by C. J. Archer
"You look like dung what's been in the sun a week," Willie said.
"As eloquent as always." Matt cast her a limp smile but his gaze flicked to me. It didn't linger. "As you've probably guessed, Payne has informed Lord Cox of Patience's indiscretion. My advertisement was too late."
"That ain't your fault," Cyclops said.
"I should have done it days ago."
"No, Matt," Willie said.
"Hold your breath," I told them. "He's going to blame himself, no matter how much we protest. How is Patience?"
"Devastated, apparently," he said. "Aunt Beatrice and the girls were going to leave for Rycroft tomorrow to begin wedding preparations there. Patience hasn't stopped crying since she received the letter from Lord Cox calling off the wedding."
Poor Patience. I felt for her. I knew what it was like the first few days after receiving such news. It was like waking aboard a storm-ravaged ship. You did not know where you were, the surface beneath your feet was unstable, and there was no end to the turmoil in sight.
"So what did Lord Rycroft ask you to do?" I said.
Matt sat and rested his elbows on his knees. He dragged his hand through his hair. The silence thinned until Willie could no longer stand it.
"Well?" she barked.
"Lord Cox must be convinced that Patience is still a worthy and valuable bride," he said. "He needs to be made aware of just how virtuous she is, and how deeply she regrets her mistake. If he's a reasonable fellow, he'll reconsider."
"And who is going to convince him?" I asked. "You?"
He frowned. "My uncle doesn't have a delicate touch. I think I'm the better choice."
"Lord Cox lives in Yorkshire! You can't travel for days to reach him then spend days returning. We're in the middle of an important investigation that will save your life."
He said nothing, and that only riled me more.
"Don't you dare even consider leaving London now unless it's to find Phineas Millroy."
"You can investigate very well without me, India. The others will help, but you don't really need it. You're competent and excellent at solving knotty puzzles. You'll be fine."
"Don't try to sweet talk me," I said. "You are not leaving, and that's final."
"Agreed," Duke said. "You're staying here, Matt."
"Aye," both Willie and Cyclops added.
Matt turned an icy glare onto each of them in turn, but saved the extra iciness for me. "I have to speak to him now. My uncle will only make things worse if he blunders in, and time is of the essence. Lord Cox must be convinced to change his mind before anyone finds out. It'll be too late to sweep it under the carpet if we delay. I have to strike now or not at all."
Cyclops, Duke and Willie all crossed their arms over their chests at the same time. They weren't capitulating. Matt lowered his head and raked his hair again.
"What did Lord Rycroft want from you?" I asked, a little gentler. "I doubt it was to suggest you speak with Lord Cox on his behalf."
A muscle in Matt's cheek pulsed. "You know why," he said quietly. "He has the same idiotic notion as Aunt Letitia. That's why I have to speak to Lord Cox myself and do it immediately."
His uncle wanted him to marry Patience. Indeed, he had probably put enormous pressure on Matt to agree to the scheme. The fact that Lord and Lady Rycroft had left quite soon after arriving meant Matt had placated them with an offer they considered reasonable.
I swallowed hard but the lump in my throat remained. "You can't leave now," I said lamely. "Not only is it a crucial time in our search for Phineas Millroy but you can't travel such a long distance alone. Someone needs to be with you if you fall unconscious."
"The alternative is not an option either." Head still bowed, he regarded me through thick lashes. He looked so forlorn that my heart lurched in response.
"Let them solve their own damned problems," Duke spat. "It ain't nothing to do with you."
"Aye," Cyclops said. "You don't have to marry her, Matt. There must be another way."
"Money," Willie said without much conviction. "Either give some to Patience and her sisters, or to Lord Cox to make him marry her."
"Lord Cox is rich and doesn't need my money, and money is hardly compensation enough for my cousins. It's not fair that they have to give up marriage because of my mistake."
"It's not your mistake!" I shot to my feet and strode to the door, my skirts snapping at my ankles. There was no point rehashing old arguments and providing the same suggestions. We were getting nowhere. "I'll dine in my room."
I raced up the stairs and threw myself on the bed. Sulking achieved nothing except more frayed nerves, so I took out my watch and opened the casing. I could dismantle it by rote so I didn't need to concentrate. The familiar work soothed me, allowed me to clear my mind and calm my temper.
By the time I put my watch's innards back in the housing, I'd realized there was one way Matt could make it clear to his aunts and uncle that he wouldn't marry Patience. He could engage himself to me.
But he had not proposed, not exactly, and he wouldn't while he was so ill. He was free to marry whomever he chose.
While he said all the things I wanted to hear, I couldn't be sure which path he'd choose. It wouldn't surprise me if his chivalry and sense of duty overrode his love for me. It would be just like Matt to tell his aunt and uncle the things he knew they wanted to hear.
They had, after all, left soon after arriving.
Chapter 9
Once again, Matt had already left the house when I went down for breakfast. Once again, no one knew where he'd gone. When Bristow informed me, I got the most awful tightening in my chest.
"I already checked his room," Duke told me, pressing a cup of tea into my hands in the dining room. "His clothes are still there."
"He wouldn't leave London without telling us," Willie said from the table where she attacked a pile of bacon heaped on her plate.
"Or leaving a note," Cyclops added. "There's no note."
I looked to Bristow. "No note that I've found," he added.
That was a relief. I served myself breakfast from the selection on the sideboard but found I wasn't hungry and hardly ate.
Matt still hadn't returned by the time breakfast finished. I retreated to the sitting room, where waiting became extremely trying. I wanted to speak to Abigail Pilcher again, but I didn't want to do so without Matt. If he didn't return soon, however, I would go alone.
It occurred to me that he had gone to see her without me to avoid my lectures. That was more disheartening than thinking he'd gone to speak to Lord Cox, and I resolved to be more pleasant today and not even bring up Patience's situation.
My resolution didn't extend to Miss Glass. She joined me in the sitting room mid-morning and settled her portable writing desk on her lap.
"What an awful business about Patience," I began.
"Very."
"Do you think Lord Cox can be convinced to change his mind?"
She pulled out a letter from the desk and perched her spectacles on the end of her nose. "No. He's much too proud, so my brother says."
"Has Lord Rycroft even tried to speak to him?"
"He has written."
"A letter isn't enough. He must go in person and try to sway him."
She sighed and lowered the letter. "Richard does not grovel."
"Not even for his daughter's sake? Indeed, for the sake of all his daughters?"
"Not when there is another, more palatable alternative."
She meant Matt marrying Patience. From the sympathetic look Miss Glass gave me, I suspected she assumed that was the path Matt would take. It would do me no good to tell her otherwise. That was Matt's responsibility—and clearly he had not done it.
With a sigh, Miss Glass set aside her writing desk and came to sit beside me on the sofa. "I know it's not what either of you want, India, but it's the way it has to be. Matthew has a duty. He is not free. He must do what is best for his family, his lineage. Do you understand?"
; "We've been through this." I looked away to hide the burning tears welling in my eyes.
"But do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. Matthew does too."
I whipped around to face her again. "He does?"
"He said so last night, right to Richard's face." Her features softened, and the wrinkles bracketing her eyes and mouth flattened out. "If you love him, you will let him go, India."
I opened my mouth but shut it again. I wasn't entirely sure what I'd been about to say, only that I felt I must protest. But my mind suddenly went numb and the words wouldn't form.
"He'll never be happy with you if he knows he could save Patience and didn't," she went on. "Her sisters too, don't forget. They're all relying on him."
"You put too much pressure on his shoulders."
"He has broad shoulders."
"Yes," I said, sounding rather dull-witted.
"He'll always blame himself if he doesn't rescue them," Miss Glass went on. "You know that, don't you?"
I ought to tell her there must be another way, that we owed it to Matt to find it and free him of his obligations. But I'd spent much of the night trying to find that other way and I couldn't. Short of Matt visiting Lord Cox and somehow convincing him to set aside his distaste of Patience's indiscretion, I could think of no way out. Besides, I suspected Miss Glass rather liked the idea of her niece and nephew marrying. Patience was a more appealing option than me.
"She is not a bad match for him," Miss Glass said as if reading my mind. "She would make a suitable wife. She's good and demure, and knows how to manage staff, host parties and further his career. She'll be a great asset to him."
The unspoken words being that I would only bring him down to my level. I looked away. I couldn't bear to see it in her eyes, mixed in with a little pain for me. She was not unsympathetic, but that sympathy was not enough to favor a marriage between me and Matt.
She picked up her writing desk again and set it on her lap. "My sister-in-law has won. She did look pleased as she left last night." She clicked her tongue. "I wonder how far her preparations are along already. It wouldn't surprise me if she has new invitations made up by the end of the week. There's no point changing the date, after all."
I gasped then choked, bringing fresh tears burning my eyes. I leapt up and would have made my excuses if I could talk without my voice shaking.
I got as far as the door and stopped. Bristow was showing the three Miss Glasses up the stairs to the sitting room. Of all the people I didn't want to see at that moment, they were top of my list. The only saving grace was that they came alone, without their mother.
I resumed my seat. There was no way I would let them see how upset the business of Matt marrying Patience had made me. I would never give Hope that satisfaction.
They filed into the sitting room one by one, led by the youngest, Hope. She was followed by Charity and finally Patience, the eldest. While they greeted their aunt with brisk kisses, Hope and Patience could hardly even look at me. It was understandable perhaps, considering Patience's disgrace and Hope's recent attempts to steal Matt's watch and to trick him into a compromising position. Of the three girls, Hope was the prettiest and cleverest, but those attributes had given her a diabolical precociousness. Her aunt didn't like her, and as charitable as I tried to be toward her, I couldn't either.
Charity, the middle sister, seemed the least concerned to see me. She was too interested in hovering by the door, checking the vicinity. No doubt she was looking for Cyclops, whom she'd taken quite a shine to.
"Is our cousin in?" Hope asked Miss Glass. "My sister wishes to speak with him."
Patience sat with her feet together and her hands in her lap. She bowed her head, a picture of demure respectability. It was almost impossible to think of her having a dalliance, let alone having one with a scoundrel.
"He's out," Miss Glass said. "What did you want to speak to him about, Patience?"
"A…a private matter," Patience stammered.
"Speak louder, girl, I can hardly hear you."
"A private matter regarding…" Her face flushed and she lowered her head further.
"Regarding an arrangement between them," Charity said, finally taking a seat. "For goodness sake, Patience, just say it. She's not going to attack you."
Hope pressed her lips together but didn't completely smother her snicker. It was only then that I realized Charity was referring to me.
"I…I'm not even sure there is an arrangement," Patience said.
"Of course there is," Hope said. "Mama made it clear last night."
"I'd rather hear it from Matt himself so that there's no mistake. It seems…unlikely." She blinked red, swollen eyes at me.
My heart pinched and I looked away. I didn't want to feel sympathy for her, yet I did. Like me, her fiancé had thrown her to the wolves without a care for her wellbeing. It was cruel, and I couldn't blame her for clutching at the lifeline offered now.
Patience cleared her throat. "Do you and Matt have an arrangement, India?"
I gripped the edge of the sofa, digging my nails into the upholstery. A thick blanket of silence enveloped us, stifling me. It was difficult to take a full breath.
"We are not engaged," I managed to say.
A collective sigh of relief banished the silence.
"There!" Hope declared. "See. He's free to marry you, Patience. All is well."
Patience chewed the inside of her lip. "Well…if you're sure, India."
"Of course she's sure," Miss Glass snipped off. "Matthew is a Glass, the heir to the Rycroft title. It's time he married and married well. You're a good match, Patience. Don't let anyone allow you to think otherwise." She shot a glare at Hope. "India is not at all suitable for Matthew. They both know it. You have nothing to worry about on that score."
"Our mother says the same thing," Patience said. "But I wanted to make sure first. If you say there is nothing between you, India, then I'll feel better."
"She already said they're not engaged," Charity blurted out, throwing up her hands. "For goodness’ sake, Patience, just accept that he's going to marry you. Forget that boring Cox. Matt is a much better catch."
Patience gave a small nod. "I know. I'd be honored to be his wife." She smiled, but it withered when she turned to me, and she once again dipped her head.
"Since Patience will now be marrying Matt," Hope said with a tilt of her chin, "it seems appropriate that you no longer live here, India. I do hope you understand. We have nothing against you. You seem kind, and as devoted as a pet, but it just wouldn't be decorous anymore."
I wished I'd had the strength in my legs to walk out. I really should have. Better yet, I wished I'd ordered her out of the house.
"India stays here," Miss Glass snapped. "She is my companion."
"But Aunt Letitia." Hope's soothing voice and big eyes did an excellent job at imploring. I imagined it worked on her parents and paramours quite well. "You must see how awkward it is with her here. Think of Patience."
"Do stop, Hope," Patience said with effort. "I don't mind if she stays. Honestly."
"Be quiet, Patience. You don't know what's good for you."
Miss Glass's nostrils flared, her spine stiffened. "India is not leaving, and that is final."
Hope sniffed. "We'll see what Father has to say."
Cyclops wandered in and stopped when he spotted our visitors. For a long moment he stood without moving, as if he couldn't decide whether to stay or go and so did nothing. In the end, his manners won out and he greeted the Glass sisters politely.
Charity sprang up from her chair and grasped his arm. She dragged him across the room and ordered him to sit on the sofa then squeezed herself between Cyclops and Patience, forcing her sister aside. Cyclops squashed himself into the corner, taking up far less space than a man his size ought.
"I'm so glad you're here," Charity gushed. "Your company is sorely needed today."
"It is?" He glanced over her head at me. I merely shr
ugged one shoulder.
"Everyone is such a bore," she whispered.
Hope rolled her eyes. "We can hear you."
Cyclops cleared his throat. "I should go."
"No!" Charity clutched his arm again and leaned into him. "Do stay a little longer. Talk to me. Tell me about yourself. Your life must be thrilling."
He leaned away and stared owlishly at her through his one good eye. "Not that thrilling."
"It must be! You can't look like a pirate then tell me you sit inside reading books all day." She pulled a face. "That would be awfully disappointing."
"Actually, that's all I do." He cleared his throat. "I sit in Matt's library and read. I read everything. I hate the outdoors." She drew back. Sensing an opportunity to escape, Cyclops warmed to his theme. "There's too much…dirt outside. And fresh air. I prefer stale air and cleanliness."
"But the scar…"
"A childhood accident. My mother dropped me as a baby."
I bit my lip to stop my smile.
"And your size." Charity squeezed his shoulder and giggled. "You're so big and strong. You must be an excellent fighter."
"Charity!" Patience scolded. "Restrain yourself."
"Why should I?" Charity snapped at her older sister. "You didn't."
Patience blushed fiercely and stared down at her folded hands.
"I'm not that strong," Cyclops said. "In fact, I'm a coward. I hate fighting. It hurts. And being big means I scare people without meaning to. Do you know what it's like to pick up your baby niece and she starts crying? No matter how many times I play peekaboo, she won't stop. It breaks my heart." He pressed a hand to his chest. "I'm very sensitive. Some say too sensitive. I even cry. A lot."
I tried hard to hold back my laugh, but it escaped as a choke. Poor Cyclops was trying, but Charity seemed more enthused than ever. Telling her that he cried only made her click her tongue and coo at him as if he were a child.
She slid even closer to him, crushing her skirt against his thigh. "So you don't like fisticuffs, but what about knives? Do you carry one? How big is it? Can I see it?"