Page 44 of The Mad Marchams

Mabel took a deep breath. “Then can I pay it?”

He slowly looked up at her. “You really expect me to answer that?”

“Why not?”

“Because not only is it inappropriate, but you weren’t willing to be honest with me, and that kills me.”

“You’d rather not get your loan than take anything from me?” Mabel asked.

“Yes, dammit!”

She swallowed hard. “Then maybe I should leave.”

“What?” He blinked at her. “Come again?”

“Or maybe you just don’t want my input on anything to do with your life and your house.”

“Hang on a minute, Mabel, you’re moving the goalposts. This has absolutely nothing to do with us⁠—”

“But it does! I can’t help you if you keep shutting me out.”

“And I can’t take money from⁠—”

“A stranger?” Mabel finished his sentence for him. “See? That’s it in a nutshell.” She stood up, shoved in her chair, and marched past him toward the door. “Fine, I won’t pay your stupid loan. Happy now?”

She kept moving until she was out in the fresh air and heading toward the dower house where her steps finally slowed, and she burst into tears. For some reason his refusal to accept her help cut deep. She might as well leave. He obviously hated her and there was no going back from that.

“Mabel…”

A large freshly ironed white handkerchief appeared in front of her. She grabbed it, dabbed at her cheeks and defiantly blew her nose. “Thank you,” she muttered.

She set off again, and after entering the house, she stomped up the stairs.

Packing. That’s what she needed to be doing. And then she should book a flight home. Pretending she hadn’t noticed that Colin had followed her upstairs, she opened one of the massive wardrobes and found her backpack.

“I don’t want you to go,” Colin said quietly.

Mabel didn’t reply as she pulled out the top drawer of the tallboy where she’d placed her underwear and T-shirts.

“Mabel…”

She tried to ignore him, but it was hard.

“I’m… not used to trusting anyone,” he said.

Mabel dumped her things on the bed and returned to empty out the second drawer as Colin continued speaking.

“My brother Eric borrowed a lot of money, and he never ever paid us back. One of the reasons our family finances are so precarious now is that Eric persuaded Father to dabble in the stock market and he lost a lot of his capital. I don’t want to be the kind of man who borrows money and reneges on his promises.”

Mabel tried hard to find her common sense. “So, you don’t want to be an Eric. I get that. But I’m offering you the money as a gift with no strings attached.”

“And I can’t accept that either. Where would that leave us if I screwed up completely and ended up losing the estate and your money?”

“It’s not money I’d miss. I wouldn’t be offering it if it was.” Mabel tried to be frank. “I just want to give you the chance to try. I’m sorry I went about it the wrong way.” She bit her lip. “I guess I’ve become so used to writing checks for other people that I assumed you’d be okay with it, which wasn’t fair.”

He stared at her. “People expect you to write them checks?”

She shrugged. “Some people. But that’s on me, not you.”