Walter’s expression darkened. He did not like this newfound boldness within Mary. He had no idea what had made it surface, and it angered him greatly. He was the one in charge here; William had left him in control. He certainly did not expect all of this to cause him such a headache.
“Your father wanted you to get married to His Grace before your nineteenth birthday. Now while that might seem like it gives you plenty of time, it does not. Planning a wedding takes time, as does courtship. If this is something that you wish to pursue, then I suggest you start now.”
Mary’s face fell. She could feel hurt rolling through her body in waves. “So, it does have to be the Duke? He did not give me any other option?”
Walter pursed his lips tightly together. The constant stream of questions was only winding him up further. He did not even care to go into the finer details of William’s will, purely because he felt that he did not need to. “Mary, I believe that I have given you all the information that you need. What I require from you now is an answer. Maybe we have not heard from the Duke because he is waiting for you to contact him again. I could send out another request for a chaperoned meeting with him if you require?”
Mary gulped. Saying yes to this did not guarantee marriage. If anything, it would give her a clearer idea of what the Duke wanted, but if she said no – however much she wanted to say no – it would close the door on this completely, and she would have to leave and lose her home. Yes, she could go and stay with Charlotte, but that would only be temporary. That could not last forever. Her husband would not allow it.
“I suppose it would only be fair,” she answered in a raspy tone. “Yes.”
When Mary called this meeting, she felt like she would be in control of it. She had decided to tell Walter that the wedding was off the cards, and she had hoped that would be the end of it.
How na?ve.
Now, as Walter grasped all of the control back from her, Mary found herself agreeing to see the very man she vowed never to see again for yet another horrible meeting. It would be awkward once more; she would have to listen to him bragging some more about his business. That was not what Mary wanted to hear.
“Yes, well I shall send him a letter today.” Walter looked smug as he glanced back down at his paperwork. “I shall arrange a second meeting where I think we need to discuss more serious things. I need to figure out what you both would like to do moving forward.”
Mary chewed anxiously on her bottom lip; she twiddled her fingers together in her lap. She knew that Walter returning to his work was an indication that she needed to leave, but she simply did not feel ready for that just yet. This meeting had gone in completely the wrong direction, and she wanted to rectify that.
“Is there something else, Miss Roberts?” The exasperation rolled off of Walter’s tongue in waves. “Have we not come to a conclusion for our meeting now?”
“I am just worried.” The words leapt out of her before she could really think them through. “I am concerned that I am about to lose everything, and there is nothing that I can do about it.”
She had to admit, this situation had brought out a stronger side to her. Mary had spent so much of her life being a quiet wallflower who did not dare speak out of turn. Mary assumed that it would always be that way, but now she knew she had to say how she felt or there would never be another chance..
She had become braver but would have traded that bravery for a continued easy life in a heartbeat.
Walter leaned back in his chair and stared intently at Mary. He could not quite believe how much of his time this was taking up. If he could grab hold of William now and shake him, he would. It was just a shame that he was in his grave enjoying an eternal slumber, escaping all of this drama.
“I cannot change your father’s wishes, Mary. I hope that you can understand that. It is not my job to change them, just to see them through. I do not know what it is that you wish me to do exactly?” He cocked his eyebrow, knowing that he had Mary in a corner. When she did not answer, he continued, “All I believe I can do is send a letter off to see what comes from it.”
“Yes.” Mary nodded, wondering how she had been shut down again. “Of course, thank you very much.”
She pushed her chair back and stood up, defeat slumping her shoulders forward. Walter did not say anything; he focused his eyes towards the desk. In his mind, he was desperately praying for Mary to leave before she could ask any more questions. He was thoroughly sick of talking to her. Much to his relief, he heard her footsteps making their way towards the door, but before he could fully succumb to that happiness, Mary did ask one final question.
“Did my father truly believe that I would be happy with the Duke? Is that why he did not give me any alternative? He does not seem to have given me any choices when it comes to whom I marry, and he has forced me to give up my home if I do not agree. Does that mean ...?” She paused thoughtfully and let her whole body slump in a way that was not usually considered polite. “Do you think that means he did not love me? Maybe he never cared about me at all.”
Walter’s eyes closed; this was starting to become his own personal hell. “Mary, I do not know what your father was thinking when he gave me these instructions. I cannot speak on his behalf ...”
“No, I understand,” she jumped in quickly, not wanting to go around in circles with Walter. “I am terribly sorry; I must be thinking aloud.” She glanced up at him through her eyelashes to see him giving her a very curious look. “Sorry, I shall leave now. Thank you for your time.”
Mary closed the door behind her with a click and walked rapidly down the hallways of her home towards her bedroom. Her heart thumped so loudly it was almost as if it was bouncing off the stone walls of her house rather than just her ribcage.
I am not quite sure what happened then, she thought desperately. But I do not believe that went well.
Mary stopped in her tracks as she stalked into her bedroom; she had been searching for some time alone, but there was a maid in her room straightening out the light blue sheet that covered her bed. Horror struck her. She did not know what to say; the shyness that normally crippled her voice box came back with a vengeance. She wanted to turn on her heels and find somewhere else to get some alone time, but it was too late for that. The maid had already heard her.
“Oh, I am sorry,” she said. “I shall be out of your way in a moment if that is what you want.”