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man. What had given him that edge of hardness, and even ruthlessness, when he could be so gentle at times?
    Times when he was not crossed, she reminded herself. She would have to take great care with him.
    She found herself studying him again. He was tall, very tall, and well built, with broad shoulders and lean hips. He wore his clothing with a casual flair. Today he was in black boots, form-hugging black riding breeches, crisp white pleated shirt, black velvet jacket, silk vest and cravat. His body, she was certain, was well muscled beneath the fabric, yet it was his face that made him so imposing a man. His features were handsome, well-drawn and well-defined. He was clean-shaven with arched, clean dark brows, and his chin was firm while his cheekbones were high and well set. His mouth was generous and full, a sensual mouth when it curled to a smile, a forbidding one when it was set in a line. His eyes were his greatest power. They seemed to carry endless years of wisdom. Sometimes weary, sometimes as cold as ice, sometimes alive with a hint of humor, but mercurial, ever changing. He was somewhere around thirty years old, she thought, yet his eyes were much, much older.
    â€œStringent, indeed,” Marissa murmured.
    â€œAnd I repeat, very definitely not of my choosing,” he said. His gaze left her. With his hands locked together at the base of his spine, he paced the room once again. “I cannot be gone long. My business concerns are varied and demanding, and it was not easy to get away. I plan to head back as soon as all necessary arrangements are made. You will be more at your leisure, and I do understand that you might need time to say your goodbyes to friends, to close up the manor and—and to move to a place nearly half a globe away. I think, however, that once you have made the move, you will find yourself pleasantly surprised. My house is large and spacious, I am nearly never around, and when I am, I have a tendency to keep to myself.” The last was said somewhat bitterly, and again she found herself wondering about the man. “There is nothing I can do about the fact that none of your money is to be released to you unless the terms of the will are carried out exactly—”
    â€œWhat?” Marissa was instantly on her feet. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œI thought you understood. Your funds are to be held in trust until your twenty-fifth birthday should you agree to the marriage, and held until your thirtieth birthday if you should not.”
    â€œYes, yes, I do understand that! But there was to be an allowance!”
    He shook his head impatiently. “The allowance holds true only if you choose to marry. I’m sorry. I thought you understood that. But I am a wealthy man, Katherine, and I do not intend that you should suffer.”
    Taking anything from him would be suffering, she was certain of it. She was already deceiving him. If he ever discovered the truth …
    She sat, suddenly so weary that she could not stand it.
    What now of Jimmy? He was a good man. With a little help, he could have been a fine merchant, perhaps a wealthy man in his own right.
    And what of Uncle Theo?
    And Mary … Oh, dear God, could Mary bear another shock?
    â€œThere must be something wrong. Terribly wrong. I have seen the lawyers—”
    â€œYou must see them again if you still do not comprehend the will,” he said, irritation touching his tone. “I shall try to explain it very simply. If you agree to the marriage, your allowance is to begin upon the date of the nuptials, and you will receive the bulk of your inheritance upon your twenty-fifth birthday. If you choose not to marry, then your allowance will begin upon your twenty-fifth birthday, and the bulk of the inheritance will become yours upon your thirtieth birthday. Do you understand?”
    â€œI cannot live like that!” she gasped.
    He paused, staring at her, and one of his ink dark brows raised