The Property of a Gentleman. Helen Dickson
Читать онлайн книгу.
regard. He always admired a man who knew his own mind.’
She didn’t tell her how deeply concerned her father had been by Leslie Stephenson’s cruel rejection of her almost three years ago, or that it troubled him greatly to see that she showed no interest in marrying anyone since that time. But he loved her dearly and wanted to know she would be well taken care of after his death, and to his mind there was only one man worthy of his beautiful, spirited daughter, a man with a spirit to equal her own, and that man was Marcus Fitzalan.
He knew he had it within his power to bring the two of them together—that Atwood Mine would be used as the bait—and the idea of Eve being in the protective care of Mr Fitzalan when he was gone gave him a great deal of comfort.
‘I know this isn’t easy for you and you have every right to be angry, Eve. But what do you feel about Mr Fitzalan?’ asked her grandmother directly. ‘Will you marry him?’
‘Oh, Grandmother—how can I? I hardly know him.’
‘That will not be difficult to remedy. I would, of course, be happy to accommodate you in Cumbria, Eve, but for your own good I would advise you to accede to your father’s wishes and stay here and marry.’
Eve turned slowly and looked at her grandmother, sensing by the tone of her voice and the manner in which she spoke that she didn’t want her to go and live with her in Cumbria, which she considered strange, for she had never objected to her visits in the past—in fact, she had always encouraged them.
With her thin fingers coiled around the knob of her cane, her grandmother sat so straight and stiff she might have been armour plated. She was a woman of great dignity and had been beautiful in her time, and despite her grand age of sixty years the signs remained. But there was no emotion of any kind in her expression, no softness or gentle understanding, as she would have seen on her mother’s face before her death.
Sensing what she was thinking, her grandmother looked at her severely. ‘And you needn’t look so put out, Eve. You know how much I look forward to your visits—but that’s all they were. Cumbria’s no place for a young girl with her whole life before her, and if you were to go and live with your Aunt Shona in London you know you would not endure it for long. After the first few weeks the excitement of city life would have worn off and you would be pining to be back in the West Riding. It always happens.’
Eve sighed. What her grandmother said was true. She always looked forward to visiting London and her Aunt Shona, but the excitement of the parties and balls her aunt and cousins were so fond of attending soon wore off and she could never wait to return home.
‘But I don’t want to marry Mr Fitzalan, Grandmother. He is practically a stranger to me—which I am sure you find surprising, considering the close friendship that existed between him and my father. From what I have heard of him I do not like him. Besides, he is so old.’
‘Rubbish. Thirty is not old. My dear Eve,’ her grandmother remonstrated with undue sharpness, ‘you have to marry some time, so why not marry Mr Fitzalan? He may not have been blessed with noble blood, as you have fortunately been yourself, but there was nothing unsophisticated about him that I could see.
‘Despite his humble origins, the fact remains that through his father’s marriage to Mr Henry Woodrow’s daughter, a gentleman and wealthy businessman over at Netherley, his present credentials are admirable. He is a man of power and influence, of considerable property and business—and owner of a fine house too, I have been told, built by his grandfather. It is reputed to be very grand indeed. I am sure life would be pleasant for you living there.’
‘I dare say it would be—if I agree to marry him. Although it would appear that I am left with little choice, Grandmother,’ she said, wondering what her grandmother would say if she knew of the close familiarity Eve and Mr Fitzalan had displayed towards each other three years ago at Atwood Fair.
She spoke harshly, more than was usual when she addressed her grandmother, causing the redoubtable lady to cast an imperious eye over her, but she did not reprimand her as she would have done at any other time, for she put Eve’s irritability down to the trauma of the day.
‘However, no one seems to have considered the idea that Mr Fitzalan might not want to marry me,’ Eve said with an inappropriate lack of seriousness. ‘He might surprise everyone and decide that the mine is not so very important to him after all—although, should that be the case, I doubt another will hurry to take his place. The reduced size of my inheritance is hardly large enough to tempt any other man in asking for me.’
‘Nonsense. Two thousand pounds a year is a veritable fortune to some young men. And you forget that when I die, Eve, you will be comfortably well off—although not as well off as I should have liked to leave you, as I am the head of a large family and have other dependents scattered throughout the length and breadth of England. But that will not be for some considerable time because I fully intend living a good many years yet.
‘But I would still advise you to seriously consider marrying Mr Fitzalan. Despite what you have just said, by all accounts he would dispose of everything he owns to bring Atwood Mine back into his family—so he will not take much persuading to marry you. I am sure if you put your mind to it and do not repeat the performance of this afternoon—when you forgot your manners and accused the poor man so shockingly of contriving to obtain the mine by devious means from your father—you will get on well enough.’
‘I said nothing to Mr Fitzalan that he did not deserve.’
‘Whatever your opinions might be, they are unjust and ill-founded, Eve. You really should know better than to listen to tittle-tattle. Your outburst was unpardonable and at any other time you could have been sure of my severest reproof.’
‘But I don’t love him—and I doubt I could ever love such a man as he has been painted,’ and as I know him to be, she thought with secret shame.
Her grandmother stared at her askance. ‘Love? What has love to do with anything? You are talking nonsense. If it’s love you want then I dare say it will come with marriage. Young people of today enjoy a greater independence than was the case in my day, when marriages were arranged for the benefit of families. In situations such as ours it is expected to bring advantage, wealth and status to the prospective partners and their families. If this nation is to remain strong then it is important that distinguished families like our own continue to uphold that tradition.’
‘But this is not your day, Grandmother,’ cried Eve, unable to keep the bitterness and frustration from her voice, causing her grandmother to draw herself up and look at her severely.
‘Maybe not—and I can see that things have not changed for the better. In cases such as this, take my advice and leave your emotions behind. Marriage is too crucial a matter to be determined on such frivolous considerations as romantic love. Call it old-fashioned if you must, but I am of the belief that children should defer to their parents regarding marriage. However, with marriage to Mr Fitzalan in mind, it’s a pity your father did not think of introducing the two of you sooner.’
‘But I had no wish to meet him.’
As if sensing her wretchedness, her grandmother’s expression softened a little. ‘Despite the fact that your parents allowed you to do very much as you pleased for most of the time, running about the countryside like a young hoyden, you’re a good girl, Eve—and I am pleased to see you have become a sensible young lady at last, with far more about you than Shona’s and Mary’s girls,’ she said, referring to her two remaining daughters, which caused Eve to look at her in surprise, for this was praise indeed coming from her grandmother.
‘Listen, Eve,’ she went on, leaning slightly forward in her chair and fixing her granddaughter with a hard stare. ‘I know you think I am being hard—cruel, even, in asking you to think seriously about marriage to Mr Fitzalan—but like your father I want to see you well secured. If you stubbornly refuse, then apart from the annuity your father has left you—and your mother’s jewellery and other possessions, which are already in your possession but not worth a fortune—you will lose everything to Gerald—and there’s a wastrel if ever