He put a hand on my arm, stopping me. “Margaret, tell me what is going on.”
“Where’s Alice?”
“I sent her down the path to that old fort we put together. Do you remember it?”
“The one with the tree swing John hung for us?”
Daniel nodded.
“She shouldn’t be alone, Daniel.”
“I’m joining her. Just as soon as you tell me what is going on.”
I forced a smile. “You’ve gotten your wish. Any man but Mr. Northam. Isn’t that what you said?”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Father has found me a husband. He arrives tomorrow.”
“He found you a husband? Who is it?”
“Does it matter?”
The pity in his look made me grit my teeth. I turned away, continuing down the path. Daniel was soon by my side.
“I cannot believe they would do this,” he said.
I thought hearing disbelief in his voice would make me feel better, his incredulity a validation for my dismay, but it didn’t. It only made the void within me grow.
“After all my efforts to reestablish myself, to make people forget. . . . Everyone will say they aren’t surprised this is the only way I could get a husband.”
“Well, you haven’t married. So, in a way they would be correct.”
“Daniel!”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
He was callous at the worst moments. I kicked at a pebble. “I was so close. A few more days and I—” I clamped my lips together. It would do no good to let Daniel know how I’d hoped for Mr. Northam’s appearance.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Is that how long Mr. Lundall gave you this time? Do you really intend to marry him?”
“Mr. Lundall didn’t say when he’d return. But even if I wished to, I am no longer at liberty to accept him.” And yet this other man was sure to be worse than Mr. Lundall in every way, except possibly smell.
“What do you know of this man?”
“Nothing.” A featureless face rose before me and I shivered. What was wrong with this man that he had to turn to me to find a match? “Do you think father knows him well?” The words came out strangled.
Daniel stopped and gripped my arms, turning me to face him. “Margaret, our father would never allow you to marry someone he didn’t esteem as the best of men.”
“This wouldn’t be the first time Father has been mistaken.”
Daniel frowned and stepped back. “I believe we all learned our lesson, especially Father.”
“But this man is obviously only after my dowry. What else could it be? So it is the same. Only worse. I’ve never even met this man!”
“And how is going along with Father’s plan any different from your marrying Northam?”
“It’s completely different. Mr. Northam would be my choice, and I’d know exactly what I was getting. My marrying Mr. Northam would be mutually beneficial. I get nothing from marrying this stranger.” I knew how to protect myself with Mr. Northam, while with someone else there was no guarantee.
“You don’t know that.” Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “What is it you’re so afraid of?”
I turned away.
“Margaret,” Daniel said gently. After a pause, he spoke. “Perhaps it isn’t about the money at all. Perhaps he has a limp and is bent with deformity.”
Horrific images of mangled men raced through my mind before Daniel’s teasing chuckle made me fix him with my meanest glare. Couldn’t he ever be serious?
Instead of cowing, he continued, “How about an accent of some sort? Ooh, a Frenchman. No, wait. A Russian! They are so popular these days. He could have an accent. ‘Margaret, my dear, vould you like to go out tonight? To ze opera, perhaps?’”
Daniel grasped my hand. I strained against his grip, but his fingers tightened. He slouched down until his face was level with mine and stared at me with an expression of mock sincerity.
I narrowed my eyes and pulled again on my hand, but he didn’t release me. He waggled his brows, then winked. Years of habitual reaction worked against me. My lips twitched until the corners of my mouth lifted into a small grin.
“I take dat as a yez.”
It was despicable, the way he could get me to smile. This was not a circumstance to laugh at. I gritted my teeth. “Daniel, you don’t sound very Russian.”
He ignored me and placed my hand on his arm. He didn’t stand up, though. Instead, he remained low and hunched over. As we moved forward he dragged one foot behind him. The scrape of his foot along the path sent chills through me even as I swallowed a laugh.
Of a sudden, he lurched forward to grab a large stick, jostling me off balance. He placed the stick upright like a cane.
“Daniel, stop,” I begged. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry. I wanted both.
“How am I to vin your love if I stop? No. I must continue. Forever.”
Forever. I would be married to this man until death did us part.
I might never be free again.
Eight
The next day, Parson Andrews droned on about repentance and change, but I hardly heard a word, dividing my time between staring at Louisa’s back, willing her to feel my impatience to speak with her, and the slow movement of the colors splayed across the altar from the stained-glass window above. Sometime during the night I’d realized what I had to do—I had to find a way out of this engagement before anyone learned of it. Then everything could return to the way it had been before, and Mr. Northam and I could marry as we wished.
But I had no idea how to get a man so desperate as to seek out a wife sight unseen to turn around and call it off.
When the stained glass reflection finally hit the floor, the sermon ended and Parson Andrews shuffled down the aisle to take his customary place at the door, enabling him to bid farewell to his parishioners. Louisa and her family slipped into the aisle before I could catch her attention, and of course Daniel, who sat on the end of our pew, waited for them to pass before moving into the aisle himself.
I tried to shove past him, but he intentionally blocked my way.
“Anxious to leave this morning, are we? Cannot wait to discover who is waiting for you at home?”
I smiled sweetly. “Certainly. Anything is better than sitting next to your stink all morning.”
Skepticism flashed through his eyes, but he discreetly tilted his head to smell his armpit. His distraction provided me just enough space to squeeze by him, and I blew him a kiss as I passed.
The Rosthorns were already making their way to their carriage. I ran up to Louisa. “I need to speak with you,” I whispered, feigning a smile at the Johnsons, who were gathered around waiting for their mother to finish speaking with Louisa’s. “Behind the bushes,” I added. The old holly, situated conveniently out of earshot of casual eavesdroppers, was a place we met whenever there was something we needed to discuss while our parents socialized after services.
Louisa’s brows rose and she gave a slight nod, but as we took a step back, Mrs. Johnson’s second daughter, Catherine, intercepted us. “Miss Rosthorn, how lovely you look this morning.” Her shrewd gaze swept over my hair and dress. “And Miss Brinton.”
“Miss Johnson, such a pleasure,” I replied, forcing my tone to be polite. Though she was a year older than us, we had all been childhood friends until we had come out into society. Catherine had then become the epitome of ill-will, acting as though each man in the village—and each new one who appeared—was somehow her personal property and Louisa and I the thieves. She’d even had intentions for Daniel at one point.
“Did I overhear your brother mention that you are expecting a guest?”
Curse Daniel for telling people. “We are.”
Her lips dipped into a frown. “How refreshing. Family, I assume? Is y
our guest staying long?”
Catherine knew perfectly well we had no family who would visit. My mother’s only sister had passed a few years before without marrying, and my father was an only child. None of their parents were living. Catherine was just being nosy, and my patience was running thin. I needed to speak with Louisa.
“Not family. Someone my father knows. I am certain the man will be a dead bore. But if you would like to see him for yourself and try your hand at winning his affection, you are more than welcome to visit.”
“Thank you, but we have plans.” She looked at Louisa. “Good day, Miss Rosthorn.” She turned her back to us and rejoined her family.
“Margaret, that was rude,” Louisa said.
“It was,” I acknowledged. “And of course I am sorry. But I do not wish to discuss Catherine. I have something more pressing to speak to you about.” I led the way to the bushes.
“What is it?”
My parents were conversing with some neighbors, their smiles a further betrayal to me. They should at least appear morose about confining their daughter to such a predicament. “The man, the guest who’s coming—Louisa, my father intends for me to marry him.”
“What? Is it Mr. Northam?”
“No, it is someone I have never met.”
Louisa paled. “Oh, no.”
“You have to help me. I must find some way out of this. I cannot hide his arrival from the town, but if I can find some way out of the arrangement tonight, it might be possible to keep gossip at a minimum.”
She nodded with understanding. “What will you do?”
“I have no plan as of yet. I am too anxious to think clearly. I was hoping you would suggest something.”
She shook her head sadly. “I wouldn’t know what to do. You cannot very well go against your parents’ wishes without tainting your reputation. Perhaps you could tell him, in confidence, that your heart is already engaged elsewhere?” At my skeptical look, she amended, “Well, not your heart, but your interest?”
“The type of man to enter into an agreement of marriage without even first seeing his bride will not care two whits about her wishes or interests.”
“You will think of something. I know you will.” Louisa glanced back at the crowd. “I have to go. Mother is searching for me.”
Her mother was indeed searching the faces around her for her daughter, while her father’s expression no longer held the smile it had sported while speaking with the Johnsons. Glancing across the crowd, I saw why. My father inclined his head to Sir Edward, but then turned his back. Though they had never been friends, our fathers had at least conversed. Any semblance of civility had evaporated with the failed engagement.
Louisa placed a hand on my arm. “I will come tomorrow, if I can.”
I nodded. She squeezed my arm comfortingly before walking back into the crowd, leaving me alone to wrestle between my heated defiance at accepting this engagement and the despair of its inevitability.
Nine
Upon returning home, I retreated to the drawing room and closed the door. Once seated at the piano, I ran my fingers up and down the keys, the scales I had detested practicing as a child now calming the disquiet within me. I tried not to think about the man I would shortly meet, but each chiming of the clock testified my time was dwindling. When the room began to feel like a coffin, I left to seek consolation outside.
My mother stopped me in the hall. “Our guest will arrive in half an hour.”
I started. “I thought he was coming late, for dinner.”
“Please see to your appearance. Your hair has come loose.”
My hand automatically went to my hair. I nodded and scurried up the stairs to my room, fixed the lock that was loose, then slipped back down. Mother’s and Alice’s voices from the parlor sent me out the back door. I hurried across the lawn and down the stairs, slowing to run my fingers along the wooden arbor at the base of the stairs, marking the entrance to the garden. There wasn’t enough time to go to the lake. But I hoped to find a bit of solace here, away from the house.
A bench positioned across the garden near the path was just the thing. I sat and tilted my head to rest against the back of the bench.
The long flowing clouds lacing the sky looked like hovering claws ready to swoop down and snatch up whatever offended them. I shivered at a breeze playing at my skin. Bringing my feet up onto the bench, I wrapped my arms around my legs for warmth and laid my cheek on my knees, staring at nothing.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. Within moments I would meet the man my parents expected me to marry. And I would have to do it unless I found a way out.
One thing was certain: I would never like this man. If he developed a tendre for me, he’d have to deal with it himself. I’d made myself a promise, and no random middle-aged hunchbacked Russian was going to convince me to break it.
A familiar noise made its way through my numb mind, though it took me a moment to recognize the sound of a carriage.
Dropping my feet to the ground, I twisted down low on the bench and held my breath. The bench, though not directly next to the road, could still be seen from the front of the house. I remained huddled until the sound of the wheels stopped and the welcoming voices of my parents had gone silent.
Only a few minutes would pass before my mother discovered my absence and sent someone to call for me. If I hurried, I could glimpse the man through the window in the parlor. Then I could be prepared. I would have the upper hand when we were introduced.
I scrambled off the bench and raced up the stairs. Bending low to avoid being seen, I raced across the lawn and climbed onto the low wall surrounding the house. With my arms outstretched for balance, I shimmied toward the parlor windows, trying to avoid falling forward into the prickly bushes growing between the wall and the house. When I found a good spot, I adjusted my feet, inhaled deeply, and peered inside.
My mother stood nearest, though she was angled away from the window as though watching the door for my arrival. My father stood a few steps from her, facing the other side of the room. They both looked uncomfortable, my mother furtively glancing to the door, my father unmoving with a small frown on his face. I leaned closer to the window, trying to see who else was in the room, but I couldn’t maneuver past the unruly yew bush growing next to the house and over the wall.
The only other person visible was Daniel, standing by himself in the middle of the room. I waved my hand to catch his attention. When he noticed me, he frowned and shook his head. Why was he so serious? It wasn’t his future that was being destroyed. I made a face. He didn’t respond, though I imagined I heard him clear his throat to stifle a laugh. I gestured to the side of the room, wanting to know what the man was like. Daniel didn’t move. Undeterred, I hunched over, pressing one hand to the small of my back while holding a pretend cane in the other. I took a step along the wall and shook my pretend cane at him in imitation of his Russian from the day before.
Suddenly a man appeared between us and looked directly at me. The intensity of his blue eyes threw me off balance. My arms flung out, flailing for anything to stop my fall, but there was nothing to grasp. My feet slipped and I fell backward onto the lawn. After struggling to regain my breath, I looked at the house. I had fallen too close to the wall to see the window, which meant no one could see me. I was safe.
Except, I was not safe. I knew those icy blue eyes. They were Lord Williams’s eyes.
It couldn’t be.
I lifted myself onto my elbows and peeked over the wall.
It was.
Lord Williams was in my home, standing in my window, though he’d turned and now his back was to me. Even the way he carried himself, formal yet relaxed, testified to his belief that all should bow before him.
Surely this couldn’t be the man my parents had spoken of. He must be here for some other reason. To disabuse me to my parents? To warn
them of his cousin since I’d refused to pay heed to him before?
If it was the latter, the joke was on him. My marriage plans had already taken a tumultuous detour.
I would not stand for any more meddling from him, whatever his purpose. Especially not when I was already consumed with deciding how to eradicate a soon-to-be-arriving fiancé. Ladylike or not, I would confront him and let him know exactly what I thought of him. And then I would throw him out.
I stood and, without looking again at the window, walked calmly to the front door, straightening my skirt. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and almost collided with Alice.
“I was just coming to get you,” she said excitedly, her eyes sparkling. “The baron has arrived, Margaret. Isn’t it thrilling?”
The baron? She said it as though he were the only baron in all of England. I bit back a remark and shook my head, instead grasping Alice’s hand and forcing myself toward the parlor. Just before I reached the open door I paused.
“Do I look presentable?” I asked.
“Yes, you look very pretty. Are you nervous?”
“To face Lord Williams? I should think not.” I rolled my shoulders back, lifted my chin, and strode into the room.
All eyes fixed on me as I entered. Keeping my head up, I quickly surveyed the small party. No one had moved from their positions of a moment before. The only difference was that there were now red splotches on Daniel’s cheeks as he struggled for composure, no doubt the effect of witnessing my fall.
My mother bustled up to me wearing a mask of pleasantness, but her eyes were tight at the sides. I felt the smallest hint of sympathy for her. Lord Williams’s presence in our house, or anywhere in the county, for that matter, was enough to make anyone unhappy.
“Margaret, let me introduce Lord Williams.” She placed a firm hand on my arm and directed me to the middle of the room.
Lord Williams moved in front of me and bowed. It would have been a very gracious bow, except his eyes never left mine.
He must have been watching for my reaction. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing anything but displeasure. I dropped a shallow curtsy. “Lord Williams and I are already acquainted. Or, rather, we have already had the opportunity to become acquainted.”
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