‘Clearly she does if you give a dowry to her sister and not her!’
Lord Wenshire’s slammed his hand down on the table, his first show of violence that Cedric had ever seen. ‘She is too young. If you want this boat and its cargo, then impress Grace. Bring Grace into your heart. She will make sure you are worthy of it.’
‘And what of love? What of the feelings between me and Lucy?’
‘They are the feelings of children. I thought you were a man.’
It wasn’t true. Neither he nor Lucy were children playing games, but he could see that Lord Wenshire would not budge on this. And Cedric had no other options.
Damn it, he couldn’t marry a dowerless girl! He needed coin, and the only way to get it was with a wealthy bride. Tender feelings could not come into it. And yet, his chest hurt as if he had been stabbed.
‘I will change your mind,’ he said quietly.
‘No, you will not.’
Cedric was used to wild emotional swings from his father. He’d been screamed at, doted upon and completely ignored by his father. If he wanted to persuade his father of something, he merely needed to wait for a congenial mood.
But Lord Wenshire was of a different sort. He was a man of commerce, and he could not be easily swayed.
‘I am a fortune-hunter,’ he finally said, the words more for himself than for Lord Wenshire. ‘I have no other choice.’
‘I know.’
‘But you are forcing me to go against my heart. Against her heart!’
‘I am forcing you to be a man who thinks things through logically. And I am protecting my daughters. Grace will keep you in line. Lucy will not. She is too young.’
Cedric closed his eyes, all his dreams for the future refusing to realign around Grace. They didn’t work without Lucy.
Except, of course, they did. He needed the ship. He needed the money from the cargo. The wife was simply the means to these things.
‘I told Lucy I would speak with you tonight.’
‘And so you have.’
‘But…’ He swallowed. ‘How do I tell her that…’ He couldn’t say the words aloud. How could he tell a woman that he must put her aside for money? That the man she had chosen—himself—was nothing but a crass fortune-hunter? He couldn’t speak that aloud to her because he couldn’t bear to see the light die in her eyes.
‘Don’t say a thing,’ Lord Wenshire said.
‘What?’
‘Lucy!’ he called. ‘Step around the door. I know you are there.’
Cedric’s head snapped up, his gaze trained on the galley room door. And sure enough, a moment later he saw her step around the wall. She’d been standing just out of sight, no doubt listening to every word.
‘See?’ Lord Wenshire said with a sigh. ‘Eavesdropping is a childish thing. She could have demanded to stay or demanded an accounting afterwards. Instead, she hid around the corner.’ He looked to her and his gaze softened. ‘You are too young to marry, Lucy. I’m sorry.’
And with that, he stood up and headed for the door. She met him a step inside the door, and he pulled her into a hug.
‘You will see,’ he said to his daughter. ‘You will see how little feelings matter in this world.’
‘That’s not true!’ Cedric said as he shot to his feet. ‘You are the one forcing this. You are the one ignoring what we feel.’
‘If they are so important to you, then you can wait.’ He looked down at Lucy. ‘I am not forbidding this marriage if you both want it. But it will have to wait several years.’
Cedric did not have several years to wait. And Lucy did not have a ship or cargo. ‘You are forcing me to become something I do not want.’ To court Grace he would have to go against his nature. He would have to woo her in as calculated a way as any general waging a war. It would be coldhearted and demeaning.
‘Life often forces us to change. It is the mark of a man to adapt.’ Then he squeezed his daughter’s shoulder and directed her out of the galley. ‘Come along, my dear. It’s time for us both to rest. We were awake much too early this morning.’