Page 11 of An Arranged Marriage with a Mad Marquess
The pair glanced at each other; expressions unreadable.
“Which of the girls did you have in mind?” Lord Marshville asked, voice uncertain.
“Well, I am not acquainted with any of them, and I am certain they are all most amiable young ladies.”
“Not Gillian,” Lady Marshville said suddenly, panic in her voice. “Not my baby. She is barely eighteen, and I think…”
“No, not Miss Gillian,” Neil said hastily, colour rushing to his face. “I am seven and twenty, Lady Marshville, and I would like a wife closer to my own age. As I mentioned earlier, I may very well die within the next few years, and I want a grown woman as a Marchioness, not a child.”
Lady Marshville relaxed, just a little. She met her husband’s eye.
“I think I know which of our girls will suit you, then.”
***
There was an uneasy silence in the drawing room.
After Lord Morendale had come through the house, shown straight into Papa’s study as had been agreed, the three sisters had come hesitantly downstairs, craning their necks to peer down the hallway as if expecting something terrible to leap out at them.
Nobody could settle. The grate in the drawing room was empty, despite the chill in the air. Generally, there was a firein the drawing room and not in Papa’s study, as he preferred to save the firewood and wrap himself up in blankets. Today, though, they had to warm the room for their illustrious guest.
And so, the girls were obliged to freeze.
“Come away from the window, Gilly,” Agnes said, breaking the silence. She was bent over her sewing, working on a complex, beautiful embroidery piece. A vibrantly red rose was taking shape under her needle, far more beautiful than anything Patrina could ever create.
Gillian was curled up on the window seat, a forgotten book hanging from her fingers. Her cheek was pressed against the glass, and she stared blankly out at the garden below.
“Agnes is right,” Patrina said, pacing up and down in front of the empty fireplace. She simply could not seem tosettle. “You risk becoming quite unwell by remaining in that position.”
“If I were to become unwell and perish, perhaps I shall be spared the fate of marrying that madman,” Gillian replied with a weary expression.
Patrina stopped pacing. “We won’t let you marry him.”
“What if he chooses me? He doesn’t know any of us. Papa and Mama will likely let him take his pick.”
“They won’t do that,” Agnes responded, biting off a string of thread. “You’re the prettiest of us all, and likely to make a good match of your own accord. If she were to bestow your hand upon him, she would be consigned to the company of us two spinsters for all eternity. I daresay Lord Morendale is indifferent as to which of us he espouses.”
Patrina said nothing. She could still see the man in her mind’s eye, his head tilted to stare up at the three of them.
“He was more handsome than I thought he’d be,” she said slowly, not quite able to believe what she was saying.
Agnes snorted. “You have the strangest taste in men, Pat. He’s too thin, and with that black hair and green eyes, he looks like a witch’s familiar.”
Gillian gave a hoot of laughter.
“You’re both very cruel,” Patrina muttered. “I wasn’t saying that Ithoughthe was handsome.”
“What did you mean, then?”
“I don’t know! Only that a man who looks like that, regardless of how mad he might be, should be able to catch himself a decent wife. And he’s rich,” she added, as an afterthought.
Agnes shot Gillian a meaningful glance. “Well, let’s hope that you marry him.”
It was half of a joke, but for some reason, it sent chills down Patrina’s spine.
If he wants to marry me,she thought, swallowing hard,I won’t be able to say no. Not if he could save us all. And if Idosay no, then Agnes will be obliged to marry him. And she might say no, too, and that leaves Gillian…
He thoughts trailed off, and Patrina met Agnes’ eye. There was determination in her sister’s face, and she knew then that regardless of what sort of man the Marquess of Morendale might be, however mad or cruel or disinterested, either she or Agnes would marry him to save Gillian. Gillian had to be protected, at all costs.
