Rebecca's Refusal by Amanda Grange

and her shoulders were flung back. 'So that is what lies behind your behaviour! The desire to seduce me. So that I will agree to marry you!'
    You make it sound like a penance!' he exclaimed angrily, his eyes blazing with copper lights.
    'And so it is! To marry a man I don't love, simply because he has some misguided notion about protecting my reputation! It is the worst kind of penance!'
    His eyes boiled.
    1 have told you before. I will not marry you,' she declared. Her head was thrown back and her chin was high; at that moment she was every inch Jebadiah's grand-daughter.
    What will it take to make you see sense?' he demanded, his eyes burning now instead of boiling. If anyone else finds out we were alone together in my bedroom at The Nag's Head -'
    But they will not,' she returned. 'And even if they do, I will still not marry you. I could never marry for those reasons.' Her eyes blazed. The idea is unthinkable.'
    Think carefully, Rebecca. This is the last time I will offer you the protection of my name. If you do not accept my hand this time, I will not offer it to you again.'
    'Good. Then it will spare me the trouble of refusing it,' she returned. 'Nothing on earth would induce me to accept the hand of a man I do not love.'
    'And that is your final word on the matter?' he demanded.
    It is.'
    Then there is no more to be said.'
    They stood glaring at each other, like two combatants in a duel instead of two guests at a dinner party.
    And then came the sound of footsteps approaching the door on the other side.
    They glared at each other for one moment more before sanity reasserted itself and they turned away from each other, both of them trying to regain their composure before Hetty or Charles should enter the room.
    Rebecca turned to the pianoforte, where once again she busied herself with the sheets of music. Joshua, striding across to the other side of the room, picked up a decanter and poured himself a glass of whiskey. So that by the time Hetty entered the room they seemed to be engaging in commonplace activities.
    'Such a fuss!' said Hetty, completely oblivious of the hostile encounter that had just taken place in that very room. The silly girl was convinced that the French had invaded until I took her to the window and showed her that the streets are empty of soldiers. Ah, well, she has calmed down now.' She looked round, as if noticing for the first time that Charles was missing. Where is Charles? Don't tell me he's still sitting over his port?'
    'Charles has gone on a tour of the house, checking that all the doors and windows are bolted,' explained Joshua.
    'Oh, what a good idea!' said Hetty. We don't want any more disturbances tonight. The sooner the war is over the better things will be for all concerned. It is no wonder there is so much unrest, when so many of the people in the country today cannot remember a time when we were not at war with France.'
    Rebecca privately though that Hetty was being unduly optimistic in thinking that the end of the war would mean an end of all other disturbances, but she did not say so.
    She was glad when, a few minutes later, Charles entered the room and a normal atmosphere was restored. Fortunately, Charles was in a talkative mood, and she did not have to contribute much to the discussion. After her heated conversation with Joshua she felt it would have been beyond her.
    * * * *
    Blast the woman! thought Joshua angrily as, back in his own home, he undressed for bed.
    Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't she have accepted his hand? Why couldn't she have let him offer her the protection of his name? Why couldn't she have allowed him to guard her against the wagging tongues of the gossips? Why couldn't she have seen the sense in what he was suggesting?
    It was all very well for her to say that Lacy wouldn't talk. That, he believed, was true. But if Lacy had seen them together, then other people could have seen them, too. And the only way to take the wind out of the gossip's