She nodded again, sniffling and dabbing at her nose with a delicate handkerchief.

“And if I do this for you, you won’t pester me for gowns or more pin money, or the hundreds of other things that I won’t be able to give you?”

Charlotte stared at him in surprise, the soft look replaced with a familiar glint that was pure deviltry. “Of course I’ll pester you for those things, I’ll be your wife. I realize you have not been married before, Alasdair, but truly, I see I must educate you in the duties of a husband. It will be my duty to ask you for things, and for you to refuse me, then to be swayed by my entreaties and encampments and so give me everything I want.”

“Enticements,” Dare corrected automatically, even as he struggled to keep his eyes from crossing at just what form those entreaties and enticements would take. He pulled his mind from the vision of Charlotte lying in his bed, her creamy satin skin covered with nothing more than her hair, sated and pleasured until she purred. It took two tries, but at last he could focus on the present, on the woman who didn’t care who attended her wedding as long as there were people enough to fill the church. The thought of her plans sobered him immediately. “Charlotte, we are going to have to have a long talk this evening about your expectations. I have tried to explain to you that I’m not a rich man, and you will have to practice the most stringent of economies—”

“Oh, pooh.” She waved away his warning and wiped her eyes, flashing a brief glimpse of dimple. “Papa used to say that to Mama all the time.”

“Charlotte—”

“Will you do this for me, Alasdair?” she asked, her eyes soft and blue as a July sky. “Will you do this little thing I ask?”

Dare prayed for patience, then nodded.

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” she squealed and threw herself in his arms just long enough to kiss him on the corner of his lips. He wanted to keep her there to improve her aim, but before his arms could tighten around her, she hurried back toward the carriage, avoiding as she did a row of tumblers and acrobats flipping themselves over scattered chairs and tables. “He’s going to do it,” she bellowed happily to Caroline just before shoving her friend back into the carriage.

“You’ll be more comfortable waiting inside,” Dare pointed out as he followed her, stepping over a collection of clubs and torches that would later be lit and juggled by the acrobats. He was a bit exasperated with himself for having given in to her unreasonable demand. If the ease with which she wrapped him around her slightest whim portended their future together…but no, he wouldn’t think of that. Down that pathway lay madness. Instead he reassured himself that her request was a minor thing, a fairly simple request, one easily fulfilled in such a way as to keep her happy, and achieve his end as well. “It won’t take me long to gather the…er…audience.”