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“She was lying about being good friends with Cedrick’s mother then, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, which means she isn’t averse to lying about other things,” Norman added.
“I don’t care what else she is lying about. For now, what concerns me is what the Hell we are going to do about getting rid of Cedrick? I don’t know where to go to start to find out who his connections are.”
“He isn’t connected to anybody of society, and we are not going to go into the back streets looking for people who might know him. From what I have seen already, we are likely to end up losing the shirts off our backs,” Norman huffed. “We have to take it that the man hasn’t got any connections unless he can prove otherwise. He has no fortune unless he can prove otherwise, and he has no home to take a bride to unless he can prove otherwise. Ergo, why in the Hell would Arthur agree to allow any of his daughters to marry him?”
Ryan shook his head. “I just get the feeling that we are onto something, but we haven’t quite found out the true reason behind what is going on. It is hovering in front of us, but just out of reach and hidden in a place where we cannot see it.”
“Or maybe it is obscured by too many lies,” Norman offered. “What do you want to do now?”
“I think we have to go back to the house and tell Mabel and Sian what we have discovered. We can then find out what they intend to do about going to visit this distant relation of theirs. I will feel easier if they are out of the area, I don’t mind telling you. Then, you and I need to sit down and find a way of getting Arthur to see the truth behind Wilhelmina’s lies.”
“Don’t you think a visit to the house will do that?” Norman asked.
“Maybe. It should if there is nothing else Arthur has kept secret.”
“If he refuses to believe that Cedrick is unworthy, then we know for a fact that he is being blackmailed in some way.” Norman scrunched up his face and looked askance at Ryan, only to huff out a breath when Ryan nodded.
“Are you sure you want to marry into this family?” Norman asked after several miles of silence.
“I am not marrying the family. I am marrying Sian.”
“You have made your mind up then.” It wasn’t a question.
“There is no other choice,” Ryan murmured. “It has to be Sian, or I don’t get married at all. It is as simple as that.”
“Well, she has to be impressed that you are prepared to help her family out like this, surely to God. If Sian doesn’t recognise you as a credible suitor after this, she doesn’t deserve you. She has to get rid of them all and rise to your level. You cannot lower yourself to hers, Ryan.”
Ryan looked sharply at him. “I am not lowering myself to her level at all. Sian is delicate, gentle, well bred, well mannered, and will adapt perfectly well to being lady of the manor.”
Norman winced and threw him an apologetic. “But her family are a mess, she doesn’t have any wealth because her father is almost bankrupt, and her relations are lying cheats. She isn’t titled and has no training to even know where to start to become Lady of the house.” Norman kept his voice low for fear of incurring his friend’s wrath but felt it his moral duty to point out the facts to Ryan.
“I know, but there is one thing I simply cannot overlook, and it over-rides everything else.”
“What?” Norman prompted when Ryan didn’t immediately tell him.
“I love her.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The following week, Sian ambled through the wildflower meadow. A gentle smile curved her lips as she watched Martha and Lucinda run happily through the long grass, stopping occasionally to pick the flora and fauna littering the small glade.
“It’s beautiful here,” she breathed, tipping her head back a little to allow the gentle haze of sunshine to bathe her face, which had hitherto been hidden beneath her bonnet.
Ryan smiled down at her and knew the exact moment he fell just that little bit more in love with her. Sian looked positively beautiful today. Now that the huge egg-sized lump had reduced and taken the bruising with it, the delicate oval of her face had taken on a rosy hue that highlighted her magnificent eyes, which twinkled mischievously at him whenever she smiled, as she was doing now. The gentle yellow tone of her cotton dress was as delicate as the tiny posy of buttercups she held, and matched the straw bonnet covering most of her cascading curls.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
Ryan smiled. “I thought being cooped up in the house for a week is more than anybody could stand. It is good to get out for a while.”
“It is good of you to take the time for us like this. I am sure running an estate the size of this must keep you busy.”
In fact, Sian knew from the constant ringing of the servant’s bells within the house, and the hustle and bustle of the house staff, that Ryan was an exceptionally busy man. He was the kind of estate owner who liked to get involved personally rather than leave a man of business to do his work for him. Consequently, she suspected he was enjoying being able to take a few hours out of his busy day as well.
“I have forgotten the last time I had a picnic,” he breathed.
“Do you not take the time to go for a walk around the estate? It’s beautiful.” Sian looked at the huge lake in the centre of the lavishly landscaped lawn. Today, it was bathed in a hazy glow of warm sunshine which gave it a magically golden haze that was dreamlike. On the other side of the lake, a small folly stood waiting to offer sanctuary to anybody who ventured that far away from the house.
