Dropping her hand from his arm, she turned to face her father, eye-to-eye. “It has been more than a run of bad luck, Papa. You lost my dowry and then you lost my home. You left me with nothing, and you didn’t even have the decency to tell meyourself. Your steward, Mr. Pryce, informed me that I had to leave Manderfield Hall and throw myself on the charity of my relatives.”
“The Duke of Aylsham settled a little money on you.”
Frustration bubbled up her throat. “Because you left me penniless from your gambling. I was not Grandfather’s responsibility. I should have been yours.”
“I was mourning your mother. I couldn’t bear to be at Manderfield Hall when she was not there.”
“My mother was missing, and you abandoned me for London and the gaming tables when I needed you the most.”
Her father held up his gloved hands. “That is no way to speak to your sire and to an earl. Besides, it all worked out for the best. If I had taken you with me to London, you might not have landed Moulton. Rumor around Town is that he’s worth over a half a million pounds at the very least.”
Her heart sank deep inside of her chest. Papa hadn’t changed at all. “You didn’t come for me or for mother. You want money from my husband.”
Papa shook his head. “Stop acting like a martyr, Sarah. When a lower-class businessman marries into an aristocratic family, he is supposed to pay the family for the privilege of joining their esteemed bloodline. I should have received tens of thousands of guineas from your wedding settlements. However, I am prepared to take only five thousand pounds by way of compensation.”
Sarah could not believe what she was hearing. She leaned forward. “Why should Christopher pay you a farthing? You were nothereto negotiate the wedding settlements.Iwas.And I received exactly what I wanted.”
Her father’s face grew red with an angry hauteur. “You would have your father ruined over a mere five thousand pounds?”
This was the man she remembered.
“I would not give you five pence, for it would be lost within a fortnight at the gaming tables. You must stop this madness. You have already squandered your inheritance and mine. Leave the dice and the cards alone.”
Papa touched his chest dramatically. “Unnatural daughter. Do you not care for me at all?”
“Doyoucare for me at all, Father?” Sarah asked coldly. “I’ve often wondered. You’ve certainly never shown me any consideration before.”
He shook his head dismissively. “I knew better than to talk to a woman about money. I shall speak directly to your husband. I am sure he will see the importance of meeting my needs. It would be bad for his business to have a father-in-law in debtors’ prison.”
Turning on his heel, her father walked away from her, as he had so many times before. She waited for the pang of disappointment and disillusionment, but it did not come. Thanks to Christopher, she knew what love was and what it wasn’t. And she would no longer waste any time or energy trying for the affection of a person who was never going to love her back. She allowed herself a moment of sorrow for what might have been—a father who cared for her and a stepmother she might have been able to confide in. But she had waited for seven years, and she was finished waiting for what could never be.
Taking a deep breath, she followed her father to where he had confronted her husband, in front of her mother’s grave. “Please do not give him as much as one guinea, Christopher. Lord Manders didn’t come to see me or pay his respects to my mother. He came to bleed you for money.”
“Now, now, daughter,” Papa said in a falsely cheerful voice. “A woman knows almost nothing about finances. Allow me to speak privately with your husband. I am certain we can come to an arrangement that suits us both.”
“You would be wrong, Lord Manders,” Christopher said, moving to stand by Sarah. “Your daughter knows more about finances than any other person I have ever met, man or woman. She has taken care of Manderfield estate for many years and has a keen mind for how to make it the most profitable. I feel fortunate to have such an accomplished and intelligent wife. I would be a fool if I did not include her in all conversations about our finances.”
Her father’s smile turned into a sneer. “If I do not leave with a bank draft, I will disown you, Sarah, and never speak your name again.”
At one time his words might have hurt her, but her heart was now an empty cavern as far as Papa was concerned. Sarah had waited five and twenty years for her father’s love, and she had finally accepted that it was never coming. Sarah placed her hand on her husband’s arm. She felt his strength and support. “Your choices are your own, Papa. Give my stepmother our best, and we wish you a fine journey back to London.”
“Am I not to be welcome in the estate that was my birthright? In the halls of my ancestors?” her father said dramatically.
Deborah stuck out her chin defiantly. “Manderfield Hall belongs to Sarah and Chris now.”
“And it doesn’t matter if you disown Sarah,” Margaret said, her cheeks turning a pretty pink. “She’s a part of our family now, and we love her.”
Both of her sisters-in-law moved to stand by her and Christopher in a physical sign of support. And Sarah’s empty heart filled to the brim. She was a part of a family, and she felt loved.
Mr. Robinson stepped forward. “Lord Manders, shall I call for your carriage?”
“Insolent young man.” Her father scoffed. “How dare you speak to an earl without being spoken to?”
“Yes, please, Mr. Robinson,” Sarah said. “And thank you for your sermon today. I felt so much comfort from it.”
Christopher pulled away from Sarah and took her father’s arm. “Come, Lord Manders, you have outstayed your welcome.”
Papa tried to shrug off Christopher’s hold, but his arms were only used in dicing and cards, and Christopher dug canals. One awful earl was hardly a challenge. He half-carried, half-dragged her father to his carriage, and Mr. Robinson opened the door. Together they bundled the irate earl inside and told the driver to go.