by Rebecca King
“Is my father in financial difficulty?”
Ryan sucked in a breath. He squinted off into the distance for a moment while he tried to decide what to tell her.
“He is my father. I think I have a right to know. After all, if he is it involves me directly.” Sian waited with bated breath, not least because she wanted to know how Ryan saw her.
“It is not my place to say. Have you not asked your father directly?”
“Father has a horrible penchant for treating us all like we are lacking intelligence,” Sian huffed.
“I don’t think it is that,” Ryan argued. “He is the man of the house and runs the family finances.”
“Yes, but those finances affect all of us. Why will he not tell us? There is a problem, isn’t there? Just how bad is it?”
Ryan winced. “I never said there was a problem.”
“But you didn’t deny it either,” Sian argued.
“Look, just ask your father. I confess, he has told me that he has a few problems with a couple of business dealings he has had, but apart from that I am not going to be privy to your father’s private financial affairs.”
“But he is good friends with your father. If he is in financial trouble he would turn to your father for advice, I know it.”
“Really? And what do you know about your father’s business dealings?” Ryan challenged.
“I know that he and mother had a blazing argument last night, or this morning, just after Wilhelmina and Cedrick arrived. My father made it clear that we-” Sian sighed and looked doubtfully at him.
If her father hadn’t sought Ryan’s advice on his financial problems, it wasn’t for her to stand in the middle of the street and tell Ryan about them. However, Sian knew that Ryan was aware something was going on. It was annoying that he didn’t seem to think she had the intelligence to understand the problems either.
“God, you are all the same,” she hissed.
“Pardon?” Ryan blinked. It was all it took for Sian to vanish. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the empty space where Sian had been standing. He did a double take when he looked around and caught her striding down the road toward the village. With a glare at Cedrick, Ryan hurried after her.
“Look, I just don’t think your father is in too much trouble. He hasn’t said anything to me, and that is the truth,” Ryan assured her.
When Sian didn’t slow her pace, he caught her arm in a gentle but firm grip and forced her to stop and face him.
“What did he say?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But it does matter if you are so worried about it.” When Sian didn’t look up at him, and kept her gaze trained on his boots, Ryan tipped her chin up.
His gaze slammed into hers when she did look up. The world around them froze in time. It hovered uncertainly as the atmosphere became charged with something Sian couldn’t identify. It hovered over their heads, waiting to descend upon them both. Ryan, with his gaze locked on hers, stroked her cheek.
“You can trust me,” he whispered.
Sian sucked in a breath. A flurry of delight coursed through her at that gentle touch. It was more than she had ever hoped to receive but left her feeling shaken and uncertain. It took effort to keep her feelings from showing on her face, and it helped to keep her mind focused on her parent’s problems.
“It isn’t like mother and father to argue like that. If the whole house hadn’t already been woken up by Wilhelmina’s arrival, we would have been woken up by the ferocity of their argument. Mother made it clear that we cannot afford to accommodate guests right now, but father said she – Wilhelmina – is his sister. He can hardly toss her out on the street. They were arguing about how much money it was going to take to repair her house.”
“Repair it?” Ryan blinked. “What happened?”
“It burned down. But I am not sure if father believes Wilhelmina’s story because he has said he is going over to the house to look at the damage.”
“Has he?” Ryan was intrigued, despite knowing this was Arthur’s business.
He didn’t try to warn Sian that her father wouldn’t like her discussing her family business in the street. He wanted her to take him into her confidence and talk to him about things she didn’t feel able to talk to others about – like now. If he was honest, he was shocked she was talking to him like she was already and with little prompting. The last thing Ryan wanted was to stop her. Not after he had waited so long to get her to talk to him at all.
“Not yet. He disappeared into his study and hasn’t left yet.”
“It is safe to say that your father has a few financial difficulties,” Ryan sighed.
Sian struggled to contain her tears. “I am not some addle brained female. This involves me.”
“How?” Ryan almost dreaded to ask.
“Because father has said that we have to be married off. He made it clear that we are all a burden. He has said he even wants a suitor found for Lucinda, even though she is barely seventeen. Yet, he is quite prepared to house Wilhelmina and him.” Sian glared down the road at Cedrick who was still heading straight toward them.
Ryan blinked at Sian and then lifted a dark look at Cedrick.
“Him?” He was horrified, shocked, appalled, and immediately annoyed at Arthur.
“I would rather die,” Sian hissed. “I am sorry. I know that is rude, but I refuse to apologise for that. I would rather die than be married to that.”
“Has your father suggested it?” Ryan demanded. He shook Sian’s shoulders when she didn’t immediately answer.
“Not in so many words, but Wilhelmina said that Cedrick is an estimable fellow and that it is high time he was married as well. Now father has made it clear that we are all to marry.”
“What do you know about Cedrick?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know anything about him. All I know is that there is something about him that is cold and calculating. I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t like him.”
“It may be because Wilhelmina does like him,” Ryan warned. “Have you thought about that?”
Sian blinked and considered that. “I know I shouldn’t speak ill of a relation, or her friends, but I really don’t like either of them.”
“From what I hear nobody likes Wilhelmina much, and that is strictly between us,” Ryan warned. “She has a reputation for being far too forthright with her opinions and her intrusion into people’s lives and homes. There isn’t anybody’s doorstep she won’t just appear on so she can invite herself to dine, stay, etcetera.”
“Father won’t hear a bad word spoken about her. It is as if she has something on him, a hold of some sort. He refuses to stand his ground against her. She has turned up on our doorstep and invited herself to stay but insists that Cedrick stays too. Even if we had the room, what my father said last night about not being able to feed two extra mouths has just made the atmosphere in the house fraught. I just wondered if father is inclined to take you into his confidence because right now, we are all worried about just how dire things have become and he won’t tell us.”
“Has your mother not mentioned anything to you?”
“I doubt he has told her, either.” Sian didn’t want to tell him that she didn’t think her mother and father had a very close relationship. “I am sorry. I know I shouldn’t talk to you in this way. I wouldn’t usually. It is just that-”
“I am glad you have,” Ryan whispered softly.
When their gazes met again, Ryan smiled gently at her. She blinked at him and began to smile back but was prevented from saying anything by the arrival of Cedrick, who finally reached them.
“There you are, darling,” he gasped with a familiarity that made Sian grit her teeth.
“Darling?” she repeated dully.
“I have been trying to catch up with you. Your father asked me to escort you so we could have a little time alone together. Isn’t that nice?”
Sian looked so helplessly at Ryan that he couldn
’t just bid them both goodbye and go on his way, even though he had plenty of things to do that morning and not much time to do them in. The last thing he was going to do was leave Sian with her ‘suitor’. If there was one thing he knew it was that if Arthur and Wilhelmina had their way, Sian was going to have Cedrick as a suitor whether she liked it or not.
Over my dead body.
“I was just about to escort her,” Ryan answered.
“But-”
With barely a look at Cedrick, Ryan held a gentlemanly elbow out to Sian. “Shall we?”
Sian blinked at him but was smiling as she took his pro-offered arm and fell into step beside him.
“I don’t believe we have been introduced,” Cedrick began, looking hesitantly between Sian and Ryan. His gaze fell to their entwined arms. “I didn’t realise that you had a secret assignation.”
“A secret-” Sian’s eyes flashed angrily.
“We have a long-standing acquaintance, don’t we?” Ryan asked, his tone as low and intimate as the proprietary way he was smiling lovingly into Sian’s eyes.
“We have lived next to each other for many years,” Sian agreed, happy to play along.
It was wonderful to be the object of Ryan’s attention, even if it was a show put on for Cedrick’s benefit.
It was clear that Cedrick was far from pleased to have a rival for her affection. The younger, much smaller man glared at Ryan with a pomposity that made him look like a ruffled goose. Sian looked from one man to the other and marvelled at how two of the same species could be so completely different.
Cedrick’s demeanour could only be described as weak, and that wasn’t only his rather small stature. His complexion was as pale as his straw-blonde hair and was not helped any by the pale blue of his eyes, which were spiteful rather than mesmerising. In comparison, Ryan was tall, broad shouldered, with auburn hair that matched his dark blue eyes to perfection. His tanned complexion and raw masculinity were evident in the somewhat arrogant tilt to his chin and the rakish look that matured his handsome countenance.
Only what he has to smile about now is anybody’s guess.
She suspected it was because he found it amusing that the only suitor who could be found for her looked like Cedrick. It was embarrassing, and only made her hate Cedrick more.
It isn’t his fault I find him unappealing.
“Wilhelmina doesn’t like you going out on your own. You should know that,” Cedrick chided her as if he had every right to do so.
“Oh? I wasn’t aware that she had any influence on my actions,” Sian replied pertly.
“But I am completely trustworthy,” Ryan assured him.
“Really? A secret assignation is not the trustworthy conduct of any reputable gentleman,” Cedrick intoned with a pompous sniff.
“A secret assignation?” Ryan asked. His gaze fell to Sian, who looked so horrified that he had to smile. “I don’t believe stopping to chat with one’s neighbour could ever be considered a secret assignation. However, I can think of worse things to be accused of.”
“This is not a secret assignation,” Sian bit out, more embarrassed than ever. Her glare at Cedrick did nothing to put him off his rather possessive behaviour.
“I insist we go back to the house at once.”
“I have to fetch some supplies from the village, as father has already been told. You, however, are more than free to return.”
“Yes, do,” Ryan interrupted. “I am a reputable gentleman and will escort her home when she has finished.”
“But I cannot leave her out here alone with you.”
“Oh? Why?” Ryan asked.
“Well, I have heard about your reputation,” Cedrick puffed. His narrow chest billowed out like sails in an angry storm, but all he managed to do was look even more ludicrous.
Cedrick reminded Sian of an overly fluffy puppy squaring up to a bulldog and wondered if the little man had any sense of self-preservation at all. He certainly didn’t seem to know who Ryan was.
“He is aristocracy,” Sian inform Cedrick quietly. She threw him a warning look only for him to dismiss her as if she was a mere annoyance.
“Then I am sure he will understand how unacceptable it is for you to be out alone with him.”
“What do you expect him to do? Throw me over his horse and ride off to his lair with me?” Sian slammed her mouth closed when she realised just how that had sounded. Not that should have minded if he had. It was just that both men were now staring at her as if she had just revealed a rather intriguing facet of her character that they both wanted to know more about.
Ryan’s gaze slid to his horse, and he wondered what she would do if he did. Not that he had any objection to doing it of course, he just didn’t want to give Cedrick any scandalous gossip he could take back to that harridan, Wilhelmina. He knew, just as soon as Sian had told him that her aunt had arrived, that trouble had come with her. He hadn’t been lying when he had said that her reputation amongst the local gentry was questionable and meant Wilhelmina was unwelcome in a lot of homes despite her connection to Arthur.
Sian was also eyeing Ryan’s horse and felt a sense of longing that was startling. She contemplated what she would do if he did sweep her onto his horse and took her home with him. It was very unlikely she would object, especially after their conversation this morning. For the first time since she had met him, she sensed a few of the boundaries of propriety disappearing, and a warming of their acquaintance. They were, for the first time ever, starting to be on friendly terms.
What could bring about that change, though? The last time he talked to me he made me feel as if he really didn’t like me.
Rather than worry about it now, Sian resolved to focus on the positives instead, and the fact that there was a thawing. Not only that but Ryan seemed inclined to want to challenge Cedrick, her potential suitor, as well. Did Ryan not realise the ramifications of that?
Both Sian and Ryan were snapped out of their musings by Cedrick, whose next words changed their lives forever.
“Well, we shall have to see what we can do about your wayward behaviour once we are married.”
Sian blinked and felt the ground beneath her feet sway alarmingly. For a moment, a stunned silence settled over them all, until a fury unlike any other settled over her. Before she could vent it, though, they were all interrupted by the arrival of Wilhelmina, who was marching down the street toward them like a general marching off to battle.
“Now what?” Sian whispered in dismay.
Ryan blinked but didn’t hear a word Sian said. All he could do was replay over and over in his mind those fateful words he had always dreaded hearing: Sian was betrothed.
“Is it true?” Ryan demanded.
Sian blinked at him. “Is what true? No. I-”
“There is no point denying it,” Cedrick interrupted. “I am sure your father will agree that it is high time you married. It has all been agreed this very morning.”
Sian looked at Ryan, who stared at her for a moment before he sucked in a breath. Without a word, his face turned stony. Her heart wept as she looked at his now closed expression. She yearned to see the man he had been a moment ago but doubted she ever would now.
God, I hate you Cedrick.
“Ryan.”
“Lord Carson to you, my dear,” Cedrick snapped.
Sian blinked at him. She turned to look at Ryan but doubted she would get any help from him now. Ryan had turned back into a stranger. For a moment, she felt as if she was battling the world; a world that had turned completely against her.
“If you will excuse me. I must be on my way.” Ryan bowed at Sian and quickly mounted his horse.
Rather than go to Arthur’s as planned, he wheeled his horse around and, without stopping to wait to at least acknowledge Wilhelmina’s presence, raced toward home.
CHAPTER FIVE
Tears pooled in Sian’s eyes as she watched Ryan race out of her life. In that moment, she realised she would never be able to persuade Ryan to
see her as anything more than Arthur’s daughter. Now, she doubted he would ever see her as anything more than Cedrick’s future wife.
Well, he certainly left quickly enough as soon as he heard Cedrick’s pack of lies.
“How dare you give him the impression that I am to marry,” Sian hissed, rounding on Cedrick with a ferocity that made him blink.
“It has all been arranged.”
“Not with me it hasn’t,” Sian cried angrily. “I am not going to be forced into marriage with anybody, especially you. How dare you be that arrogant?”
“It is understandable that you should object, but you will come around to the idea,” Cedrick replied with an offhand shrug.
“I shall never come around to the idea of being married to you because it is not something I am ever going to agree to. I refuse to be your wife.”
“You shall do as you are told,” Wilhelmina informed her dourly as she slammed to a stop beside them.
“I shall do no such thing. Do not consider yourself ever in a position to tell me what to do in any aspect of my life, especially marriage. I refuse. Do you hear me? Whatever arrangement you have made with my father has not, and will not, ever be acceptable to me and I abjectly refuse to be sold off.”
With that, Sian spun on her heel and resumed her journey.
“Your father needs to be rid of you. I told my brother only this morning that you need a stern hand to force you to mind your manners. You are brash, rude, and ungrateful, and downright spoilt in my opinion,” Wilhelmina gasped.
“Who asked you?” Sian challenged over her shoulder, without slowing her stride. “You turn up unannounced, uninvited, and in the middle of the night, and bring guests with you without barely a thank you or even a hint of gratitude. You then petulantly make a list of demands as if you have every right to do so, without any consideration for the people who already live in the house. Might I remind you that you are guests in our home? Might I remind you that manners and propriety are required of you as well? You might think it acceptable to call upon people in the early hours of the morning, but polite society does not behave so rudely. Taverns are there to prevent people needing to call upon unsuspecting homeowners at such socially unacceptable hours. Now that you have inveigled yourself upon us, I suppose you expect my father to cater to your every whim while you go around bullying those around you into giving in to your petulant authority. Well, I am not here to run to your back and call. Nor do I see that my personal affairs, especially toward my decision whether to marry or not, has anything to do with either you or Cedrick. My decision to marry is mine and mine only. Do not ever forget that – either of you. How dare you arrogantly assume you could bully me into a marriage I don’t want? I request that neither of you give anybody any impression that I am marrying, or you will be proven to be liars.”