Chapter 6

"Ithink we should take a deep breath; we can have a cup of tea and discuss things calmly." Marie massaged her temple with her finger and sighed heavily as the mother and daughter sitting across from her continued to bicker.

"That's a wonderful idea; why don't you go ahead and tell Miss Webster why it is that none of the very eligible and thoughtful matches for you have not worked out?" Lady Arrindell bit at her daughter with raised eyebrows. The steam had practically been spilling from the woman's ears as soon as she had entered the shop, but her condition had only proven to worsen as time went on.

The shy girl with her big green eyes and bright red hair looked at Marie with a pleading gaze. Her skin was just as white as milk with a fine spray of light freckles across her button nose.

"Lady Arrindell, I'm sure things have been very difficult for you as I am sure they have also been for Arabella. If there is anything that either of you needs to tell me, I think that now would be a good time. It doesn't help if I go on and make more matches when there is information that I am unaware of." She clasped her hands in front of her on the desk and tried to keep her voice as calm and soothing as she possibly could for the sake of the young girl who seemed to want to run away.

Lady Arrindell's matching green eyes glared at her daughter without looking at Marie. The bright red hair that had been piled on top of her head gave her quite a formidable appearance. "Go ahead, Arabella, tell Miss Webster what you told me this morning. Why can't we set you up with an eligible duke or even the earl that seemed to fancy you so much?"

Tears formed in the young girl"s eyes as she looked up at Marie, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly as she sucked in a ragged breath. "Have you ever been in love, Miss Webster?" The serious look in her eyes tugged at Marie's heart as she felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach.

Why is she asking me that?

Her breathing deepened as the moment drew on. She had never been in love; when would she find the time to have a husband when all she did was work to take care of her grandmother? Dominic's muscular frame came to mind, and her heart stopped beating for the faintest of moments.

"Such nonsense!" Lady Arrindell finally snapped and broke the silence.

So much tension had filled the air when Arabella had asked the question that Marie almost forgot why they were there.

"Are you in love with someone already?" Marie asked gently, allowing a warm smile to grace her lips as she held the young girl's gaze.

Lady Arrindell rolled her eyes and opened her mouth but pursed her lips instead when Marie gave her a pleading look. There was something in the young girl's eyes that she wanted to know, a deep sadness that seemed to be driving her despite her mother's rage.

"I… I'm in love with Anthony Dougherty," she finally confessed tearfully.

Anthony Dougherty?

The name didn't sound familiar to Marie at all as she sat back and removed a list of names from her desk drawer. All of the eligible bachelors of the ton were on her list whether they wanted to be or not. Anthony Dougherty was not amongst the peerage that she could see.

"If you are wondering why it is that you can't find his name or haven't even heard of him, it's because he's a nobody! A good-for-nothing boy that works at the butcher's down in Brighton! He doesn't even have a noble profession like a doctor or a lawyer. She wants to marry a simple butcher boy! After all the years of careful upbringing, dresses, and dance lessons, she wants to throw her life away for a nobody who lives in a shack beside the sea!" Lady Arrindell's cheeks and neck filled with color as she raged over her daughter's situation.

Marie felt her heart breaking for the beautiful girl with tears in her eyes. She certainly seemed to be smitten with this young man, whomever he was.

"Are you just going to sit there and say nothing after all the hours of work you have put in? I thought that you of all people would be outraged by this, Miss Webster!" Lady Arrindell rounded on Marie when the silence seemed to drag out.

Marie sighed heavily as the steady ache in her head grew worse. There were many things that she needed to deal with, and a petulant mama wasn't high on her list. "Lady Arrindell, my job is to find a suitable match for your daughter. There isn't much I can do if she feels that she has already found the right match. May I suggest that you return home and discuss this matter with your family, in private?" She placed her hands on her desk and stood, signaling the end of their meeting.

"Well, I can see that I won't be getting any help from you." Lady Arrindell stood with her nose in the air. "Come, Arabella, we are leaving." She turned and left the shop without so much as another word directed at Marie.

Arabella bit her lower lip and looked at Marie before standing. "Do you think I am doing the right thing?"

"I think you should follow your heart." Marie shook her head and heaved a sigh that traveled through her whole body. Why did everything always need to be so complicated when it came to falling in love and marriage?

A faint smile spread over the girl's thin lips as her sigh matched Marie's. "Thank you, Miss Webster." It almost seemed as if she wanted to say more but she turned toward the door and left instead.

It's all too complicated.

Marie tried to clear her head as she made her way to the door, shutting it firmly before reaching for the key. There was so much she needed to do and even less time to do it.

The door burst open just as she was about to turn the key in the lock, making her take a step back.

"I thought you might be trying to slip away again." James narrowed his eyes at her, and he came into the room, pressing the door shut behind his back as he smirked at her.

"James… did we have an appointment?" Her heart began to beat furiously with fear as he turned the key in the lock behind his back.

His smile only broadened as he pushed himself off the door. "We do, every week when I come to collect the rent, yet you have somehow managed to give me the slip every time. I'm beginning to think that you are avoiding me, Marie."

"I am not avoiding you; I simply have a lot to do in a day. I trust that Janey has given you the correct sum of money each time?" She came to her senses and straightened, walking toward her desk in the hopes of putting as much distance between them as possible.

"Oh, your little pet has given me the correct sum all right, but if I wanted to deal with her, I would have had her sign the contract. It's you that I want to see; do not toy with me." The coolness in his voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"I am a businesswoman if I may remind you. Janey is here to assist me with all I need. It is not improper for me to ask her to run my errands." She stood her ground firmly, gripping the edge of her desk tightly.

Where is she now?

Her eyes darted around the room as she searched for any sign of her maid's return. She had gone to run a few errands at the market and should have been back by now. At least if she returned, then Marie wouldn't have to be alone with James.

"I do not care for any of that. I have come here to get an answer to my proposal. The matter is far from over, and do not think that your Duke will be here to interrupt our conversation again." He narrowed his eyes at her as he came toward the desk and took a seat, placing one leg over the other.

Marie swallowed hard and ran her tongue over her lips; she needed to be careful how she worded things if she wanted to keep him at bay and still keep her shop at a reasonable price. "I want to thank you for your generous offer of marriage, but I have to be honest with you that I never envisioned myself getting married. I am in the business of making matches for others, not myself."

The smirk quickly faded from his face as James stood. "How dare you turn me down after all I have done for you?" His fingers tightened into fists at his side as he advanced on the table.

"It's nothing personal; I simply do not wish to get married." Marie stood and took a deep breath as she positioned herself behind her chair, increasing the distance between them further.

"You will regret this for the rest of your life if you refuse me." His brown eyes darkened to an almost black hue that resembled endless pits. "Consider your rent doubled as of the end of this week, and don't think I'll leave it there. I may not own the house that you live in, but there are ways…"

Her heart almost stopped beating as fear slipped into her mind and took hold. He couldn't possibly be implying what she thought he was.

James's lips curled into a nasty smile as she felt the blood draining from her face. "Oh yes, I am that powerful when it comes to this part of London. There is nothing that I cannot achieve when I want it. Now, are you going to accept my proposal, or do I have to get really nasty?"

"I… I can't marry you. Please don't do this. I can find you a suitable match, even a lady of the ton. I can't possibly pay double the rent, even if I let my maid go and do all the work on my own…" Panic had hit her in a very big way. She felt her breath catching in her chest as if she had been slapped.

"I don't want to marry a woman of the ton; I want to marry you!" he snarled. "Blast you and your silly little maid; you can let her go and leave this shop behind when you are my wife!"

The sound of a falling cup drew their attention to the back of the shop, and both James and Marie stopped talking.

James sniffed and straightened his spine. He fixed his cuffs, holding his head high as he spoke in a calmer voice. "I can see we have company. I will be back soon for your final answer, but I do implore you, Miss Webster, to think very carefully about what your next move will be. A lot is riding on this decision for you."

She quickly bit back her words when it sounded as if someone had opened the back door to the shop.

"Until then. I will come for your answer. There is no need to come to me." He sniffed importantly one final time before glaring at her and making his way to the back of the shop.

The door slammed shut, causing the bell to scream in protest as it danced uncontrollably on its hook.

What am I going to do?

Her world felt as if it were crumbling as she lifted her hand to her throat. Her body moved mechanically toward the back of the shop, opening the door to their small kitchen without any true thought.

She had expected to see Janey in there, but the tiny room was empty. One of the cups used to serve the guests lay shattered on the floor with the back door to the alley wide open. Kneeling with a frown, she began to pick up the pieces, wondering if Janey had left in a rush to get help.

The mewing sounds of a cat made her look up. There, in the doorway, was the stray black cat that she fed whenever she could.

"Was it you that broke the cup?" She attempted a faint smile as she stood and discarded the broken cup into the bucket beside the door.

The black cat meowed an answer and came forward, wrapping himself around her legs. He had long been a favorite of hers, yet her grandmother was allergic to cats. Marie had opted to keep him at her shop and feed him from the back door as a compromise instead of taking him home.

"I wish my life was as simple as yours; you seem so free even if you don't have a home." She leaned over and picked him up, allowing the cat to nuzzle her cheek. "I should be careful what I wish for, you know; we may just be out on the street along with you soon enough."

There were many things she was willing to do to save her business, but marrying James McFunnugh was not one of them. There had to be a way she could save her shop and her home.