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Sian glared at him. “God, I hate you.”
Cedrick had changed. The somewhat affable fop who had turned up on the doorstep in the middle of the night had vanished. In his place was someone who spoke with a callous contempt and a surety that was arrogant, aloof, domineering, and cruel. The spite in his eyes when he turned to throw her a dour look warned Sian that he would see any wife as a possession he could treat as callously and cruelly as he chose, and nobody would be able to question him over it.
“I don’t care what you threaten me with. I will never stand at any altar and say the words you need me to. You couldn’t force them out of me.”
?
?You will if you want your family to stay in that house,” Wilhelmina growled. “You see, Cedrick here has money and he is prepared to loan some to your father to pay off his debts. It will ensure you can stay in your house. If you don’t do this, Sian, your family will be destitute; driven to bankruptcy by your failure to do your duty to your family. You are not going to marry for your welfare. You are doing it for theirs.”
“And what are you going to gain from it, Wilhelmina? Don’t try to tell me that you have our family’s best interests at heart because your presence in that house has driven everyone apart.” Sian stopped to contemplate that. “But that is what you wanted all along, wasn’t it? You wanted us to leave so you could tell father your lies without anybody interfering. You would then tell father that I had married him. Everyone would then return home. Father would be too pleased to have his wife and two of his daughters back at home to care about your schemes. Once we are married there would be nothing anybody could do if your lies were ever revealed. Well, I am not going to do it. You see, I am already betrothed.”
“You, madam, are a liar,” Wilhelmina bit out.
“Really? Well, I suggest you ask my mother then. You have just made the worst mistake of your life because you have just kidnapped a Lord’s fiancé and intend to force her into marriage to someone else.” Sian sat back in her seat with an air of satisfaction when she saw Wilhelmina’s worried frown. “You are going to have to explain to the magistrate why you have seen fit to commit several crimes. I can assure you that you both will end up behind bars because I am going to make it clear to everyone that you have kidnapped me, and forced me against my will.”
The carriage suddenly jolted to a stop. Sian looked out of the window but knew they hadn’t gone far enough to even leave town. Her stomach dropped to her toes when she saw a small, dirty sign clinging desperately to an old wrought iron fence that circled an aged building. Sitting atop the tallest part of the front façade was a small cross.
“You are insane if you think I am marrying,” Sian protested.
“Get out. Now. Or I swear you are going to leave your family destitute. I promise you now that I will destroy you and your family,” Wilhelmina snarled.
“Why? All my father has done is give you an allowance, pay your bills, given you everything you have so petulantly demanded from him. What do you have to gain by this? What could you possibly have to gain from my marriage to him of all people?” Sian glared contemptuously at the oaf who had already jumped down and was making his way into the church, most probably to summon the vicar.
“That has nothing to do with you.”
Sian folded her arms defiantly and stared at her aunt. “It has something to do with me seeing as you have seen fit to kidnap me and now intend to try to force me into a marriage I don’t agree to, you don’t have my father’s permission for, and neither of you have the legal right to arrange. Whatever little scheme you have cooked up that you think you can benefit I can assure you that you won’t succeed in gaining anything except a very long spell behind bars.”
“You can shut your filthy mouth,” Wilhelmina snarled. “You are going to get out of this carriage, go into that church, and you will marry Cedrick. Do you hear me?”
“No. Kill me because I won’t do it.” Sian defiantly leaned back in her seat.
When Wilhelmina made a grab for her, Sian slapped at her hands. Wilhelmina lunged toward her. Sian doubled up a fist and slammed it as hard as she could into the centre of her aunt’s face. Something cracked, but Sian wasn’t sure what. She didn’t stop to find out either. Wilhelmina cried out and clutched at her face, and in doing so slammed back in her seat. Sian spied the open carriage doorway and jumped straight out of it.
As soon as her feet hit the floor, she ran for her life only to realise that she had absolutely no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar. They were on the outskirts of the town somewhere, but none of the streets were any she could ever remember having travelled before. She didn’t know which way to run but ran anyway. Down one street into another and across another cross-roads, onward and outward she ran until the streets began to thin out. Eventually, Sian couldn’t run anymore. Gasping for air, she found a tall hedge and, once she could be sure she hadn’t been followed, she slumped to the ground. Her feet hurt. Her legs ached. Her wrists were sore from where Cedrick had held them so tightly, but all she could feel was relief. Relief to be free. Relief to be alone. Relief at the knowledge that she might have a future with Ryan after all.
Ryan watched time tick by for another ten minutes and knew that something was wrong.
“She isn’t usually late. If Sian agrees to meet someone then she makes sure she is on time.” Martha wrung her hands in an outward display of just how upset she was.
Mabel’s fear was evident in her eyes which restlessly scoured every inch of the main street repeatedly.
“Hello.” Isambard hustled and jostled his way through the crowd on the pavement, his eyes locked on Martha. When he reached them, his smile of relief swiftly faded to a frown of concern. “What is it?”
Martha burst into tears. Isambard, ignorant of the people who might see them, gathered Martha into a hug. “What’s happened?”
Ryan briefly explained.
Isambard frowned. “Well, her father hasn’t been in today, so I doubt he will have taken her home.”
“Sian would not just take a lift home and not tell us,” Mabel insisted.
“Maybe she has just forgotten the time?” Isambard suggested helpfully. While he murmured endearments at his future wife, Ryan and Mabel shared a worried look.
“Which way was she heading when you last saw her?” Ryan asked Mabel.
“Over to the grocery on Riggor Street.”
Ryan nodded. “Stay here.”
