"I'm what? Engaged to Phoebe Ramsey?" I repeated, looking from her to my father. I didn't like the note of victory in her voice. "I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life! I don't know why George told you such a tale since there is not a word of truth in it. Phoebe Ramsey is the last girl on Earth with whom I would form an attachment."

"Lucas, we will discuss this later," Father said sharply.

I was about to mock the idea further but stopped at his tone. The first stabbings of dread hit me. "But, Father, it is an insane notion."

"Insane? I was given to believe it was an understanding of many years," Rosamund said. Her hand flew to her lips. "Oh, dear. Have I revealed a great secret? I beg your pardon, Papa Bywood. I did not know!"

Her voice was as insincere as it was possible to be. I sent a glance of dislike at her. Our acquaintance was only of a few minutes duration, but already I had had enough of her. How had my brother decided she was the best life partner for him?

Philippa latched onto my arm with a forced smile. "Let's go to dinner." When I resisted, her eyes widened into a silent plea. "Come on, Luke."

Standing up, Rosamund took George's arm, and they walked past me. "Father, what is going on?" I demanded in a low voice, ignoring Philly tugging on my arm. "What is it you don't want to tell me?"

"We will speak about this after dinner, not before," Father said with the firmness I had come to expect from him. "Now, take your sister to the dinner table."

Clenching my jaw, I spun on my heel and stalked out of the drawing room. Philippa had to half run to keep up. "Luke, slow down! I don't see what you're so angry about. I have done nothing wrong, so there is no reason for you to punish me."

At the dining room door, I paused and took a deep breath. "Sorry, Philly. I didn't mean to take my frustrations out on you."

She sniffed and glanced over her shoulder. "You are forgiven. I don't understand what you are so upset about. You and Phoebe used to play together all the time when you were children."

"You were a baby at the time. How would you know?"

"Everyone says so." She let go of my arm and swept into the room. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shook my head and followed her in.

Dinner would no doubt be memorable, and not for good reasons.

****

Rosamund and Philippa carried the conversation, mostly with comments on their mutual London acquaintances. George contributed now and then, but for the most part seemed content to listen to his wife.

The food had little taste, and I was relieved when Rosamund stood up to leave. "Don't be too long," she said to George, sliding her hand along his shoulder. Philippa wasn't the only who rolled her eyes, but she was not in my sister-in-law's line of sight, so I was the only one to get a glare.

Already, I had begun my plans to either return to exploring the French countryside or taking lodgings in London. Never mind the Season was over, and no one worth knowing would be in town. I didn't want to become any more acquainted with my sister-in-law than was necessary.

But first, I needed an explanation.

Father waited until the port had been poured and the dining room door closed behind Butler before he focused on me. "Your earlier remarks about Phoebe Ramsey were uncalled for, Lucas," he said, his tone disapproving. "She is a lovely young lady and would make any man a fine wife."

"Yes, and 'any man' is welcome to her." I struggled to keep my tone within the bounds of respect. I wasn't doing a good job of it. "Father, Phoebe and I have never gotten on. She has always been a silly girl, and I have no interest in making her, my wife."

"I think you should listen to what our father has to say before you make any similar comments," George said in a low voice.

Thoroughly annoyed, I sent a glare at him. "George, this is between Father and me." He continued to sip his port, seemingly unaffected and I shifted my focus back to my maddening parent. "It is ridiculous to imagine Phoebe hanging out for a proposal from me!"

"Lucas, you need to calm down," Father said. "You are making assumptions without knowing the facts."

"Well, if no one will come out tell me the facts." I aimed my glare down at the innocent glass in my hand.

"Lucas, you know John Ramsey, and I went to school together," Father said, seeming to choose his words with care. A glance up showed he was leaning back in his chair, clearly about to embark on a tale. I stifled an impatient sigh, wondering how this all connected to the impossible notion that Phoebe and I were engaged. "Our families had been close for over a hundred years at the time, and we constantly marveled how there had been no alliance between the Bywoods and the Ramseys."

"It would have made sense," George said. Of course, he would agree with everything Father said. He was the favorite after all. "It is often done."

Father nodded in agreement. "John inherited Braglow when we were twenty. All of his sisters had found matches of their own, though some were less than could have been hoped for. It was at that time we made a pact. We would see our children united in marriage and bridge our families together."

My jaw clenched, and I began to guess what Father was getting at. "And what does this have to do with me?"

"George, of course, would need to marry a young lady of fortune. John understood this and agreed it was only right. Therefore, we made a contract that my second son, if I should be blessed with one to grow to adulthood, would marry his third daughter. I have the agreement in my office."

Though I had guessed, I stared at my father in astonishment. "And you didn't think this was something I should know before this?" My mind went back to the half a dozen young ladies who had caught my eye since I left Eton, Phoebe Ramsey most definitely not one of them. I could have formed a serious attachment with any one of them and then what would have happened?

"We agreed it would be better to allow you both the opportunity to form your own relationship."

I couldn't keep from scoffing. "All those times we were at Braglow, and you sent me off to play with Phoebe, it was so I would become attached to her?" I shook my head. It hadn't worked out that way and had only fostered in me a sincere annoyance that I was always in the company of the meanest girl I knew.

Time and again, we had ended up in some skirmish, and as a result, we both were left muddy by the time we were separated. Once, I even had a broken arm to show for it. At the time, I was proud I had given her a black eye.

Our parents were not so pleased.

"Phoebe is not the plain girl you remember," George said, getting my attention. I narrowed my eyes at him. How long had he known of this? Long enough to tell his haughty wife at any rate but had he thought to tell me? "She's grown into a lovely young lady now."

"Beauty is only skin deep. How many pretty surfaces hide rotting buildings underneath?"

"Lucas Henry Bywood!" Father exclaimed, aghast at my assessment. "I do not like what traveling has done to your attitude."

I finished off the port in my glass, grimacing at the burn that went down my throat. I reached for the decanter and glared when George pulled it out of my reach. "This whole thing is ridiculous. It is 1814. This kind of arranged marriage is ancient. No one goes along with this sort of thing anymore."

"The contract is legal and binding."

"I never put my name to it, so I cannot be held to this contract." Being summoned home to be told a marriage had been arranged between me and the female I disliked most in the world was not what I had been expecting and I wanted no part of it.

The palm of Father's hand landed on the surface of the table and made me jump. "As my son, you will obey me in this. Phoebe and her family have been waiting for you to become settled into a career, these past few years before expecting you to provide for a wife. Now that you have your fortune, it is expected the marriage will take place."

"And what penalty is there if I do not?" As far as I was concerned, nothing on earth could convince me to marry Phoebe.

I couldn't miss George's flinch. "If you should be so disobedient, and I am certain you will not act in so disobliging a manner, we would be forced to pay a penalty of five thousand pounds to the Ramsey family," Father said bluntly.

Shocked, I stared at him. "Five thousand pounds?" It was an exorbitant amount, and I wondered why my father had agreed to it so many years ago. Had he been confident his second son would agree to this? And that led to, what was in my mind, an interesting question. "What would the Bywood family have gotten if Phoebe had cried off?"

"Phoebe is a good daughter and would never consider disobeying her father," Father said, his tone pointed. He paused a moment before he admitted, "Such a provision wasn't put in the contract. She understands the benefits of this match."

Well wasn't that more than a little unfair. "So, you're telling me your old friend trusted you so little he thought you might try to cry off from this gentleman's agreement you concocted between yourselves?"

Father waved his hand, refusing to argue this point with me. "Don't try to put words in my mouth, Lucas. Now, the estate cannot afford the five thousand pound, and I know you have spent a good majority of your funds on your travels. Avoiding paying the penalty alone should be incentive enough for you to make Phoebe your wife."

Those words sounded close to a threat, but I focused on the first bit of information my father had let drop. "Are you trying to tell me the estate is not doing well?" I glanced at my brother. "Is that why you married that—"

And then I struggled to find an appropriate term for my new sister-in-law. Where I had gotten on well with my older sisters' husbands, Rosamund rubbed me the wrong way. George scowled at me. "Rosamund is a fine lady, Luke, and she is my wife. Think well before you finish that sentence."

'Fine lady' was not how I would have described my sister-in-law. I decided that I didn't want to anger my brother any further and returned to the matter at hand. "I will not marry Phoebe. I will sell my investments, if need be, to pay the five thousand pounds. Then we can be done with the whole situation."

"And have you ruin Phoebe's reputation?" Father demanded. "You cannot be so thoughtless! The Ramseys expect this marriage to happen. Phoebe herself has waited three years for you to come around and has had to turn down offers from many respectable men. Consider her feelings! How do you think the neighbors will view this whole thing?"

The neighbors knew about this arrangement? "Was I the last person to know about this?" The idea distracted from my intention of laughing at the notion Phoebe could have feelings for me. The last time I had been in her company, she had ignored me. Hardly the behavior of a girl who had some affection for me.

"Besides, Mama does so want to see you happily settled, Luke," George said. "It would make her happy to know all of her children were married before—" He stopped before he finished the sentence but I knew how he intended to finish it.

Before Mother died.

Shoving my chair back, I got to my feet. I had had enough of the conversation, and I knew the only way to end it was to walk away. "I take my leave of you, sir. Goodnight, George."

"Luke, you cannot simply run away and hope you won't have to deal with this," George said. "You will never solve a problem doing so. You should understand this by now. Your 'Grand Tour' is an excellent example of how that works out."

Did he think I had traveled to escape some problem? "Lucas, this conversation is not over yet!" Father said before I could demand an explanation on that point.

"In case you had forgotten, I had a long ride today." I held firm to my resolve to leave the room. I would get my answers when I was sure I could hold my temper. "You have given me a great deal to think about, and I have no doubt we will...discuss this subject further on another day. Good night, Father."

Turning on my heel, I stalked out of the room. I could hear Philippa playing some melody on the pianoforte and Rosamund speaking to her over the music. I had no doubt my sister-in-law would provoke me and my sister would only want to chatter about things I didn't care for. Leaving those sounds behind me, I walked to my room to escape my whole family.

The calm quiet I found there was welcome after the news I had just been given. An arranged marriage with Phoebe Ramsey? I had never heard anything so ridiculous in my life!

It was difficult being the youngest. Everyone had such strong expectations for me, and it was impossible to live up to them all. I was not like my brother, my sister drove me up a wall on good days, and I felt as though I was a disappointment to my father. The only person who understood me at all was my mother.

And her health was failing to the point my family expected her not to survive.

"What am I going to do?"