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“Rhine, I think you’re overreacting. Natalie would make a perfect wife.”
“Not for me, nor would I make the perfect husband for her, Lyman.”
“This doesn’t sit well with me, and I insist that for my daughter’s sake you reconsider this decision. I can make things very difficult for you going forward, politically. Remember, my vote was the one to break the tie. Only because of your connection to Natalie have I remained on your side.”
Rhine offered a smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “Is that a threat, Lyman? Are you forgetting who owns this house?”
Lyman went ashen.
Beatrice Greer had no idea how much her town councilman husband loved to gamble, or how lousy he was at that love. Two years ago, in a poker game in the Union’s back room, Lyman had wagered the deed to their home in order to cover a bet his funds could not. Rhine now owned that deed.
Lyman was visibly shaken. “Of course not.”
“It sounded as if you might have.”
“Rhine, please. This will break Natalie’s heart, and once word gets out—”
“She can save face by saying she threw me over. I’ve no problem with being thought the cad. She’s also welcome to keep the ring if she cares to.”
“And the deed?”
“I’ll keep it in play for now, just in case you suffer another case of amnesia.” Rhine had genuinely liked Lyman, but his threat now changed things.
“Will you at least have the decency not to court anyone else in the immediate future?”
“I’ve no plans to. I’ve no desire to cause your daughter any more hurt than is necessary.”
“Then I suppose we are done here.”
“Unless you think I should tell your daughter myself.”
“No,” he said tightly. “I’ll break the news to her.”
“As you wish.” Rhine got to his feet. “It will be impossible for us to avoid each other socially, but I assure you I will be a gentleman should we meet.”
Lyman offered no such pledge in return.
Rhine didn’t mind. “I’ll show myself out.”
On the drive through the darkened streets back to his saloon, he admittedly felt a strong sense of relief. Breaking the engagement had been unpleasant but the right thing to do. Natalie would find another fiancé and he would go on with his life. If he had to remain unmarried for the rest of his life, so be it, but if he did marry, the least he could do was honor his mother’s ultimate sacrifice by finding a woman who didn’t hold her and the Old Queens he was descended from in contempt. In some ways such a pledge made little sense to a man who’d left his race, but to Rhine it made all the sense in the world.
