“How are we going to persuade her to agree to this?” Hannah wasn’t sure whom she was asking. Herself, quite possibly, though she wouldn’t have objected if Eli wanted to shoulder the burden.
But no one volunteered a plan before her mother walked into the room a moment later.
“Mama, we were just—”
Hannah’s mouth stopped cooperating with her when she realizedthat Mr. Corbyn was with her, his lovely blue eyes somewhat guarded. Her heart lurched. What was he doing here?
Her mother looked equally surprised to find Annabelle in the room, though she recovered herself quicker. “Good morning, Miss Annabelle.”
“Good morning.” Annabelle eyed Mr. Corbyn with naked curiosity, but Jane nudged her gently toward the door.
“Why don’t we give you a moment alone?”
Annabelle looked as though she might protest, her large brown eyes darting from Hannah to Corbyn, but she followed Jane and Eli reluctantly from the room.
Mama started in immediately. “Now, I don’t know everything that was said last night after you left the dining room, nor do I need to know. All that matters is that you put the quarrel behind you and move forward with the wedding as planned. I shall talk to your father, so there’s no need to worry about what he’ll say.”
“I beg your pardon?” How could Mama possibly still expect a wedding? There had once been a time when she would have deemed Mr. Corbyn unsuitable for parting his hair on the wrong side. An outburst such as the one last night should have damaged him beyond repair! “Papa will never agree to it now, and I’m not going to marry without his permission,” Hannah insisted, seizing on the most obvious obstacle.
“I told you, I shall handle all that. Stop being so obstinate. Even when I agree to the manyoupicked, you still find reasons to quibble.”
“Mrs. Williams,” Corbyn interrupted gently. “Might Hannah and I have a moment to speak in private?”
“Of course you may, Mr. Corbyn.” Mama was far warmer when she replied to him than she had been when speaking to Hannah. In fact, she was far warmer than she’d ever been in his presence. Had he bewitched her somehow? That seemed the only explanation forsuch a drastic change. “Is your father at home? I’ll deal with him directly.”
Hannah didn’t dare to answer. She wasn’t entirely confident that “deal with him” wasn’t a euphemism for murder. But Mama didn’t seem to need her confirmation, and she slipped from the room with quiet determination. What on earth was happening?
Once she’d left, Hannah turned to Mr. Corbyn. “What did you say to her? Why does she suddenly like you so much?”
“She appreciated my defending her yesterday.”
“Of course she would.” Hannah buried her face in her hands. That brought the total up to three people in this house who were on Mr. Corbyn’s side—Jane, Eli, and her mother—while no one but Papa agreed with Hannah! She was rapidly being humbled for her actions.
“I’m sorry I lost my temper,” Corbyn murmured, once it became apparent that Hannah was too lost to know what to say next. “I didn’t care for the way your father was speaking to everyone, but I shouldn’t have thrown fuel on the fire. He reminded me of the way my own father used to talk to me, and I wasn’t thinking when I spoke. I should have known it would hurt you.”
“No. I’m sorry,” she confessed. “You’re…not entirely wrong about him. I wish I hadn’t been so unkind to you afterward.”
They stood in silence for a moment, before Corbyn broke it abruptly. “I think we should get married.”
“What?” Hannah wished the sound that had escaped her didn’t sound quite so much like a squawking bird. She might have liked to be more graceful at this moment. “You don’t have to do this to get the money I promised you. Jane’s offered me a position in her club, and I’d like to accept if I can persuade my mother. It might take me some time to save up the funds, but I’ll send you half my pay every month until the debt is clear.”
Corbyn seemed to think about this for a moment. “I need themoney sooner than that,” he said finally. “The reason Marian and James came to town was to ask me to invest in a brewery with them. Marian knows the trade from helping my grandfather, and James is a cooper. They have a brewmaster they can bring on as well. All they need are the funds for rent and supplies.”
A brewery?“When did you decide all this? Why didn’t you tell me?”
She knew it was silly, but Hannah felt a little hurt to learn that Corbyn had kept such a secret. She’d thought they’d come to know each other well these past few weeks. Why wouldn’t he have told her his plans?
“You always said our arrangement was temporary.” If Corbyn’s words came out a little brusque, they were softened by what he said next. “And I suppose I didn’t know if you might look down on me for it.”
“I wouldn’t,” Hannah assured him. After all, she intended to work for her livelihood, if Jane could provide the opportunity. What was the difference? “But what about the army?”
“I never intended to go along with that. I just said what I thought your mother would want to hear, back when that’s what you’d asked me to do.” A shadow passed over Corbyn’s face. “I haven’t told her the truth yet. I don’t know how she’ll take it.”
“Howshe’lltake it?” Hannah echoed. “Why are you acting as though you and my mother are dear friends? She hated you until recently.”
“I think we became friends this morning.” Corbyn looked nearly as baffled by this development as Hannah. “She was actually quite kind. I wouldn’t want to disappoint her now.”
“She’s spent the past four years trying to force me to marry the first man to learn my name!” Hannah protested. “In fact, several of them didn’tevenlearn my name.”
