Jo Beverley - [Rogue ] by An Arranged Mariage Page A

my comforts as well as the next man, but I think it foolish to be so afraid of a little hardship that one always stays on the safe, familiar path."
    "I would not call capture by Chinese pirates a 'little hardship,'" Eleanor said with a smile. Then she sobered as she considered his words. "It can be difficult, you know, to escape from those familiar paths, even when they are not particularly comfortable."
    He nodded. "For women, yes, unless they are very rich or very brave. I met a lady missionary in Ceylon who had gone there against the opposition of her family. And Lady Hester Stanhope is, of course, notorious."
    Eleanor felt again that crushing sense of unworthiness.
    "You must think me a very paltry specimen to have done nothing to better my situation."
    He reached out to cover her hand with his. "You? No. As you say, it is very difficult to break out of the familiar. You have hardly started yet. I expect great things of you, my dear. The ladies I mentioned are twice your age."
    Eleanor laughed under his teasing. "You make me sound like an infant, whereas I know I am, or was, at my last prayers."
    He snapped his long fingers and his eyes flashed a challenge. "That for marriage! You are a young woman with perhaps sixty years of life before you. Sixty years of freedom. Another wedding gift I give you. Use it."
    She stared. She was almost afraid of him in this mood. "I don't know what you mean."
    "You will."
    Sinkingly, she remembered he would be away for most of their lives. She would have the privileges of marriage without the constraints of a husband. She supposed many women would be grateful. She summoned a smile. "Thank you for the gift."
    Perhaps he caught her ambivalence, for he grinned. "I refuse to believe I'm casting my pearls before swine. That reminds me, I have something to show you. I shall have a glass of port in the study with you, if you do not object."
    She graciously allowed this, and as they walked to the more comfortable room her mind mulled over the concept of freedom. As she took a seat by the fire and he poured from the decanter left by Hollygirt, she said, "May I have some?"
    He raised his brows. "Do you have a taste for it?"
    Oh, why would she never learn to avoid impulse? "I have never tried it. I was trying an untrodden path. I'm sorry. It is a silly idea."
    He reached out to touch her hand. "Not at all. And I should not have queried such a simple request." He held his glass out to her. "I'm afraid this is a dry port. Uncommon, and not to everyone's taste."
    She sipped the pale golden fluid. It was strong, heady stuff, heavy on her tongue but full of rich flavors. She sipped again. "I like it, I think."
    He rang for another glass and filled it. Then he raised it to her. "To your adventures, my dear."
    "Are you laughing at me?" she asked, and yet it was impossible to take offense at his manner.
    "No." He was quite serious, she saw. "I am full of admiration. Only a fool leaps off cliffs. Small steps are much better in the end." He sat down opposite her. "I started my traveling when I was ten years old and ran away from home. I had gone a hundred miles and was trying to get taken on as a cabin boy when my father found me. I wasn't, on the whole, sorry to be found. Which is why I tell you if I find you drowning your sorrows in port, I shall put a stop to your adventures forthwith."
    She raised a brow boldly. "Unfair! May I only adventure as far as you permit?"
    "Of course. Until the day comes when you do not care what I say, and then we shall doubtless have a battle royal. You may well win. Now tell me, do you have any other plans for adventure?"
    Eleanor could not believe how happy she felt. It was as unaccustomed and delicious as the port. Perhaps it was the port, but it didn't seem to matter.
    "I must have new clothes," she said, and then added a little awkwardly, "I need some money, actually."
    He was nonplused. "Good heavens, I never thought. My apologies." He went to a picture on the wall and