Page 23 of The Song of the Siren (The Venturesome Ladies of Little Valentine #2)

He found he was sitting with his fists clenched, his chest so tight it was painful to breathe.

If Mark Bevin had appeared before him at that moment, he could have saved the assizes the bother of trying him, for he’d have murdered him with his bare hands.

At least then he might deserve this bloody state of affairs.

Voices in the house behind him caught his attention and he let out a breath, trying to calm his temper before he must speak to anyone else. He strained to listen, wondering if that was Sally’s voice, and then he heard Anne addressing him.

“Good afternoon, Lawrence. How are you? I must say, you are looking well. Have you found a new valet?”

“No,” Stonehaven replied shortly, unprepared to speak to Anne and wishing her to the devil. He was in no mood to play nicely, and she always riled him. “The gardener shaved me and got me dressed, so you can keep your false flattery to yourself.”

“George did that?” she exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised. “Well, the man has missed his calling. You look very smart indeed.”

This from a woman who had always taken a keen interest in fashion, and was never anything but exquisitely turned out, was indeed a compliment, and Stonehaven wondered if perhaps he had underestimated George.

“Hmph. Did Sally show you in?” he asked, wondering if he could wheedle a description of the girl from her.

“Sally?” she queried.

“Yes, she works here.”

“She does? She must be new, for I have never seen her.”

“Yes, I believe she is,” Stonehaven agreed, crestfallen, though he knew it was a pointless exercise all the same.

He needed to get away from Sally, and quickly.

He was too untethered and in need of comfort to be certain he could comport himself as a gentleman when she offered him such sweet temptation, such a delightful escape from the wretchedness of his future. “Well, what do you want?”

“It is delightful to see you again too,” Anne replied, the words clipped. “However, as it appears you are in no mood for conversation, I shall get the point.”

“Thank the good lord.” There was a brief pause during which Stonehaven imagined her glaring daggers at him. He smiled, showing his teeth, and she let out an exasperated hiss.

“I’ve given you quite long enough to consider the idea.

You know as well as I do that it’s the best solution.

I suggest you ask Reverend Honeywell to call the banns.

After the three consecutive Sundays, we can be married, and I can return to Haven House with you.

I will help you find a new valet and, if you need one, a personal secretary who can be trusted.

I will fulfil that post in the meantime.

You know very well that I am a capable woman, and helping you to carry on running your estate, and being your eyes when they are needed is well within my capability.

If you wish for it to be a marriage in name only, that suits me admirably, however I am aware that you need an heir so providing it is for that purpose alone, I would be… amenable to… to accepting your—your—”

“Advances?” he suggested, well aware that she was mortified by the conversation and too entertained by it to consider helping her out.

“Quite,” she said primly.

“How romantic,” he remarked, unsurprised when he heard her chair give an angry scrape against the flagstones and she got to her feet.

“Damn you, Stonehaven. What do you want from me? I am offering you—both of us — a solution.”

“What the hell do you need a solution to? I thought you were happy as a pig in a—”

“Stonehaven!”

“Puddle,” he finished demurely. “You gave me the impression that your hotel and the life you have created for yourself here were everything you ever dreamed of.”

“It’s nothing I ever dreamed of!” she exclaimed.

“How could it be? I had no clue, but it is better, Stonehaven. Far better. I am mistress of my own destiny, I have my own money, and I relish my independence. However, that life is tainted now by the knowledge that I have inadvertently stolen your future and I must make amends.”

“Oh God, not this again,” he said in disgust.

“Don’t you belittle my feelings!” she shot back at him furiously.

“Whether or not you agree, it is my truth. However, I am reconciled to my future as your marchioness. I realise that though it is not what I would choose for myself now, it offers me a life full of challenges too and providing you will not be a brute about it and insist I act like a well-behaved wife, I will do nothing to bring you disgrace or embarrassment.” She sat down again with a rustle of expensive fabrics, and her perfume teased his nose, making him want to sneeze.

“It’s a sensible solution, Lawrence. You cannot pretend it is not. ”

Stonehaven sighed. He was weary suddenly, exhausted by contemplating the confines of a future that seemed narrow and inescapably dull. At least Anne would not treat him like a fool or an invalid. She would stand her ground and do so on his behalf if that was needed.

For a moment, he considered Sally, and his heart felt as foolish as that of a youth caught up in the folly of lovesick pining for his sweetheart.

Wistful longing and regret filled the empty spaces inside him, threatening to overwhelm him, but it was nothing but whimsy, the romantic wish of a man with no future.

Anne offered him a solution, a way forward, and a means of escaping this house before he did something regrettable.

“Fine.”

There was a stunned silence.

“I-I, you mean…?” she stammered, sounding so surprised he wondered if he had called her bluff. Too bad for her if he had.

“I mean, fine . You are right, of course. It is a sensible arrangement. I’ll tell Honeywell to call the banns. It’s Monday today, so I presume the second of October will serve as the date?”

“Um. Yes. Yes, that is perfectly acceptable.”

“Fine. Well, you may start ordering your trousseau and send me the bills. I know how much such fripperies mean to you,” he said with a wry smile. “You ought to get some benefit from this damnable mess, so do your worst.”

Stonehaven started as he felt Anne’s gloved hand cover his. Despite his best intentions, he remembered Sally’s hands, soft and warm as she guided his to her mouth to take a bite of the tomato, and something inside him clenched with misery.

“It is a damnable mess, but we were the best of friends once, Lawrence. Can’t we be that again? There are worse things to do than marry your best friend, are there not? I promise I will try. I will curb my wretched tongue and be more patient if… if you will only give me a chance and do likewise.”

“Curbing your tongue would be the worst thing you could do,” he replied, trying to sound jovial and amused when it felt like a lump of lead had settled in his guts. “You know very well I’ll ride roughshod over you if you don’t stand up to me.”

“No, you won’t,” she replied, and he heard the smile in her voice. “You bark and bellow, but you’re not really such an ogre. It’s all noise.”

“Hmph.”

“We’ll get along famously again, I’m sure we will,” she said, though Stonehaven had the distinct impression she was trying to convince herself more than him.

“Certainly, we will,” he agreed, wondering if either of them had ever spouted such lies to each other before.