she marveled at his conceit in suggesting such an idea.
“As you see here,” he went on, enumerating the clauses, “I may petition for annulment in the event you prove not to be virginal.”
She blushed furiously at this, glad her bent head hid her reddened cheeks.
“Likewise,” he continued matter-of-factly, “I may do so if you deny me husbandly rights, prove unfaithful, or if you don’t produce an heir within a reasonable amount of time.”
“The latter is hardly fair,” she pointed out.
“But necessary. And, in the event of an annulment, I will of course provide a comfortable allowance for you.”
Hope rose within her. With such a settlement, she and Emma could be free. Able to live as independent women.
“Am I too plainspoken?”
“On the contrary,” she told him. “Your lack of subterfuge inspires trust.”
“Sufficient trust that you will agree to my proposal?” he murmured above her.
Jane stared at the words dancing across the page, her mind examining the choices open to her.
If they married, she would have access to his lands. On that ancient ground, plants such as moly might exist that could help her—help her sister—before it was too late. Definitely an argument in favor of wedding him.
But he would touch her. Could she keep herself from melding? He didn’t strike her as a man who would miss much of what she was. An argument against.
Still, he no doubt had business interests that would often take him from home. Perhaps he would spend so little time in her company he’d never notice his wife was an unnatural freak. A plus.
And he wasn’t Signore Nesta. A definite plus.
“Do you enjoy children?” Nick prompted, breaking into her thoughts. “More specifically, are you prepared to bear mine?”
She stood and slid from the desk and him. If she could be certain they wouldn’t share her taint, she would gladly bear his children. She would shower them with all the affection her family had denied her.
A few feet away, she turned, clasping her elbows with her hands.
“One cannot predict the likelihood or timing of heirs with any great certainty.”
Secrets flashed in his eyes. “Thus my inclusion of the clause. Make no mistake—the production of heirs is of paramount importance in my association with you. Should you prove unable or unwilling to provide them, I must have the freedom to form an alliance with another.”
Approaching her, he tilted her chin up and waited until her eyes met his.
Surprisingly, no visions came to her at his touch.
“Do you understand what that entails?” he asked.
She glanced at him sharply. Did he refer to childbirth or to…?
“Do you understand what will happen in our marriage bed?” he clarified.
She wriggled, and he allowed her to shrug free. “Your questions are premature. Before we reach an agreement, I have requirements of my own.”
He folded his arms, half sitting against the desk. “Go on.”
“My sister, Emma. You know of her?”
He nodded.
“Since our mother’s death, I have provided for Emma’s care. If I were to wed, I’d wish to have her with me, to raise her as my own daughter. And I’d want to keep a promise that was made to her that she might attend the school of her choosing. She’s quite intelligent.”
“Of course,” he agreed easily.
“It may prove costly,” she cautioned.
He lifted his fingers in a careless gesture that was innately Italian. “Its cost is of no consequence.”
Jane released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. How easily that had gone. Perhaps managing him would not prove difficult after all.
“Was that your only condition?”
“I have one other,” she said. “I’ve been used to certain freedoms in my choice of hobbies. I’d like to continue with them, unhampered.”
“Fortune-telling?”
“No,” she said, refusing to blush. “That was strictly for coin.”
He tilted his head, considering her. “Then may I inquire as to the general nature of this other hobby?”
She realized she was twisting her hands and forced them to stillness, folding one atop the other at her waist. “‘Studies’ is more accurate. Botanical studies.” She stifled the impulse to prostrate herself with further explanations and pleas.
He examined her a moment more and then replied easily and without reservation. “As long as they don’t endanger or shame you or my family in any way, you may keep your hobbies.”
She sighed. “That’s what I find so difficult about this marriage business. Why is a husband entitled to give a wife permission or withdraw it simply because he’s male? In truth, I would prefer to abide in a single state.”
