Married By May

than he’d expected her to be, given what Edmund had said.
“She’s as dull as ditch water,” Edmund had sneered. “In both looks and personality. But that’s not a bad thing. It will make her such an easy target that you’ll be done and on your way back to the highlands of Scotland by the time the festival starts”.
Ewan’s stomach twisted as guilt gnawed at him.
Already he’d been uncomfortable with this terrible plan. But now that he’d met the shy, quiet lady, the guilt consumed him.
When she’d been a nameless, faceless nobody, it had been easier to agree to Edmund’s scheme.
But she wasn’t nameless. She was Lady Beatrice. And she wasn’t faceless. She was pretty, and timid, with huge, hazel eyes. Trusting eyes.
And he was a mercenary bastard.
Ewan swallowed hard as futile anger swirled inside him. This was his cousin’s plan, yes. But Ewan was agreeing to it. Was enacting it.
Cursing his cousin and himself to perdition, Ewan slowly made his way home, or rather to Edmund’s home, wondering not for the first time how his life had led him to this point. A point where he was trying to trick a young lady out of her fortune.
Ewan’s father owed a fortune to Edmund. A fortune he’d borrowed from Edmund’s father, who had never felt the need to ask for the money back. When the old baron died, however, and Edmund had taken over the barony and its holdings, he decided to call in the debt.
Ewan had received word in India from his distraught mother and had been shocked. He’d had no idea that their family was having financial issues. He’d immediately made plans to return to England and had written to his cousin before making the trip home, telling him that he would travel directly to him so they might fix this.
After all, they were family. Ewan’s mother was Edmund’s aunt. And surely that would count for something.
His father had always been a gentleman of modest means and a small estate. Marrying a baron’s daughter had secured funds enough to keep his small farmlands going. Enough to get Ewan a decent education and send him off into the world.
And off Ewan had gone. To India, where he was on his way to amassing a fortune of his own. But he was not there yet. He was living as modestly as he could, throwing all of his money into the business ventures that he knew would come to fruition and make him a very wealthy man. Wealthy enough to pay off every penny of his father’s sizeable debt.
But not, it seemed, in quick enough time for his cousin.
For while Ewan’s fortune had been growing, his father’s farmlands had been failing in the harsh Scottish weather, and rather than bring Ewan home, the man had turned again and again to his overly generous brother-in-law.
The baron hadn’t been cold in his grave before his greedy son had come calling. The amount would ruin Ewan’s father. And Ewan couldn’t allow that to happen.
His offers of partial payments, his requests for more time, his pleading for mercy given the family connection and his father’s declining health – none of it made a difference. None of it seemed to matter to Edmund.
When Ewan had arrived at Edmund’s home and seen his drunken, beady-eyed, limp-chinned cousin, he couldn’t believe that this runt of a man was threatening his father with debtors’ prison.
He had hoped that if reasoning wasn’t going to work then his superior strength and height might intimidate the baron.
But Edmund’s greed was a formidable foe, and he wasn’t about to let an opportunity for blackmail pass him by.
He’d kept Ewan hidden away for over a week whilst he laid out his diabolical plan and convinced him to agree. And Ewan, damn his soul, had eventually done just that.
“The chit is destined for spinsterhood,” Edmund had sneered. “This could well be her only chance to marry. Everyone knows about the clause in her inheritance contract. If she wants her inheritance, she must marry someone. And I see no reason why that shouldn’t be me.”
Ewan gripped his seat to keep from punching his cruel cousin in the nose.
“Imagine all of that lovely money going to waste.”
“Why don’t you ruin her yourself then?” Ewan demanded, sickened by the conversation but knowing he was at Edmund’s mercy. “Then honour will dictate you have to marry. There’s no need to bring me or anyone else into it.”
“I can’t get near the girl. In the same way that stories flew about Fortescue’s demands for his daughter’s future, everyone here knows I enjoy a lifestyle that the stuffy matrons don’t approve of.” Edmund’s mocking grin was proof that he didn’t give a damn what people thought of him. “There’s no way in hell I’ll get near the girl long enough to seduce her. No, removing any chance of someone decent wanting to wed her is the only way I’ll guarantee getting my hands on her inheritance and the dowry that comes with a wedding.”
“Are you really so hard up, that you would blackmail an old man and seek to ruin an innocent girl for her fortune?” he spat with useless rage.
Edmund’s scowl hinted at his quick temper.
“I am not hard up,” he yelled like a petulant child. “There is nothing wrong with wanting more, Cousin. After all, I’d hate to have my wealth diminish and end up like your pathetic father.”
This time, Ewan’s hands fisted in preparation for a pummelling he knew he should not dole out.
“Besides, I’m not blackmailing dear Uncle Hamish, I’m blackmailing you.”
His grin set Ewan’s teeth on edge.
“And I’m not going to ruin the girl.”
Edmund sat back, certain of his victory. And he was right, damn him. Ewan had to do what it took to protect his father.
“You’re going to do that for me.”
His cousin's red bricked house came into view and Ewan braced himself for whatever he would find on the other