Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

exaggerate, girl! Anyway, I doubt he will murder you, not unless you annoy him terribly.” He snickered. “As I said, you have no say in the matter. It has all been decided. I have decided.”
    Evangeline stood before him, fists clenched, cheeks flaming. “No say? I’ll die before I will live with such a man.”
    Her uncle got up from his chair beside the fire with a look of studied boredom. “I suppose that is an option, but if you must die then at least wait until after the wedding so that I will get my inheritance.”
    Outraged as she was, Evangeline was also hurt. “Is that all you’ve Sanguinarian 9
    ever cared about, your inheritance?”
    His mouth stretched into an unpleasant smile. “Little as it is, yes. I raised you with the provision that when you reached the age of eighteen you would marry a man of whom I approve. You will receive a dowry of £5,000 while I receive £5,000 for keeping you.
    May I point out that you turned eighteen several months ago? My obligation to you is over.” He rose and went to the bookshelf, searching the dusty rows with one stubby finger for a particular volume.
    Evangeline followed him. “Keeping me cost you nothing more than the price of my meals. You provided no governess for me, no education save what I could contrive for myself. You did not give me a proper coming-out. I have had no opportunity to meet a husband of my own choice.” She punctuated the last sentence by poking him sharply in the shoulder with her forefinger, which she would not have dared to do only an hour before.
    He rounded on her so quickly that she took several steps backward. “And whom do you think you would get with a dowry of only £5,000 and no yearly income beyond that? Not a lord, my girl, I’ll tell you that much. You may consider yourself very fortunate to have a man like Ravenscroft offer for you. The Ravenscrofts are immensely rich. The name is hundreds of years old.” He moved in closer, forcing Evangeline back. “You are an orphan. What can you possibly hope to get that is better than I have found for you?”
    Evangeline dug in her heels. “If I have so little to offer, then why does Lord Ravenscroft wish to become entangled with me? What could I offer a rich man?”
    With a disparaging snort, her uncle replied, “What does Ravenscroft want with you? That is simple, my dear Evangeline.
    Ravenscroft no more wants you than you want him. He does not wish to marry at all. He especially does not wish to marry an annoying child with no money and no family name.”
    She followed her uncle back across the study to his chair and 10
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    found herself, as she so often had during her childhood, standing before him as if being scolded. “Then why did he offer?”
    Silas Sidley looked down at the leather-bound book he held and began to leaf through the yellowed pages. “He must marry before he turns thirty in order to inherit his substantial fortune. It’s that simple.
    Put some coals on the fire, Evangeline. It’s very damp out today.”
    Out of habit, she obeyed, picking up the tongs and resentfully throwing a few coals into the already blazing hearth. She herself had only one scuttle a week for her bedchamber and was not allowed another shovelful, should she use it all before Saturday. “Another inheritance at stake? But why does he want to marry me?”
    “He does not want you in particular. He wants to marry a young lady of obscure name and with no immediate relatives in order not to draw attention to himself. He has no wish to absorb a young wife’s family and all that goes with it into his life. Ravenscroft is a recluse.
    He has no intention of throwing balls and dinners just to entertain a wife. Aside from that, with the Ravenscroft name and reputation, no decent young woman would have him and no family would offer their daughter to him.”
    “But you would offer me?” Outraged, she threw the tongs down onto the hearth.
    “Yes, I’m afraid I would. I can no longer put off my plans to travel. I wish to go to the Far East and I need the money in your father’s will in order to do so. You will wed Ravenscroft and I will get on with my own life at long last. Ring the bell. I want some tea and I want to be left alone with my book.”
    Evangeline grasped the cord beside the hearth, yanking it so hard that the tassel came off in her hand. She looked at it impatiently for a moment then threw it into the fire. “How did Lord Ravenscroft know about me? I have never