And Heather seemed determined to make this harder. He wanted to apologize, to persuade her to come back home, but her silence was far from encouraging. She was still angry at him; he could read it in every elegant line of her body as she stood stiffly with her back to him.

He cleared his throat, struggling to say what needed to be said. “Heather, about last night… I apologize for the way I acted. I’m afraid I wasn’t myself.”

“On the contrary,” she retorted in a low, strained voice, “I expect you were very much yourself. In vino veritas, they say.”

“What does that mean?”

“In wine there is truth. It’s a Latin term—oh, but how reprehensible of me. You don’t wish to me to use such ‘highfalutin’ words.”

Her tone held more than a hint of animosity, but Sloan knew he deserved her scorn, so he bit his tongue. “I should never have said that. The truth is, I’m sorry for all the things I said. They were inexcusable.”

“Why do you imagine I have difficulty believing your sincerity?”

“I know you’re angry. You have a right to be. But please, won’t you at least try to forgive me?”

For a long moment she didn’t answer. Sloan tried again, softening his tone to a plea. “I want you to come home with me.”

She couldn’t help the leap of her heart. “Why? You obviously don’t want me in your life.”

“That isn’t so.”

“No, I suppose you’re right. You do want me—to cook and clean for you, to care for your daughter and help with your speeches.”

He took a steadying breath. His reasons for marrying Heather hadn’t changed. He still needed a mother for his child, a political hostess for his campaign. But he wanted her for other reasons as well, reasons more nebulous than he could acknowledge or explain. He couldn’t deny, though, that Heather had become important to him—in ways that had nothing to do with his daughter or his political ambitions.

“That’s what I wanted in the beginning, yes, but over the past months I’ve seen what a difference you’ve made in my life. I want you for my wife, Heather.”

She turned reluctantly to look at him and found him regarding her with troubled eyes. “Well, I don’t want a husband who betrays his marriage vows with saloon women.”

“Nothing happened at the saloon last night.”

“Nothing?” Her tone held skepticism.

“No, nothing. I got drunk and Della put me to bed in her room till Jake could come and get me. She knew I didn’t want any woman but you. Ask her if you don’t believe me.”