Soren lost all reason. A parent should stand up for a child. Not join in her humiliation. He towered over the shorter man. “I wish to marry your daughter.”
Soren didn’t know who was more shocked with his statement, Holwell, everyone in the hall, or himself. The moment the words were out, he had a fleeting desire to call them back, but wouldn’t.
Cass would never recover from this night’s business. Marriageable young women risked everything if they were caught in a man’s room. Even if he and Cass could explain that this was all a misunderstanding, chattering minds would dismiss the truth.
Soren, too, would pay. He would be branded the rascal she’d been dallying with, but all the world adored a rake. His name would be relatively unscathed. While hers would be unsalvageable, save for marriage to him. It was the only honorable option.
His declaration was met with a collective gasp of appreciation from their avid audience. The one thing Society adored better than a scandal was a grand romance.
Lady Haddingdon, decked out in a purple robe and night cap, clapped her hands gleefully. “I knew something was afoot when I caught them in the necessary room together over dinner.”
“The necessary room during dinner?” a man standing behind Bainhurst repeated, his tone putting a lewd twist to the words.
Soren dismissed all of them. His focus was on Cass, who stood with her hands clasped in front of her like a penitent, her head lowered in humiliation.Stand tall, he wanted to tell her.There is no reason for shame.
However, Soren’s answer to his offer came from her father. In ringing tones, Holwell announced, “No child of mine will marry a York.”
“I’ll not accept an answer from anyone but Cass,” Soren challenged.
“Cassandra. Her name is Cassandra,” Holwell answered. “Although the likes of you do not have permission to use it.”
Her father’s rudeness only made Soren more determined to free her from him. The feud between their two families was nonsense. Dewsberry was an old and respected title—or it had been until his grandfather and father had disgraced it. But Soren would see it shine again and, in that moment, he knew with complete conviction he wanted Cass by his side. That desire was not based upon her fortune.
No, his certainty that she alone could help him meet the challenges of his life, and there were many, came from a place deep within him. He knew he was making the right decision.
Besides, even if he was wrong, she did have a fortune.
Holwell was in politics. He valued public opinion. So, Soren played to the public. He went down on one knee in front of her, a half-dressed swain intent on baring his soul.
Cass stared at him as if he had lost his wits. Perhaps he had.
“Miss Holwell, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Bah!” Her father’s sharp exclamation robbed the moment of any sincerity. “Refuse him, daughter,” he ordered. “Put him in his place.”
The hallway grew quiet. People held their breaths as they leaned in for every second of the drama. Even Bainhurst.
Cass looked to her father, then back to Soren kneeling before her. Her brows gathered, but no words left her lips.
Her father was at her ear. “Accept his offer and you will be no daughter of mine.” He then turned and shouldered his way through the crowd. His wife followed as if she was his shadow.
Cass blinked as if in hurt surprise. Soren took her hand, bringing her attention back to him. She looked down at him.
“We’ll be good together,” Soren promised.
For a moment, he believed she was going to say yes to him. Her palm was warm, her fingers long.
And then she pulled her hand free. “I can’t,” she whispered. “It is too much to decide right now.”
On those words, she chased after her parent.
She was gone.
What the devil?
Soren couldn’t believe he had been rejected. Did she not realize her life as she’d known it was over? Rightly or wrongly, circumstances had conspired to label her damaged goods.
Then again, wasn’t she the one earlier who had warned him a Holwell and a York could never be together?
