“My happiness?” I shook my head. “How could you possibly think paying a man to marry me would bring about happiness? It would be a marriage built on lies. There would be no real love between us.”
A small portion of his smile returned. “Ah, but there you are wrong. I would not have offered money to just any man. Lieutenant Paget was already half in love with you. He just didn’t know it. I was confident all he needed was a little push to fall the remainder of the way. As did you.”
“He is not in love with me,” I retorted, though something within me rebelled at the words. Doubt crept in, slowly but forcefully, the memories of my time with Edward impressing upon my mind. I still could find nothing, no hint of deception beyond his lack of honesty about the offer, in them to prove I had misjudged his intentions, despite now knowing the truth.
Father reached for my hand and clasped it between his own. “He does love you.”
Tears brimmed in my eyes. How I had more to shed, I could not fathom. “You cannot know that. I understand it is what you wish to believe, but—”
“He rescinded the agreement.”
Rescinded? Hope blossomed in my chest, but I beat it down. “What do you mean?”
“Edward came to see me this morning. He informed me that our agreement was null. He refused to accept any money from me, and do you know what he did after that?”
I shook my head, my mind spinning.
“He asked for my blessing to marry you,” Father continued. “What man who was willing to keep his end of a contract would give up such a large sum if he did not love you?”
My tears spilled over, rushing down my cheeks in rivulets. “He wanted to marry me without the money?”
“Indeed, my darling. Out of respect for you, he refused it. If that is not love, then I do not know what is.”
My mind raced. Edward had rescinded the offer. Father believed it was out of love but…but I had also offered Edward money. Financial support. Had that offering merely been a way out of tying himself to me? Or had his refusal of the contract been for the reasons father claimed? Drat it all, how was I ever to be certain?
A match with you is the only one I find tolerable.
Edward had never explicitly proposed, but he also had not corrected me when I mentioned becoming his wife. If he only wanted the money and planned to refuse my Father, there was no reason to let me think a proposal was forthcoming. There was no reason to speak of sharing a home or having children.
And he had given up a sure path to funds by rescinding Father’s offer. He had still requested my hand. Yes, he would have my dowry, but what man who sought only money would turn down such an agreement for more? A great deal more. There was but one explanation.
I pulled my hand away from Father and covered my mouth. Edward loved me…and I had told him I did not wish to see him again. Why had he not mentioned refusing Father’s offer?
I scoffed. It was not as though I had given him a chance to explain, nor would it have mattered if I had. Discovering the truth had hurt too much at the time, left me too raw and vulnerable. Any explanation Edward offered, I would have disregarded. I wouldn’t have believed him. But having time to analyze our time together, having the truth from Father, changed everything. The hurt remained. I could not see the actions of these two men as anything but a betrayal, but they had both acted with good intentions. They both loved me.
Edward loved me.
It would take time to mend the broken trust between us, but I wanted to. I wanted reconciliation. The mere thought lifted the heavy burden of my sorrow.
Swiping away my tears, I fixed Father with a stern look. “You have to promise me that you will not interfere anymore.”
He chuckled softly. “I promise, and if it is fine by you, I intend to offer the two of you that money regardless. You will put it to good use, I think.”
My initial reaction was to refuse, but Father was right. Edward and I would put the money to good use, and if it would help him rescue Adda, how could I say no?
I looked heavenward, then leaned forward and placed a kiss on Father’s forehead. “Very well, but no more meddling. This entire situation is muddy enough.”
Father beamed. “A little mud is often good for the soul.”
“Whatdoyoumeanhe’s gone?” I demanded, laying my palms flat against the table in the library and leaning forward.
My tone took Russell by surprise; his auburn brows lifted high on his forehead. “Just that. He’s gone. Left Kenwick.”
“Why did you chase him off!”
“Me?” Russell glared at me. “It was you who said you wished to never see him again.”
I shifted my weight. “I did not saynever.”
