by Rebecca King
‘Not everybody is prepared to overlook her lack of wealth or title,’ Alicia announced sadly.
‘So you invited her here as fodder for Mariette to sneer at in the hopes that Sissy would turn against me?’ Morgan growled. ‘Because I warn you now that if that is the case you can go to bloody Scotland as well and not come back. I am not going to have you tell me who I can marry. I am not going to have you scheme and manipulate situations like today behind my back. God in Hell, the next thing you are going to do will be to try to tell me that Charlton was right to assault her like that. How dare you?’
‘Calm down, Morgan,’ Alicia pleaded.
Morgan shook her off and stalked back into his house. It was the last place he wanted to go. It incensed him that he was, once again, prevented from doing what he wanted to do because of other people.
‘Damn it, I want my life back,’ he bellowed, slamming his way into his library.
‘At least it happened in your house,’ Ralph murmured from beside the fire.
Morgan turned to look at his friend. ‘You heard then.’
‘The whole household heard, my friend,’ Ralph replied. ‘I have been here all morning, don’t forget. I have been cowering in the study because I daren’t come out given how many simpering misses were in the house. Besides, I know how scheming your sister can be, remember?’ He edged closer. ‘What I think your mother is trying to say is that there had to be a scene like this. People will judge Sissy, openly. That is how our society works, I am afraid. However, at least the distasteful altercation happened in your house where you could take the steps you did with full authority. Had this happened in, say, Lady Merlton’s house, you wouldn’t have been able to throw them out or take the moral high ground. Moreover, there would be many more scandalised witnesses who would latch onto Mariette’s malice and side with her. At least in your house they have all been able to see how poorly Mariette has behaved, how harsh you will be with anybody who dares question Sissy’s morality, and that you are not afraid of taking whatever action you deem fit to stop any gossip. You are a Lord. It is high time that people remembered that. Unfortunately, I think the problem is that most of Mariette’s friends have seen you as nothing more than her indulgent older brother they are all overly familiar with. It is high time that you became Lord of the manor and ruled the house as you see fit.’
‘Those guests will have to tell their parents what has happened because of the likelihood of your letters arriving at their homes. It will stop them at least because their parents won’t want to offend you, Morgan. For now, all you can do is allow them to talk about Mariette’s departure for Scotland, and hope that everyone will eventually lose interest in you and Sissy,’ Alicia added. ‘You have bigger problems.’
‘Sissy,’ Morgan growled.
Alicia looked sadly at him.
Morgan cursed. ‘As the Lord in charge of this particular house I am going to choose who I want to wed, and the entire ton can either take it or leave it. If they shun Sissy they shun me and that, as far as I am concerned, is no great loss. People who are prepared to judge my wife purely on how many coins she has in her purse are not worth calling friends.’
‘Don’t,’ Ralph suggested when Morgan moved to the front door. ‘Go and see her tomorrow, or the day after, when she has had time to calm down a little. It might be better to deal with Mariette first, before she does any more damage.’
Morgan’s gaze snapped to his friend. ‘Have you heard something?’
‘No. What I have witnessed is that there were plenty of whispers and smiles. Whether they were planning the attack, or something more, I shudder to think. What I would advise is that you concentrate on getting Mariette to Scotland and away from here. When she has gone you have time to sort out your association with Sissy if you choose to try to retrieve it.’
‘Retrieve it,’ Morgan repeated dully. He knew it was damaged, but he struggled to believe that it had been irreparably broken. ‘I don’t care what it takes. I don’t care if I have to get on my knees and beg her to let me back into her life, I will do whatever I have to do to persuade Sissy to marry me,’ he bit out firmly.
‘I know you care about her,’ Alicia began hesitantly.
‘You don’t believe me,’ Morgan snapped.
‘I just don’t want you to do something in defiance of society. Just make sure that Sissy is what you want.’
‘You really think I would be that juvenile,’ Morgan grunted with a disgusted shake of his head. He knew then that his mother had no idea how he truly felt.
‘Tell her,’ Ralph ordered from the doorway.
Morgan huffed a sigh.
Alicia looked from Ralph to Morgan and back again. ‘Tell me what?’
A heavy silence settled over everyone.
‘He has been in love with Sissy for years. I don’t just mean a little besotted either. He adores her. This isn’t any passing fancy. This is a deep and abiding love that has matured as he has grown up.’ Ralph pointed one long finger at his friend.
‘What?’ Alicia gasped. ‘Why did I not know anything of this?’
‘You are my mother!’ Morgan bellowed. ‘What did you expect me to do? Sit down and open my heart to you? I wanted the first woman I told to be Sissy seeing as she plays a very large part in how I feel. It is more appropriate, don’t you think?’
Alicia had to concede that he had a point. She was shocked that Morgan didn’t deny what Ralph had said. Suddenly, it felt as if the very confusing pieces of a puzzle began to fall into place.
‘Why have you decided to do something about her now?’ she asked quietly.
‘The ball,’ Ralph offered.
‘Ralph, you are not helping here,’ Morgan snapped.
‘Well, someone has to tell her. He missed her; you see. Sissy, that is. When she didn’t attend the ball, he missed her more than he thought he would. Moreover, he found all the women Mariette invited annoying to say the least. It made him realise that he wasn’t getting any younger. Moreover, it made him realise that he is ready to settle down, and that he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life escorting Mariette everywhere. He wants a life, a home, a family of his own. Sissy. Did you not realise?’
‘Well,’ Alicia blustered, quite clearly having not realised. ‘I knew he loved her.’
Suddenly, she beamed proudly at Morgan, as if he had just achieved some great feat of maturity.
‘God, don’t start,’ Morgan grumbled.
Alicia shook her head at him but chidingly. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she smiled at him and rubbed her hands together. ‘Well, we shall just have to see what we can do about getting Miss Sissy Finchley to contemplate life as lady of the manor then, won’t we?’
Morgan tipped his head back to look at the ceiling and emitted a low growl of frustration. ‘Please, please, please don’t start scheming. There has been enough meddling already. Just leave me to see to my own sodding courtship of her. I am perfectly capable of courting Sissy without anybody’s involvement, critique, opinions, or judgement. Just concern yourself with getting Mariette to Scotland. Leave the rest to me.’
Alicia launched to her feet. ‘I will go and get everything ready. We leave tonight. Just make sure that you don’t marry her before I get back. I want to be there at the wedding.’
For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Morgan’s lips twitched as a smile struggled to break free. ‘Oh, make no mistake, I plan to do everything properly with Miss Sissy Finchley. The announcement of our engagement is going to be formally made in The Times. We are going to have a proper courtship so everyone can see us out and about. We are going to accept invitations to dine and whatever but only with people I know can be trusted to behave politely in her presence. Then, we are going to have a proper wedding in the church on the estate. That has to be without question.’
Alicia nodded but still looked doubtful.
‘What do you want me to do? Sweep her off her feet and send for the vicar today?’ Morgan lifted a brow and
waited.
‘Have you ever stopped to contemplate that it might be best if you just marry her quickly and be done with it? I mean, you won’t have the gossips to worry about then, will you? They can hardly call her your mistress if she is your wife. If they suspect you have married her because she is with child then they can all do their sums when your first child is born, can’t they? The truth will come out eventually and they can all look like the gossipy fools they are.’
‘Anybody would think that you don’t care what people think about this family,’ Morgan mused. ‘You are the last person I thought would accept a hasty marriage. Why, it sounds to me like you are suggesting getting Sissy with child as soon as the ink is dry in the marriage certificate.’
‘If that is what you choose to do to solidify your marriage then so be it,’ Alicia countered with a shrug. ‘But it shouldn’t have to come to that. A child is something you have to both want. It cannot be a trap.’
‘Traps. Plans. There seems to be a lot of scheming going on here,’ Morgan replied in exasperation. ‘Why can’t things be straight forward? Why can’t it simply be a matter of falling in love, spending time together, announcing our engagement, and getting married before settling down to a life of bliss, hopefully with a child or two in a year’s time? It works for other people.’
Alicia paused in the doorway. ‘But Sissy isn’t other people, Morgan. Sissy has issues and it isn’t just with the gossips, the scorn of your peers, or Mariette. She might love you but the biggest problem neither of you are able to surmount is the fact that she considers herself to be lower than you. I don’t think any amount of love she has for you will ever persuade her otherwise.’
‘Do you think she might love me?’ Morgan asked. He had no idea why he felt the need to ask his mother that question. It was something he should be asking Sissy.
‘I can see no other reason why she would so willingly accept an invitation to dine with us, or take tea here when just a few short weeks ago neither her nor her aunt felt able to attend our ball, do you?’ Alicia murmured before quietly letting herself out of his house.
Morgan stared at the empty doorway and contemplated that. He was bolstered by the reality that Sissy had chosen to visit his house and spend time with him. He could take hope from it and was more confident as he returned to his study to talk things through with Ralph. What happened next, though, was completely dependent upon Sissy, and how much she did care about him because Morgan knew that only love could beat the odds that were still stacked against them.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sissy slowly lowered the pot back onto the holder above the flames when she heard rapping on the front door. Rather than hurry to answer it, she slowly turned to look at her aunt with fearful eyes.
‘There is nothing to worry about,’ Norma assured her as she hurried to the door.
‘I am not here,’ Sissy whispered.
‘But you are here, dear. There is no point hiding. Where should I tell him you have gone? He has only come to find out how you are. After the other day you cannot expect a man like him to do anything more than his duty.’ Norma hurried to answer the door because Morgan was already knocking again.
Desperate to avoid any more hurt, Sissy snatched her shawl off the peg and raced out of the back door. She had no idea where she was going, or why she felt the need to physically flee. It was probably because she knew that Norma’s sense of moral duty would compel her aunt to force Sissy to face the last man she wanted to see. As far as Sissy was concerned, she had to keep her distance from Morgan. Her survival depended on it. Just knowing he was on her front doorstep was enough to create an ache deep in her chest that wouldn’t budge. It grew and grew and seemed to rise into her throat, drawing with it the tears she thought she couldn’t spill anymore.
‘Miss Sissy, how are you today?’ a neighbour called.
‘Fine, thank you, Mr Pinton,’ Sissy replied as she hurried past.
‘I wouldn’t go too far if I were you. It looks like it is about to start raining,’ the older man warned with a wise look at the roiling black clouds overhead.
As if to prove he wasn’t wrong, a deep rumble of thunder rattled in the distance. Sissy ignored it and turned off the main street before heading toward the outskirts of the village. Over the last day or so, since that incident, she had struggled to hide her hatred of the watchful eyes that seemed to be permanently locked on the house she lived in. She hadn’t left the property but had seen the curious looks the locals had thrown at the house as they had passed by through the window. Norma had warned her not to be too worried about it but Sissy had come to realise that she could no longer live where she was. She needed time away from the scrutiny, and the freedom to be able to think freely because she truly felt as if she was suffocating beneath the stares and expectations of others.
When the first droplets of rain began to fall around her, Sissy tipped her head back and savoured them. The increasing wind nipped at her cheeks, but it dried her tears and was welcome because of it. The stiff breeze numbed her flesh but invigorated rather than worried her. She savoured being able to breathe the crisp air of the encroaching storm and sucked in breath after breath until she felt quite dizzy. When she opened her eyes and looked about her, though, she realised that she was still far too close to the village and could still see people scurrying around. With a dark look at them, Sissy turned her back and headed out across the open fields.
She walked across one field after another without a thought to how far she was going. The clouds overhead darkened. The rumbling of the thunderstorm grew louder. One flash of lightning turned into two but remained on the horizon. She was safe. Sissy ignored the rain splattering the ground more harshly, making the soft soil turn muddy and squelch underfoot. She didn’t care that her boots were getting ruined, and the bottom of her dress was soiled and dirty. Sissy didn’t bother about the icy feel of the chilled flesh on her arms which were inadequately protected by the thin material of her shawl. Instead, she focused on doing nothing more than walking into the middle of open moorland several miles away from the village and being free.
It wasn’t until she stumbled into a small hole that she was forced to stop. Lightning flashed, overhead now. Sissy looked up at it and wondered if one of those white-hot shards of Mother Nature’s fury would strike her down. She had to wonder what would happen if it did. Would anybody care? Or would they gossip and criticise her for being out in this weather? Would Morgan miss her?
‘I don’t think he will seeing as he hasn’t been anywhere near me,’ Sissy whispered, blowing a ringlet off her cheek with a frustrated puff. When it didn’t move, she shoved it out of the way only for the wind to tug at it and slap it back against her cheek. With an uncharacteristic curse, she yanked at her curls, which had been neatly coiffed because that was what others had expected of a young woman like her.
‘Just because we have no money doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep up appearances,’ Norma had chided one day when Sissy hadn’t paid as much attention to her appearance as she should have.
‘Well, if I am going to be criticised regardless of what I do, why shouldn’t I do what I want for a change?’ she muttered defiantly, shoving her fingers into her hair and shaking it free of its pins. They fell onto the grass at her feet, but she didn’t bother to pick them up. Instead, Sissy shook her long tresses loose and allowed the wind to tug them.
She worked to try to blank out her thoughts. She imagined the wind sweeping out her cluttered mind, shaking out the cobwebs, the doom and gloom. It left her with only highly polished things to consider. To begin with, she didn’t want to look at what they were. She knew already what one of them was: Morgan. He was one problem she had yet to contemplate but, right now, she didn’t want her troubled thoughts about him to dampen her enjoyment of her new-found freedom.
Sissy tipped her head back and savoured the raindrops on her face. She would have enjoyed having her naturally curly hair dance about her face but the rain had made it sodden.
In fact, rivulets of water trickled down her face with increasing determination as the rain became heavier. The wind increased too. Within minutes, Sissy’s enjoyment vanished and was replaced with a worry that brought a frown back to her brow.
She looked around her and shivered. She was cold, made even more so by the now buffeting winds. Sissy withstood it for as long as she could but eventually began to shake because she was so frozen. When she turned to leave, though, Sissy looked around but realised that she had absolutely no idea where she was. Turning in a circle, she studied the landscape but could see nothing but mile upon mile of rolling hills none of which were familiar.
‘What have I done?’ she moaned, trying not to be scared.
Sniffing miserably, she made her way to the edge of the field she was in. Tugging the remnants of her shawl around her shoulders a little tighter, Sissy tried to remember which way she had come. Half-way across the field, she stumbled and fell again. Large stones slammed into her knees and her foot twisted painfully to the side. Sissy cried out in pain. It took her a moment to catch her breath and be able to awkwardly ease her aching foot out of the hole. She stayed where she was for a moment before drawing on her last reserves of energy and forcing herself back onto her feet. But when she tried to walk pain shot up her leg and she found that she could manage nothing more than a hobble. It was incredibly difficult to make any progress, but with nobody for miles around, Sissy had to struggle home alone. She could only hope that she could reach it before it went dark or it was going to be a very long night indeed.
Morgan cursed when lightning lit the sky. His horse danced about in protest but swiftly settled under his guiding hand and with a few quiet words. It wasn’t his horse’s skittishness that concerned him the most, it was the thought that Sissy was out in this storm. Morgan stood in his stirrups to be able to see into the fields on either side of the country lane he was in. He knew she had come this way. The occupier of the last house he had passed had been rushing home and had told him Sissy had passed the house sometime ago and hadn’t come back. Sissy had to be out in the open countryside somewhere, but he couldn’t even begin to understand why she might want to stand out in the middle of open fields. He knew there was nothing before him but at least fifty miles of open countryside with nothing more than a shepherd’s hut to shelter in.