Her heart pounding, she said, “Until Lady Chambers’ ball.”
“Very well, that is in a few days. I can allow that time,” he said with pompousness. “I shall expect two or three dances from you there, signaling to everyone that we are a match, and I will announce the engagement there.”
Her throat ached with too many emotions for her to reply to his arrogance. Mr. Hayford walked away with some stiffness to his frame. Only seconds after he left the drawing room, her mother and Emma, Ester, and Lizzy rushed inside.
“What happened?” her mother cried. “Mr. Hayford did not seem too pleased.”
“I have not given an answer as yet,” she said stiffly.
Knowledge dawned in her sisters’ eyes, and they shared a speaking glance, while her mother appeared confused.
“Eleanor!” she scolded. “Your grandaunt will not be pleased and—”
“Hang grandaunt!” she snapped, and then to her horror, she burst into tears. Eleanor ran past everyone and up the stairs into her room, where she flung herself onto the bed. She hated crying, but she could not stop the outpouring of her emotions at that moment. The door to her chamber opened, but she did not stir, not even when the bed dipped.
“Ellie?”
It was Colin. Still, she did not lift her face from the pillow. He waited in the way that patient older brothers often do until she shifted and gave him her regard.
A slight frown chased her brother’s brow. “I gather you do not wish to marry Mr. Hayford.”
“I have fallen in love with someone else,” she confessed softly.
Colin’s eyes widened. “When did you get the opportunity to do so?”
She laughed waterily. “I am a Fairbanks.”
He arched a brow. “This means I must take out my dueling pistols.”
She sniffed and hugged the pillows tighter to her chest.
“Does he love you?”
“I am certain of it.”
“Then refuse Mr. Hayford, and this gentleman may call upon me.”
Pain pinched her heart. “He is a part-owner of a gambling den.”
Her brother jerked as if she had slapped him, and his expression became inscrutable. “I see. Who is he?”
It was not her imagination that Colin’s tone suddenly seemed menacing.
“One of the Glendevons.”
“I have been to their club. It is run by three brothers,” he said, standing. “None good enough for you.”
She flinched, the pain in her heart growing even deeper. “Do you mean not good enough for this family?”
Colin looked back at her. “No. None good enough for you. You are sweet and gentle, Ellie. You are not fashioned to be the wife of a businessman but of a gentleman. I leave the decision in your hands. However, decide wisely.”
With that, her brother departed from the room. Lizzy then came inside and lay beside her.
“I heard what Colin said,” she said softly. “You are sweet and gentle, Ellie, but also fierce and loyal and brave. I will hurry out and get the wig and—”
“No.”
She grabbed her sister’s hand. “Don’t you see, Lizzy? All that must end now. I will not be seeing Lucien Glendevon anytime soon. A proper marriage is what my family needs and—”