Of course it was Tiberius who he should have worried about, and yet he'd been the one person who Valerian had not sought out in his quest to gain Tatiana's hands. It was a strange thing; growing up alongside Tatiana it was easy to separate her from her brother, to few him as a more extended member of the family than she was, and yet he was her brother, her closest male relative.
"Which is, in part, why I asked you to marry me." Tatiana was not silly enough to think he harbored some secret affection for her, surely—at least not the sort of affection that drove a man to pursue a woman. He did care for her, though, and it was a sentiment he thought, for a pair of their station and situation, should be more than enough to justify a match. "I worry that he's not the man he's led you to believe he is. Whatever it is you think I lack, I would hope that knowing the kind of man I am would provide at least some comfort." He'd never been cruel, dishonest, unchivalrous. At times in their youth he'd acted as an older brother might, regarding her as an annoying little girl, but those days had passed. "I merely don't understand why him."
"Which is, in part, why I asked you to marry me." Tatiana was not silly enough to think he harbored some secret affection for her, surely—at least not the sort of affection that drove a man to pursue a woman. He did care for her, though, and it was a sentiment he thought, for a pair of their station and situation, should be more than enough to justify a match. "I worry that he's not the man he's led you to believe he is. Whatever it is you think I lack, I would hope that knowing the kind of man I am would provide at least some comfort." He'd never been cruel, dishonest, unchivalrous. At times in their youth he'd acted as an older brother might, regarding her as an annoying little girl, but those days had passed. "I merely don't understand why him."
