The carriage hit a small bump in the road, but Cole did not even notice. He was completely shocked.
Cole blinked, completely surprised by her acceptance. He leaned forward again, staring at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head.
"You are willing?" Cole asked, entirely unable to hide his sheer disbelief.
Delaney let out a soft, sad sigh. She slumped her shoulders forward just a fraction, playing the role of the broken girl perfectly.
She replied, "I am already off the marriage market, Uncle. I am twenty and seven years old, and I have absolutely no dowry. No decent gentleman would ever want to marry . I have spent the last three years running, and I am entirely tired of being poor."
She looked down at her simple, dark dress.
"Lord Hawksley is a wealthy man," Delaney continued, forcing herself to say the vile words. "If he is still willing to have after I ran away, I might as well just agree. It is better than working as a servant for the rest of my life."
Cole stared at her. His mind raced. He thought to himself, beginning to look at her suspiciously.
"Why did she agree readily?" he wondered.
It was entirely too easy. A girl who had risked her life to escape a marriage did not simply change her mind and agree without a fight. Even if she was tired of being poor, Hawksley was known to be a vicious, cruel man. She should be begging for rcy. There must be a catch.
As if Delaney could read his mind, she lifted her head and t his suspicious gaze.
She replied, "But I have three conditions."
Cole instantly relaxed. Ah, there it was. It was not a sudden change of heart; it was a negotiation. She wanted sothing in return for her compliance. This was language that Cole Kingsley understood perfectly. Greed was sothing he respected.
Cole replied, waving his hand in a generous gesture. "Go on."
Delaney sat up a little straighter. She counted the conditions out on her fingers, making sure her demands sounded desperate.
Delaney continues, "One, I want to be treated with respect when I co back to the house. I will not be locked in my room like a prisoner or be made to do chores. And you must tell Aunt Eunice not to lay her hands on anymore. I will not be her toy."
Cole nodded quickly. That was an incredibly easy condition to et. Eunice would complain, of course, but Cole could manage his wife. If Delaney was going to marry a wealthy Lord in a few days, she needed to look presentable anyway.
"Secondly," Delaney said, raising a second finger. "I need a good sum for my marriage portion. I will not go to Lord Hawksley looking like a beggar. I want new dresses, and I want gold coins in my purse."
Cole frowned slightly at the ntion of money. He hated parting with a single coin. But he quickly calculated the profits in his head. Hawksley had promised him a massive final paynt on the day of the wedding. Giving the girl a small handful of gold for dresses was a tiny price to pay for the massive reward he would receive.
"Agreed," Cole said, nodding his head.
"And thirdly," Delaney finished, raising her third finger. She looked directly into his eyes, her expression completely firm. "I will need a week before getting married."
Cole raised a gray eyebrow. "A week? Why a week? Hawksley has waited three years. He is very eager to complete the arrangent."
"Because I need ti to prepare myself," Delaney lied smoothly. "I need ti to order the new dresses. I need ti to rest. And I need ti to ntally accept my new life. If you try to drag to the altar tomorrow, I promise you, Uncle, I will make a terrible scene in front of the priest. Give one week of peace in my old ho, and I will marry him quietly and obediently."
Cole thought about it for a mont. Hawksley was currently in London, dealing with the Hamilton family and whatever political plots he was involved in. A week was a perfectly reasonable amount of ti. It would give Hawksley ti to return to the country, and it would ensure the girl walked down the aisle without causing a public scandal that could ruin them all.
Cole smiled. It was a wide, greedy, victorious smile. He had won. He had secured the girl, and he was going to get his money.
"Consider them done," Cole replied happily. He reached across the small space and patted her knee in a fake show of familial affection.
"You made the right choice, Delaney. Lord Hawksley will provide a very comfortable life for you."
He leaned back against the velvet cushions. He let out a hearty laugh. It was a loud, grating sound that filled the carriage, completely devoid of any true joy. He was simply laughing at his own good fortune.
Delaney did not smile back. She gently pulled her knee away from his touch.
She turned back to the window. She rested her cheek against the cold glass, looking out at the passing trees. The gray sky was beginning to darken, completely matching the dark, dangerous path she was about to walk.
She felt the heavy weight of the dueling pistol against her leg. She thought of Rowan, lying in his bed, trusting her to be safe. She thought of the tears she had shed for her murdered parents.
"One week to search Papa’s study," Delaney thought silently, her hazel eyes completely cold and focused.
She needed seven days. Seven days to walk freely around the house without being treated like a prisoner. Seven days to find the hidden brass key, slip into the locked room, and tear apart every single drawer and floorboard until she found the proof of the Oakridge silk scam.
"And one week to turn you all against each other," she finished in her mind.
She knew exactly how to plant the seeds of doubt. She would make them paranoid. She would make them bleed.
A small, dark smirk slowly ford on her lips.
She was walking directly into the lion’s den, but the lions had absolutely no idea that she was the one holding the gun.
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