Page 2 of Loving a Noble Gentleman
“There is no personal letter from Father? Nothing he has left for me?”
Since he had been gone for five years, there was little chance of Mary getting the information directly from him so it would make things easier to understand if he had given her something. But the sharp shake of Walter’s head told her all that she needed to know.
It was hopeless.
“Right.” Mary let out a deep sigh and pushed herself into a standing position. “I understand. May I please be excused?”
“I do know that it is not easy to take in,” Walter continued, almost as if he had not heard Mary’s desperate plea to escape the situation she currently found herself in. “I would like you to have a few days to think things through, and of course, if you do have any questions, I shall be here for you to speak with. Just know that as requested by your father, I will have to send out a letter to the Duke very soon to let him know of your father’s wishes.”
“So, he does not know either?”
Somehow, that managed to make Mary feel just a little bit better. At least she was not the only one who had this massive shock. She tried to picture this mysterious gentleman receiving a letter with the shocking news that a bride had been chosen for him from beyond the grave. His own father would probably not be too pleased by the demands anyway.
Maybe this was not something that she needed to be worried about at all; it was becoming increasingly obvious to her that it probably would not happen.
“Thank you for meeting with me.” Mary bobbed her head into an almost bow-like gesture. “It has been a pleasure.” They both knew that was not true, but neither of them argued the point. “I hope to speak with you soon.”
“Yes, I will keep you updated.”
Walter pushed back in his chair as he watched the young lady flounce from the room. He had known William Roberts, Mary’s father, very well during his life. Maybe they were not friends, but they did a lot of business together. He was a focused and driven man who strongly believed that every decision he made was the right one.
This was clearly another instance of that.
Of course when he passed away, Mary was only thirteen years of age. There was no telling how she would grow up. Walter felt that without a mother figure in her life, and without a father in her later years, she had become a wallflower. In Walter’s opinion, Mary was much too young in her mind to be someone’s wife. But his opinion was not requested; William made that much very obvious.
He was a lawyer; he had to do what was requested of him in legal documents. If that meant facilitating a marriage that he was not sure about, then so be it.
Walter gathered up his belongings with a deep sigh, and he moved to leave the Roberts’ household with weariness in his brain. The meeting with Mary left him much more exhausted than he expected. He could not wait to return home where he could rest.
Mary watched from the shadows as Walter left her home, her heart racing in her throat. When she was called to a meeting with the man that she barely knew, she had a funny idea that it was not going to result in something pleasant, but she did not know it would be so bad. Ever since her eighteenth birthday, she had been treated very differently, but this was still a step too far.
What will I do?she thought desperately as her tears rolled down her cheeks.How will I survive this?
She needed to go and meet with her sister; she was the only person who could give her any advice at all. But even that was not easy. Charlotte’s life was extremely busy, and she had a lot going on with her own troubling existence. Still, somehow Mary needed to make it happen.
“Are you okay, miss?” Daisy, the housemaid asked Mary softly.
The other staff in the house found Mary intimidating; they thought her extremely quiet nature was something to be feared. It was almost as if they assumed she had some evil plan rolling around in her brain, and she was just waiting for the right moment to unleash it.
Daisy knew different, though. She could tell that Mary was simply shy. Whenever she came across her, she made the effort to speak with her. Especially on a day like today when the Lady looked like she was going to be sick.
“Hmm?”
Mary twisted her head around to see the maid beside her. In her dark knee-length dress covered by a slightly mucky white apron tied around her waist, she appeared completely different from Mary, but at that moment she was the closest person in the world to her. She was the only one who wanted to know how she was.
“Oh, well, it is difficult.” A blush filled her cheeks; she felt terrible for getting so worked up about something that would probably be an enviable problem to someone with no money. “I have had some awful news.”
Daisy reached out an arm to rub it comfortingly down the silky sleeve of Mary’s deep red dress, but she halted at the last moment. No matter what, she could not forget her place. She also did not want her dirty fingers to ruin the beautiful material that she could never afford herself.
“I know it is not usual, but if you ever need someone to speak to, I am always here.”
Mary stared at the girl with wide eyes. Maybe this girl would not be able to offer her any realistic advice since it was clearly not something she had been through herself, but maybe it would be nice to talk.
She parted her lips slightly, but for some reason, the words got stuck in her throat. “I ... I ...”
“It is alright,” Daisy continued with a smile. “Anything that you share with me, I will keep to myself.”
“Yes, I ...” Mary breathed deep, trying to steel herself. With her wonderful house surrounding her, the only building she had ever really known her entire life, the thought was even more horrific. “I have been informed that if I do not get married to a Duke chosen by my father many years ago, I will not inherit the family home.”
The tears came back, and this time, Mary had no control over them. They dripped down her cheeks and rolled onto her lips. Their saltiness shocked Mary. She did not often cry.
“Is this a man you know?” Daisy asked cautiously. Mary shook her head. “Then maybe he will be very nice.”
She smiled brightly, hoping to make the Lady of the house feel better. In a way, this news affected her and the rest of the staff too. If the home was not owned by a member of the Roberts family, would they still have jobs?
“Maybe it is someone that you will fall very much in love with. Your father must have chosen him for a very good reason. Perhaps this will all turn out fine.”
Mary pondered this. She had not even thought about it in this way. It terrified her to think about falling in love and getting married, but maybe there was a chance. It was possible ... was it not?
