Once Beloved by Amara Royce

shoulders squared. That these two women, the Thorton sisters of all people, stood poised as if to do battle with him, well, the whole situation was absurd. As if they were the victims and he the transgressor. Ha!
    â€œI’ve no wish to waste your precious time, ladies.” He tried, really, to keep the disdain from his voice. It wasn’t easy. “When Mrs. Clarke made clear that you intend to return to Marksby, Mrs. Martin, and wouldn’t be dissuaded, I felt it my duty to enlighten you.”
    â€œYour duty ? To enlighten me ? How charming,” Mrs. Martin replied, folding her hands over her chest. If her tone were a pitchfork, he’d be naught but a sieve in just those few stabbing words. The look on her face brought to mind her younger self. More than once, he’d seen that look when someone told her You can’t or You mustn’t . But he would say his piece, whether she liked it or no. What the woman chose to do with the knowledge was her business.
    â€œMy choice of words aside, ma’am, you need to know that you are not welcome in Marksby. It would be unwise to return. Your sister knows perhaps even better than I what a disaster it’d be for you to show your face there.”
    Miss Eliza—Mrs. Addison—gasped. This couldn’t be a surprise to her, could it? She blanched and moved close to her sister. When Mrs. Martin looked at her, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
    â€œIs what he says true, sister? You never said I was utterly unwelcome, only that Mother and Father had turned away from me.”
    Mrs. Addison shook her head, her mouth agape, her eyes downcast, but she repeated, “I’m sorry, Helena. It was bad enough that our parents disowned you. There was no reason for me to pour salt in that wound. You had no intentions of returning to the village anyway. It can’t still be as bad as it was. It simply can’t.” Then the younger Thorton sister looked at him pleadingly.
    The tension in the room sharpened as Mrs. Martin turned to him and said slowly, “Perhaps you could elaborate, sir.”
    â€œYou mightn’t be aware, but your elopement did a great deal of damage to the village.”
    â€œI was sorry to hurt your brother so. It was terrible of me, but it was a personal matter.”
    â€œMy brother’s feelings are not at issue here. The personal affront, bad as it was, became just one part of a much more severe catastrophe. You must’ve known that your marriage to Gordon would have combined the Lanfield and Thorton lands.” When she nodded warily, he continued, “What you mayn’t have known was that our fathers were on the verge of an agreement with the very railway company your Captain Martin represented. That’s why he and his associates were there, you know. The deal would’ve transformed Marksby. It would’ve put our little village on the map.”
    Mrs. Martin shook her head, her features screwed into a frown. “No, that can’t be right.”
    Mrs. Clarke and Mrs. Addison rushed to her side, twin columns of calico to bolster her. Neither woman looked surprised by the news or by Mrs. Martin’s reaction. A bitter laugh rose in his throat, but he stifled it.
    â€œAye, Miss Helena,” he said, addressing her deliberately, “what you did couldn’t be right. Your whimsical, headstrong decision ruined Marksby’s greatest prospects.”
    â€œNo, no, no,” she said, shaking her head more vehemently. “Elizabeth, is this true?”
    Her sister looked suitably askance as she replied, “Father was furious. You know, he was never one to talk of business matters at home, but I overheard many heated discussions between him and the elder Mr. Lanfield and some of the other village elders. The railway was mentioned, but I couldn’t discern the details.”
    â€œElizabeth, why?” Mrs. Martin asked plaintively. “Why did you never tell me any