Blink. He was there to marry her off. She raised an eyebrow and took the list as she gestured for him to have a seat on the winged chair. She jerked the bellpull and the butler immediately appeared, "Miss, I've taken the liberty already have fortification sent. Tea and a light repast." Amelia cast a grateful look toward the man and nodded her thanks before he took his leave. She sat down on the settee but did not look at the list.

She took a breath, opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, and then blurted out, "But you're too late, brother... I am engaged to be wed already... Mister Nate Appleton... he and I are to be married. We're in love... I... was just about to arrange for him to visit with father." She said this in a way that sounded believable even to her own ears. Except, well, she and Nate scarcely knew one another and he hadn't even begun to court her yet! It couldn't be helped now.

As her twin, perhaps she could feel the way his whole body went cold, but as someone simply sharing the same room, all warmth fell away. His eyes darkened, the storm inside them raging now with the threats of pure hellfire.

Alec held up his hand to silence her.

“I must have mistaken what you just said, Sister, because certainly you would never agree to marry any man without our father’s approval, and any man worth you would know better than to enter an engagement without the blessing of your family.” He took a step forward to damn near tower over her so that he could lower his voice and whisper.

“Unless you have been a harlot and now carry a bastard inside you, there is no reason to be so quick to set my list aside.”

He couldn't have... he... did he really just??? It was like a slap to the face. Years of pent up feelings boiled over. She took the list and didn't bother to read it. She ripped it into tiny little pieces and scattered them at his feet, a cold look on her face. Then she said, "You go too far, Alexander. You dare accuse me of giving up my virtue before wedlock? You know nothing about me, nothing! You know nothing about my situation, you know nothing about who I am as a person, and you hardly care at all! I am getting married to Nate, I told you I was making arrangements for him to meet with father, but you must have missed that in your arrogance. I forgive you. But you, brother, you have no say in whom I marry. You are not my guardian."

As tall as he was he had to hunch a little to see her eyes directly, and in her eyes he did search. He looked for any signs of a lie, any sign that there was a devil festering inside her and he as well searched for madness. 

“Just because our father does not care about you, does not mean that I do not. Sister, you step far too close to the gates of hell for my liking and I can near smell the brimstone as it burns you.” He went silent a moment as though to give in, but it damn near killed him to do so. 

“Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth.” For anyone else he would have had them swear it upon The Bible, but for her she was above all of that. She was close to his own version of a saint that one could get, and despite his actions he loved her very dearly. 

“Say it once and for all and I will drop the matter. Has that man disrespected your body before he even promised before GOD to honor and respect you.”

He'd see the anger burning in her eyes, and this time she didn't have to lie to him because her virtue was as pure as freshly fallen snow. She lifted her chin, not cowing from his stare as he searched her eyes. She presented him with her honesty and her anger. "He has not touched me, not even to kiss me!" Her hands clenched at the skirts of the walking dress. "I wouldn't let him until we were wed anyway. I'm not a harlot. If you wanted one, I am sure you can find one anywhere in this town but not in this room." If she had pearls on, she'd be clutching them.

“Oh no, Sister, I have no desire for a harlot. They are the very things that tempt men into their wicked ways, but it does please me that he has left your virtue intact. But that does raise a number of questions. What is it about you that he so desires to have in a wife?”

It couldn’t possibly be anything other than greed, or so Alec thought. He didn’t believe in love nor had he felt any of the pleasures that came with such a small silly thing as an emotion. He was far too practical to ever think a wife would bring him pleasure when even his own hand could not. It just made him feel dirty and sinful.

“Does he wish to take this property from you?”

"Nothing like that. We love each other. It happens, Alec. People fall in love, which is a gift from God if you were to ask me," she said as she raised her brows. "Why is that such a hard thing to believe? And besides, you're asking me to trust in these... strangers you wrote down. I don't know them from the next person. What if one of them tried to take advantage of me?" She lifted her palms. "I can assure you, I have it handled." She wondered if her father loved her mother.

“Love? You think that is a gift from God?” He wanted to laugh so badly, but it was against his character to do so. Instead he sneered.

“I will want to meet this man, and you understand that Father has trusted me with this task? He had someone else picked out for you. A man whose wife died and left him with nearly eight children, he owns a salt mine just by the sea and trust me when I say those men were much closer to your age.”

Was her brother so cold that he didn't know what love was? She narrowed her eyes when he finished speaking and her foot tapped in irritation. The tea finally arrived and so did the sandwiches and such. Except, she wanted to get away from her brother and punch something other than his face that so looked like their father's. "I will write to him right now if you wish and hope he makes haste to get here if it so pleases you, brother." She would play the game; she would not be thwarted by her too-rigid brother.