“No,” he said in exasperation. “I want a companion and helpmate as well.”

She found it hard to believe that a rakish nobleman like Lord Danvers was seeking a life companion, but she managed to bite her tongue before calling his veracity into question. Instead, Arabella made herself smile pleasantly. “The polite response in these cases is to express appreciation, so I will thank you for your generous offer, my lord. But I must decline.”

“I intend to change your mind.”

Her spine stiffened a little at his provoking declaration. When he offered her a charming smile of his own, she felt a responsive flutter in her stomach that she quickly tried to quell.

“I do not see how I can state my position more clearly, Lord Danvers. I won’t marry you for all the spices in India. Is that articulate enough for you to understand?”

He raised an amused eyebrow. “Do you know how many women would be elated to receive an offer of marriage from me?”

“Then apply to any of them. Doubtless they will be deliriously happy to accept. I would not.”

Her retort brought a genuine grin to his lips. “I don’t want any other woman. I have chosen you, Arabella, and I mean to have you.”

Her mouth dropped open. The infernal arrogance of the man!

No longer desiring to continue this impossible conversation, Arabella whirled and headed across the meadow to retrieve her grazing horse.

The earl’s next words, however, made her halt in her tracks. “I could make you deliriously happy, Arabella. You would enjoy our marriage bed, I have no doubt.”

Unsure whether to be offended or amused by his bold declaration, she turned back to face him. “Rather boastful of you, is it not, my lord?”

“It is no boast. You would relish being my lover, I would make certain of it. But the only honorable way for us to be lovers is through marriage.”

She was too exasperated to reply-which was likely his intention; he was attempting to keep her off balance by throwing such brazen statements at her.

Her silence made him smile again. “I admit I am intensely attracted to you,” he continued, “and you felt it too when we kissed, don’t deny it. You were quivering with desire for me.”

Color stained Arabella’s cheeks. She had quivered in his arms…although she certainly would never admit it to him.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied. “It was simply shock at your assault. I could not believe you would act like such a brute. I assure you, I am not attracted to you in the least.”

He took a step closer. “Shall I prove it to you?”

“If you dare try, I swear I will box your ears!”

His blue eyes danced with restrained amusement as he reached up to rub his injured jaw. A faint bruise discolored the spot where she had struck him, Arabella noticed. She was ashamed for a moment, until she recalled what had precipitated her struggle-how the earl had hauled her from her horse unceremoniously and refused to release her even after kissing her witless. Or perhaps she had reacted with such desperation precisely because he had kissed her witless.

He did not seem intimidated by her threat now, however. “If you were aiming for my ear, love, I take leave to tell you, you missed by a few inches.”

He was deliberately provoking her, she knew very well. And his tactics were working. Arabella curled her hands into fists, barely refraining from marching up to him and taking another swing at his handsome face. “You are without a doubt the most infuriating man I have ever met, Lord Danvers.”

“Perhaps, but only because I haven’t properly exerted myself to please you. You wouldn’t be able to resist me if I seriously tried to woo you.”

Her mouth fell open. “Of course I would be able to resist you!”

“Would you care to wager on that?”

At his dulcet tone, Arabella suddenly felt wary again. “What do you mean, wager?”

“How important is your independence to you?”

“I beg your pardon?” Her head was beginning to spin once more from Lord Danvers’s unexpected offensive.

“What are you willing to do for emancipation from my guardianship?”

A great deal, was her immediate thought. “Why?”

“I cannot renounce my responsibility for you, but I can have my solicitor draw up a legal document granting you complete control over your own affairs. For you and your sisters.”

“To what end?”

“To provide me a legitimate opportunity to court you.”

“To court me? Why the devil would you want to court me? I already told you I won’t marry you under any circumstances.”

“I want the chance to change your mind. If I cannot persuade you to accept me for your husband in say, a month, I will give all three of you your freedom and make you legally and financially independent of my guardianship. Close your mouth, sweeting,” the earl added when she stood there staring at him. “You are much too lovely to be gaping like a landed fish.”

Arabella complied, even though she felt completely out of her depth. “Let me see if I understand your wager, my lord. You will give us our freedom if I can resist your ‘persuasion’?”

“Precisely.”

“You have an astounding faith in your powers of seduction.”

His mouth curved. “You could put it that way. In exchange, you must allow me to woo you properly. And if you cannot resist me-if I can make you admit you want me for your husband-then you will have to marry me.”

The arrogance of the man, thinking he could seduce her into accepting his offer of marriage! He wouldn’t be able to…surely.

When she hesitated, Lord Danvers shook his head sadly. “I never expected you to turn craven. You’re afraid I will win the wager.”

He was purposely goading her again, she realized. “I am not afraid!” Arabella insisted. At least not much. She might be susceptible to his stunning kisses, but there was little risk she would ever want him for her husband, for she planned never to marry. “You won’t win, my lord.”

“Then you should have no trouble agreeing. After all, I am offering you the chance to gain exactly what you say you want most. Your independence.”

“Very well, I will take your blasted wager!”

The glimmer in his eyes indicated his satisfaction and pleasure, which made Arabella almost regret her capitulation. She had let him provoke her into accepting his challenge, despite the danger of her fierce attraction to him.

And yet the stakes were irresistible: Not only could she ensure financial security for her sisters, but they could be rid of the earl’s unwanted guardianship for good. He would no longer be a threat to their independence. He would have no right to try to marry them off, or to force them to give up their positions at the academy.

No, truthfully, Arabella reflected, she was utterly delighted for the opportunity to win their freedom.

An entire month was out of the question, however. She was not that confident she could resist the earl’s determined seduction for so long-not that she would ever admit her doubts to him.

“However,” Arabella qualified, “the duration of the wager must be shorter. Two weeks, no more. I couldn’t endure your impossible arrogance any longer.”

Lord Danvers hesitated the briefest instant before saying, “Done. You drive a hard bargain, sweetheart.”

“I must be utterly mad,” Arabella muttered.

“No more so than I,” he said amiably. “As long as we are discussing terms, I must insist on a sporting chance to win. You will agree to spend time in my company regularly, no less than four hours each day. And it must be at a time of my choosing.”

Arabella frowned. “It cannot interfere with my teaching duties.”

“Fair enough. I will order my bags packed for an extended visit and brought to Danvers Hall from London.”

It unsettled Arabella to realize Lord Danvers intended to stay at the estate for a fortnight or longer, even though his ownership gave him every right. She quickly shook her head. “You cannot remain at the Hall when I am unchaperoned. You are no blood relation, even if you are our guardian.”

“You should have thought of that,” he replied wryly, “before you sent your sisters into hiding.”

She eyed him with exasperation. “If you insist on living there, I will take refuge with Lady Freemantle.”

The earl raised a black eyebrow. “Is that where you’ve concealed your sisters?” When she declined to answer, he shrugged. “We will have an army of servants to play duenna. My staying there might offend the highest sticklers, but it shouldn’t put your reputation at any real risk.”

“True,” she said, striving to repress the edge of bitterness in her voice. Her reputation was already tainted beyond redemption because of her parents’ scandals, so it was pointless to question the propriety of her new guardian living in the same manor house with only a servant staff for chaperones. Besides, if she never planned to marry, it wouldn’t matter if her reputation was not entirely spotless, although she couldn’t afford a genuine scandal. She had her academy to think of, after all.

Yet she had no doubt her pupils’ parents would be awed at her claiming such an illustrious connection as the Earl of Danvers. They wouldn’t look too closely at his living arrangements. Nor were the lower classes nearly as judgmental as the gentry, who considered themselves strict arbiters of society.

“You could always bring your sisters home,” his lordship suggested in prodding tones.

The notion had already occurred to Arabella. Her sisters’ presence would offer her more protection from the devilish earl-but then who would protect her sisters from his machinations?