Page 24 of Married to the Earl

She didn’t think so. But Astrid had to admit that she was so rarely out of the house that it was impossible to realistically evaluate her own place in society. Maybe he was worried about the possibility of her never finding a husband. Maybe he had felt compelled to leap at the first opportunity that came along.

Was that something Astrid ought to worry about? She suddenly wondered. She had always taken for granted that she would marry someday. She felt taken aback by how quickly it was happening now, but she had assumed that atsomepoint, it would happen.

But what if I was wrong in that assumption?she thought suddenly, anxiously.What if I’m not the sort of girl people want to marry? How could I know? I know nothing of the world, nothing of affairs between men and women. Perhaps the Earl is the only man who would be willing to consider me as a wife.

Ifthatwere true, Astrid would have to show him courtesy and charm when he came to supper. She wouldn’t be able to afford the luxury of choice.

But…couldthat be true? Astrid hadseenother women. She knew that she was pleasant enough to look at. She knew that she could be caring and kind. She could think of nothing about herself that would make a man resist marrying her on principle.

There’s no point in trying to guess,she told herself firmly.I’ll simply have to wait for Father to tell me what’s going on.

And so, she sat back, regarded him, and waited.

It took a long time for her father to find words. He looked anxious and upset. She wanted to go to his side, to rest her hands on his shoulders and tell him not to fret. But she stayed where she was, afraid of breaking his concentration.

Finally, he looked up at her. “Do you remember what I told you about Lord Farnsworth?”

“The Baron,” she recalled. In truth, she had neglected to think about him for the past day or so. Even though she knew that her father’s financial standing was in jeopardy, and that whatever happened would affect her too, the impending marriage had seemed the more pressing of the two issues.

But now, for the first time, she connected them in her mind. Her father owed money to a Baron, and her hand had been promised to an Earl. “Did Lord Middleborough promise to pay Lord Farnsworth?” she asked. “Is he going to make the Baron go away?”

If that’s what’s going on here, she told herself.Then I’ll marry Lord Middleborough with no complaints. I’ll marry him with gratitude. If he saves my father from this awful predicament, I’ll never say a word against the man.

Her father sighed. “It’s something like that.”

“What is it exactly?” Astrid asked.

“Lord Middleborough runs a club in town,” her father said. “I’m in charge of his books. The club does good business, and of course, Lord Middleborough is an earl to boot. And so, when I was his monthly figures, I thought…”

Astrid frowned. What did this have to do with a marriage? “You thought what, Father?”

“You must try not to judge me too harshly,” he pleaded. “I did what I did for you, Astrid. I couldn’t bear the thought of you losing your home, being forced to live on the street or go to work as a servant.”

“What did you do, Father?” She was suddenly, inexplicably, frightened.

“I transferred a sum of money from Lord Middleborough’s accounts to my own,” her father said. “I used the money to pay off the Baron, so that he wouldn’t trouble us any further.”

It took Astrid a moment to understand what her father had said. The idea was so strange, so counter to the rigid, controlled nature of the man she knew. “Are you saying…did youstealfrom Lord Middleborough?”

Her father’s face colored. “It was the only way forward I could see,” he said quietly. “I needed the money.”

“I know you needed the money, but…” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I thought you were going to tell me he had given you a loan in exchange for my hand.”

Her father blinked. “That’s clever, Astrid. I should have thought of that. I should have asked for that.”

“You must not have thought very much about it at all,” she accused. “How could you steal from a nobleman, Father? Are you no better than a common bandit? Was that truly the best plan you could come up with?”

“It would have worked,” he pointed out. “If he hadn’t discovered the discrepancy in his books—”

“But you couldn’t possibly have believed he wouldn’t discover it,” she protested. “After getting yourself into trouble with the Baron, your idea of a solution was to invite even more trouble, and this time with an Earl?”

“What happened with Lord Farnsworth was not my fault, Astrid.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she said. “You were innocent. And I understood your reluctance to take your chances with the courts, knowing that they were likely to favor a nobleman’s testimony over yours. But to steal from Lord Middleborough…Father, you were innocent when this began, but now you’re guilty. You’ve committed a crime, and you woulddeserveto go to prison, if it came to that.”

“Don’t you speak to me that way,” he said, a bit sharply. “I’m still your father, Astrid.”

She bit back a retort. She had never felt angrier in her life. She had feared for him, pitied him, when she had learned what he was going through with Lord Farnsworth. But this was different. This was trouble he had brought upon himself.

---