Page 17 of Drowned in the Pleasure of a Devilish Baron
John exchanged a look with his mother and sighed, slapping his hands on his thighs and standing. “Here’s the thing, Andrews, and I’ll be honest with you. You may not know this, but here, things have been a bit tight as well.” John gestured to the bare walls, the empty grate, the lack of furnishings as he paced the length of the room.
Felix did his best to look surprised.
“You may think that this would make us understanding towards your position, and more willing to send my beloved little sister to a lifetime of struggles and penny scraping.” John folded his hands in front of him as he came to a stop. “But you would be wrong.” Now he sat beside his mother once more. “We want the best for her. And for that reason, we cannot even begin to consider your offer, much less accept it.”
Chapter Eight
Felix forced himself to remain calm. In fact, the thing keeping him calm was that little flash of a white hem around the side of the wall, listening in.
“I understand your point,” he said. “But surely you do not value land and income over your sister’s happiness? I can make Miss Marlow happy, I swear to you.”
John’s eyes narrowed. “My sister will be happy with what her family decides will make her happy, and that is that. I do not appreciate your candor, Andrews.”
“Those are pretty words, Marlow, but they do not ring true. Your sister is her own person, not an extension of your family name.” Felix stood now, his blood rushing hotly through his veins.
“You can offer nothing to my sister, to me, or to my family.” John stepped forward.
“That is not true,” Felix swore. “I will work with everything I have, night and day, for the rest of my life to offer her nothing but the best. I am a man of my word, you know that.” He looked to Lady Marlow. “You knew my parents. The four of you were attended the same events for years. You know I am a gentleman who can be counted on, like my father.”
“I do not give a whit about your parents.” John’s hands were balled at his sides. “This is about you alone. You have done nothing to live up to your family name, why would I expect that to change now? You dishonor my sister by even daring to ask such a thing.”
Felix’s temper burst through the dam at last. “Miss Marlow would be happy with me. Safe and loved and well cared for. Can you say the same about her life here?”
“How dare you.” Lady Marlow stood. “John, send him out at once.”
“Lady Marlow, forgive me, but I only ask to court your daughter. We can revisit the discussion of a betrothal at a later date.” Felix turned to her, appealing to some scrap of motherly affection towards Sarah, but her face remained hard, impassive.
“It’s time for you to go.” John said. “Get out, or I shall call for the servants to throw you out.”
“John, don’t do this.” Felix had to give it one last try. That tantalizing scrap of white cloth around the side of the stairs, attached to the lady whom he had just connected with on the level he had dreamed of for so many years, wouldn’t let him just give up. “A connection like this could benefit us both. You and I could join together to create something, to make a new name for ourselves.”
“Create what?” John said with a laugh. “A new name for poor baronets? I think not.”
“Now, John,” his mother interrupted. “Sir Felix has said something interesting at last.”
Felix turned to her hopefully. “You see the potential in a combined commitment between our two families? I know we can—”
“No,” she cut him off sharply. “A connection with you, to be blunt, is worth nothing. However, a connection to you is also a connection to your sister.” She stood, crossing her arms and moving to the window. “Your sister who has just married a Marquess. A Marquess that will one day become a Duke.” She turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Thatis a connection that I am interested in.”
“I fail to see how that could benefit you and your son, Lady Marlow,” Felix said.
“Then you are simply lacking in creativity,” she purred, walking towards him. “Make us a promise that you will do what you can with that connection. I know you cannot say how just now, but I’m sure we can all put our heads together and think of something.” She placed a bony hand on John’s shoulder. “An open-ended promise, nothing more, and I shall allow you to court my daughter.”
Felix’s heart hammered in his chest, his mind racing as he carefully considered the words she had said.
Can I make such a promise? Not knowing what it could do, what it could mean for my sister and her family?
He looked into the faces of the mother and brother of his beloved and saw nothing but a desperate, grasping greed. Though his heart was tearing, he squared his shoulders and looked them straight in the eye.
“I cannot make such a promise. It is dishonorable and deceptive. Further, I will not ride the coattails of my brother-in-law to make myself respectable.”
John snorted. “What a fool you are. Get out, then, Andrews, and don’t let us see you creeping around our Sarah. She’s too good for the likes of you.”
“John, no!” Sarah came around the corner at last, and his heart hurt to see her anguished face. “You know that’s not true. I have not had any suitors, any interest. Why can’t you let me be happy?”
John looked his sister over with disgust. “That would change if you would put even a modicum of effort into your appearance,” he said. “You’re quite pretty, but you walk around in simple gowns without a thought to what’s fashionable and spend too much time with people outside of London. Mother and I will change that. We have big plans for you, little sister.”
“And while you’re here, Sarah, with your proposed suitor here as well, perhaps the two of you could explain what Rebecca told me this morning.” Lady Marlow turned her sharp, hawkish gaze to her daughter. “What a distressing story about my daughter alone in a bedroom with an unattached man.”
