by Ava Stone
“As far as I know,” the old man replied, a genuine smile upon his face.
The smile did make her feel a bit better. If Papa was in a temper, Davies wouldn’t be smiling. She brushed past the servant, into her home and then started towards her father’s study.
As she got closer to her destination, however, she heard male laughter drift down the corridor, and she stopped where she stood. Heavens! She wasn’t sure if she’d ever heard her father laugh in all her life. He was much too serious, too stern to indulge in such a frivolous activity.
“I’m certain your mother didn’t thank him for that.” Papa’s amused voice reached her ears.
“No, sir.” Mina knew that voice! She’d never forget it, she was sure. She’d heard Lord Healeyfield in her dreams all night long. She started again towards her father’s study as though pulled there by an invisible force. What was he doing here? “Father ended up sleeping in his office at the church for at least a sennight.”
Papa laughed again. “Poor fellow. Not that I could blame her.”
What was going on in there? Mina knocked on the door and all sound from within came to an immediate halt.
“Come.” Her father’s usual serious voice rang out.
Mina gulped, pulled open the door, then stepped over the threshold. Papa sat quite rigidly in his overstuffed leather chair behind his mahogany desk, while Lord Healeyfield sat across from the colonel in one of a pair of high-back chairs. Both men rose from their seats at her entrance, and both were looking directly at her.
She couldn’t meet her father’s eyes, however. She could only stare at Lord Healeyfield, whose warm brown gaze seemed to rob her of her breath. What was he doing here? She knew he regarded her father, but why was her presence necessary? With the intensity of his stare, Mina’s heart quickened and wished she was nearly anywhere else in the world, somewhere she felt safe, somewhere that no surprises awaited her, somewhere she wasn’t noticed.
“Mina,” Papa said. “Do take a seat.” He gestured to the twin of Lord Healeyfield’s chair.
“I-is everything all right?” she asked, not moving one inch from her spot.
Her father huffed out a sigh. “Take a seat, Wilhelmina.”
Heavens, whatever it was, it was worse than she thought. Had Lord Healeyfield said something to Papa about her? Had he told the colonel of their conversation the previous evening? Mina went over the words again in her mind, just as she had most of the night. Papa wouldn’t appreciate her engaging in conversation about fairies with one of his officers, but she couldn’t imagine him dragging her before his lordship to berate her over the fact.
“Now!” her father commanded, his patience – if he’d ever possessed such a thing – long gone.
Lord Healeyfield winced slightly as though he wasn’t accustomed to hearing her father speak in such a way. But they’d served together. She couldn’t imagine that Papa hadn’t barked on the battlefields.
She slowly crossed the floor, her mind awhirl, trying to make sense of what was happening this morning. She met Lord Healeyfield’s gaze once more, and he smiled, making something flutter inside her.
“Miss Throssell,” he said in greeting.
She nodded briefly in return. “My lord.” She reached the chair her father had indicated and slid into it, every nerve in her body stood on end.
Her father and Lord Healeyfield resumed their own seats, and the colonel leaned forward, his elbows resting on his desk. “Mina, you met Lord Healeyfield last night?”
If that was really his name. She opted not to voice that statement, however, as it was sure to earn her a scowl and a stern talking to. So she nodded instead. Once.
“Healeyfield led the Kings Dragoon Guards, though he was Lieutenant-Colonel Carrick then,” her father explained, pride emanating from his voice.
“Lieutenant-Colonel Carrick?” she echoed. That name sounded so familiar. She was certain she’d heard her father mention the man before, though she couldn’t remember the particulars.
“Mmm,” her father replied. “Though he’s just recently been awarded a viscountcy for his bravery in service to the crown.”
Mina’s gaze darted back to Lord Healeyfield. He’d recently been granted a viscountcy. No wonder Miss Hampton didn’t find any mention of him in her mother’s Debretts. Heavens! What had the man done to garner such an accommodation? Her own father had never been admitted into the peerage even after his long and decorated career.
“Most honorable fellow I’ve ever known,” Papa continued.
“Please, sir,” Lord Healeyfield replied modestly.
Papa pushed back from his desk and shrugged. “I want her to know what sort of man she’s marrying, Nathaniel. I want—”
Mina gasped, cutting off whatever else it was her father meant to say. But she couldn’t help it. Did he mean to tell her that he’d arranged for her to marry Lord Healeyfield? That he’d done so without consulting her, without any sort of warning. Was that what he’d done? She shook her head. “But I can’t marry him,” she said softly.
Lord Healeyfield frowned and her father’s face took on an angry hue.
“It isn’t up for you to decide, Wilhelmina,” Papa growled. “You will do as I tell you and—”
“Sir,” Lord Healeyfield interrupted. But then he shook his head and said nothing else.
Papa was not to be deterred, however. “The contracts have been signed and that is that.” He gripped the edge of his desk as though he was barely able to contain his temper. “You will be a pleasing wife and helpmate. You will do your duty by this man and you will—”
“But he has two eyes!” Mina cried. No matter how handsome Lord Healeyfield was, no matter how his mere presence affected her, no matter that she hadn’t ever believed in true love before now – he wasn’t her true love. He couldn’t be. He had two eyes and Madam Derbardi had been very clear on that fact. She couldn’t just marry Lord Healeyfield, not if there was a fellow out there who would love and accept her the way she was. She just couldn’t.
Nathaniel’s mouth fell open. What the devil was that supposed to mean?
“As do you,” Colonel Throssell replied, undaunted by his daughter’s outburst. “As do most people. I hardly see—”
She shook her head stubbornly. “I’m to marry a man with but one eye, Papa. And that’s all there is to it.”
Nathaniel couldn’t help but stare at Miss Throssell, with both of his working eyes. She had a bit more color to her cheeks today than she had last night, but she was still just as lovely. Even a man with only one eye would notice that about the girl.
“That—” the colonel snorted “—is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. And that is saying something, Wilhelmina.”
“But Mama—” she began, but clamped her lips closed when her father held up his hand for her to stop.
“—Has been dead for years and never had anything of merit to add to a conversation when she was alive. So whatever you’re about to say, I don’t want to hear another word,” he grumbled. “You will do as you’re told, and you will do so without complaint. Do I make myself clear?”
Nathaniel felt like the world’s worst cad. He didn’t want to force Miss Throssell into something she didn’t want. He’d never had any intention of things progressing to this point, and they wouldn’t have it the colonel’s heartfelt words from the night before hadn’t convinced him otherwise. But the fact of the matter was he had signed the marriage contract that very morning. There was no getting around that.
“May I be excused, sir?” she asked, her voice much more frail than it had been previously, and Nathaniel’s stomach twisted a bit.
The colonel nodded curtly. “Very well.”
Mina Throssell rose from her seat, brushed past Nathaniel without even a glance, and then quietly quit the room. An emptiness settled in his heart. That could have gone much better. Truly, it couldn’t have gone much worse.
As soon as she was gone, Nathaniel refocused on the colonel who didn’t
seem to be flustered or concerned in the least. “Sir,” he began, but the old man shook his head.
“I know what you’re thinking. But this is for the best. For everyone.”
Perhaps in theory, but Mina Throssell wasn’t a theory. She was a person, a very lovely girl, even if she was a bit quirky. “I’d rather not have my wife hate me, Colonel.”
“Mina could never hate anyone. It’s not in her nature.”
Nathaniel supposed that was comforting, but he still wasn’t terribly pleased with how everything had unfolded either. Perhaps, if he could talk to her, explain the situation, she’d be more amendable to the idea. If he was going to spend the rest of his years with the girl, he’d rather they be pleasant years. “Even so, I’d like to start things off on the right foot, so to speak.”
The colonel agreed with an incline of his head. “Do you suppose the week will be long enough?”
The week. When he’d agreed to the colonel’s special license that morning, he hadn’t anticipated Miss Throssell declaring that she could only marry a one-eyed man. Of all the bizarre things for her to say, that particular pronouncement wouldn’t have ever occurred to him. Could he convince the pretty brunette within a week’s time that marrying him was the best course for her life and for his? It might take longer than a week. It might very well take a lifetime. “You know her better than I do.”
Colonel Throssell smiled. “Don’t worry, Nathaniel. Everything will turn out as it should. She’ll come around, she always does in the end.”
Though Nathaniel had never questioned the colonel’s mind on a field of battle, in this he wasn’t certain that he wholeheartedly agreed in this regard.
Mina never cried. Well, she rarely cried, but she was doing so now. She just couldn’t help it. How could her father make a decision like that without even discussing it with her first? And to tell her in front of Lord Healeyfield had been the height of embarrassment. He probably thought her an overgrown child for her reaction. But what should she have done? Agreed to the marriage without putting up a fight? That was hardly in her nature.
Besides, there was a reason Mama had led her to Madam Derbardi’s yesterday. Mama must have known about Papa’s plans and hoped to warn Mina, to give her a bit of hope. Hope that was now for naught.
Above Mina on a low branch, the willow warbler looked down at her, his black eyes, so filled with concern, stared right into her soul. The songbird wouldn’t come any closer, however, not with her dark mood. She swiped at a traitorous tear that streamed down her cheek.
What was she to do? There wasn’t a way out of her predicament, Papa had seen to that. So was that it, then? She was to spend the rest of her days with Lord Healeyfield, doing her duty, being a helpmate to a man that was just like her father? She just—
“There you are,” Lord Healeyfield said, stepping around the large topiary. “I was hoping we could talk.”
What was there to talk about? Mina brushed a hand across her cheeks, hoping the viscount couldn’t tell she’d been crying. “I’m sure I’m not the best company at the moment, my lord.”
A sad smile settled on his lips and Mina let her gaze drop to her lap.
Lord Healeyfield crossed the courtyard until he stood right before her. “Do you mind if I sit a while?”
“Since when do my wishes mean anything?” she muttered softly.
As though to prove the truth of her point, he dropped into the spot beside her anyway, but then he said very softly, “Your wishes mean something to me, Miss Throssell.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his warm eyes and she gulped. Was there a more handsome man in all of England? Or one more brave? Any girl would feel honored, beyond lucky to have such a man as her betrothed, but…Well, Mina wasn’t any girl. She knew that her true love was out there somewhere, and when she married Lord Healeyfield, she’d never be free to find her true love, to know him, to fulfill her destiny. A piece of her heart broke at the thought.
“Why?” she asked. “You don’t even know me.”
He nodded slightly at that. “But I’d like to know you better. You are to be my wife, Miss Throssell, and I’d like for us to rub along well together.”
He might not be exactly like Papa. He did seem a bit kinder. Still, she’d rather not be forced to throw her lot in with the man. “Please don’t be offended, my lord…”
“Hard not to be whenever someone starts a sentence that way.”
That was probably true. But Mina had to tell him the truth. He had a right to know, and if anyone could convince her father to change his course, it might be Lord Healeyfield. “I’m just not supposed to marry you is all, my lord. I’m supposed to marry someone else.”
“Who?” His dark eyes narrowed, making trepidation settle in her belly.
“I’m not sure.” She shrugged, not certain what else she could say.
“You’re just sure it’s not me?” he asked, a slight note of irritation lacing his words.
She hadn’t meant to offend him. There was nothing wrong with Lord Healeyfield, nothing at all. But he wasn’t for her. “I am certain it’s not you. You have both eyes, you see.”
There she went again with this one-eyed nonsense. “I have no idea how to respond to that. What is your fascination with one-eyed men?”
Miss Throssell shook her head. “I wouldn’t call it a fascination. I didn’t even know about him until yesterday.”
But hadn’t she just said she didn’t know who the man was? Did every conversation with the girl have to be one spoken in circles? “I’m afraid you’re not making any sense to me. Why are you so certain you’re destined for this mysterious one-eyed fellow?”
She scrunched up her lips as though deciding whether or not to confide in him. Then she shrugged slightly and said, “Mama led me to a fortuneteller yesterday. Madam Derbardi. She read my cards and told me I’d meet my true love very soon and that he’d be a responsible commander with one-eye.”
Of all the things Nathaniel thought she might say, that had not been one of them. There were so many things to say in response, but where to begin? One - who let fortunetellers dictate their future? Two - who would go through life looking for a one-eyed man because a deck of cards said to do so? But what came out of his mouth was, “Your mother’s alive?” Hadn’t the colonel referred to Mina’s mother as his late-wife many times?
Mina Throssell’s brow furrowed most anxiously as she shook her head. “I’m sensitive to the spirit plane,” she explained, not that it made any sense. “That’s what Madam Debardi calls it.”
“The spirit plane?” What a bunch of nonsense. The damned fortuneteller, whoever she was, must have played quite a number on Miss Throssell, though she was most likely an easy mark.
The pretty brunette nodded her head. “It’s much nicer than what Papa or Aunt Irene say, and I find I quite like the sound of it.”
Which Madam Debardi, probably some gypsy thief by the sound of her name, had used to her advantage. The woman probably swooned over the naïve Mina Throssell, spinning cultivated lies, flattery and half-truths in order to garner the girl’s trust. Over the years he’d seen such things during his travels on the continent. Hard-working people swindled out of their possessions and life savings by traveling thieves. Who knew what this Madam Derbardi had taken from Miss Throssell, leaving her with wild tales of true love and one-eyed men in return. Completely ridiculous.
The woman ought to be turned over to the authorities for taking advantage of unsuspecting ladies. And once that was accomplished, Miss Throssell would have to see that fortuneteller’s words were meaningless. And then the two of them could go about planning their future together. “Can you take me to her? This fortuneteller of yours?”
Suspicion clouded Miss Throssell’s light eyes. “You want your cards read?”
Not even for a lark on his best day. Nathaniel shook his head. “I’d just like to talk to her. See what sort of insight she might give us in regards to this one-eyed fellow of yours.”
Miss Th
rossell’s suspicion fell away and a wide smile settled on her lips. “You’ll help me find him? And then help me convince Papa to see reason?”
Nathaniel made it a point not to lie when it could be avoided, and it could be avoided now. “One thing at a time, Miss Throssell. I’d want to speak to this Madam Derbardi before I make any sort of promises one way or the other.”
She nodded quickly. “That seems fair.”
So she could be reasonable. That was a plus. “You’ll take me to her then?”
She bit her bottom lip, drawing Nathaniel’s gaze to her pretty mouth. “As long as you promise not to tell Papa. If he found out I’d been to White Chapel on my own, he’ll be most unhappy.”
White Chapel? Nathaniel couldn’t help but frown. Miss Throssell was more adventurous than he’d have given her credit for. “As long as you promise not to tell him I took you there. He’d have my head and rightly so.”
“It’ll be our secret.” Her light eyes twinkled most radiantly. “I am sorry you have both of your eyes, my lord.”
A laugh escaped Nathaniel. Who would have ever imagined that would be a compliment?
How odd to be hailing a hack. Mina hadn’t had another choice but to do so the first time she went into White Chapel. She certainly couldn’t have gone in her father’s coach, not unless she’d wanted Browne to tell Papa every last detail about where’d she gone and what she’d done. That shouldn’t be the case with Lord Healeyfield’s coachman though, should it? She didn’t think so. And yet there they were at the corner of South Street and Park Lane, hailing a hack just the same.
Papa hadn’t balked in the least when Lord Healeyfield told him he’d like to take Mina for a ride. Instead, her father had beamed, smacked the viscount on the back and invited the man for dinner later that evening. She’d never seen Papa so agreeable before. If anyone could talk her father out of this betrothal nonsense, Lord Healeyfield would most definitely be the one.
