The Officer and the Traveler by Rose Gordon Page A

hadn’t heard him correctly.
    “ I believe the boy asked if you’d marry him,” Pa said with a chuckle. “Isn’t that what you heard, Jack?”  
    “ Yes, sir,” Ella’s husband said in a solemn tone. “That’s what I heard.”  
    “ Well, don’t keep the boy waiting, Michaela, give him your answer.”  
    Michaela licked her lips; then again. But it was no use, the inside of her mouth was just as dry as the outside. When had this come about? Earlier he’d accused her and her father of scheming against him, but now it was quite clear he was the schemer and she was the one who fell victim to his trap. She dug her fingers into her thick skirt to keep from trembling as her mouth moved to form her answer, one she didn’t want to give but had promised she would if he asked. “Y-yes.”  
    ***
    The relief that Gray thought would course through him at hearing her answer never came and the knots of unease in his stomach only tightened. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Michaela was on the verge of tears—and not ones borne of joy. Her face was red and her green eyes lacked the sparkle he’d glimpsed earlier, replaced with the mask of hesitation she’d worn when he’d first approached her this afternoon.
    Did she already know of the disgusting offense that General Ridgely had accused him of earlier? Did she believe it to be true and now she feared him? Nausea swirled within him.
    He ignored the curious looks of everyone else in the room and forced his legs to carry him over to her and sank down to his haunches next to where she sat in her chair. “Michaela,” he whispered. When she didn’t respond, he leaned closer and reached to take her delicate hand in his. He ran his thumb over her row of knuckles to ease her trembling. She clenched her hand; then jerked it away from him.
    He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. There was no denying it now, she’d been a pawn in all of this and somehow her father had manipulated her into saying yes. If he didn’t need to marry her as a means to gain a fair trial, he’d release her of the promise she’d just given him. But he did need her.
    “ I’ll make this up to you,” he promised in a broken whisper next to her ear. He didn’t know how or when, but he’d make this right for her.  
     

 
     
     
~Chapter Six~
     
     
    “ I will absolutely not marry that man,” Michaela burst out as soon as she and Pa were out of earshot of anyone.  
    “ Yes, you will. The announcement has already been made.”  
    She furrowed her brow. “I didn’t hear any announcement.”
    “ It came in the form of you responding ‘yes’ when he asked you if you’d marry him.”  
    “ You tricked me.”  
    “ Perhaps,” he said with a lopsided shrug. “Regardless, the wedding is tomorrow.”  
    “ Tomorrow?” she asked with a shaky laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”  
    Pa lifted a single eyebrow at her. “Would you rather marry him tonight, then?”
    “ No, and I’m not marrying him tomorrow, either.”  
    “ Yes, you are. You gave your promise.”  
    Michaela stared at her father, dumbfounded. When she’d first been seen alone with Gray when she was fifteen and Gray was sixteen, her father had warned her against being in his presence, alone or otherwise, saying boys like him weren’t the kind girls like her should be seen with. That hadn’t kept her from finding ways to talk to him, of course. She’d just had to keep it a secret. Until... She shoved away the thought. She wouldn’t think about the past. What mattered now was her future. The very one that seemed to be slipping through her fingers.
    “ I don’t see why I should marry him.”  
    “ Because you said you would and now you need to honor your promise.”  
    “ I only agreed to say ‘yes’ to him, if he asked. I never said I’d actually marry him—”  
    “ That’s enough,” her father snapped, cutting her words off. “I will discuss this no further with you. You will not make a