“One must think ahead, especially when family assets are involved,” Collin went on pompously.
Jane shifted slightly, still polite but alert now.
“It has occurred to me,” Collin said, smiling as if he were about to offer a generous solution, “that there is a very sensible way to stabilize matters. I have no wish to create a fracture in the family should payments default. Family is very important and should be treated as a sacred institution.”
A cold feeling settled low in my stomach.
He turned his full attention to Jane.
“Jane,” he said warmly. “You have always struck me as particularly well suited to partnership.”
Jane blinked once. “I’m sorry?”
“A marriage,” Collin said, clearly pleased with himself. “Between us. A merger, if you will. Emotional and financial.”
For a moment, the room was completely silent.
Jane’s expression did not change right away, which told me she was stunned. Jane was very good at smoothing reactions, at responding graciously even when she was surprised, but this had clearly knocked the air out of her.
“You’re our cousin,” I inserted into the conversation. “Isn’t that illegal or at the very least frowned upon?”
“Third cousin, twice removed. That is not a barrier to our happy union,” Collin replied with a satisfied smile.
“You’re very kind,” she said at last, and I admired her composure even as my internal alarms began screaming. “But I am already in a relationship .I am very happy and I am not available.”
Collin frowned slightly, as though this were an inconvenience rather than a rejection.
“Oh,” he said. “That is unfortunate timing.”
Lucy let out a short, incredulous laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
Collin waved a hand. “Of course I am serious. Still, if Jane is otherwise occupied, then we should consider alternatives.”
Alternatives. My stomach bottomed out at the word.
Collin nodded, making a note on a small pad he had produced from somewhere. I didn’t want to know what he was writing.
“Well,” he said briskly, “it was worth discussing. Lucy? While you are not as pretty as your older sister, we still may suit each other.”
Lucy pushed off the wall. “You can’t just move down the line like we are items on a checklist.”
Collin looked genuinely puzzled. “I fail to see why not. It is a practical matter. Perhaps you simply need to take time to think the matter through.”
“I’m not marrying you,” Lucy said definitively. “I have a boyfriend.”
I met Jane’s eyes and saw the apology there. Not for refusing him, but for what she suspected might come next.
Collin tilted his head then smiled. “Ah. I see. You seek to use the same excuse as your sister.”
“It’s not an excuse,” Lucy bit off.
“Many young ladies choose to reject the first proposal from a suitor. We will revisit the topic later after you have had time to think of the advantages of my offer,” Collin said pleasantly. “There is no need to rush such important decisions.”
He smiled, entirely satisfied, before quitting the room.
I excused myself before my mouth could override my judgment.
In the kitchen, I pressed my palms flat against the counter and counted to ten. Then twenty. Then I laughed, a short, incredulous sound that surprised even me.
