The Reluctant Bride Collection

by Megan Bryce

  Diana smiled. “She’s not met Mother, then? Perhaps Miss Blakesley is refusing because she is unsure of your sincerity. She’s not met any of your relations, after all.”

  Nathaniel wiped biscuit crumbs from his knee and offered another to Jacob. “I fear she will find out all too soon that I was showing her my fondest respect by keeping my relations from her.”

  “I’ll endeavor not to overwhelm her, but I really don’t think you need to worry. I fully expect Miss Blakesley to be able to hold her own against me or Mother.” She picked Jacob up, preparing to depart, and raised an eyebrow at her brother. “She is, after all, holding her own against you.”

  He grimaced, rising and kissing her cheek. “It is my greatest character fault– finding sweet, biddable women utterly boring.”

  She laughed. “Then you should be grateful you have none in your life. Till tonight brother, dear.”

  Mary burst into Olivia’s room, the bedchamber key dangling from her finger. “A little trick I learned from you.”

  Olivia glared at her. “Go away. That door was locked for a reason.”

  “Yes, I know. So you could mope about. Oh, poor me. I have been proposed to– the horror of it all. However will I survive!”

  “Rot you, Mary. You don’t have Mother harassing you into an unsuitable marriage.”

  Mary sat on the bed. “Oh. So you don’t love him then? Forgive us. We all thought you had formed quite the attachment. I suspect he thought it as well.” She watched Olivia intently. “Tell me you don’t love him.”

  “I don’t love him. I should have cut it off but he is remarkably persistent.”

  “And you are quite the accomplished liar. You should be treading the boards.”

  “Must I fall in love with the first gentleman who comes calling?”

  “I have never seen you happier. I have never seen a connection between two people as I see with you. It is as if you’ve known each other for years, grew up with each other.” She stood, taking Olivia’s hand. “Olivia. He is who you have been waiting for. Why do you say no?”

  Olivia whispered, “I tricked him. He is infatuated only. One day he will wake up and realize his mistake.”

  Mary hugged her, squeezing hard. “You’re a ninny.”

  Olivia tried to pull away, but Mary held fast. “He is not a boy, he is a grown man. I would expect he is remarkably hard to trick.”

  “Then how do you explain this madness, hmm?”

  Mary laughed. “He loves you, you silly twit!”

  She shook her head. “We must disagree.”

  “Let’s go ask him.”

  Olivia reared back in horror. “What!”

  “I’m sure he’ll be at the Mayes’ tonight. We’ll ask him why he insisted on doing something so foolish as proposing to you.”

  “You have gone mad.”

  “I don’t think I’m the mad one in this room.”

  Olivia pointed her finger at Mary. “Do not dare embarrass me by asking him anything.”

  “Oh, do you care then what he thinks of you and your family? Intriguing.”

  “Mary, promise me.”

  Mary shrugged, heading toward the door. “You’ll have to try and keep me from him this evening. And Rufus.” She laughed. “That would be even worse, don’t you think?”

  Olivia sat unseeing on the bed, imagining Mary and Rufus accosting Nathaniel and demanding his declaration of love. She whispered, “You are horrific.”

  Mary stopped at the door. “I would do anything to secure the future happiness of my favorite sister. Anything at all.”

  “I thought you would be the one person I could count on to be on my side.”

  “Perhaps you should examine why I am not. Perhaps you are in the wrong, Olivia.” She waved. “See you tonight, my dear.”

  Olivia lay back on the bed. For the first time in her life she felt outmatched by her family and did not in the slightest enjoy the experience.

  “A Mr. Edward Blakesley to see you, sir.”

  Nathaniel sat back unexpectedly. He had not spoken to her father about his intentions, mainly because he wasn’t certain Olivia would ever accept him.

  “Show him in please.”

  Her father entered the study dressed as the country gentleman he was. His spectacles perched on his nose, his graying hair clipped short. Olivia took after him with her willowy frame.

  Mr. Blakesley reminded him of his own father. Quiet, calm, and ruled by the women in his life. Nathaniel’s mother and sister had run his childhood home and he could see a similar situation with Mr. Blakesley. He felt a twinge of camaraderie for another man surrounded by forceful women.

  Mr. Blakesley smiled and took the seat Nathaniel offered. “Thank you, m’boy. Once a man becomes a grandfather it seems his energy is sucked away.”

  “My father said something similar when my oldest nephew was born.”

  “It reminds us how far away our own childhood was.” Mr. Blakesley cleared his throat. “I understand you have been pursuing my daughter.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry I have not spoken with you, but considering she hasn’t accepted I thought it prudent to wait.”

  Mr. Blakesley chuckled. “Yes. That is what I came to speak to you about. I thought I’d warn you that once Olivia gets an idea in her head, it is notoriously difficult to get out. You have an uphill battle, I’m afraid.”

  “I’ve noticed she does forge her own path.”

  “That is certainly one way of putting it. I’m the father of six girls, Mr. Jenkins. They each have their own personalities and traits, it seems like from birth. I love them all dearly. But I must confess that Olivia has always had a special place in my heart. There are not many men who know exactly what they do and do not want, and go after it with single-minded abandon the way she does. It has turned my hair gray and given her mother apoplexy on many occasions.”

  Nathaniel smiled. “I can certainly believe that, sir.”

  “And I would not want anyone to change that about her.”

  “No, sir.”

  Mr. Blakesley stared at him, appraising him. Finally he nodded. “However, none of us are infallible. She has been wrong before and I think she is wrong this time. Olivia has never been so happy and I credit that to you. You seem to understand her and that is something we should all be so lucky to find.”

  He stood to his feet, waving Nathaniel down. “I will give you a tip, m’boy. Force will only make her dig her heels in deeper. But she will listen and gather evidence, and when she has enough proof, she will change her opinion. Don’t give up. Have patience.” Mr. Blakesley winked. “You’ll need plenty of it.”

  Ten

  The Mayes’ Ball was crowded and merry; everyone was laughing and being overly happy. Olivia could not keep a scowl off her face. She had never been in a worse temper. Her head pounded with every step she took and every beat of the music. Mary was attached to her like a limpet on a rock and her mother watched her like a hawk watching a mouse. What were they expecting her to do? Make a run for it through the garden?

  She was here to keep them from confronting Nathaniel!

  She had been threatened and bullied into coming and now they acted as if she was their prisoner. It was nearly too much to bear.

  Not to mention she had not seen Nathaniel for days, not since he had lost his mind and proposed to her. Would he even be here? If he came, would he acknowledge her? Would she acknowledge him?

  “Miss Blakesley?”

  Olivia turned to find an elegantly dressed woman she had never met before.

  “Very shocking, I know– we have not been introduced– but really, I can’t stand to wait on such niceties. I have a few words I’d like to say to you.”

  “Perhaps a few of those words would be your name?”

  Diana smiled. “I told Nathaniel I could not run you off. I am Diana Cracraft, his sister.” She nodded at Mary, though kept her focus on Olivia. Mary did not even try to hide her glee-filled smile.

  Olivia sighe
d. “Oh. Have you come to harass me into marrying your brother?”

  “Of course I have. He seems quite taken with you despite your rejection and I wanted to see why.”

  “I really don’t know why he sees fit to tell everyone I refused him. I would think most men would keep that to themselves.”

  “Ah well, my brother is not like most men, is he? Besides, he expects to win you eventually.”

  Diana stared at Olivia, as if willing her to divulge her innermost secrets. Olivia stared back, the silence lengthening, until finally Diana conceded defeat, smiling slightly.

  “No, no. Don’t tell me why you’ve refused. That is, apparently, between you and my brother. I will simply warn you. If you have good reason not to accept Nathaniel’s hand, then steer clear of him. I will not have his heart broken– he is a most sensitive man– and he deserves to marry and have children. Soon.”

  Olivia inhaled deeply. “Steer clear of Nathaniel? So says the sister who has accosted me.”

  Diana laughed. “And if you don’t have good reason, then stop playing with him and welcome to the family. I assure you Mother and I are not so formidable once you get to know us.”

  Diana patted her hand, then waved to a friend through the crowd. “Ah, there is Emily Mayes. I really must tell her to stop wearing that dreadful feather in her hair. I’ll come and have a chat sometime this week, yes? Until then, Miss Blakesley.”

  Olivia watched as Nathaniel’s sister navigated the crowds, then surreptitiously patted her dress and hair. She felt as if a very strong wind had blown through.

  No wonder he seemed to have a limitless supply of patience and fortitude. His sister had bred it into him. Olivia shuddered at the thought of meeting his mother. Did the man have to tell all his relations?

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. She turned, glaring, and her temper sparked.

  “Let go of my arm this instant, Mary. There is someone I wish to yell at.”

  Mary turned to look. “Shall I come with you?”

  “No, I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

  Mary laughed and let go of her arm. “Say hello from Rufus and me. I think I will go contrive an introduction to his sister. She seemed an interesting sort.”

  Olivia bit back her scream and made good on her escape, targeting Nathaniel through the crowd like a dog on a fox. He met her halfway.

  “Olivia, you look lovely.”

  “Nathaniel, call off your family.”

  He took her arm and they began to circulate around the fringe of the dance floor.

  “Are you being hounded, my dear?”

  “As you well know. Your mother has colluded with my mother, your sister accosted me just moments ago, my family will not give me a moments peace. It is all your fault.”

  “I don’t think you can lay your family’s attentions on my shoulders, although I will accept that my mother and sister can be quite fearsome.”

  “It is your fault. If you had not told all and sundry that you had proposed, I would not be the subject of my family’s machinations. If any of them approach you, you must make a hasty exit; I fear a few of them have gone quite mad.”

  He laughed. “My dear, you do know that all of this would stop if you would simply say yes.”

  “That was not our agreement.”

  He sighed loudly. “I do not know how to make this more plain, Olivia. I wish to make a new agreement.”

  She sniffed. “Our old agreement was working just fine.”

  “Not for me.”

  “This is really quite vexing. You do know that normally it is the woman who cannot get marriage out of her mind and the gentleman who wants nothing more than some fun. I really was not expecting this scenario.”

  Nathaniel stopped suddenly. “Are you saying, my dear, that I am good enough for some fun but not good enough for marriage?”

  She looked at him reproachfully. “Of course that is not what I am saying. Don’t be silly.”

  “I am trying to understand. You do not wish to marry me, yet you seem quite happy to have my company. Is it the idea of marriage to me or the idea of marriage at all that you object to?”

  She squeezed his arm. “Oh, Nathaniel. If I were to marry, I think you are the only man I would ever risk it for. But I do not think I will agree with marriage at all. I refuse in order to save us a great deal of torment.”

  He was silent a moment, thinking. “Then I can only see two ways out of our current predicament.”

  She looked at him suspiciously. “And they are?”

  “One, we continue to abide by our original agreement while I try to encourage you to accept a new agreement.”

  “And the other?”

  “We say goodbye, end all public and private interactions, and never see each other again.”

  Olivia’s stomach knotted, her heart ached. She whispered, “That would probably be for the best. It is the ending we agreed upon; it will happen eventually.”

  “If you have your way, yes.”

  “I do not like that option at all.”

  Nathaniel looked down at her. “Neither do I. I much prefer to live with the hope that one day I can talk you into accepting my outrageous proposal.”

  “Those are my only options, then? Live with constant harassment or never see you again?”

  “That is how it appears to me.”

  She eyed him critically. “I am not at all sure you are worth the aggravation.”

  He deposited her to Mary and Rufus, bowing. “Then I must prove that I am.”

  Nathaniel joined his mother and sister on a settee away from the dancing.

  His sister raised an eyebrow. “I assume there is no change in her answer?”

  He nodded.

  “Are you quite sure she is worth the effort? Perhaps she has a very good reason for not wanting to marry you.”

  “It is not me she objects to but marriage in general. I think she quite likes me despite her reservations.”

  “And you like her?”

  He smiled. “She constantly surprises me, makes me laugh, challenges me.” He laughed. “I quite expected that whoever I proposed to would fall over dead with gratitude. I would win her hand in marriage but have no desire to win her heart. Olivia is the complete opposite. I have her heart but she refuses my hand. It is a most enjoyable skirmish.”

  “You are a very strange fellow.”

  “I wanted a different kind of girl. There’s no one more different than Olivia; her refusal only proves that.”

  His mother smiled. “You are so much like your father. I’m afraid he had to ask me more than once as well.” She laughed. “Stubborn women do very well in this family. I shall pay her a visit.”

  Diana nodded. “Shall I come, too?

  “Let’s keep you in the reserves, darling. This may be a protracted battle.”

  Nathaniel smiled. “Don’t be put out, Diana. I fully expect that Olivia will need constant irritation.”

  A few mornings later, Olivia was sitting with her mother when the housekeeper announced a visitor.

  “Mrs. Anne Jenkins is here, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Hill.”

  Olivia jumped to her feet and turned to her mother reproachfully. “Oh, Mother.”

  “You sit down, Olivia.”

  Mrs. Jenkins entered the cozy room, smiling at Mrs. Blakesley. “Mrs. Blakesley, how are you this morning?”

  “In fine spirits, thank you. Have you met my daughter Olivia?”

  “Miss Blakesley.”

  “Mrs. Jenkins.”

  Mrs. Jenkins settled herself on the sofa, accepting a cup of tea. “So, Miss Blakesley. I hear you have refused my son’s offer of marriage.”

  Olivia sighed. “Yes, Mrs. Jenkins.”

  “And why is that? He is my son, and therefore I am biased of course, but I cannot think why anyone would refuse him.”

  Olivia heard the unspoken– especially by an old spinster like you.

  She said, “I must assume, since he told yo
u I wouldn’t marry him, why as well.”

  Mrs. Jenkins waved that suggestion away. “He’s a man, what would he know about a woman’s reluctance to marry.”

  Olivia sat down and Mrs. Jenkins leaned forward to pat her hand. “Are you surprised that I understand? Every woman must wonder about the man she is marrying. Every woman must wonder how her life will change.”

  Olivia turned to her mother. “Were you apprehensive when you married Papa?”

  Mrs. Blakesley patted her other hand. “Of course I was, Olivia. I left my family to live with a man I’d spoken to a handful of times. It is upsetting at the best of times. My father had made all of my decisions before then, I knew what to expect, and suddenly another man was to make those decisions. I married a good man but there is a relearning period no matter how good.”

  Mrs. Jenkins said, “My son is a good man. Although I wonder if you will have the same worries and expectations your mother and I did. You are older, and with that comes a certain independence of spirit. I doubt if you will let my son make any decision you do not approve of in regards to your situation.”

  “It’s true, Olivia. You never let your father or myself coerce you into doing what we think is best. And I hesitate to say this in front of his mother, but I doubt you will let Mr. Jenkins harass you into what he thinks is best either.”

  Mrs. Jenkins smiled. “I believe this proposal is a perfect example. You won’t be pressured into marrying him until you are ready. I applaud that. But I would like to see grandchildren before the Good Lord calls me home.”

  Olivia said, “Well, despite my apparently normal hesitation, there are other reasons.”

  Mrs. Jenkins sat back to get comfortable. “And they are?”

  Olivia blushed. “Well. . .”

  “Let me make this easy for you, Miss Blakesley. Do you love my son?”

  “There is nothing not to love.”

  “That wasn’t the question.”

  Olivia sighed. “I refuse because I love him. I will never be a biddable wife, never take tea, go to operas, or follow the latest fashions. I will do as I have always done. Paint the stars, read my journals, and go my own way. That is nobody’s definition of a good wife, Mrs. Jenkins.”