The Highwayman's Surprise Bride by Renee Dahlia

Author:Renee Dahlia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, trans character, historical romance
Publisher: Renee Dahlia
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Linda blinked rapidly as she walked, trying her best to stem the tears that wanted so desperately to fall. Her heart ached for Marti, who’d lost not only his parents but also a dear uncle, and she knew exactly how that felt as she’d been only six years old when her own mother had died from childbed fever. When she’d told Marti that she wanted a non-traditional marriage, what she really meant was no children. No child should have to feel how she had. No child should have that awful knowledge of being abandoned by a beloved parent.

With Marti it was achievable to be married and have no children. Maybe. She knew enough about the breeding of animals to know that it should be impossible for her and Marti to create children, or at least, she assumed so. Being kept ignorant of such matters was a frustrating consequence of her life, and the heat behind her eyes became sharper until she wanted to scream.

“Linda?” The concern dripping from Marti’s voice nagged at her, then centred her back into a world where many people still cared for her—including Marti—and she breathed in deeply.

“Shall we head back to the house?”

“Yes.”

They turned around, walking past Jane, the maid, who turned to follow them home. Lucky Jane to escape her job for a walk along the laneway, although the servants in the Dexington household were well paid and tended to stay for a long time as their working conditions were better than most other households. It was a point of pride to her father that they retained their staff.

“Mr Babbitt.” She used his formal address to help calm the unsteadiness inside her. “Did you say that Father offered you a job?”

“Not precisely.”

The vague answer tweaked at her curiosity and the heat behind her ears started to dissipate. “What exactly do you mean?”

“He said he’d find me a position and inferred that I could decide what type of work suited me and to make him a proposal.”

“What type of proposal?” A fleeting confusion had Linda wondering about their marriage—too many jests over lunch about collecting proposals—but a short breath later she realised that her father probably meant a business proposal.

“We went over this, and the answer remains that I am uncertain.”

She recalled the initial conversation where Marti had said he hadn’t wanted to replay the whole discussion, but seriously, how typical was it of Father to leave it to Marti. She sniffed. “He would probably buy you a business to run if you were so inclined.”

“Oh, I don’t think he meant that.”

“What questions did he ask?” Linda had a lot more certainty than Marti. Her father—who liked to test people’s ambitions—would help Marti achieve something beyond his most wild dreams if he could only imagine it because her father understood that helping Linda’s husband succeed would give Linda the best chance of a good future. Her father didn’t see seven daughters as an expense—especially after the disappointment of his only son refusing to join the business—but as an opportunity to bring seven men into his empire.

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