
To me it felt like he fell in love during him courting her. And since she fit his personality it was insanity and love for him he liked how she treated him with disgust and I m guessing he liked that she wasn't like the other women who would've ran away when forced to do his naughty plays. ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭ he just fell for her in the process of marrying for convenience

A paragraph from the novel:
“ They had been married for just over a season, and in that time, Richard had come to know Courtney deeply. She was no longer just the idealized figure of his imagination. She was his wife, his partner, and his source of strength.
Though Courtney’s exterior was composed and unyielding, her heart was tender beneath the surface. This didn’t disappoint him—in fact, he admired her strength all the more. She was resilient and determined, able to stand firm and rise again even when momentarily shaken.”
I am really curious dose he really love Courtney or not cuz in one chapter he said that she wasn't that pretty and now seeing this chap everyone reacting like how he fall in love or when, but he seems to be obsessed over her so is it her dominant personality he is into or it's her