Harmonia drew in a sharp breath, her stomach tightening.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”

Harmonia let her breath out slowly, her fingers slowly uncurling from where they had tightened into fists. “Yes, I think so. I need to show Luke that I am stronger than he knows, that I will not be intimidated by him simply because he thinks himself more determined than I.”

Amelia shook out her skirts, coming to stand next to her. “You are very brave to speak to him so. I am sure father would have been more than happy to make your wishes clear.”

“I know,” Harmonia replied, with a quick smile. “But this is something I need to do myself. He needs to hear it from me, not from papa, although I will, of course, seek his input should Luke not respond in the way I hope.”

“You give Luke far too much credit,” Amelia said, firmly. “He is a man used to getting what he puts his mind to and that includes you. Despite your clear rejection of him – which I think we have both made very clear – he continues to pursue you in the hope that you will, in fact, turn back to him. Foolish man that he is!”

Drawing in a long breath, Harmonia tried to settle her jangling nerves, knowing that Luke would appear at any moment. “Thank you for your support with this, Amelia. I could not have done it myself.”

“No, you could not,” Amelia agreed, with a small smile. “The man is a hurricane and you are a gentle flower. He can be quite overpowering when one is alone with him.”

Harmonia nodded, her mouth settling into a tight line.

“Most unlike your other gentleman caller,” Amelia continued, with a slight lift of her eyebrow. “Lord Newford took you to the bookshop yesterday, did he not?”

“I took my maid,” Harmonia exclaimed at once, thinking that Amelia was suggesting that she had behaved improperly.

Amelia held up her hands, laughing. “I did not mean that, Harmonia. I was merely wondering if you had a good time with him?”

“Oh,” Harmonia said, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. “I do apologize, Amelia. Yes, I did have a marvelous time. I thank you for asking.” She smiled to herself, her nerves fading as she recalled just how wonderful an afternoon it had been with Lord Newford. They had so much in common, although he had not yet convinced her to give up more of her prose in order to add poetry! The way they had laughed and smiled together had made her heart blossom with affection for him, even more so when he insisted on purchasing three separate books for her, on the proviso that one be a book of poetry.

“Goodness,” Amelia murmured, as Harmonia realized she had been caught in a daydream. “It is little wonder you want to speak to Luke so swiftly. Lord Newford has caught your attention, has he not?”

Finding it easy to be truthful with her sister, Harmonia nodded. “I think him a very amiable man, Amelia. He is kind and considerate, charming and polite. He is generous to a fault and we have so much in kind that I feel as though I have known him for a longer time than in actuality.” She shook her head, struggling to find the words to express what she felt. “Does any of that make sense?”

Amelia laughed, her eyes bright. “Well, Harmonia, I think you shall soon find yourself declaring that you love this man, which I, for one, am very glad of. I think him a proper gentleman and certainly a good match for you.”

Harmonia felt herself blush. “Do you think so?”

“Certainly, I do,” Amelia declared at once, smiling. “Now all you need to do is to push Luke away with such firmness that he will have very little choice but to do as you ask, and then the rest will fall into place.”

Harmonia smiled at her sister, her heart lifting in her chest. “I do hope so,” she murmured, softly, realizing that the thought of being married to Lord Newford was, in fact, a rather agreeable one. She made to comment further, only for the door to open and Luke to walk in.

He had eyes only for her, ignoring Amelia completely as he came towards Harmonia and bowed low over her hand, his lips brushing the back of it. Harmonia, suppressing a shudder, tugged her hand away and waited for him to greet Amelia which, rather begrudgingly, he eventually managed.

“My dear Harmonia, you look beautiful this afternoon,” he said, as he sat down. “I do hope it is my presence that has brought such a joyful countenance.”

Harmonia felt her stomach tighten as she lifted her chin, trying to steady her resolve. “Actually, Luke, it is not.”

“I was very glad to receive your invitation,” he continued, apparently ignoring her comment entirely. “It means a great deal to me that you asked me to join you.” He glanced pointedly at Amelia who was sitting close by. “Although I do not think that we require your presence, Amelia.”

A prickle of unease ran down Harmonia’s spine. It was not Luke’s place to order either herself or her sister about and she disliked that he assumed he could do such a thing.

“Luke,” she said, firmly, hearing Amelia’s sigh of exasperation. “The reason I have asked you to come here this afternoon is so that we might discuss our ongoing acquaintance.”

“Oh?” he asked, sitting forward with a curious gleam in his eye. “I am glad to hear it. What is it you wish to say?”

Harmonia swallowed hard, keeping her gaze firmly on her cousin. “Luke, I want you to stop pursuing me.”

The smile faded from his face, the gleam in his eye disappearing almost at once.

“What do you mean?” he said, slowly. “I spoke to your father already about courting you. He appeared to be quite glad of the idea, thinking that you would be happy and settled with me. You do not want to disappoint him, do you, Harmonia?”

“I would not be disappointing him,” Harmonia replied at once, as a spark of anger lit in her soul. “Fortunately, I know my father better than you and he has made things perfectly clear. I am not to allow your court if I do not wish it and I am telling you now, plainly, that I do not wish for you to court me, Luke.”

His eyes narrowed, his posture growing tense. Harmonia could almost feel the anger coming from him, his frustration and irritation with her choice evident in every sinew of his being.

“What are you talking about, Harmonia?” he asked, as though speaking to a very small child. “You know that our marriage would be the best thing for both of us.”

“No, Luke, it would not be the best thing for me,” she said, firmly, her courage bolstered by Amelia’s presence. “I do not know your reasons for being so determined to have me as your bride, but I can assure you that I do not feel the same way. I do not have the same determination, the same expectation. There will be no future for us, not when I have the right to make my own choice.”

“We are practically engaged!” he exclaimed, his face flushing red. “You cannot turn your back on me now, you cannot cry off!”

Harmonia let out a long, slow breath, determined to keep her temper in the face of his anger and absurdity. “I am not crying off from anything, Luke. We are not engaged. We have never been engaged.”

He shot to his feet, one finger outstretched and shaking at her. “There has always been an understanding between us, which you knew full well about. You cannot simply decide that such a thing is to be at an end.”

“Sit down, Luke.”

Amelia’s words were cold and crisp, spoken loudly so that they filled the room. Harmonia looked over at her sister, grateful for her assistance, and found that she was practically glaring at Luke, her hands planted on her hips. Clearly, she was not impressed with his behavior thus far.

Luke, his jaw clenched, slowly took his seat, his eyes flashing. “This is not to be borne,” he said, slowly, his gaze returning to Harmonia. “I will not allow you to turn back from what we had arranged.”

Harmonia shook her head, realizing that, yet again, he was not taking her seriously. “Luke, I have tried to make my feelings on the matter clear for some time, and you have simply continued on your merry way, believing that you will have me as your bride. I am telling you now that this will never happen. I will never be your bride. I will never consent to be your wife. You have no hold over me. You do not own me, you do not have any claim to me. This pursuit must stop.”

Luke was shaking visibly, his anger burning into a furious fire. Why he was so desperate to marry her, Harmonia could not say, realizing that Luke had never given a reason for his intention to have her as his wife. She had always assumed it was so that they could align their families, that he might gain more respectability for himself, but now, looking at him, she was not so sure.

“I will speak to your father,” he hissed, leaning forward in his chair with such vengeance in his eyes that Harmonia felt herself quite frightened. “You are not to be allowed to do such a thing!”

Amelia got to her feet and came to stand by Harmonia, who rose at once. “Luke, you have no right to speak to our father, and I can assure you that even if you were to speak to him, he would say much the same as Harmonia and me,” Amelia said, calmly. “Our father wants what is best for his daughters, and that means that Harmonia is free to choose her own suitors. She has rejected you, and there is nothing for you to do but accept it.”

Luke got to his feet with a great, deliberate slowness, making Harmonia’s heart quicken its pace with fright. He was more intimidating now than she had ever seen him before, trying to use everything he could to get her to change her mind – even if he had to threaten her to do it.

“You have chosen someone else, have you?” he whispered, threateningly. “Who is he?”

“Luke,” Amelia said again, before Harmonia could speak. “Harmonia and her choices are none of your business. Need I say it to you again? You have no more business here.”

“You are mine,” Luke grated, ignoring Amelia and keeping his gaze on Harmonia. “You will never belong to anyone but me.”

Shaking off Amelia’s hand, Harmonia stepped forward and looked up at Luke directly, ignoring the pounding of her heart. She was filled with a great sense of strength, her courage suddenly bursting to life as she looked up at his hate filled eyes.

“Get out of this house at once,” she said, firmly, not backing down an inch as his mouth fell open in shock. “You are no longer welcome here, and I know my father will say so also once he discovers what you have said and what you have tried to do. I will not be intimidated into doing what you wish. I know my own mind and I know my own heart. You mean nothing to me, Luke. Your manner and speech disgust me, your clinginess overpowers me. I will have nothing more to do with you.” She drew in a deep breath, seeing the slow flush of crimson climb up Luke’s face. “Now, you will leave this house at once, else I shall send for the footman and butler to assist you out onto the street.” She tipped her head and looked up at him. “I do not think that would do much good for your reputation.”

He stared at her, the seconds ticking by with an infinitesimal slowness. Harmonia held her breath, refusing to look anywhere other than directly into his eyes.

He snarled, made to reach for her, only for Amelia to step forward and link arms with her sister.

“Go,” she said, firmly. “Now.”

Without another word, Luke turned on his heel and stormed towards the door, anger oozing from his every pore. He was clearly furious, but Harmonia did not care about that. Instead, as the door shut behind him, she felt a huge sense of relief and a small amount of pride that she had managed to make her position clear without allowing him to intimidate her.

“My goodness,” Amelia breathed, slumping into a chair behind her. “That was…. surprisingly difficult.”

“Thank you for being here with me,” Harmonia said quietly. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Amelia smiled as Harmonia went to ring the bell for tea.

“You know,” Amelia said, quietly. “I think you could have done it yourself, Harmonia. I’ve never seen that side of you before. You’re stronger than you think.”

Harmonia sat down and shook her head. “I just hope what I said made it absolutely clear to Luke. I didn’t expect him to be so angry.”

Sighing, Amelia held her gaze. “Nor did I. Let’s make sure to talk to father, just in case Luke decides to speak to him like he said he would.”

Thinking that this was a good idea, Harmonia nodded. “I’m just glad father will listen to me, even if Luke will not.”

Amelia chuckled. “That, he will. How different it is for you compared to me! Back then, father was pushing me in almost every direction in the hope I’d get married very quickly. But now, his worries appear to have diminished.”

“And he is not as ill as he once thought,” Harmonia finished, with a glad smile. “I am sure that, from now on, things will be much calmer for him – and for me.”

“Lord Newford on your mind?” Amelia teased, but Harmonia simply shrugged.

“I will not pretend that I have not been thinking of him very often, Amelia,” she admitted. “I am already hoping for a future with him. I cannot see myself with another.”

The smile on Amelia’s face turned warm, her eyes filled with happiness for her youngest sister. “Then I wish you all the happiness in the world, Harmonia,” she said softly, just as the tea tray arrived.