Chapter 2

Dorset, England, Summer, 1810.

"She was shocked when I told her. "America. How extraordinary" – those were her words. But I told her there was nothing that could be done about it – he's the legitimate heir, and that's that," Aurelia Banks' mother, Lilith, said, shaking her head.

Aurelia's father, the Baron Canford, looked up and cleared his throat.

"I promised Isaac I'd do everything I could for the new earl – whether English, American, or … wherever. He's welcome here. It's going to be a very different life for him. He's a cattle rancher by trade – if that's what you can call it. His father, Robin, went off to the colonies as a boy – a stowaway on a ship. It's all very complicated – I'm glad the solicitor was able to work it out. Cousins, second cousins – Isaac and I weren't directly related, though we share the same surname. Anyway, I was all he had left in England, at least," he said.

Aurelia was listening to the conversation in silence – and not paying a great deal of attention. She knew her uncle's cousin – the Earl of Wimbourne – had died, and that there had been a question as to who would inherit the title. It had passed to an American – that had been some months previously, and the man in question, along with a cousin, was expected to take up residence at Wimbourne Hall in the coming days.

"Has he arrived in England yet?" Aurelia's mother asked.

"Yes, I believe so – the solicitor was going to meet him and bring him down here. It'll all be very strange for him after … well, I don't know, really. He's a rancher – whatever that means," Aurelia's father replied.

Aurelia sighed. She was bored with the conversation, for there was a far more pressing matter at hand – at least in her mind: the matter of her longed for betrothal to Silas Emmons, the son of the Viscount Salisbury.

"Yes, it certainly will be, and one wonders how he'll … fit in. Is the ton ready for such a man in our midst?" Aurelia's mother asked, laughing and shaking her head.

"Well, I intend to help him – that's what I promised Isaac," Aurelia's father replied.

Aurelia had heard enough, and clearing her throat, she took a deep breath, knowing she was about to start an argument.

"Father, have you thought anymore about … Silas?" Aurelia asked.

Her parents glanced at one another, and her mother pursed her lips and drew a sharp intake of breath.

"You know what I think about it, Aurelia," she said, but it was her father who Aurelia was speaking to, and now the baron shook his head and sighed.

"You know what I think about Silas Emmons, Aurelia. I don't trust him. You barely know him. A month isn't long enough to make a decision so momentous," Aurelia's father replied.

"But I know I'm in love with him. I knew from the first moment I set eyes on him at the ball that night. Oh, Father, please … why won't you allow it?" Aurelia exclaimed.

She had thought her parents would be pleased at the possibility of a match – the son of a viscount, with good prospects, Silas was surely the perfect choice for Aurelia. They had met at a recent ball, held to mark the beginning of the summer season. Silas had asked Aurelia to dance, and the two had been inseparable for the rest of the evening.

Aurelia had thought of no one else but him ever since, and they had met on another dozen occasions – taking walks along the river, and picnicking in the grounds of Silas' father's estate at Christchurch. In his letters, Silas had told her he loved her, and Aurelia had said the same.

"Because I don't trust him, Aurelia. There's something about him I don't like. I'm your father, and it's up to me to decide who you marry – and who you don't," the baron said.

Aurelia did not know why her father was being so stubborn. He was usually so … understanding. She turned to her mother, hoping to implore her maternal goodwill.

"Mother, you've seen the two of us together. Can't you see we're right for one another? I'll be terribly unhappy if you forbid it. You've spoken of my marrying ever since the day of my debut. I don't see how you can object – we're in love," Aurelia said as her mother tutted.

"Love? You've known him for a month, Aurelia. It's not long enough to know whether you're in love. You can't be in love with him. It's simply impossible," her mother said, and Aurelia felt tears welling up.

This was the third attempt she had made to persuade her parents about Silas's merits, but to no avail. They were as adamant in their opposition as she was in her determination – like mother, like daughter, like father, like daughter …

"Don't you believe in love at first sight? Why can't we be in love?" Aurelia retorted.

Her mother sighed.

"Aurelia, we want you to be happy – truly, we do. But … an infatuation isn't grounds for marriage. It simply isn't. You might think you're in love with him, but in a year, five years, ten years – will you come to think you've actually made a terrible mistake?" her mother asked.

Aurelia did not understand her logic – any marriage was a risk, and there was always the question of what the future would hold. But she knew of others who had married on such terms and happily, and she would far rather marry with feeling than for the sake of duty.

"And what do you suggest instead? An arrangement? Am I to be told who to marry?" Aurelia demanded, for she had not thought her parents would behave in such a way – arranging a marriage she did not want, which would only make her miserable.

Again, her parents glanced at one another.

"You're not going to marry him, Aurelia," her father said, and her mother nodded.

"And that's our final word on the matter," Aurelia's mother said.

Tears rolled down Aurelia's cheeks – it was all so unfair. She was in love with Silas – she had never felt the same about anyone before, and she knew he was in love with her, too. The things he said to her in his letters, how he looked at her when they were together …

"It's so unfair. I don't understand … am I to wait? Will you agree to it in two months? In six months? A year? When will I be free to choose?" Aurelia demanded.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, Aurelia. I've got more important things to think about," her father said, and Aurelia stared at him in astonishment.

"More important than your daughter's happiness?" she cried, and rising to her feet, she hurried across the drawing room, pulling open the door with the intent of running up to her room and locking herself away.

But as she opened the door, Aurelia let out a cry, finding her younger sister, Letitia, listening at the keyhole.

"Oh …" Letitia exclaimed, straightening up and backing away – clearly knowing she was in the wrong.

Aurelia yelled, glaring at her sister, as now their mother hurried over.

"Now, you two – you know I don't like you arguing. What are you doing, Letitia?" she asked, and Letitia folded her arms and fixed their mother defiantly.

"I wasn't doing anything, Mother. I was waiting outside until she'd finished arguing with you and Father. I was waiting to take tea with you. It's four o'clock now – it's all laid out in the orangery," Letitia said.

"You were listening in," Aurelia retorted.

Letitia was only fifteen years old, but she always wanted to involve herself in other people's business. She had a nasty habit of listening at doors and using those things she had learned as ammunition for future conflicts. Aurelia knew very well what her sister had been doing, and now she looked at her and scowled.

"I wasn't – I hardly needed to. I know what you were talking about. You've talked of nothing else all week. You can't marry Silas. That's what mother and father say. And that's that," Letitia replied.

Aurelia now broke down into sobs, unable to control her emotions – overcome by the injustice of what was happening to her. She had fallen in love, and now she was to be denied the love she knew to be real. Silas was not a passing fancy, and if only her parents would listen to her, perhaps they would come to understand.

"Tea, I think – strong tea and plenty of sugar. Come now, girls. To the orangery," their mother said before either Aurelia or Letitia could say any more.

Aurelia glared at her sister, and Letitia stuck her tongue out at Aurelia behind their mother's back. The baroness led them into the orangery – a new addition to the house, built by the baron to house his collection of tropical plants and citrus trees. The baron was a keen amateur botanist, and the gardens at Canford House were among the finest in the county, and with summer just beginning, they would soon be at their finest. But Aurelia was not interested in her father's plants – not today. She was angry – with her parents, Letitia, and the situation she now found herself in.

"They won't let you marry him," Letitia whispered.

"Why do you have to be so spiteful, Letitia?" Aurelia said for she did not understand why her sister was being so unpleasant.

Letitia had not yet made her debut, and she was certainly not jealous of Aurelia and Silas – how could she be? Letitia scowled at Aurelia as their mother called for the tea to be served, sitting opposite her at the tea table and folding her arms.

"You always think you're so prim and proper, don't you, Aurelia?" she said, and Aurelia shook her head.

"I don't think anything, Letitia. You're putting words into my mouth," Aurelia replied.

She was not trying to be anything other than who she was. She was in love with Silas, and to find herself denied that love was heartbreaking.

"You're always so prim and proper. Why can't you just be yourself?" Letitia replied, and Aurelia sighed.

She had no wish to argue further with her sister. Letitia was not being reasonable. Aurelia was being herself. She could not be anything else. She was not pretending to be in love with Silas. She was in love with Silas, and to have claimed anything else would have been to deny the truth.

"I am being myself," Aurelia hissed, as their mother turned back to them with a smile.

"That's enough, now, girls – really, why can't the two of you just get on with one another?" their mother said.

The tea was served, and Aurelia's mother insisted on it being poured by Aurelia, even as her hands still trembled from the confrontation with her sister. Letitia watched her with a smug expression, raising her eyebrows as Aurelia spilt some of the tea over the side of their mother's teacup.

"She can't even do that properly," Letitia said.

Aurelia was about to utter an angry exclamation when hurried footsteps in the corridor brought Aurelia's brother, Reuben, into the orangery. Aurelia felt relieved – Reuben was always on her side, and he knew she was hurting over Silas. He was a dashing young man, always out seeking an adventure of one sort or another, and had spent the day hunting with the local ride, charging over the moors on horseback with a pack of dogs and a bugle.

"Oh, Reuben, look at you, you're all muddy," their mother exclaimed as Reuben leaned over her shoulder to help himself to one of the dainty cakes on the cake stand.

"I've just passed Wimbourne Hall – he's arrived," Reuben said, and the baroness clapped her hands in delight.

"Oh, did you hear that, girls – he's arrived. Our American cousin – or whatever he is. Have you told your father?" she asked, and Reuben nodded.

"He's in his study – he told me you two have been arguing?" Reuben said, glancing from Aurelia to Letitia and back.

"She started it," Aurelia replied, glaring at Letitia.

"Enough of that. We must go and call on him. Your father will be doing so, of course. But we'll all go. It'll be fun," Aurelia's mother said, rising to her feet.

Aurelia sighed. She had no interest in calling on a distant American relation – even if he was now the Earl of Wimbourne. Isaac Banks had been an eccentric old man, and Aurelia had endured any number of painfully long afternoons in his company as a child – being shown his collections of old coins and stamps. She feared the new earl would either be the same or worse, an uncouth American with neither manners nor good breeding.

"Do we have to, Mother?" Aurelia asked, and her mother sighed.

"Oh, Aurelia. Can't you put the thought of that … man out of your mind? Your father's made his decision, and that's that. You're not going to marry him. Now, let's get ready to meet our American cousin – or whatever he is- and I think he has a cousin, too. Roxanna, that's her name – we're somehow related to her. As your father said, thank goodness for solicitors," she said, and before Aurelia could object, she had marched off out of the orangery, calling for a carriage to be readied.

Letitia followed her, but Aurelia lingered, glancing at her brother, who smiled at her.

"Did they say no?" he asked, and Aurelia nodded.

"For the third time," she replied.

Reuben sighed.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia. And I wish there was something I could do to help. But if their minds are made up, well … there's no choice in the matter, is there?" he said.

Aurelia shook her head. It was an impossible situation. She could not marry without her father's permission, and since her father was not willing to give her his permission, she would not be able to get married. She thought of Silas – waiting for his answer.

"I suppose not. But it's so unfair, Reuben. I'm sure they wouldn't stand in your way, would they?" Aurelia replied.

"I'm not a woman with a dowry. They're just concerned for you, Aurelia. They don't know Silas – and neither do I. Perhaps in time, they'll agree to it. But for now … well, perhaps you need to look elsewhere," Reuben said.

But Aurelia had no intention of looking elsewhere. She did not need to look elsewhere. She knew where her heart lay, and it was with Silas. And as she and the others set off for Wimbourne Hall that afternoon, Aurelia felt certain she would never find the love she felt for Silas again, a thought enough to break her heart …