Page 5 of A Marriage of Convenience with a Rake
Her mother rested her hand on her arm, quieting her terrified outburst. “It will not be like that. It’s all well now. A friend of your father intervened. He spoke to the judge. The judge acquitted him.”
“And the judge...” Eleanor whispered. “What does he want? He wants to...to...” She couldn’t get the words out.
“No. Not the judge. Your father’s friend,” her mother explained, her voice soft as if she was talking to a scared child. “He wants you to wed his son.”
Eleanor stared at her mother in horror. She felt sick. She tensed her spine, trying to stay upright. She swayed for a moment on her feet, then caught herself. She would not let thisbring her low. She would face it, whatever it was. If a life with a horrid, fusty merchant or accountant was what was in store, then she would find some way to face it. Or she could face it and then run away. She would find some way for them all to get out of this safely.
She had to.
Chapter 2
Ramsgate House, October 1817
Sebastian shifted the knot in his silk cravat and breathed out a long sigh. He was standing in the corner of his father’s study in Ramsgate House, London, and he felt wretchedly uncomfortable—his jacket felt too tight, his knee-breeches cutting into his calves. The room felt overly warm, despite the brisk wind and the clouds that drifted overhead outside.
“I can’t, Papa. I just can’t do it. It’s going to be horridly tiresome, and I don’t want to spend my life trying to hide my anger.”
“Son...” Papa frowned, his face a picture of distress. “I told you. I am not asking you to do this, I need you to. We made an agreement. At least meet the lady.”
“You did agree to giving me a whole year,” Sebastian argued. “And it’s eleven months. I still have a month to find a lady of my own choice.”
“Son...it’s not as though anyone has seen you trying to do that.” His voice was not angry—if anything, it was mild and a little upset. Sebastian’s stomach twisted. He could meet anger with anger, but that defeated look in his father’s eyes was something he couldn’t bear to see. Since Mama’s passing when he was just a few days old, it seemed as though he and Papa had relied on each other more and more for support until he was as responsible for the older man as Papa was for him.
“I know. I know lots of ladies, Papa, if it helps.” He smiled, wanting to make his father chuckle. His father just looked downcast.
“I know, son. And that’s just the trouble.”
Sebastian sighed. “Very well. But Papa...cannot you give meanother week, at least? I like not the sound of this plan of yours.”
His father blinked. “I’ve hardly told you anything, son.”
“You told me exactly two facts,” Sebastian countered. “You said that you have found a lady that you want me to meet, and that she is the daughter of an acquaintance of yours. Neither fact gives me the slightest assurance of liking the lady. In fact, I strongly suspect that she will be a tiresome socialite and I will spend the evening trying not to upset anyone. I don’t want to do that.”
His father smiled a little sadly. “She is no tiresome socialite, son. I know how you feel on such matters. I wish for you to find a strong, respectable lady.”
“I’m not sure that sounds any more encouraging,” Sebastian replied jokingly. In truth, he was a little curious. Who was it that his father had found? The daughters of Papa’s acquaintances were all already known to Sebastian, and he had not yet met one with whom he even felt comfortable talking for very long.
“Son...” His father looked at him with a look of immense tiredness. Sebastian stood straight and tried to be humbler. His father really was serious about this. “Son...I am not well. I’m not long for this world.”
“Papa, please don’t say that,” Sebastian began, but his father shook his head.
“I need to. It’s a fact. My gout plagues me, my heart is not strong. My physician tells me I need to walk more, but what good is that, when my knee aches?” he shook his head, anger tight in his voice. “I have not too many years left, and I wish to see a grandson. A grandchild. Just one. Mayhap one will be all there is.” He trailed off sadly.
“You mean, because of the curse?” Sebastian said tightly. “Papa...please tell me you don’t really believe Aunt Tessa. Do you?” His stomach twisted uncomfortably. He hated it when his father talked about that subject.
His father fixedSebastian with a hard stare. “Son...I know only two things,” he began. “Firstly, that my own mother labored hard and long to bring me into the world, and I was her only living child. She and my father conceived many times, but I was the only surviving son. And your mother and I likewise. She died bringing you into this world,” he began, and Sebastian stiffened.
“I know, Papa,” he said firmly. The guilt he felt whenever Papa said that, when his tear-stained eyes fixed on Sebastian, was more than he could bear on top of the news his father had already brought to him.
“I know you do, son,” his father said gently. “But the fact is, I cannot entirely rest easy dismissing Tessa’s words. Whatever the cause, curse or not, our family does not have many children. That is true. Curse or no; I am not qualified to say. I just know that I do not expect to have many grandchildren, and I would like to see my heir before I pass on. For this reason, I wish for you at least to meet this lady. I don’t ask more of you.”
Sebastian sighed. “If you say it in such a way, Papa, nobody could refuse you.” He took a deep breath, guilt twisting in his heart. He could not refuse his father—not when he raised the topic of his own death, which pained Sebastian greatly whenever he had to think of it.
“You will see her?” The hopeful tone in his father’s voice twisted his heart.
“Yes, Papa. I will see her. But I must ask you first, at least to tell me something about her. I know so little.” He was surprised to feel a twist of curiosity in his heart. He wanted to know everything he could.
His father sighed. “I have told you what little I know. I have met the young lady twice and thought her charming on both occasions. She is the daughter of a notable industrialist,” he added.
