last night—it was so late. But I found someone while at the Hickmores’, a Mr. Fredrick Northam. He is perfect. You’ll think so, too, I promise. He is coming here to ask your permission. He will most likely visit this week—maybe even today. I am certain it will be soon. He is quite the gentleman, with a large estate. So you see? This match is unnecessary. I shall be married before year’s end.”
“What?” My mother started forward in her chair, then muttered, “Oh, my.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “Colin—”
“No, Eloise,” my father interrupted. “I am sorry, Margaret. But it is already done.”
I flinched back in my seat. “The settlement has been arranged? The contract is drawn up?”
“The circumstances are very much in our favor. I believe you will be happy.” He said the last part quietly, as though it were more of a hope than an expectation.
I could never be happy if I wasn’t safe. How was I to ensure I would be safe?
“Margaret, don’t look at me like that. It’s a good match.” My father stepped toward me as though to comfort me.
I scrambled out of my chair, sending it wobbling. Grabbing the chair to steady it, I slid behind it and dug my nails into the floral relief etched along its rim. “Please, do not do this. Not while there’s still a chance to make things right.”
My mother sighed and stood. “I wish we had known—” She glanced at my father and stopped. Taking a breath, she continued, “I am so very sorry. But it really is too late. He arrives tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” They hadn’t even given me time to get used to the idea, to make a plan.
My mother nodded. As I looked from her to my father, they suddenly appeared unfamiliar, as people I should have known but didn’t.
The room grew smaller, the walls inching toward me, compressing the air so tightly I thought I would drown. Too many things could go wrong; there were too many unknowns in marrying like this. I couldn’t go through what I’d gone through with Edward again. But what could I do? “I understand,” I whispered, and I rushed from the room.
Seven
I stopped at the back lawn and stared at the sky, trying to ignore how my heart thumped in my head. I needed to escape, to go someplace that would expunge all I had just heard. I longed for the solitude of the lake, just visible through the trees, certain its verdant surroundings would feel more familiar at the moment than my own home. But even it could not undo my parents’ actions.
I turned my back on its sparkling surface and strode the path skirting the yard, tracing the edge of the woods.
From out of nowhere, Daniel stepped before me and grasped my arms. “Margaret, what is it? What happened?”
I struggled against his hold. “Let me go. Please.”
“I saw you from the window. You were white. You still are. And your eyes—are you going to cry? You never cry. What—”
I wrenched myself from his grasp and turned away. “Leave me alone.”
He put a hand on my arm, stopping me. “Margaret, tell me what is going on.”
“Where’s Alice?”
“I sent her down the path to that old fort we put together. Do you remember it?”
“The one with the tree swing John hung for us?”
Daniel nodded.
“She shouldn’t be alone, Daniel.”
“I’m joining her. Just as soon as you tell me what is going on.”
I forced a smile. “You’ve gotten your wish. Any man but Mr. Northam. Isn’t that what you said?”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Father has found me a husband. He arrives tomorrow.”
“He found you a husband? Who is it?”
“Does it matter?”
The pity in his look made me grit my teeth. I turned away, continuing down the path. Daniel was soon by my side.
“I cannot believe they would do this,” he said.
I thought hearing disbelief in his voice would make me feel better, his incredulity a validation for my dismay, but it didn’t. It only made the void within me grow.
“After all my efforts to reestablish myself, to make people forget. . . . Everyone will say they aren’t surprised this is the only way I could get a husband.”
“Well, you haven’t married. So, in a way they would be correct.”
“Daniel!”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
He was callous at the worst moments. I kicked at a pebble. “I was so close. A few more days and I—” I clamped my lips together. It would do no good to let Daniel know how