The girl looked as if all her hopes had just been thoroughly ground into the mud. Olympia fought down the urge to hug young Agatha, pat her on the back, and tell her that all would be well. Such assurances were not hers to give, especially since she had no idea exactly what was troubling Brant’s sister.
And just why did she constantly think of the man as Brant, Olympia wondered. She doubted she had spent more than a few hours in the man’s company over the past few years. He should be referred to as my lord, or Fieldgate, or even Lord Fieldgate to her, not just Brant as if they were lifelong friends or close kin. It was odd that she could also see him so clearly in her mind. Even odder, she grew a little warm at the mere thought of his dark, gray eyes and fine physique. That truly puzzled her for, although she did enjoy looking at handsome gentlemen, she had never experienced one tiny flicker of warmth when doing so.
“Too late for what?” she asked, and silently cursed herself for her inability to ignore the girl’s distress and send her right home.
“To stop my marriage.”
“Marriage? You do not look as if you are old enough to even step out into society yet.”
“I am newly turned sixteen, but Mama has decided that it is time I wed. At this very moment, she is in negotiations with a man who very much wishes to marry me.” Agatha took a deep, unsteady breath in an obvious, yet not fully successful, attempt to calm herself. “She is negotiating with Lord Sir Horace Minden, the Baron of Minden Grange.”
Olympia nearly dropped the cup of tea she had been raising to her lips. She had little to do with society, finding it all tedious and often cruel and mingling with it only if she needed to find out something, but even she recognized that name. The man was notorious and not simply because he was an aging libertine. There were too many titled gentlemen who could be counted amongst the ranks of the dissolute, the Earl of Fieldgate included. What made Minden stand head and shoulders above all the other rogues and lecherous dogs in the aristocracy was that the man was rumored to indulge in sins even the most hardened rake stepped away from. It was also rumored that his other three wives had not died from illness or accident as had been claimed, but nothing could be proven. No one had ever met his children from what little she had heard though it was recorded that he had eight living offspring.
“Are you quite certain of that?” she asked the girl.
“I heard them talking,” replied Agatha. “Mama wants a lot of money for me. The baron has not yet stepped away from the table for, as I heard Mama say, he is very eager to have a young, virginal wife.” Agatha blinked furiously in a vain attempt to keep back her tears. “I know it is my place to marry as my family wishes me to but I had thought I would have at least one season in which to meet a few worthy gentlemen. I did not even worry overmuch that the man chosen for me might be older than me. That is a common enough situation. But, I cannot bear the thought of being married to Minden. Even I have heard whispers of what sort of man he is, what he does in the stews, and the tales turn my stomach.”
“As they should,” Olympia murmured and sipped at her tea, idly wondering who was cruel enough or coarse enough to tell a young innocent such tales. “What did you think Ashton could do to help? He is not of your family.”
“He would be able to find Brant and tell him of my concerns. I have tried to reach my brother as he is the head of the household but he has proven to be impossible to reach. None of the letters I have sent him have been answered. I cannot even be certain they were actually taken to him although I did my best to try to keep my letters to him from being intercepted. ’Tis just so difficult to know who I can trust at home. The servants are all terrified of Mama.”
“Is there no one else in your family whom you can turn to?”
“My two elder sisters are wed and I do not believe they would heed my pleas for help. They are much older than I and have been married for quite a while now. Papa arranged their marriages and I believe both men were chosen more for what Papa could gain from them than any thought of what might suit Mary or Alice, or what might make them happy. I recall a fierce argument between Papa and Brant for the whole business was settled and done whilst Brant was away from home. My brother was not even sent an invite to the weddings. I think Papa knew Brant would not like it.