Mistress - Amanda Quick [96]
“I watched my sister fall in love,” Iphiginia said instead.
Marcus’s gaze became even more intent. “With the man you had thought loved you?”
Iphiginia caught her breath. “You know about Richard Hampton?”
“Yes.” Marcus looked out at the street.
“You think you know everything, do you not, my lord?”
“It has been my experience that it is better to have all the information one needs before one makes a decision.”
“Well, then, as you appear to be all-knowing, you do not need any further explanations from me concerning Richard, do you?”
Marcus met her eyes for an instant. Then his gaze slid back to the night-darkened streets. “Did you love him?”
“The answer would be meaningless to a man who does not believe in love.”
“You’re evading the question.”
“I’m merely adopting your own rule against providing the curious with explanations.” Iphiginia paused. “But I will make a bargain with you, my lord.”
“What bargain?”
“I’ll tell you the answer to your question if you will agree to answer one of my questions.”
“Very well,” he pounced. “But you will answer my question first. Did you believe yourself to be in love with young squire Hampton?”
Iphiginia struggled for an honest response. Odd how hard it was to recall her emotions during those days when she had thought Richard might ask her to marry him. Her feelings for Richard had been so pallid and bland compared to her feelings for Marcus.
“I believed that I could have learned to love him,” she said quietly.
“You believed that you could have learned to love him?” Marcus scoffed. “What rubbish.”
“I do not think it’s rubbish. I am a bluestocking at heart. A former schoolteacher. I believe in the powers of the intellect. I am convinced that where the right factors are present and where there is determination, goodwill, and a degree of intelligence, it is possible that one can learn to love.”
“The poets would laugh to hear you talk of applying rational intelligence to love.”
“You are not a poet, my lord. Why are you laughing?”
“The whole bloody subject is laughable.” Marcus shot her a derisive look. “You said that the right factors must be present in order for one to learn to love. Were those factors present in Richard Hampton?”
“I believe so. Richard is a good man. A kind man. Strong, gentle, and constant. Yes, I could have learned to love him.”
“He sounds like a damned paragon. Do you honestly think that you would have been happy with him?”
“Yes.”
“You would have been true to him?”
She frowned. “Of course.”
“Even if you had met someone else after the marriage? A man who turned your blood to molten fire? A man who made you comprehend the works of the poets? A man who tempted you to touch the stars?”
“You mean, even if I had met you, Marcus?”
He went very still in the shadows.
Iphiginia smiled wryly. “It is highly unlikely that you and I would ever have encountered each other had I married Richard Hampton. But the answer to your question is yes. Even if I had met you, I would have been true to him. I may not care for rules, but I do possess a sense of honor.”
“Passion is not always subject to the dictates of will, madam.”
“I disagree. And I think, deep down, you do, too. We are intelligent human beings. Temptation and passion can most certainly be controlled if one is determined to do so.”
To her surprise, Marcus smiled slightly at that. “You may be right. What does that say about you and me, Iphiginia? That we lack willpower?”
“No.” She unfurled her fan very slowly and then closed it. “It says that we are both free to indulge our passions and we have decided to do so. It is our prerogative, our right as unattached adults. If we were not free, honor would constrain us from giving in to temptation.”
“Ah. I see. We happened to be free to allow ourselves to be tempted, so we were tempted. An interesting bit of logic.”
“Perhaps we should return to the subject of your brother’s passions, rather than our own. You cannot control Bennet’s life, Marcus. Nor should you.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I don’t want to control