Coven wondered if his uncle had ever walked in his own grounds in his life. Probably not.
Maryam’s smile faded. She pushed her shoulders back and her voice sounded wooden.
“I prefer to go with my cousin, my lord.” She said coldly. “I want no one else’s company.”
Coven wondered how his uncle had not noticed the ice in her voice because he laughed rudely.
“Nonsense! It’ll be nice to have some time with you.”
“Perfect.” Lord Lindsey said briskly before Maryam could protest. “Maryam doesn’t mind.”
Maryam glared at her uncle.
“I think your hearing is failing, Uncle. I said I don’t want to go with him.”
Lord Lindsey’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t insult me, Maryam.” He growled.
Coven could see another argument erupting. Elizabeth looked like she was about to lose her temper so he jumped in to the conversation.
“I’ll tag along too, if you don’t mind.” He smirked at his uncle. “Maryam needs decent company.”
“Less of your cheek, Coven.” Lord Warwick scowled back. “I am your elder.”
“But I’m a grown man so you can’t bend me over your knee, Lord. And Maryam has already said she doesn’t want your company.” He winked at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth giggled. Even Maryam had to put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. But Lord Lindsey was not looking happy. Coven ignored the looks coming his way from the two men and sipped his tea.
***
Maryam wished she had feigned illness again and gone back to her room. Lord Warwick was the worst company she had experienced, and that was saying something. He walked on ahead of her talking loudly and not seeming to notice that Maryam was not paying attention. He took her silence as agreement.
Elizabeth and Coven had tried to keep close but Lord Warwick forced them to back away to a distance that felt too far away for Maryam. She kept looking back at them, wishing they could rescue her. But every time they came close Warwick would swipe his cane at them and tell them to leave.
Maryam had hoped her first courtship would be sweet and something to remember. Now it was to be one of the worst memories she could imagine.
She stopped near a rosebush and saw the flowers were in full bloom. Taking one close, she drew it to her nose and sniffed. It smelled beautiful, much better than Lord Warwick’s scent. Maryam had been wondering when was the last time he had bathed because he smelt awful.
A hand touched her shoulder, a little too close to her neck. The smell told her exactly who was behind her. Maryam flinched and shrugged off his hand.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Why not?” Lord Warwick sneered. “Do you not like being touched?”
His fingers brushed her arm and Maryam slapped his hand away, moving away from the bush. Warwick had almost blocked her between him and the bush. Maryam would not be cowed like that.
“Not by you.” She shot back.
Warwick chuckled and shook his head.
“I didn’t believe him. Lord Lindsey said you were stubborn like your mother.”
“Did he now?”
“He also said you were often sick. I had hoped that would have cancelled out the stubbornness.”
“Being sick occasionally doesn’t mean the person doesn’t get to be stubborn.” Coven said.
Maryam saw her cousin and Warwick’s nephew approach them. They must have heard the comment. Elizabeth nodded and walked around Lord Warwick with as much distance as she could give without falling into the flower bed.
“It’s the stubbornness that stops them from letting the sickness dominate.”
Lord Warwick growled.
“Would you two just leave? I’m trying to talk with my betrothed.”
Maryam wanted to scream.
“I am not your betrothed and I never will be.”
“Your uncle made an agreement with me, Maryam.” Lord Warwick looked very pleased with that. “No getting out of it now.”
“There was certainly no consent from me.”
“Not needed.”
Lord Warwick approached her with a swagger. Elizabeth almost stepped in front of Maryam but Maryam pushed her to the side. She wasn’t going to cower from this man. Lord Warwick laughed and brushed his fingers across her jaw.
“You must get used to my company, darling.” He drawled. “Because you will be in it a lot.”
Chapter 7
Pleading Her Case
M aryam felt sick. Nausea was building in her stomach. She pushed his hand away.
“I’m not your darling.” She snapped. She turned away. “Get me out of here.”
Lord Warwick’s eyes narrowed. He reached for her as Maryam moved away but then Coven was there, putting an arm around his uncle’s broad shoulders.
“Say, Uncle George, I’ve been meaning to tell you something about my estate that I could use your help with…”
He turned Lord Warwick away and Elizabeth hurried Maryam to the end of the garden. They stopped when they reached the wall that lined the rose garden and Maryam leant on it, wheezing. She shouldn’t be running. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her.
“Shall we get far away?”
“Please.” Maryam gulped in some much-needed air. “Any longer in his company and I’ll be beside myself.”
Elizabeth blinked at her. Then she laughed.
“This might be the first time I’ll ever see you lose your temper.”
***
The two hours he spent discussing issues with his uncle were a waste of time. The issues discussed would have been easily sorted out with an outsider but his uncle thought he had all the answers. Lord Warwick’s holdings were enormous but not because of his knowledge. Rather, he was fortunate to have talented people working for him. If left to his own devices, he would be bankrupt.
But Coven would do it again if it meant getting Maryam away.
After his uncle had pushed him away and walked off in a huff saying something about finding his future bride, Coven took that opportunity to go indoors. If Elizabeth and Maryam had any sense, they would hide in the library. It was the one room in the house Lord Warwick refused to visit.
Coven was simmering with anger at the disregard Lord Lindsey was showing towards his niece. He had thought the man adored his niece from the way he spoke about her. Now he was questioning it. The marquess wasn’t acting like he cared about Maryam at all.
In the three days between Maryam arriving and her venturing out of her room, Coven had had to endure Lord Lindsey’s interactions with Warwick. Judith had been there often and ended up screaming at her brother when he refused to talk to her. This resulted in Judith leaving the room in tears and her brother not seeming to care.
Coven did not understand how someone could sit there and not care about their distraught family. And he had had enough of it. He would not play Maryam’s chaperone forever; not if he could help it.
After searching most of the downstairs rooms, Coven found Lord Lindsey in the front room which featured a huge set of French windows which opened out onto the front terrace. They were open now and Lord Lindsey was sitting in the sunshine, a book in his hands. Coven bowed and coughed his arrival.
“May I speak to you, Lord?”
Lord Lindsey looked at Coven. His tired eyes belied his outer calm. Clearly, he didn’t want to be interrupted, but Coven wasn’t about to leave. He sighed and lowered his book.
“What is on your mind, Coven?”
“It’s about Uncle George.”
“Oh.” Now Lord Lindsey looked disappointed. “For a moment, I thought you and Elizabeth had stopped being so ridiculous about resisting marriage.”
Coven moved onto the terrace, keeping the sun at his back.
“We’ve told you many times that Liz and I are not interested in marrying, no matter what everyone else says or what you want.”
“It’s a good match and you know it.”
“Would you marry your siste
r?”
“No, of course not.”
“That’s how it would feel if I married Liz.” Coven didn’t want to discuss that topic any further and moved ahead. “I want to discuss Uncle George’s…arrangement.”
“What’s wrong with it? He’s an earl with money. Maryam’s young and beautiful.” Lord Lindsey shrugged. “She’ll be able to bear him fine sons.”
Coven felt sick.
“Did you even consider her feelings when you went into this? Or did Uncle George just point, and you jumped for him? You’re the marquess of this county! He should jump for you.”
Lord Lindsey’s jaw tightened. Coven wondered for a brief moment if he was too disrespectful in speaking his mind. Lord Lindsey stood and walked onto the terrace, raising his face to the sun.
“Warwick and I go back years. Only recently he expressed a desire for a wife. I knew of a few possibilities,” He opened his eyes and sighed. “But none of them were interested in him.”
“I’m not surprised.” Coven snorted. He stared at the back of Lord Lindsey’s head. “But why Maryam? She’s only eighteen.”
“Which means she’s perfect for what Warwick wants.”
“You’ve whored out your own niece!”
Coven hadn’t intended to raise his voice, but he was too frustrated with Lord Lindsey’s lack of concern over his niece to care. Lord Lindsey turned and frowned at him, raising an eyebrow.
“You seem overly concerned, Lord Coventry. Why are you so angry about this?” His eyes narrowed. “Is something going on with you and Maryam?”
“Nothing.”
“There must be more.”
Coven rolled his eyes. He could argue this point seven ways till Sunday and they wouldn’t get anywhere. He sighed.
“I’m pleading her case because I know Uncle George. Do you want to see your niece destroyed by that man? She’s already angry at you over this. Don’t make her hate you forever.”
“Too late.”
Coven started and spun towards her voice. Maryam was standing behind them, just out of the sun. She had been so quiet Coven hadn’t realized she was there. Lord Lindsey looked pained at realizing his niece had overheard that conversation. Maryam’s lip trembled, a tear escaping down her face.
“It’s too late, Coven.” She whispered.
Then she turned and ran, slamming the door behind her.
“Maryam!”
Coven ran after her, not caring that Lord Lindsey was watching.
***
Maryam had gone looking for her uncle, demanding answers. She wasn’t happy with what she’d heard.
How could he be this way? Did he pretend to love her to use her as a pawn? Maryam didn’t know what to think.
She had escaped onto the back terrace by the time she heard someone shouting her name.
“Maryam!”
Coven appeared, hurrying towards her. Maryam didn’t want him to see her. She was crying and probably looked like a fool. Coven had heard everything.
Maryam sagged onto the wall, shivering.
“I can’t believe Uncle Michael would do that. He’s a big, mean…”
“I know how you feel.”
Coven stood watching her. He didn’t come closer. Maryam wanted him to hold her, tell her it would be all right. She remembered with fondness the last time they embraced. That was private though; not outside in the open. Maryam may have wanted comfort, but she wasn’t about to ruin a man’s reputation by flinging her arms around him. The servants, nice as they were, loved to gossip.
She sniffed and found her handkerchief, wiping her nose and eyes.
“He used to listen all the time when I was younger. We would talk for hours. It didn’t matter what the subject was, he would just talk. He never called me foolish or disrespected me on any of those topics. And now he’s treating me like I’m nothing to him.”
Coven said nothing. Maryam forced a smile. He didn’t know what to say. Maryam huffed and thumped her knees with her fists.
“I wish there was someone else I could marry. But I’ve barely met anyone. I’ve been suffering like an invalid for most of my life so no one wants someone like that as a wife.”
“Wives should be healthy. I’m certainly not rich, with the allowance my mother and I receive, and I don’t know any widowers with children who might be interested. I wish there was someone else.”
She was in a quandary.
“There’s always me.”
Maryam thought she was hearing things. She blinked up at him.
“What did you say?”
“There’s always me.” Coven approached her and knelt at her side. “You could always marry me.”
Chapter 8
Refusal
M aryam assumed he was joking but his expression said otherwise. She was tempted. He was a good man and had shown a protective side towards her that Maryam known. She was very fond of him; Maryam’s feelings towards him were scrambled.
Marrying a handsome man who could make her swoon was a dream she thought she would never experience. But Maryam couldn’t bring herself to say yes. She shook her head and stood, moving away from him.
“No. I couldn’t do that to you.”
Coven snorted and stood.
“You were prepared to marry anyone who wasn’t my uncle just now. Why not me?”
“Because I know why you’re saying it and that alone makes me guilty.” Maryam turned to him. “And I don’t want you to be saddled with me because you helped me out of this.”
She had honestly thought she was doing the right thing. Coven would end up resenting her and she cared too much to let that happen.
Coven’s expression tightened. He looked upset. Maryam realized that she had hurt him and tried to go to him.
“Coven, I…”
“If you don’t want to marry me, then don’t ask for help and throw it back in my face.”
Coven went back to the house. Maryam stared after him. She was hurt. While she thought her reasoning was valid, his reaction had both startled and upset her.
What had she thrown back in his face?
Her head was hurting. Maryam slumped onto the wall and lowered her head, covering her face with her hands. Then she burst into tears.
***
The next two weeks passed by slowly. Maryam did her best to keep away from Lord Warwick but he was persistent. He followed her everywhere and pressed on the fact they would marry so she had better get used to his company. Elizabeth and Judith did their best to deflect him but it was like fighting a losing battle.
Lord Lindsey wasn’t listening, either. Every time the women approached him to plead not to do this, he dismissed them. In those fourteen days he grew colder and turned away. Elizabeth was confused about her father’s changing attitudes. Judith was just as surprised. Her brother had been a loving, albeit stubborn, person. But this behaviour seemed completely different.
Maryam wondered if Lord Warwick had a hold over him. That would be the only reason and would explain Lord Lindsey’s behavior. Perhaps he was in debt and Lord Warwick had control of the outcome. That sounded more logical.
Maryam knew she wanted to leave. She tried to keep her emotions together, but it wasn’t easy. Every night she would cry herself to sleep. Then the next morning she would act as though nothing had happened.
Then her mother came in unexpectedly one night. Maryam was already in bed, huddled under the sheets and sobbing into the pillows. She heard her mother gasp and hurry over to the bed. The mattress dipped as Judith sat and Maryam felt hands tugging at her shoulders, making her sit up. Maryam resisted before she realized who was with her. Then she threw her arms around her mother.
“Oh, darling.” Judith hugged her tightly. “Don’t cry.”
“This is hopeless, Mama.” Maryam drew back and swiped at her eyes. Her eyes were burning. “Uncle Michael isn’t listening to reason. He’s determined that I marry the Earl of Warwick.”
Her mother had been crying as well. Maryam couldn’t begi
n to think how hard it was for her mother to see her daughter forced into marriage and she wasn’t able to do anything. She cupped Maryam’s cheek in her hand.
“I’m so sorry.” She whispered. “I wish there was something I could do but your uncle has made it impossible. He’s already threatened to cut our allowance off if I go against him one more time.”
That allowance was what Judith and Maryam lived on while they were in Bath. Even though it was their money from Maryam’s father, Lord Lindsey was the one in control of it. If they didn’t have the money coming in, they would be forced out into the streets. They would be homeless.
All because they were saying no.
But Maryam realized she didn’t care. The love of money was a curse. Some would do anything to get it. She was being married off for money and they were being blackmailed with money. As far as she was concerned, money was the problem.
Maryam strengthened her resolve.
“I want to get out of here, Mama.” She kept her voice steady. “Now.”
“Already ahead of you. My things are packed. We need to do yours.” Judith didn’t even blink. “I’ve spoken to one coachman, and he’s agreed to take us tonight.”
That man would lose his job once Lord Lindsey found out. But Maryam was grateful for the help.
“Will Uncle Michael let us go?”
“Not without a fight. And I intend to fight this. We should’ve left the moment we found out, but that’s our fault for being stubborn thinking we could change his mind.” Judith took Maryam’s hand. “He can cut our allowance off if he wants but I will not have my daughter miserable.”
Maryam didn’t know what to say. Her mother was willing to forgo money to keep her daughter happy? She hugged her mother.
“I love you, Mama.”
***
“I still can’t believe she declined.”
Coven grunted. He didn’t look away from the window, glaring out at the two gardeners working in the rose garden.
“Neither can I.”
Elizabeth sat beside him on the window seat, watching him closely. She shook her head.
“Maryam is totally mixed up if she’s saying no to you.”
Coven wondered that as well. He had hoped there might be something between them. But to have Maryam turn him down had hit him in the chest. It had knocked him sideways and Coven hadn’t known how to react.
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