The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jeffries

Plumtree thought Maria would turn tail and run simply because of some blustering, the lady didn’t know whom she was dealing with.
    “I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you. Oliver ‘chose’ me, as you put it, because he had feelings for me.” Not the kind Mrs. Plumtree would think she meant, but at least it wasn’t a lie. “I’m sorry if that grieves you, but since I have feelings for him as well, you’ll have to endure it.”
    “So you admit that you aren’t in love with him?” she pressed.
    Even for her agreement with Oliver, she couldn’t lie that blatantly. “I’ve hardly known him long enough to claim to be in love. But I do like him a great deal.” When he was being genuine and not playing the bored and cynical villain. “He seems to find my liking for him sufficient and is rather eager to marry, so his feelings are the only things that matter.”
    Mrs. Plumtree stepped up close, her blue eyes ablaze in the pale ice of her face. “If you think to get a greater reward by marrying him, think again. He owns this house and its contents and little more. Without money from me, he will not be able to buy you fancy gowns or take you to Paris or whatever it is your grasping little heart has seized upon. And I promise you, if he marries so far beneath him just to spite me, I will cut him off.”
    Maria’s gaze narrowed. “I thought you said that this was a farce. That he never intends to marry me.”
    “It is.” A hard smile touched Mrs. Plumtree’s face. “But men follow their cocks.” While Maria was struck speechless to hear a woman using such a vulgarity, Mrs. Plumtree went on with no hint of shame. “A clever woman, as you appear to be, will use her beauty and her close proximity to ensnare even a wily gentleman like my grandson.”
    “Oliver? Ensnared? You clearly don’t know him very well if you think he can be coaxed into doing anything against his will.” That’s what had brought about this whole mess in the first place—Mrs. Plumtree’s foolish belief that she could force his hand.
    “I know my grandson better than you. He has vulnerabilities that you cannot even begin to imagine.”
    The words echoed hollowly in her chest. “What sort of vulnerabilities?”
    Mrs. Plumtree snorted. “Do you think I would tell you? So you could use them to get him in your clutches? Not on your life.” She loomed closer. “For the last time, Miss Butterfield, will you reconsider my offer of money?”
    Tired of being painted as a schemer, Maria stared her down. “I will not.”
    “Even though you won’t ever get a penny—”
    “I don’t care.” Though she wasn’t marrying him, she was just willful enough to resent his grandmother’s high-handedness and just compassionate enough to sympathize with his determination to thwart the woman. “I don’t break my promises.”
    “Do not let Minerva and the others fool you. You would never be fully accepted in this family, never be accepted in good society, never—”
    “If Oliver doesn’t care, I certainly don’t. This discussion is done, Mrs. Plumtree.” Turning on her heel, she walked back the way she came, seething. And she had thought Oliver insulting! At least now she knew where he got it from. Heavens alive, what a family!
    She almost felt sorry for him, having a grandmother that condescending. No wonder he had thought his plan would work.
    In that moment, she decided to see this out. If he wanted to thwart his grandmother, she would help, as long as he held up his end of the bargain and hired someone to look for Nathan.
    She was doing this for Nathan alone. And no amount of nastiness from Oliver’s grandmother was going to stop her from following through.
    I T TOOK EVERY ounce of Hetty’s will to hold her stern expression until she was certain Miss Butterfield was gone. Then she allowed a smile to break over her face.
    Strolling to the brandy decanter, she poured herself a healthy amount. The girl was perfect.