Miss Merton's Last Hope

by Heather Boyd

  “And your brother is out?”

  “Yes, swimming, as is his usual habit.” She handed him a cup. “I thought you would have joined him and the others.”

  “Not today.” He set his cup aside untouched. “I cannot lie any longer. It was really you I wanted to speak with. I have a favor, a question to ask you if I might, and it is quite a personal matter, so please forgive my unconventional calling hour.”

  “Oh,” Melanie said, but inside she groaned. She did not want to do him any favors. She simply wanted him to go away. Instead, she said, “How can I help?”

  “I’d like you to be my wife.”

  His statement, and his eager smile, caught her off-guard. A marriage proposal from Mr. Radley was the last situation she ever imagined herself in when she rose this morning. She forced her breath to calm, to not snap “absolutely not”. She held her tongue those precious few moments and all for the sake of peace within her family. She didn’t really like him but she hadn’t wanted to reveal the depths of her loathing.

  “You are overcome,” he murmured, and then he switched seats to sit at her side. “I completely understand, but you should not be surprised.”

  She was not overcome; she was in shock. This would be her twelfth refusal—and possibly the most awkward. Linus Radley was family by virtue of their siblings’ marriage. Melanie had turned down enough suitors that the necessary words sprang from her lips easily. She did not want children of her own although everyone expected her to marry and do her duty. Her only recourse was outright denial of any man’s suit so she would avoid conception altogether. “Mr. Radley, while I appreciate the honor you do me, I cannot accept.”

  His mouth fell open. “Excuse me?”

  The idea of a woman refusing to marry wasn’t as easily accepted as she might wish. If she ever dared hint at a disinterest in bearing offspring, she was usually stared at as if she were out of her mind. She had learned, early in her life, to keep her feelings about the matter to herself as a consequence. Usually she claimed other reasons for her refusal, and would again today.

  “You have long been my brother’s friend and you are family since his marriage to your sister. We have been acquainted many years and while I have always thought very well of you, I do not believe we would suit as husband and wife.”

  His jaw set and Melanie could see hints of his temper rising. This she also knew about him, from Julia and Valentine’s passing comments about Julia’s life before her marriage.

  A volatile man would not suit her as a husband if she were ever inclined to marry. She did not approve of men who could fly into a rage so easily as to make a woman afraid. She did not fear Linus, but she would never place her well-being in the keeping of a temperamental man.

  She folded her hands in her lap and patiently waited for him to understand her refusal was final, and there was nothing left to do but to take his leave.

  “I see.” He glanced around, his eyes narrowing. “So you are nothing but a heartless tease.”

  Melanie gaped at him. “I am not. Why would you say such a thing?”

  “We are alone, and have been alone on many occasions in the past weeks since your return. Do you not think you make a man hope for a more intimate acquaintance, given your behavior?”

  “You are family.” She stood, infuriated that her kindness had been twisted into something she’d never once intended or imagined. “I had no thoughts of a change in our relationship beyond ensuring your comfort in my brother’s home.”

  Linus stood too, moving closer so they were eye to eye. His nostrils flared as he raked her with a harsh glance. “I think you like the attention of so many men dangling after you.”

  She blanched at his accusation and took a pace back. She did her best to dissuade the most insistent of gentlemen callers by any means necessary. She had been very inventive. “I do not.”

  “Then why flirt with every man you meet to the point where so many have proposed, only to decline them?” Radley took another pace toward her and her breath came too fast at the look in his eye. “Do you imagine yourself irresistible to all, but so far above us that our feelings matter so little? You must know everyone expects us to wed.”

  She shook her head violently. “That is untrue. No one expects it.”

  “Everyone expects a match to be made between us. Who else would you marry?”

  Of all the nerve. She was almost rendered speechless by the suggestion. Almost. “I will not marry to please other people.”

  “The size of your dowry and your beauty can only grant you so much latitude. Remember that when you throw your wiles at the next handsome man who comes calling on you.”

  Melanie was astounded by his arrogance. He was passably handsome but no more than many men. “You flatter yourself.”

  Her words had no affect.

  “You might not find life with an ill-favored man as comfortable as with me. But then, it is always the overparticular ones who die alone and miserable.”

  “Radley! Apologize!”

  Melanie jumped at the force behind the outraged demand. At the door, Valentine and Mr. George stood slightly unkempt after their trip to the sea. To her surprise, it had been Mr. George who’d spoken and demanded the apology. She’d never heard him speak quite so loudly before, and the expression of fury on his face was quite unfamiliar too.

  Valentine appeared stunned, but she hurried to him because he was her brother and she felt safer far away from Linus Radley.

  “What has happened?” Valentine asked her quietly, catching her fingers in his. Melanie cringed and wiggled free of the grip. She certainly had never enjoyed confessing she’d turned down a suitor before, and this time was far worse than any other. She knew her brother hoped she’d find her own life, her own happiness one day, but it certainly wouldn’t be with Linus Radley, given all he’d just said to her.

  She took a breath to start the confession, but Mr. George cut her off with a softly spoken murmur, “I think number twelve is just as unlucky as the eleven prior suitors for your sister’s hand.”

  Melanie shrank behind Valentine as she realized her romantic life, or lack thereof, was a subject of discussion among their neighbors. Men did talk and, over the years, Melanie had certainly given them ample proof she was particular in that regard. It was just rather horrible to hear Walter George could know the exact number of men she’d refused. She had not imagined Valentine would have told anyone.

  Valentine took a pace toward Linus. “If my sister has refused you then I imagine your business here today is done. If you’d be so kind as to apologize for your outburst and be on your way, there is no need to ever discuss this matter again.”

  Linus tossed his head arrogantly. “I will not apologize. It would have been a good match, if her vanity weren’t so overblown. You said it yourself more than once, she will end up an old maid before she finds a husband she deems worthy of her hand.”

  Valentine’s jaw clenched. “Sir, you go too far to think you have the right to speak for me.”

  “Oh, come now,” Linus shot back. “I only voice what you have alluded to over the years.”

  Valentine stayed silent and Melanie wrapped her arms around her chest, hurt to the quick. Valentine must think the same if he didn’t deny Mr. Radley’s words. Had she made a mistake in staying in Brighton?

  “I think I see the problem,” Walter George said as he glanced between them all, his eyes narrowing. “You’re family, and you certainly don’t care to upset the applecart when it has only just started to roll along smoothly again.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Mr. Radley snapped at him.

  Rather than be intimidated, Mr. George stepped forward. “You should apologize to Miss Merton now.”

  Melanie shivered at the menace in his tone. She’d never heard that from him before either.

  “What has this to do with you, George?”

  Mr. George set his hands to his hips. “If you consider yourself in any way a gentleman, you will retract your words before
this goes any further. Remember, I’m not family and I have the luxury of not caring that I offend you, especially when you are so far in the wrong.”

  “This is none of your concern.”

  “If I have to teach you a lesson in manners, so be it.” He dropped his hands to his sides but the next moment they curled into fists.

  “She led me on,” Mr. Radley insisted.

  “That is utterly ridiculous.” With one punch, Mr. George knocked Mr. Radley backward.

  Melanie cried out in shock, but Radley quickly righted himself and lifted his fists.

  “No!” She caught Walter by the back of his coat to drag him back across the room, noticing as she did that Valentine had tackled Mr. Radley and was forcing him in the direction of the door. “What are you doing?”

  Thankfully, the large man yielded and backed up a few steps. “Defending your honor seemed appropriate. I always thought Radley had a vulgar manner about him when it came to the ladies. I don’t blame any woman for turning down such a man.” His gaze sharpened on Mr. Radley. “Do not speak to her again until you can do so as a gentleman.”

  “Walter!” She could not believe such words would come out of the quiet man’s mouth. He was normally the least excitable out of all of her brother’s friends.

  Valentine finished shoving Radley out the door and slammed it shut. He turned to them and his face was pale. “Hell.”

  “Valentine?” Julia asked in a worried voice from the staircase. “What’s all the noise?”

  Melanie cringed as Valentine approached his new wife. He caught her hands in his. “Your brother proposed to Melanie and was refused. He took it badly.”

  Julia’s face brightened into a happy smile and she hurried across the room toward her. “Oh, well of course you would refuse him, Melanie dear. You haven’t the slightest symmetry of thought in your entire being, and he would make you utterly miserable as a husband. I would have protested the match myself, and vigorously too. He is not good enough for you.”

  The moment Julia embraced her, Melanie cringed inside and yearned for release. However, Julia persisted and they hugged awkwardly a few moments longer.

  “You shouldn’t have hit him,” Valentine maintained, staring at Walter George. “I would have preferred not to subject my sister to such violence.”

  “Well, clearly you were trying to keep the peace and he had it coming.” Mr. George met her gaze and he frowned. “He wasn’t going to apologize. He always did tend to petulance when he didn’t get his own way.”

  Julia giggled behind her hand. “I could not have said it better. It was never me who threw a tantrum.”

  “No, you dove out the window instead and ran to Imogen for sympathy and advice whenever you were in trouble,” Melanie said without any malice. Julia had always run away from her problems but Melanie didn’t have that luxury. She would face them alone.

  Melanie turned away. This mess was all her fault. If she had stuck to propriety she would not have created such a scene. She had forgotten that, while new to being family, Linus Radley was also a bachelor and she an unattached woman.

  She flinched as Valentine put his arm around her shoulders and gently escorted her to the front hall. They had gone months without touching, but she could always expect such an action when she’d turned down another suitor. He undoubtedly thought the gesture of affection would make her feel better. She was relieved when he released her and stepped away to collect his hat and gloves from the entrance table.

  “I’ll go and talk to him and perhaps this mess will blow over sooner rather than later. He is family and you will have to see him at some point. I wouldn’t like any lingering unpleasantness to mar the upcoming holiday season.”

  “I understand.” The thought of seeing Linus Radley again over the Christmas dinner table turned her stomach into knots, but she’d face him when the time came and hide her dislike yet again.

  “Come along, Julia,” Valentine grumbled. “Let’s see what fences are left to mend this time.”

  The door closed rather ominously behind them and Melanie was grateful. Her legs began to tremble, but she refused to allow a complete collapse. A refused proposal was one thing, familiar though unpleasant, but a private brawl afterward was beyond the pale. She might never live down this shame.

  Three

  Walter waited until the front door closed behind Valentine and Julia then caught Melanie’s elbow to steer her back into the parlor before she fell over in a faint. She was pale and trembling beneath his hand and he was actually worried about her state of mind. “Are you all right?”

  She jumped as if she’d forgotten his presence until he’d spoken and shrugged off his grip to stand alone. “Of course. As unpleasant as that was, I am glad it is over and in the past.”

  Walter didn’t place much faith in her words. He was acquainted with her well enough to spot a false smile a mile away. He stepped toward her and she edged back quickly, confirming for him that she found proximity to others extremely unwelcome. Had anyone ever delved deep enough to find out why she continually rebuffed family and friends? “You know my character, Melanie. You have nothing to fear from me.”

  Her gaze darted to his guiltily and then she nodded.

  He reached for her trembling fingers and caught them in his. “Just imagine we are about to dance. You’ve held on to me many a night for that.”

  “I have.” She turned into him, her other hand rising to his shoulder as if they were about to step off into a waltz together. They were actually very good at that, having partnered each other for so many years.

  She took a few quick breaths and settled herself again.

  When he judged her calmer, he smiled. “I have a question.”

  Her hand jerked back from his shoulder. “Oh, please, not you too.”

  He stared as her face pinked, unsure at first how to respond. Surely she did not think that he was about to propose? He wasn’t an idiot. In her current state, she wasn’t thinking clearly. Walter shook of his irritation. “Never fear, I only want to ask a question that’s been on my mind of late and will not rest.”

  She stared at him and then she swallowed. “Anything.”

  “Where were you when your governess died?”

  She glanced away to hide her face. “I was at home of course. In Oxford.”

  “I knew that.” Walter firmed his grip on her hand and slid the other into position around her back. It was surprisingly easy to hold her like this, pretending to dance when what he really intended was to question her. “But where in your parents’ house?”

  Utter terror flickered over what little of her face he could see, but then she swiftly masked it behind a polite smile he’d seen so often. The change in Melanie stopped his heart. Was he close to uncovering the mystery of her alteration? He took a step and she moved with him, lulled by the familiar situation.

  She might not like him to presume, but he knew without any doubt he had to wait on her answer, or he wouldn’t ever understand the woman. And to his surprise, he very much wanted to. He took another step, then another, diverting her around a chair so they would not stumble.

  She had slid her hand into position on his shoulder again but those fingers trembled still, revealing her anxiety over the question as clearly as if she’d spoken an answer. She might not like him to assume he had the right, but he thought at that moment Melanie Merton desperately needed to unburden herself.

  She stared at the pin in his cravat while her fingers wriggled in his grip as if she were fighting her own instincts to flee. Indeed, her next words were the softest of whispers. “Why do you ask me that now, of all times?”

  “I have perhaps just destroyed a friendship to defend your honor, and I want to know it wasn’t without a very good reason. I do not deny you the right to refuse a proposal of marriage, but there have been eleven other spurred suitors over the years. Most were decent men of good social standing who your father would have approved of.”

  She nodded and her hand smoothed o
ver his shoulder.

  He drew her closer, widening his fingers on her back. “Today, I could not help but notice you shy away from any comfort offered, even by Valentine. You were not always this way. You were my sister’s best friend once, and now you barely speak. As a girl you were held often, and comforted others when they were in need. Julia once came to you when she’d hurt herself on one of her misadventures, rather than to Imogen. So did Imogen.”

  She stiffened as soon as he reminded her of those happier times, so he took another step to distract her. “Tell me what happened. It was after your Andy’s death, after you returned to Brighton with a new governess we all hated, that I think you started to change toward us.”

  She inhaled raggedly and she stumbled forward, something she’d never done while dancing with him in public. She hadn’t stumbled even during practice as a little girl. “I didn’t know.”

  Walter pulled her into his chest, dropping the pretense of dancing. “Tell me, Mellie?”

  She sniffed at the use of her childish nickname. He hadn’t used it in a long time, but that name had once echoed through all the houses of her friends in Cavendish Place. Not since the days before Andy had died, in fact, had a little girl called Mellie run about and laughed with them. After that unexpected death, this reserved creature had begun to walk among them and had turned aside every overture of familiarity.

  Until he’d taken the initiative today.

  “I was supposed to keep out of the servants’ quarters, but I hadn’t seen her for days. I snuck upstairs and into her room after my parents had gone out for the night to an entertainment at the university. I was young and wanting a cuddle so I climbed upon her bed and she let me come into her arms. Her breath was very loud and strained. She hugged me tight against her and I didn’t want her to let me go. She told me she loved me and after a while she fell silent.” She dropped her head to his chest. “I was only supposed to stay a moment and then I was to go back to the nursery where I belonged.”