Page 12 of Set in Stone

She heard a gasp from Brownlee, who had obviously overheard her words. Ah well. If Brownlee repeated them to Mama, so be it. Perhaps Mama would have second thoughts about the horrid man. Unlikely, but possible.

Once they’d crossed another stile, Arianna could see the harbor, where half a dozen boats floated, some of them tied up to one of the long wooden quays, and a couple at anchor further out in the water.

Most of them looked old and battered, but Mr. Medlock pointed to one that looked newer, fresher, and in better repair than the rest. “That is the Cormorant, Miss Westbrook. And the shape on the deck is the diving bell.”

Arianna had met Mr. Medlock’s partner, Mr. Benniston. When they boarded the Cormorant, he introduced her to his other partner, Captain Arkright, and the two gentlemen conducted her all over the ship.

She saw the diving suits, and the copper helmets with their little windows and the weird leather tubes for air. The diving bell had the same kind of tubes, but bigger. She asked if she could look inside the bell, but its rim rested on the ground, and when she tried to look through the glass windows near the top, she couldn’t see anything but shadow.

They also showed her the pumps that took the air from the surface to the divers. Arianna tried to move the handle, but was not strong enough.

Then she was permitted to look into the cabins where the gentlemen slept when they were onboard. Mr. Medlock and Mr. Benniston shared, and the captain’s cabin was also their meeting place, with a big table that Mr. Medlock said was for charts and meals.

They passed the door of the cabin were the four divers slept. The sailors, Captain Arkwright said, slung their hammocks behind another door that they also passed. She saw the galley, though, where the meals were prepared.

Then, when they went back up on deck, she discovered the two gentlemen had arranged for a couple of the sailors who were aboard at the time to winch the bell up so she could crouch down and then straighten up inside. It was all so fascinating.

Both men were so interesting, and so willing to answer her questions. Arianna would have stayed longer, but Brownlee pointed out that they had been gone for nearly two hours. “Your Mama will need me to help her dress for dinner,” she said.

“We had better go back,” Arianna admitted. “Mr. Medlock, Captain Arkright, thank you so much. I have enjoyed myself enormously.”

Mr. Medlock insisted on escorting Arianna home, though she assured him she would be safe with Brownlee. Captain Arkwright came as far as the inn with them, but Mr. Medlock walked them all the way to Mrs. Peabody’s door.

Inside, Mama was awake, dressed, and angry. “I have had enough, Arianna Westbrook. You turned down two perfectly respectable gentlemen to go walking with that… that… tradesman. You are trying to ruin yourself. Well, I won’t have it. Do you hear? That nice Mr. Mills has made an offer for your hand, and I have accepted on your behalf.”

“I refuse, Mama,” said Arianna. “I will continue to refuse. In private and in public. At the church itself, if need be. I shall not marry Mr. Mills.”

“We shall see about that,” said Mama, and suddenly she moved, giving Arianna an almighty shove so she stumbled backward into the visitor’s parlor. Someone caught her before she could fall, wrapping his arms around her from the back. She could feel him behind her, her body leaning against his, and when she looked over her shoulder, there was Mr. Mills, fake smile and all.

“Miss Westbrook, Arianna, at last!”

Arianna struggled to escape his embrace. “Unhand me, you villain!” It sounded like a line from a farce, but Arianna wasn’t finding any of this funny. Mama had slammed the door shut, trapping her alone with Mr. Mills. Furthermore, she had heard the key turn in the lock.

“Now, now, Arianna, no need for maidenly alarms,” said Mr. Mills. Perhaps he meant to sound soothing rather than patronizing. If so, he failed. “We are betrothed, dear, and betrothed couples are permitted time alone together.”

“I reject the betrothal,” Arianna told him. “I refuse to marry you.”

The nasty man sighed. “Then we shall have to make sure you have no choice.”

Before Arianna had time to guess what he meant, he spun her around, pushed her down on the sofa, and flung himself over her, capturing both her hands and holding them over her head in one of his. The other was fumbling at his waist, and though she could not see what he was doing, she guessed that he was undoing the buttons on his breeches.

“Wait!” she said. “This won’t get you what you want. I’d rather be ruined than married to you, so there is no point in you assaulting me.”

“I expect to enjoy it,” Mr. Mills responded. “Besides, your mother will make you marry me.”

Arianna had been feverishly thinking, and had come up with the bones of a plan. “You would rather have the treasure that Mr. Medlock found, though. Easy money, and without the burden of proving yourself to my trustees in order to gain access to my dowry. Is that not right?”

Mr. Mills stopped his fumbling. “Proving myself to your trustees? What does that mean?”

“Did Mama not tell you? If I marry without the consent of my trustees, they can refuse to pay out my dowry. And nothing is more certain than that they will take their time over the decision. Mama should have told you that they take their time over every decision.” Mostly because they were delaying a response to frivolous or expensive requests from Mama. The trustees Papa had chosen to oversee the fortune he had left in trust for his wife and daughter, Papa’s cousin and his former business partner, were inclined to trust Mama when it came to the marriage mart. But where money was concerned, they had Mama’s measure, and were not inclined to sell assets or investments to make up the shortfall if Mama overspent her generous income.

Mr. Mills was looking thoughtful, but he shook his head. “I’m sure Medlock and his partner have found what they are looking for. There’s always one of them in their room, and why would they take turns at that if not to guard what they have? But there is no way to get at it. I might have to give up on marrying you, Miss Westbrook, but if ruining you is to be my only compensation…”

“I might be able to convince Mr. Medlock and Mr. Bennington that you have left Fenwick,” Arianna suggested, quickly. “Then, when they both leave their room, you can take the chance to search it.”

Mills stared into her eyes and then shook his head. “Why would you do that? Why should I trust you to do that?”

“So, you won’t assault me, of course,” said Arianna, doing her best to sound matter-of-fact and disinterested. “And why shouldn’t I help you burgle Mr. Medlock’s room? It isn’t my treasure, whatever it is.”