“Not entirely, but that is lovely to ponder.” She gave him a warm, seductive smile as she slipped from the bed. “I meant, how would our lives change? I’ve been wondering if I ought to leave London, at least for a while, but… I don’t really want to. It’s the only place I’ve called home.” She came toward him and warmed herself in front of the fire.

Fetching a blanket from a dresser, he brought it to her and wrapped it around her shoulders. “You don’t have to leave. We could live in your house, if you prefer. I’m not particularly attached to this place.” He’d leased it for the Season, and it was only sparsely furnished.

She clutched the soft ivory wool around herself. “I’d like that. But aren’t you concerned about your reputation? I’m a pariah, and if you marry me, I can’t imagine your career prospects will flourish.”

There was a note of humor in her voice, but her question was valid. “I’ve considered that. I intend to set myself up as a barrister. It may be that I don’t work for the upper echelons of Society.” He waggled a brow at her. “I’m quite satisfied with that.”

“You’ve thought this through,” she said softly.

“I’ve tried to. I’d like to make decisions with you. What about you? Without the Phoenix Club to manage, what do you want to do?”

She blinked at him. “As in a job?”

He nodded. “You seem surprised.”

“I am. You wouldn’t mind?”

“I know I haven’t known you long, but I think I’ve come to know you well. I could tell in Oxfordshire that you were…bored.”

“Not true. You kept me quite busy.”

He smiled. “But you were more than ready to return to London—to the Phoenix Club, I suspect.”

“While that’s true, I’m afraid my urgency to leave was also prompted by my encounter with Arbuthnot at Witney Court.”

Gregory grimaced as he recalled his horrid conversation with Clifford and Susan the other night. “I am so sorry about that. I wish he hadn’t seen you. If not, your past might still be secret.”

Her eyes widened and she clasped his arm. “Do you know something?”

“I called at Witney House the other night to determine what role my brother played. He was at the center of this disaster. I have cut ties with him entirely.”

“Oh, Gregory. I don’t want to come between you and your brother.”

“Susan already did that,” he said sardonically. “It wasn’t difficult. There has long been a gaping chasm between Clifford and me. We could not be more different, and I’ve no desire to be in his company, even if he is my blood.”