“People always view it as the fault of the woman. I can’t help but believe, however, that his vanity would find solace in my giving birth to a child presumed to be his heir, so his manhood would not be doubted.” She glanced back toward the lush gardens that were presently a sea of white. In a couple of months, they would be blue, then red in the height of summer. The flowers had been chosen based on when they bloomed so the blossoms became a rolling tide of colors that changed with the seasons. “Because while the woman is held accountable, whispers about the man do emerge. He was undeserving of any sort of ill gossip. He was incredibly kind, sometimes I think too kind for this world. And remarkably tolerant of those not of his class. I think he’d have liked you and you him.”

After taking a small sip of her white wine, she settled back against the chair. “So what say you? A leisurely stroll through the gardens and then we’ll away back to London?”

“We’ll be staying the night.”

She shot up quickly. “I beg your pardon?”

He gave her a laconic look beneath half-lowered lids. “I’ve not finished seeing all I wish to see. I want to view the stables, ride out over the land, visit the village—”

“But you can simply look about you and see how majestic everything is. I don’t understand why seeing every little thing is so important to you.”

“Because if I decide in your favor, and fortune smiles on you and gives you a boy, I may never actually see my son playing here. All my memories of him will be what I create in my imagination. His riding a hobbyhorse. Sitting on your lap in the library while you read him a story. You expect me to be like my father, to plant the seed and be done with it, to never give my child another thought. I don’t know if I have it within me not to wonder. I think you’ll be a marvelous mother, but even that, I may never witness.”

The earnestness of his answer made her ashamed that she was even asking of him what she was. “As we discussed before, we’ll find a way for you to spend some time with him.”

“Stolen moments here and there. But so many lost to me. And I will never be able to acknowledge him as my son—not even to my family. Lena, I’m striving to ensure that if I embark on this deception with you, that I do so with no regrets. For once begun, there will be no going back.”