An Unacceptable Offer

OMG!
“I am a person,” she said very quietly and intensely. “I am Jane Matthews, my lord. There is only one of me. I am unique. To you I may appear to be no different from hundreds of other drab, aging females. But I am a person, not a commodity, not a footstool. Perhaps you do need a woman to look after your home and your children and to provide you with an heir. Perhaps I would contribute to your comfort. But what about me? What am I to gain from such an arrangement? I am not a servant for hire. I am an independent person, and my happiness matters—at least to me.”

Love this one!