Her father looked up with shock but quickly recovered. “Fine lady, good sir, how may I help—”
“This is Mr. Christopher Jupp, Papa,” she interrupted. “If he asks you for my hand in marriage, I should like you to accept.”
Both men stared at her. Neither had expected her to be so blunt. But after only a few days of living in society, she was tired of verbal games. She wanted the truth spoken clearly for all to understand. At least among the three of them.
Her father recovered first. He straightened, put on a broad smile, and began speaking to Mr. Jupp as he would any customer. Except, this time, he was selling his daughter.
Amber listened for a few minutes but couldn’t stand it for long. Blocking out her father’s pitch, she shrugged off her wrap and went into the back workroom. There, she began to sculpt another firebird.
And she purposely lost herself in the work.
She came back to the present hours later when the firebird was complete. This one was a bracelet with flames to wrap around a lady’s wrist and wings that swept up her forearm. It was very good, but not great, and she prepared to destroy it as she did all her firebirds.
“Don’t,” her father said as he caught her hand. “Let me make this one as a wedding gift to you.”
It took her a moment to separate from her art to his words. But when she did, her eyes widened in shock. “A wedding gift? He will propose?”
Her father beamed at her. “He has asked permission to pay his addresses to you, and we discussed a wedding in a month’s time.”
“A month!” So soon?
“It will be a quiet one in the country. Your grandpapa and I will be able to come, but no one else. Your association with us will have to be kept a secret.”
“I do not want to keep you a secret!” she snapped. It was a hot statement, but inside, she knew the wisdom of it. Mr. Jupp was not so high up in society that he could marry a tradeswoman without damage. And she would not marry him if her children would be shunned by his family and friends. That would defeat the purpose of marrying into a title.
“It is for the best,” her father said. “And he saw the wisdom in allowing you to sculpt for us.” Her father grinned. “I believe he was surprised by our prices.”
Amber sighed. “You exaggerated them.”
“No, I did not.” He came forward and wrapped her in his arms while pride rang in his words. “My daughter will be a fine lady. My grandson will have a title.”
His grandson would become a baron one day, and that was something they could both celebrate. The child would have land and status. He would never have to run from his homeland like a beggar or a thief. This was her father’s dream come true, if not exactly hers, and she should be thrilled.
Instead, she pressed a kiss to her father’s cheek and headed to the door. She needed to get back to Diana’s home before… She frowned. What were the plans for tonight? It didn’t matter. There would be more from now on. If she married Mr. Jupp, she would attend balls, the theater, and even musical evenings for the rest of her life.
And even better, Mr. Jupp wore colors. She would never have to look at unrelieved black again except on the priest in church. Odd how the thought made her more depressed than when she’d been locked in the cage upstairs with no end in sight.