The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander Page A

Spanish and an equal amount of Italian. My mother’s family can trace its heritage back to King Richard.” Starlight flashed in her eyes and the chill in her voice grew even colder. “Men have dedicated poetry to my obvious charms, and my reputation is—how did you so graciously put it?—oh, yes, I am a dull and boring paragon of virtue. I think I more than live up to your standards. Don’t you agree?”
    Nicholas thought himself an intelligent man, but not until Sabrina nearly spit the words at him did he realize that this was not going at all well. It was certainly not the conversation he had envisioned when he took her in his arms.
    “Of course, Sabrina, however—”
    “Very well then.” She squared her shoulders and addressed him in a tone worthy of royalty. “I accept your proposal.”
    He stared, shocked. “I wasn’t aware I had extended a proposal.”
    She shrugged. “Call it what you will. You said you would wed the lady. And whatever else I have heard about you, I have also heard you are a man of honor. A man of your word.”
    He pulled his brows together in a considering frown. “I cannot believe you would agree to such an arrangement. A marriage of convenience, as you put it?”
    “Under certain terms and conditions.” Sabrina nodded.
    He bit back the chuckle rising to his lips. Whatever else this woman might be, his investigators had it all wrong. She was definitely not dull and boring. He wondered what else they’d gotten wrong. “Just what are these terms and conditions?”
    She crossed her arms and paced to and fro before him, her face and form growing crisp, then indistinct in the shadows and the moonlight.
    “First of all, you must not withdraw your permission for Belinda and Erick to wed, regardless of what happens between us.”
    “Agreed.”
    “Secondly, all property and wealth I bring to this marriage remains under my control. I would like papers drawn up to that effect. I will not forfeit my financial independence.”
    He pondered the idea briefly. While it was not unknown for a wife to have her own resources, it was extremely unusual. However, he certainly did not need her money and could well afford to be generous. If this demand kept her amused, so be it. “Very well.”
    “We will be equal partners in any business venture in which we are jointly engaged in.”
    “Business ventures?” He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What type of business ventures?”
    She stopped her pacing and tossed him a wary look. “It doesn’t signify at the moment. I simply need your word.”
    “You have it.” He grinned. “Anything else?”
    “Yes.” Sabrina stepped forward and gazed up at him. The glittering heavens reflected in her eyes, and he had to stop himself from reaching for her.
    She drew a steady breath. “Since this is to be a marriage of convenience only and privately we shall continue to live our separate lives, and since you already have an heir, I will expect you to respect my privacy.”
    “Respect your privacy?” he blurted, stunned. “Do you mean to say you will be my wife but you will not share my bed?”
    “That’s exactly what I mean,” she said earnestly. “I shall be everything you want in a countess. I shall be the perfect wife. But I shall not share any man’s bed with other women, and I shall not give my favors to a man I do not love.”
    She stepped back. “I suspect you would never wish the public spectacle of a divorce; therefore, if we do not suit, we can have the marriage annulled, or we can do what so many do and live completely apart from one another. If these terms are unacceptable to you ...” Sabrina tilted her head in a questioning manner. “Well, Nicholas, what’s it to be?”
    He stared, the silence growing between them. He had thought she’d be the appropriate wife for his purposes the evening they first met. But now he wanted more. Much, much more. The light of the moon cast a shimmering halo about her hair, caressing her finely carved