by Rye Hart
“No!” she replied, insulted by his query.
He gave in to his laughter. “I would not care if it were. But our children might.”
“Children!”
“It’s commonly believed that the purpose of marriage is for the begetting of children,” he stated simply.
“Yes,” she said faintly.
“I shall look forward to the begetting of children with my diminutive, unfashionably coiffed, undemure-nosed Duchess.”
He stood up. “It is at this time that a man who has proposed marriage may expect that his intended will receive his affections with pleasure.”
Laverly bent his head. Her lips were very soft and warm and when he wrapped his arms around her, she followed his example with an embrace that told him that, although she could not give voice to her feelings, her passion was quickened. They were still locked in the same kiss when the door opened to admit Larkin Dart.
“I take it, Bella, that I am to welcome His Lordship into the family as a son-in-law?”
“You are,” Bella said, her voice muffled.
“Might I ask when the marriage is to take place?”
“If the banns are read at Christmas,” Laverly said, “we can be wed in the early new year. I have no wish to wait.”
“But are you sure? You were among your own kind,” Bella said, sounding troubled, the excitement of his kiss banished by the reality of what marriage meant. “Why should you leave?”
“I learned something at the dance. The prattling girls, the invitation to gamble, the meaningless talk about the battle. I found that I am not the one who is blind. You taught me to see, darling Bella, and having viewed the world as it is, I cannot return to a society that lives in a masquerade. I love you. Do you love me?”
Bella flung her arms around him. “I knew I loved you the day I left Laverly Hall for the last time. I have been so wretched without you.”
“You shall return to Laverly Hall as its mistress. And as my beloved Bella.” He returned her embrace with eagerness.
Bella’s father coughed gently. “Your manservant is outside, waiting for you.”
“Will! Yes, of course; I told him to return in half an hour.”
“Were you so sure of me?” Bella demanded.
“Not at all. I intended to abduct you and ride to Gretna Green if you refused me. I merely needed to obtain your father’s willingness to accompany us.”
He kissed her tenderly. She would be his Duchess, the woman who had returned his sight to him. Blindness, he realized, was admittedly a physical condition. But sight was a choice as well, and Bella had offered him the choice to see for the first time, love.
The End
Sisters of the South - Books 1-3
Marianna
Chapter One
"Stunning," Amelia breathed. "Kevin will not be able to take his eyes off of you." She reached forward to touch the delicate lace of her sister's dress. "It's so pretty and so romantic," she sighed.
Georgina snorted. "It's just a dress Amelia."
"Yes, but it represents the start of their eternal love," Amelia protested.
"Look, Georgie," Marianna interjected, "I know how you feel about marriage and how it is —"
"Hogwash?" Georgina finished Marianna's sentence for her. "Look, I get that you want to marry and aspire to be the best wife possible, but I don't know why you had to go and pick Kevin Patrick of all people? He is-," she paused as if trying to find the word that would least offend her sister, "boring."
"So?" Amelia burst out. "He's terribly handsome and very rich. Marianna could have dozens of dresses just as pretty as her wedding dress!"
"Those dresses would be worthless if I had to be saddled to the dullest man on earth," Georgina countered.
Marianna chuckled at her two sisters and their dividing opinions. Marianna, with her grace and calm demeanor, was not one to be offended by them. She knew where her sisters were coming from. Georgie had aspirations that involved a literary career, and Amelia wanted a life of aesthetic leisure in order to pursue her artistic inclinations. They both viewed her marriage through the rose-tinted gaze of their own dreams, which made it difficult for them to see that the reason Marianna was marrying Kevin Patrick wasn't for the domestic life or for the wealth.
"Girls," Marianna broke through their bickering. "Have you thought that I might be marrying Kevin because I love him?" she teased lightly.
Georgina and Amelia looked at their elder sister in shock.
Georgina snorted for the second time that morning. "Love? That is just a fairytale," she said boldly.
"Don't be so cynical Georgie," Amelia chastised her. "I would love him too if I could live in that big house, and ride around in that fancy carriage, and have a horde of servants to attend to my every whim."
"That is beside the point!" Georgina let out an exasperated sigh as her frustrations grew with her youngest sister.
"Just another day in the Wellington household," Marianna teased.
Georgina and Amelia both turned toward each other, their eyes flaring with the heat of the argument. Once they saw how red and purple the other's face was, they lost their edge and burst into fits of giggles.
"Your face is all mottled purple," Amelia pointed out to Georgina in between the uncontrollable heaves of laughter.
"Speak for yourself," Georgina teased. "Your nose is as red as as tomato!"
Marianna chuckled along with her sisters before turning her attention back to her reflection in the full-length mirror. "I think I am ready to go,"
"Excuse me?" A young pageboy peeked cautiously around the corner that separated the back fitting room from the front of the store. "I have a message for a Ms. Wellington," he said shyly.
"Yes?" all three Wellington sisters said in perfect unison.
The boy looked confused as his face darted among all three women. "I, um," he stopped and started again. "It's for Mr. Patrick's, um, fiancé."
"That would be me," Marianne descended from the raised platform like an elegant angel. "Thank you," she said, taking the paper from his outstretched hand.
He lingered a little bit longer before Georgina offered him a tip and shooed him away.
Marianna quickly tore the crisp envelope open and pulled out a short note. The moment she read the first line, she paled.
"Are you alright?" Amelia asked cautiously.
Marianna extended the letter with shaky hands. Her eyes appeared haunted by the words delivered on the cream colored paper.
Georgina grabbed the letter from her sister and scanned the contents of the page quickly. She let out an abrupt gasp, covering her mouth in the process. "No," she breathed, her expression twisting in horror.
"Yes," Marianna said in a strained voice. Her eyes had already begun to well up with tears. "He's dead. Kevin is dead," she said as she collapsed into a pile of white lace.
Chapter Two
"So, what is going to happen now?" Amelia asked curiously.
"Hush Amelia, your sister is still in mourning," their mother chastised the youngest Wellington sister for her insensitivity. "We've only just returned home from the funeral."
"It is ok," Marianna whispered as she placed her black hat and veil on the dining room table. "I don't know," she said in answer to her sister’s question.
Amelia's eyes grew big as she realized what her sister was saying. "Will we have to move then?"
"Amelia!" Their mother spoke harshly.
Marianna knew that her mother was just trying to protect her, but what Amelia was saying was the truth. Although it felt like the hardest part of the day was simply surviving her soulmate's funeral, she knew the road ahead wouldn't be easy. It was an unfortunate reality, but the life she had hoped for had been buried along with him.
Marianna turned toward her mother and two sisters. "I understand that our family had depended on Kevin to keep us financially afloat. And now that he is, is —" she stuttered as she tried to hold back the tears, "gone, we will have to do our best to ma
ke ends meet until I am able to find a job to support us." Marianna looked at their worried faces and her heart ached to remedy the situation. "Where is father?" she asked with some reservation.
"I don't know," Georgina shook her head. "Probably at one of the many houses he likes to gamble our livelihood away at."
Their mother, pale and ill, looked distraught. "I'm so sorry girls," she wailed.
"It's not your fault," Marianna moved to comfort her mother. They had all been through so much. A few years ago their father suffered a large financial loss when one of his investments had fallen through. They had to downsize their house and dismiss all their servants just to try and make ends meet. The blow had damaged his pride and he sought comfort in the many gambling houses in Boston, just outside their smaller community of Valley Springs. He would be gone for days at a time, and when he returned empty handed, it would be up to the girls to try and gather enough funds to cover the minimum of their monthly expenses. Marianna was forced to take a job as a governess for a wealthy family at an innocent age of sixteen. Although the Cavanaughs had welcomed her in and had given her a wage that was just enough to keep their family afloat for the past two years, it meant that the responsibility rested on Marianna to keep her family fed and clothed. However, when she became engaged, Kevin had offered to support her family if she gave up her job. At first she had worried that she wouldn't find another position, as her father's dalliances left a black mark on the Wellington family in good society, but Kevin quickly quelled those fears. She had been lucky that Kevin had cared for her despite her family’s tainted reputation; he had been a Godsend. But now he was gone and Marianna had to find a new way to make sure that her family did not fall apart.
"I worry that I failed you," their mother wept. Her upper lip trembled slightly as tears filled her eyes.
"Don't say that." Marianna brought her mother in for a hug, cradling her head in a comforting gesture.
Amelia and Georgina joined them in the emotional embrace.
They were interrupted by the sound of a knock at the front door.
Marianna disentangled herself from her family. "Take mother upstairs. I'll handle the guests as they probably just want to extend their condolences." She moved toward the front door, while her sisters ushered their distressed mother to her room to rest. She hesitated a moment before answering; her own weariness from the long day had finally taken its toll. She was exhausted from the pitying looks, the many condolences, and the unspoken white elephant in the room — how would the Wellingtons survive now that Mr. Patrick no longer supported them? Despite everything, Marianna held her head high and kept her resolve strong. She knew things would work out in the end. It had to.
When she opened the door, the friendly faces of Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh, the couple that had employed her as a governess for the past few years, greeted her.
"Ms. Marianna," Mrs. Cavanaugh spoke with a regretful tone. "I am so sorry for everything, we can't imagine what you are going through."
"Thank you for your sentiment. I've had better days." Marianna tried to put a faint smile on her face. She knew that the Cavanaughs had good intentions, but sometimes they lacked the self-awareness to know when they were being a bit too much to handle.
"Deepest sympathies," Mr. Cavanaugh said staunchly through his thick moustache.
Marianna nodded her acknowledgement to the gentleman.
"May we come in?" the ever outspoken Mrs. Cavanaugh pressed. She had the innate ability to always get her way, at least where Marianna was concerned, as she found it hard to say no to such a reckoning force.
"We have a proposition for you that you may find comforting in the wake of the, err, untimely turn of events," she said.
Marianna perked up slightly. She hoped that they had come to offer her old governess job, which would be a Godsend considering the lack of financial prospects her family had at the moment.
"Yes, please," she moved out of the way to allow the couple entrance into the small house.
She guided them toward the sitting room and offered them refreshments. "Tea?" she asked politely.
"Oh, no thank you. Charles won't have any either, as we don't have much time," Mrs. Cavanaugh answered abruptly. Mr. Cavanaugh simply grunted his agreement with his wife's words.
"Ok then," Marianna said hesitantly. She sat down nervously, her mind racing with the anticipation of the Cavanaugh’s proposition.
"Well," Mrs. Cavanaugh began excitedly, "as you know, we can't offer you your old governess job back as my niece has taken over. And as you know, one cannot simply fire family."
Marianna's heart sank.
"But," Mrs. Cavanaugh continued with excited glee, "Charles' brother-in-law requires someone with your skills."
Mr. Cavanaugh grunted, clearly uncomfortable.
"Hush Charles," Mrs. Cavanaugh said harshly. "I will get to that part."
Marianna looked at her former employers with wild confusion. She needed the job, she had no choice but to take the offer, but surely it couldn't be as easy as that. "Is it here in town?" she asked hesitantly.
"Well, no," Mrs. Cavanaugh said with a little less pep to her voice. "Larsen owns a ranch in Texas, and ever since his wife — Charles' sister — passed away a few years ago, he has been having a difficult time running the place and taking care of his two little boys at the same time."
"So he needs a governess then?" Marianna asked. "How long would the contract be? I should warn you, I've never governed boys before; I grew up in a house full of sisters." Her heart raced as she considered what taking this job meant. "I'm not sure I can leave my family," she trailed off.
"He will pay handsomely, enough to pay off your father's debts and set your mother and sisters up nicely," Mrs. Cavanaugh interjected.
Marianna sucked in her breath. This would be the answer to everything, but only if she was willing to make the sacrifice and move away. Yet, it still sounded too good to be true. "How long?" she asked again.
Mrs. Cavanaugh hesitated and sent a worried glance toward her husband. "The thing is, he needs someone who can raise his sons and run his household on a more permanent bases."
Marianna shot her a confused look. "Permanent?"
"What he needs is an educated, intelligent, hard-working wife," Mrs. Cavanaugh concluded.
Marianna felt like she had been punched in the stomach. "A wife?" she stuttered.
"You wouldn't have to marry him right away," Mrs. Cavanaugh said in a rush. "You could go for a trial period, say a month, see how you like the ranch and the family. At any time during that period, if you feel like this isn't right for you, you can leave and Larsen will compensate you for your time. You will be treated with the utmost respect and will be given the space to make your decision." She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes roaming Marianna's expectantly.
Marianna took a long pause, her words failing her at the moment. She had too many emotions racing through her mind to make a rational — or even coherent — decision. "I want to thank you for your offer but," she paused as she weighed what her next move would be, "I will need to think about it." Her heart didn't want to take the offer and leave her family, especially while she was still grieving the loss of her fiancé. She wasn’t ready to turn down the only option for her family’s security either.
"Certainly dear," Mrs. Cavanaugh extended. "We must be on our way, but think about the offer and get back to us on your decision soon," she smiled warmly before she turned away.
Marianna showed the Cavanaughs out the door, a fake smile plastered on her face. The moment the door clicked shut behind them, she burst into tears. As she clutched the handle of the front door, she sobbed heavily. The tears streaming down her face were not only for Kevin and the dreams that had been buried with him that day, but for her family, their situation, and for the difficult decision ahead of her. If she turned down the offer to marry this Larsen fellow, she would doom her family to destitution. If she accepted, it would mean resigning herself to a loveless marriage and
a world without her family nearby to support her. It was either her family’s happiness, or hers.
Marianna already knew what her answer would be.
Chapter Three
"You can't go!" Amelia cried as she clutched her older sister tightly.
The train whistled in the background, signaling that their goodbyes needed to come to an end.
"Forget the whole thing! We need you here. We will figure out something; I'll sell some of my stories and we can live off of the money until a better alternative comes along," Georgina offered. Her face was stiff, but her eyes glistened with the tears she was trying in vain to hold back.
"You know that this is our best option," Marianna lamented softly.
"What if he is an ogre of a person and downright horrid?" Amelia asked through her sniffles.
"Then I won't marry him," she tweaked her younger sister's cheek affectionately. She held her head high, refusing to let her sisters see the fear she felt. She knew that the Cavanaughs would not send her if they thought that it would be a bad situation, but she still was afraid of what was waiting for her on the other side of her journey.
"You promise to come back if it is truly awful, right?" Georgina asked with a quivering voice. "Do not remain in a bad situation just for us, please," she pleaded.
Marianna turned to her sister. "I won't, I promise," she said with a conviction she wasn't sure she felt. She knew that it would be difficult for her to want to stay without her sisters, but she also knew that it would be harder to return and know that she was condemning them to a life of destitution.
Georgina moved in to join Amelia in embracing their older sister. Their father was absent as usual, while their mother was too ill to make the journey to the train station to bid her eldest daughter goodbye. The three girls clung to each other, while the conductor yelled the final boarding call.
Reluctantly, Marianna disentangled herself from her sisters' grasps. "I have to go," she said. She didn't want to leave, but she knew that the time had come.
