by Liz Tyner
* * *
Alexander FitzRoy, Lord Ashton, Eighth Duke of Knightsbrook, stifled a yawn and gazed over at the ormolu clock ticking on the marble mantelpiece. His mother, the Dowager Duchess, was in full voice, enumerating the seemingly exhaustive list of fine qualities that Arabella van Haven allegedly possessed.
‘And I hear she’s also accomplished on the banjo, and can recite large passages of Shakespeare from memory.’
His mother looked up at him with wide-eyed expectation. It seemed she had finally run out of accomplishments with which to tempt him.
Alexander uncrossed his legs and stretched. ‘That’s as may be, Mother, but I still have no intention of marrying the girl—no matter how many tunes she’s capable of strumming on the banjo, or how many Shakespearean sonnets she can rattle off.’
‘Don’t be so hasty, Alexander. I know she’s American, and that her father’s a banker, of all things.’ The Dowager grimaced. ‘But they are minor drawbacks that I’m sure we can overlook. We need to focus on her finer qualities and not think about her background. After all, she is known for her beauty, and I’ve heard she possesses exquisite taste in—’
‘Surely you have forgotten to list her most attractive attribute?’ he interrupted, before his mother could start on another interminable list.
She cocked her head and smiled. ‘And what would that be?’
‘Her money.’
The Dowager spluttered, gripped the black lace at her neckline and sent him her sternest look. ‘Don’t be vulgar, Alexander. You’re talking like a common tradesman.’
‘Vulgar or otherwise, isn’t that what this is all about? She has it—we don’t. You want me to marry her and give her a title in exchange for her father’s money.’
His mother’s pursed lips drew into a thin line and her nostrils flared. It was an expression Alexander was familiar with—the one she had when she heard something she didn’t like.
‘You don’t need to put it so crudely, but you can’t deny it would solve all our problems.’
That was indeed something Alexander could not deny. The American heiress’s money would solve their immediate financial needs, but it was a solution he would not demean himself even to consider.
His grandfather and his father had brought the once wealthy Knightsbrook estate to the brink of financial ruin, but their problems ran deeper than the merely financial. He could almost forgive them squandering excessive amounts of money on gambling, partying and women. Almost. But what he could not forgive was them bringing the family’s once noble name into total disrepute.
He intended to restore the family’s fortune by hard work and modernisation. He also intended to restore the family’s tarnished name—and that would not be achieved by selling the title Duchess of Knightsbrook to the highest bidder.
‘You’re right, Mother. Her father’s money would provide a short-term solution to our money problems.’
The Dowager smiled and rose from her chaise longue.
‘But it would be only that. A short-term solution. What is required is a long-term plan of action.’
The Dowager sank back onto her seat and sighed. ‘Really, Alexander, sometimes you can be so tedious. Why don’t you just marry the girl and be done with it?’
‘Because if the estate is to return to its former glory we need to modernise. We’re on the brink of the twentieth century and we’re still using farming methods from the eighteenth century. That has to change.’
The Dowager flicked open her fan and waved it rapidly in front of her face. ‘Not this again. You and your plans to modernise will be the death of me. If you marry the American you won’t have to worry about silly steam trains and traction engines. I want to look out on people using scythes to bring in the harvest—not horrible pieces of wheezing and coughing machinery.’
‘That’s as may be, Mother, but I’m sure the tenants would rather live on a prosperous estate, where their homes and livelihoods are protected, than in poverty in what you see as a picturesque setting.’
‘Oh, pish-posh.’ The Dowager waved her fan more rapidly. ‘Anyway, you’re twenty-eight now. It’s time you married. You shouldn’t let that unfortunate incident with Lydia Beaufort put you off marriage for ever.’
Alexander clenched his jaw so tightly it began to ache. Unfortunate incident. Was that how his mother described something that had all but devastated him?
He inhaled deeply to release the tension gripping his neck and shoulders. ‘Lydia Beaufort has nothing to do with me not wanting to marry the American. And that, Mother, is my final word on the subject.’
It might be his final word, but he knew from experience it would not be his mother’s.
She frowned her disapproval and looked around the room, as if seeking further support for her argument. She spotted Charlotte, sitting quietly in the corner reading a book.
‘What about your sister?’
Charlotte looked up. ‘What about me?’
‘Well, you’re going to need a husband soon. Heaven only knows no man is going to want to marry a girl who reads as much as you do and is always getting involved in these ridiculous social causes unless she comes with a decent dowry. Your brother wouldn’t be so selfish as to deny you the happiness of marriage.’
Charlotte slammed shut her book. ‘For your information, I have no intention of—’
Alexander shook his head slightly, giving his younger sister a silent signal that now was not the time to fight that particular battle with their mother.
Charlotte scowled at her mother and forcefully opened her book again, breaking the spine. She frowned at what she had done, and then went back to reading.
‘I will make sure Charlotte is well provided for,’ Alexander said.
‘Yes, and you can make sure she is well provided for by marrying Arabella van Haven.’
Alexander shook his head and sighed audibly.
‘Anyway,’ the Dowager continued, undeterred. ‘It’s all arranged. I’ve invited her to a house party this weekend. You’ll be able to discover for yourself just how ideal a bride she will make and how lucky the man will be who marries her.’
Alexander sprang to his feet. ‘You’ve done what?’
‘Oh, sit down, Alexander, and don’t glare at me like that. I’ve invited her for the weekend. It will give you a chance to get to know her.’
‘Mother, haven’t I told you often enough that we need to economise? We cannot afford to host lavish parties.’
The Dowager flicked her fan at him. ‘It’s just a small house party—nothing too elaborate. And you can see it as an investment in the future. Isn’t that what you’re always going on about? Well, meeting Miss van Haven will be an investment in your future.’
She sent him a victorious smile.
‘Putting aside the complete lack of logic in your argument, you’ve invited her here under false pretences. I won’t lie to her. I will make it clear at the first opportunity that I will not be marrying her.’
‘Oh, you and that overblown sense of honesty. You were just as bad when you were a boy, but I would have thought you’d have grown out of it by now.’
‘Would you prefer it if I told lies, the way Father and Grandfather did?’
The way Lydia Beaufort did.
His mother’s lips tightened, but she made no reply.
‘Our family has lost just about everything. Surely you don’t expect me to lose my belief in the importance of honesty as well? And if Arabella van Haven is as virtuous as you say she is then I’m sure she will also believe in the value of honesty and will want to know the truth.’
‘Oh, yes, I’ve heard she does value honesty in all things. I’ve also heard she’s modest, gentle, demure, and temperate in all areas. And they say that she...’
Alexander sat down and sighed as his mother went back to listing the litany of virtues possess
ed by the apparently saintly Arabella van Haven.
It seemed his mother would not be stopped in her plan to make her the next Duchess of Knightsbrook, and he was going to have to endure the company of the title-seeking heiress for the weekend. But eventually his mother and the American would both realise his mind was made up, and Arabella van Haven would have to pursue some other duke, earl or marquess desperate for American dollars—because the position of his wife was not for sale.
Copyright © 2019 by Eva Shepherd
ISBN-13: 9781488047589
It’s Marriage or Ruin
Copyright © 2019 by Elizabeth Tyner
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