The Handfasting (13 page)

His pale blue eyes
looked inquisitively at Anna, causing her to glance away, suddenly
uncomfortable as she felt a flush rise up across her face.  His face was
punctuated with an awkward mustache, waxed at the ends in a manner to make it
curl up unnaturally.

“Are you Miss
Stanton?” the man inquired, seeming to already know the answer as he toyed with
the golden chain of his pocket watch. The tedium of exchanging forced niceties
played openly across his face.

“Yes, Sir,” Anna
said, regaining her composure as he spoke her name.

Anna felt a sudden
pang of longing for the wait staff that had been let go more than a year
ago.  No wellborn lady should be answering the door like a common butler.
Despite her financial ruin, Anna still held an air of pride and tradition close
to her heart when the Stanton name was spoken.

“Murdock’s the
name, Colonel Meriwether Murdock.  Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he
said, smiling stoutly beneath the awkward mustache as he extended his hand
towards Anna.  She extended her own out of habit, years of training made
this motion automatic, and found her fingers quickly enveloped in Colonel
Murdock’s complete with a kiss on the top of her knuckles.  His mustached
felt surprisingly scratchy on her skin, causing her to jerk back unexpectedly
from his touch.

“How exactly can I
help you, Colonel Murdock?” Anna said tersely, unconsciously wiping the back of
her hand on the fabric of her skirt.

“I’ve a
proposition for you, Ms. Stanton.  I understand that your family has come
across, shall we say… difficult times?” Murdock said coolly, testing the waters
with his question.  His pale blue eyes watched Anna for a reaction, yet
her face was like stone as she listened. 

Colonel Murdock
knew of her family’s financial ruin.  He knew that her father had
squandered generations of riches on gambling debts and mistresses, leaving Anna
and her mother nearly destitute. His sources had enlightened him to the fact
that Mr. and Mrs. Norman Stanton’s only daughter was proud, headstrong and
determined to save her family’s name. 

She was perfect
from her fine-boned figure to her golden hair; in fact, she was just what he
needed.  The excitement of finally seeing Anna Stanton with his own eyes
after passing weeks making the inquiries that had led him to her door was
enough to cause butterflies of giddy excitement to flutter in Murdock’s
stomach.

“If you are here
to collect on my father’s debts, you know damn well that there is nothing left
to collect!”  Anna said sternly, suddenly angered by this vile man, the
next in a long stream of similar individuals that she had been burdened with
dealing with since her father’s untimely death.

“Let’s not beat
around the bush, Anna.  What if I offered you a solution?  A solution
that would fix all of this…” Murdock offered, eyebrows arched in enticement as
he looked past Anna and into the shambles of her formerly well-furnished,
prestigious home. 

Anna was suddenly
self conscious as she watched Murdock’s eyes scan the bare flagstone walls and
the empty foyer of Stanton Place.  Her pride stung as she remembered the
luxurious tapestries that had hung on the walls of Stanton Place and the
imported furniture that had filled its rooms. 

It wasn’t that she
had particularly loved any of these fine things.  In fact it wasn’t that
at all.  Anna knew that she could live quite happily without any of the
paintings, tapestries or hand-carved furniture that had adorned the Stanton Place of her youth.  The problem was that her mother had needed these
things.  As each of her prized possessions were sold at auction or carried
away by eager neighbors, Anna had watched a little more of the life drain out
of her dear mother.  The ruin of Stanton Place was killing Claire Stanton,
piece by piece.

“Have you ever
thought of traveling to the New World, Miss Stanton?”  Murdock asked his
loaded question, eyes shimmering with anticipation. 

“Let’s not beat
around the bush, Colonel Murdock,” Anna said sternly, parlaying Murdock with
his own words.  She was quickly growing annoyed with Murdock’s vague
questions, and her annoyance was evident as she folded her arms across her
chest and took a defensive stance in the doorway.

“I like your
spunk, Miss Stanton,” Murdock said appreciatively, never having liked the games
that most women played.  He preferred the direct approach that men more
often took.  “I quite believe that your current situation has made you
wise beyond your years in the way of dealing with business,” Murdock remarked
approvingly as he beheld the lovely young lady standing defensively in the
doorway of the shambles of her home.  She was absolutely, positively
perfect, and Murdock was determined to make this proposition take hold.

“Exactly what can
I do for you, Murdock,” Anna said, shifting her weight to one hip as she held
Murdock’s appraising gaze.  Anna Stanton was not the kind of woman who was
easily intimidated.

“I’ll be frank
with you, Miss Stanton, and I hope that I do not offend your fair notions by
doing so,” he said, eyebrows rising again as if in question.  “There is a
lack of wellborn women folk that are willing to travel to the New World. 
At present, men fair outnumber womenfolk four to one in the colonies and many
of our fine English officers are hard-pressed to find well-bred women to take
to wife.”

Murdock paused,
looking up at Anna who was standing like a statue in the doorway, considering
the words that he had just spoken.  It donned on him that she had not
invited him inside the house. She stood like a sentry, guarding the
doorway.  The only difference was that she was a much more beautiful one
than the typical sentry.  She had striking blonde hair, and her hazel eyes
were bright and clear, resting beneath brows that were knitted together in
contemplation of his proposal.  Her nose was straight, and her lips were
full.  Murdock noticed that she chewed on the corner of her full bottom
lip, a habit that he knew she would stop if only she had been aware that she
was doing it.  Anna Stanton was a rare beauty, poor or not.  Murdock
knew that his client would be most pleased, most pleased indeed if he could
interest Miss Stanton in the proposal of marriage.

“My client wishes
to find a well-bred English Lady to take to wife.  I know that, despite
your present circumstances, you were born and bred into privilege, Miss
Stanton.  You are exactly the kind of Lady that my client is looking for,”
Murdock said hopefully, hanging eagerly on Anna’s response.

“And what sort of
financial compensation would this marriage entail?” Anna asked directly, chin
held high and teeth gritted together.  She couldn’t believe that she had
been brought to this, contemplating selling herself to save her mother, to save
the Stanton family name.

“My client is an
officer in the King’s Army in the New World.  He would pay handsomely for
a bride of your upbringing, of your status,” Murdock ventured, seeking to
bolster Anna’s pride.

“How much?” Anna
asked sternly, shifting her weight to her other hip and unknowingly scrunching
her eyebrows together into a fierce scowl.

“Enough to fix all
of this, enough to bring Stanton Place back to its former glory.”

Anna thought for a
minute, again chewing absentmindedly on the flesh of her lower lip. 

“I’ll do it,” she
whispered, not believing that she had uttered the words out loud.  “I’ll
do it,” she repeated, this time with a ring of pride in her voice.  She
hoped that her father would be proud of her, and had the sudden thought that
the Earl of Stanton might just be rolling over in his grave.