As an Earl Desires Read Free Page B

more generous than he ever was. I
had fully expected you to take the larger of his two London homes
when you first arrived. Instead, you took the smaller residence.
You are a constant source of amazement to me.”
    â€œI could say the same of you.”
    She shook her head as though she didn’t wish
to travel in the direction of his comment. “The old earl
would have required an accounting and explanation for each
purchase.”
    â€œI am not the old earl.”
    â€œSo I am slowly coming to realize.”
    Slowly ? He wondered
what he could do to hasten the process along. In spite of his best
intentions not to do so, he rose, crossed over until he stood only
a hairbreadth away from her, inhaled her sweet rose perfume, and
said with a low voice, “I wish I had known you before he ever
possessed you.”
    Watching her delicate throat as she swallowed, he
desperately wanted to press his lips against her fluttering
pulse.
    â€œYou would not have liked me,” she
whispered.
    â€œWhat was there not to like?”
    â€œI was ignorant…poor…”
    As though suddenly realizing that she was revealing
too much, she managed to dart away from him without meeting his
gaze. “I would die before I returned to the life of a
commoner. I have established a place for myself among the
Marlborough House Set and am in a position to achieve anything I
want, and I want a good deal. While we search for a wife for you, I
shall be searching for a duke for myself.”
    â€œYou say that as though the most important
aspect to a man is his title.”
    She arched a finely shaped eyebrow. “Because
I believe that a man’s title is all that matters.”
    He shook his head in denial of her words.
“You can’t mean that. What of love?”
    â€œWhat of it? It has no power. It garners no
attention when one walks into a ballroom. It doesn’t provide
servants, or fine clothes, or a large residence. It doesn’t
earn one favor with the queen. It doesn’t keep you out of the
street or the gutters. I have been a pauper, and I have been a
countess. Now I seek to be a duchess. As such, I shall garner
respect—”
    â€œYou don’t need a title to have
respect.”
    She scoffed. “How little you know. If it were
possible, I would strive to be a queen. Then there would be no one
more important than I.”
    â€œIf you were to search for love, rather than
rank, then to one man there would be no
one more important than you.”
    â€œSpoken like a poet, rather than a
realist.”
    He was not a man usually prone to violence, but he
thought he’d find great satisfaction in plowing a fist into
the old earl’s face, because he’d managed to strip
Camilla of her ability to dream, and Arch thought that might have
been the old Sachse’s cruelest legacy. “You have never
known the reality of being my countess.”
    â€œAnd we both know that I never shall. Not
that it matters. As I’ve said, I have goals. I shall helpfind you an agreeable wife, and in the process,
I shall find myself a satisfactory duke.”
    â€œYou think a duke will make you suddenly
fertile?”
    She blanched, and he regretted the harshness in his
voice and the callousness of his words immediately. He didn’t
know why he’d been unable to prevent the anger from forcing
them out of his mouth. “Camilla—”
    She sliced her hand through the air, effectively
silencing his apology. “I am not stupid, Archie. I shall
target a duke who already has an heir and a spare.”
    â€œWhich means he will no doubt be
old.”
    â€œAnd I shall be burdened with him for fewer
years.”
    â€œWhy would you knowingly go into a marriage
that you hoped would be brief?”
    â€œMy dear Archie, obviously there are
subtleties to the aristocracy that you have yet to fully
comprehend. I require rank, and I shall pay whatever price I must
to achieve