Just One Kiss by Samantha James Page A

morning and gleefully divulged what he'd seen. Unfortunately, he didn't quite believe the story that you were Stephen's cousin visiting from England—especially when he followed you here later that night. The next morning, he spoke to a young lad helping the gardener and learned you'd been here in my house for quite some time." Those devilish brows rose high. "Need I say more, Elizabeth? He hinted at the scandal that would take place should others learn of the incident. All in all, he was most eager to line his pockets. Unfortunately I had no choice but to oblige him, and at a tidy sum, I might add."
    "You paid him?" she cried out. "But you know I have no money. I cannot repay you—"
    "I dislike being the brunt of such scandal." His tone was clipped. "But I would no doubt fare better than you, Elizabeth. If you still insist on remaining in Boston, your reputation will be in shreds, no matter that you are an earl's daughter—indeed,
because
you are an earl's daughter. People will not soon forget. Your morals will be suspect. If you are lucky enough to obtain a position as governess, the master of the house might well consider it his right to rut between your thighs whenever he wishes; whether it be in the nearest bed, or up against the nearest wall—"
    "Say no more!" she cried. His bluntness shocked her.
Up against the wall
… Did people do such things? No. Not
decent
people. But Morgan was right—she would be no better than a whore. Still, she was confused. "But the announcement… When did you—"
    "I saw to it yesterday afternoon."
    Her gaze was wide and distressed. "But why? Why announce that we… that you and I…" She faltered.
    "Because I've no intention of letting that bastard Porter bleed me for the rest of my life. And that's exactly what will happen if we do nothing. If we are already wed, he can do no harm."
    Elizabeth fell silent. It seemed he'd thought of everything. And so now they must both sacrifice. Oh, she didn't fool herself. No doubt it was his own reputation that concerned him far more than hers.
    She glanced down at her hands, now knotted tightly in her lap. "I hardly know you," she said, her voice very low.
And what little I know of you, I do not like
, she amended silently.
    His laugh was biting. "You know me far better than you know Nathaniel."
    Nathaniel
. For an instant wild hope flared within her. Perhaps if she simply waited, Nathaniel would yet appear… But Morgan was right. A man was far better able to survive disgrace than a woman.
    Once again, he read her mind as if it were his own. "Good God," he said disgustedly. "Not a soul knows where Nathaniel is, or when he'll return. I thought you understood that. Even if he did return—tomorrow—and the two of you married, what then? You choose not to believe me when I tell you he is not the man you think. There exists a very good possibility that you would wake up one morning and find yourself alone. What then? And what if you were with child?"
    Elizabeth blanched. A baby. Certainly that was something she hadn't considered. "I—I understand that. Truly I do. It's just that I"—suddenly it just spilled out—"I don't love you! And—"
    "Love only complicates marriage."
    Elizabeth stared at him, taken aback by his coldness. He sounded so callous. So cynical and so very certain. Oh, she knew it was seldom so, but she wanted a husband she could love, and a husband who loved her in turn, as wildly as she loved him.
    "If that's how you feel, then clearly you have no more desire to marry me than I—"
    "On the contrary, Elizabeth. I find myself liking the prospect more and more."
    Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again. What kind of man was he? Just when she thought perhaps she'd begun to glean some inkling of his reasoning…
    "Surely you do not mean that." She found the notion that he might truly wish to marry her oddly disconcerting.
    "Oh, but I do." He had moved to stand near the window. As he paused, cold sunlight washed over the stark