‘That I do believe,’ he said softly, leaning back in his chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. ‘But it was me you wanted to kiss.’
She stood, needing to put some distance between herself and the man in front of her. Even now he had some sort of pull on her. She found it difficult to look away, difficult to be pragmatic.
The drawing room looked out over a small garden and Beth took a moment to collect herself, looking down at the figures of her mother and Mr Leonard Ashburton strolling side by side below.
‘Why are you here?’ she asked suddenly, spinning round.
‘I am merely accompanying my brother.’
‘And why is he here?’
‘To see if you and he will be suited.’
‘Suited?’ Beth repeated to herself. She glanced out of the window again, wondering whether it really mattered if they would be suited. Her mother certainly didn’t think so; her mind was on survival rather than Elizabeth’s future happiness.
‘Marriage is for life,’ Joshua Ashburton said quietly. ‘It seems sensible not to rush in.’
Elizabeth tried to let go of some of the tension she was holding in her shoulders and came and sat back down, choosing a chair further away than her original one, ignoring Mr Ashburton’s smile as he watched her sit.
‘Tell me about India,’ she said after a moment’s silence.
‘What would you like to know, Lady Elizabeth?’
‘Anything. Everything. I’ve never travelled further than Sussex, would you believe?’ She gave a little laugh that was meant to be self-deprecating but even to her ears it sounded pitiful. She’d grown up reading of all the wonderful places across the globe in her father’s library, but neither of her parents had liked to travel and by the time she was old enough to gain a little independence they had no money to waste on frivolities.
‘I live just outside a little town in the Bengal area of India. It is about twenty minutes’ ride from the sea, set in leafy green hills. The sea down below is the most brilliant blue you could imagine and the beaches are made of powdery golden sand.’
Beth closed her eyes, trying to imagine the scene he was describing but it was so different from anything she had ever seen it was hard to summon the image.
‘India is hot, much hotter than here year-round, although it is a different heat in the different seasons. Just before the rains come there is an unbearable humidity and when the first cloud bursts it is a welcome relief.’ He smiled at her. ‘As you can see, I love my country. I could sing its praises all day long.’
‘You think of India as your country?’
‘Of course. I’ve lived there since I was seven. This is the first time I’ve been in England as an adult.’
‘I didn’t realise.’ She tried to work out why the Ashburton brothers would have been separated and raised half a world apart.
He was reclining in his chair again, looking more at ease in her drawing room than she did.
‘And you’re only here for three months now?’
‘I am. My guardian is getting old, he wants me to take over the business. He’s stepping down in nine months so I’ve got to be home for then. I almost didn’t come—three months is such a short time after half a year at sea—but it isn’t as though there will be a good opportunity for me to leave once I take over.’
‘What is your guardian’s business?’
‘Shipping and transport. Do you know how much is made in India and shipped all over the world? It’s a rich and bountiful country and we run one of the biggest shipping companies in the east. We transport goods all over India, as well. There’re some whispers about building a steam railway and we want to be at the forefront of that. I know some pioneers are using steam locomotives to transport goods in mining and I wonder if it could be used on a wider scale. Can you imagine a steam locomotive that travels the breadth of India, transporting goods across the country?’
‘It sounds like a big responsibility.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s what I’ve been brought up to do.’
Beth felt a sudden pang of jealousy. She’d been brought up to marry and bear children, nothing more. Once that was accomplished her purpose would be fulfilled. It was a bleak thought.
She cast around the room for something to distract her, her eyes settling once again on the window. It seemed cruel that her fate was being decided outside without her presence.
‘You look nervous.’
Beth blinked. Mr Joshua Ashburton certainly didn’t seem to mind stating things exactly as he saw them.
She started to deny it and then caught herself. She was allowed to be nervous; it didn’t mean she wouldn’t do her duty and marry the man her mother was selling her off to. Suddenly feeling very tired of it all, she allowed herself a little honesty.
‘I don’t know your brother, Mr Ashburton. We’ve conversed three times, four if you count today. I don’t know if he is a kind man or not, I don’t know if he will love me or beat me or ignore me. Yet it is my duty to marry him, if he will have me.’
‘I can’t claim to know my brother well,’ Joshua Ashburton said slowly, a frown on his normally smiling face, ‘but he is a good man, Lady Elizabeth, an honourable man.’
She nodded. From what she had heard about Leonard Ashburton she thought it was probably true. People painted him as a serious, hard-working man who didn’t have much time for fun, but there were no whispers about malice or cruelty. That she should be grateful for, but she felt as though she shouldn’t have to be pleased that her future husband wouldn’t beat her.
‘He also wouldn’t force you into a marriage you didn’t want.’
Beth felt the tears rising to her eyes. It wasn’t Leonard Ashburton doing the forcing. She knew her mother would never let her turn a wealthy and
