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shall have to talk it over with Aunt, I suppose. I cannot go on owing her money. I can’t bear that. But to actually need a husband? If I’ve not much of a dowry, nothing but Romney Manor and no money to keep it up, I don’t know who will have me. This is just dreadful! I must think it through.” She arose in agitation and placed the glass on the tray with the decanter, making ready to leave.
    “Wait, please!” John cried, “I mean, stay if you will, just a moment. There’s something I wish to ask you.” He patted the seat beside him on the settee invitingly.
    Maude paused and sat back down in her own chair, lost in a maze of horrid thoughts.  How the problem was to be solved—well, that would take much careful consideration.
    * * * *
    Perfect!  This was going beautifully, so far, much better than Mama had feared. Why, Maude was almost eating out of his hand. The look of confusion and worry on her lovely face would have made John howl in triumph were he up to his usual devilment, but he had his sights on a much greater prize this evening. And now, with the trap properly baited it was ready to be sprung....
    “I have given much consideration to marriage myself lately, Maude,” he began again. He had been speaking in gentle tones so far, the sort he would use with the vicar’s wife—that is, if he’d ever spoken with her. “The truth is, I have wondered if you and I wouldn’t suit quite well. That is, you have no love of the ton or of London...” he paused, aware now that her blank look was turning to one of horror as comprehension dawned on her.
    He pressed on. “...And, well, I have little need of that sort of thing myself.” This was untrue, of course, but made a good argument. “I’ll have an adequate amount of money from Mama, enough to run Romney Manor and keep us in an acceptable fashion. Everything could stay exactly as it is, you see, no fuss with unsuitable suitors, no extraordinary social demands, just comfortable. We could have children...” he trailed off as Maude swallowed convulsively. She looked as if she might be sick all over the carpet and he felt a flare of anger. How dare she react to his honorable proposal like that?
    And with the anger came a surge of raw desire. For some time he had been aware of Maude’s charms. His mother might be a genius about some things, to be sure, but she knew nothing about a beautiful face. He had long noted how Maude’s smile lit her emerald-green eyes with warmth, suffusing her perfectly oval face with the pleasure she took in life. Her red hair, once the carrot top he had had such fun teasing her about, had darkened to a stunning auburn, thick and shining. Its heavy length was swept up in fetching curls, some of which inevitably escaped the confining pins to frame her pretty face. And, this evening, though she wore an old, worn riding habit of Amelia’s, cut down to
    fit her, she had grown a bit since the alterations were made and now it hugged her fine curves and tantalized him with thethoughts of what he knew lay underneath.
    She was lovely in the candlelight. The tip of his pink tongue flicked out to moisten his fleshy lips as he recalled that one way or the other he would be able to sate himself on her delicious body, perhaps as early as tonight. He could feel himself grow hard as he contemplated the delights promised by her tight bodice which curved enticingly, molding her small, but surely firm, young breasts. Hehad never had to take a woman by force and he found the prospect highly stimulating.  Casually, as if it were an absent-minded gesture, he picked up a pillow from the loveseat and placed it in his lap to hide the bulge at his crotch. No point in frightening the chit. Not yet.
    * * * *
    Marriage? With John? A financial necessity! It was a nightmare not to be thought of. Yet as he talked, she realized what he said made some sense. It was hideously practical. It was also utterly unbearable.
    “You are uncharacteristically speechless?”