Arabella took her seat, and her father sat down across from her in his favorite armchair. For a while, he looked at the fireplace, and then the tea came. Arabella served them both, wondering when this would be done so she could go and be devastated in her own privacy.
“Arabella, you’re about to be married and to have a household of your own,” her father said quite seriously. “So I would like to be frank with you now that the situation is resolved.”
Arabella didn’t know what her father was referring to, but she could hardly imagine any situation being resolved at this moment. Yet she very calmly drank her tea, waiting for her father to explain himself.
“It is not something I wanted to trouble you about,” he continued, “but for a while we have been having some serious financial problems. Some investments went awry, the crops from our land did not go very well, and that has been happening for a couple of years.”
Arabella put the cup on the saucer and looked at her father very seriously. She would rather that life did not pile up on her on the same day, but there was nothing to be done about it. At least this sudden revelation took her mind off the Duke’s touch.
“How bad a financial problem?” she dared to ask, already dreading the answer.
Her father drove his fingers through his hair, a universal sign that the situation was indeed dire. Cold sweat ran down Arabella’s spine. She was clever enough to connect the dots between her family’s bad financial situation and the Duke’s immense wealth.
“I had hoped that things would be resolved soon, but unfortunately, that is not the case.”
“Are we bankrupt?” Arabella asked with dread.
“It is not exactly that,” her father said, suddenly ashamed. “But I am not able to provide you with a substantial dowry.” He looked away in shame. “But now that issue is of no importance.”
“How exactly is it not an issue?” Arabella frowned.
“First of all, the Duke made no claims on a dowry,” he said triumphantly. “That means I can give your share to Bridget. It is as if you are giving her a gift.”
Arabella managed to maintain a neutral face at this information. Things could not get any worse.
“Then there is, of course, the matter of our family being connected to that of the Duke’s. Doors will open more easily, loans will be given gladly, and debts might even be forgiven. I will finally be able to recover and manage to raise our family’s wealth.”
It took all of her willpower not to break down into panic, hearing what exactly hung upon her marriage to the Duke. The same marriage that she had just single-handedly thwarted with an outburst.
“I know, Arabella, that it must not be easy for you to make this sacrifice. But in a way, I’m glad the Duke has chosen you. If there is anyone who can take care of this unexpected event happening to our family and turn it into a blessing, that is only you.”
Arabella tightened her fingers together on her lap until her knuckles turned white so that she would not break out crying in front of her father. It had been quite a while since she had seen him this happy, and now she knew why. There was a heavy burden on his shoulders that made him anxious. Perhaps that was why he was being so strict with Bridget as well.
And now he felt relieved because, through the document that was meant as a jest, he saw a solution he had not thought about. He was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The fact was that the Duke of Albury had decided to marry one of his daughters without a dowry.
“May I retire now, Father, till luncheon?” Arabella asked, her voice shaking.
“Of course, my dear. Just one thing. Did the Duke tell you that he had made the appropriate moves to acquire the marriage certificate?”
The blood ran cold in Arabella’s veins. A marriage certificate for a marriage that was not going to happen.
“No, Father. We had quite an eventful promenade. I will tell you about it during luncheon.”
That was all she said, and she all but fled her father’s study and ran to her room. She closed the door behind her and made sure she was alone. Then and only then did she collapse onto the bed, screaming into her pillow.
She had acted on impulse, on pure emotion, and she and her family would pay the price. Not only would the miraculous saving of one of his daughters marrying the Duke of Albury not be realized for her father, but she could not be sure that, after her behavior, the Duke would not seek retribution against her family.
Her thoughts went to how the Duke looked at her before he left. He may have wished her well and made no threats, but he had the cold look on his face that told her his pride was wounded. And men like the Duke do not let things like this slide.
Arabella may have made a terrible mistake that would cost her and her family more than she had bargained for. She felt tears of irritation streak down her cheeks. She cried until all her frustration drained her. And when she had no more tears to cry, she sat up on her bed, determined.
This was a mess. She may have had nothing to do with how this mess began, but she would make sure that it would end in the best way possible for her family. She would have to make some bold moves and face a man she truly did not want to face, but she was not going to let others decide her fate anymore.
She would take matters into her own hands.
CHAPTER 10
Nightly Negotiations
