Page 67 of No Ordinary Lady

“Does Marian wish to go? To have a season and a husband?”

“I can’t see why she wouldn’t,” Granny said. “The girl is a beauty and smart and with your mother’s help, there is nothing to stop her securing a match with anyone she favors. Now that you’ve seen sense about our neighbor’s daughter, you shouldn’t waste time either. Or have you changed your mind about marriage entirely?”

“I did not say I wouldn’t marry,” he assured her. “The time was simply not right, but next time I promise I will do it for the right reasons.”

“Good. You deserve to be happy, dear boy.”

He was almost happy right now, or would be if Marian showed her face. But the idea of Marian in London without him did not sit easily.

He turned to Granny again. “You really made Marian your companion only because she seemed familiar to you?”

“Well, I’ve always enjoyed making new friends, as well. So do you, for that matter. In Portishead, I was always the first to know the juiciest gossip and anyone of importance who happened to visit there. But most of my old friends are gone now and hardly anyone unfamiliar comes here. That was until Marian snuck inside and brought so much laughter and joy with her.”

Daniel sighed and covered Granny’s hand with his. “Are you really so lonely for your old life in Portishead that you want to leave us?”

“Sometimes I am, but not since Marian came. I feel like we’ve been given a second chance as much as she has. I want to do some good, see her settled in life, and I must confess that watching her expression of wonder at each new experience has reminded me that I’ve become jaded by the wealth that constantly surrounds us.”

Daniel might never have noticed that his mantle clock could probably feed a family for a year, had Granny not constantly whispered of his privilege and obligations to do good so often as a young man. “So, you want her to stay for your benefit?”

“Of course, I do, but I’d shelter any young woman from harm.” Granny whispered, “You do know she’s in some sort of trouble, don’t you?”

“I do, and that was probably my fault,” he admitted. “If she’d never met me, she’d never have left her old life.”

“If she’d not followed you, she might have been caught up with those thieves Wilson mentioned.”

A near miss, and one she might have endured before. Marian might have been with the old man and boy begging on the roads, too, if not for him.

“It wasn’t much of a life to leave behind if my suspicions are correct. Besides, if she’d never met you, you’d already be engaged to Miss Wilson and bound for misery. I have to love Marian more for following her heart—and I mean you—for that reason alone.”

Daniel smiled, but he’d already known Marian had won his granny over, and probably from the moment they’d met. “Well, we’ll never really know that for sure, will we?”

“It was plain for all to see that you’d made the wrong choice for a wife,” Granny murmured. “Will you tell your mother about your change of heart tonight?”

“No. I’m sure she’ll figure it out soon enough,” he suggested, and then glanced toward the door. “What really kept Marian from dinner?”

“I don’t know,” Granny confessed darkly, looking utterly displeased. “I lied about that.”

Daniel sat up straighter. “Why would you do that? Where is Marian?”

“I don’t exactly know,” Granny said slowly, glancing his way.

Daniel was on his feet in an instant. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Well, I haven’t seen her for several hours now and no one can find her. Not since she went upstairs to peek at what remains of your mother’s wedding trousseau with Miss Kimble this afternoon. They came back down, but Marian was not with them. Your mother looked rather unconcerned about her absence, and I didn’t think much of it until we sat down to dinner without her. With the Wilsons here, I pretended nothing was amiss, but I am truly vexed with her for missing dinner. I was hoping for another story to enliven my evening.”

Granny rambled on, but Daniel could hardly listen. Something had happened after he’d been kissed by Marian. She had no cause to avoid him besides embarrassment, unless… “She can’t leave!”

“Why would you think she has?”

“Marian was always leaving, Granny,” he said with a growl. “She has no right to make us all love her while waiting for us to look the other way. Now she’s probably had ample time to fill her pockets to speed her journey.”

“That is an unkind accusation, Daniel,” Granny chided severely.

“She was in my chambers this afternoon for a reason,” he countered. “Oh, why did I let her kiss distract me?”

“Never mind the money,” Granny chortled. “What was that you said about kissing?”

“No time for that now,” Daniel cried as he rushed from the room, bounded up the stairs, and went directly to his bedchamber. When he’d found Marian in his room earlier, had he interrupted her first attempt at stealing from him?