His gaze locked on Martha but was so sad that Sian immediately moved to the edge of her own seat. Ryan instantly moved to stand beside her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Sian immediately captured her hand in his while she waited to hear the terrible news.
“He has objected to my association with Miss Martha and has said that he would never allow us to be wed,” Isambard choked out.
“What else has he said?” Mabel whispered, staring hard at Isambard.
“He has said that if I don’t sever all contact with her then he is going to get me removed from my position because Mr Richardson won’t employ someone who is prepared to ruin a young girl’s reputation. I told him that I had every intention of offering for her, but he made it clear that I am not worthy enough for her hand. He says he would not allow such a union.”
“Oh, really. Well, we shall see about that,” Mabel bit out. “Has he spoken with Mr Richardson?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Isambard whispered. He coughed and forced his shoulders back. “Yes. I do believe he spoke to him after I left this evening.”
“What did Mr Richardson say?”
“I am not sure, but I cannot lose my job. It is a better position than I had ever hoped to get,” Isambard continued.
He looked so miserable that Ryan struggled to know what to say to console him.
“You won’t lose your job,” Mabel assured him. “As for Martha, there is no earthly reason why Arthur should not consider you worthy enough for her. Why, you are an apprentice accountant. It is a fine and credible position indeed. It is foolish of anybody to claim otherwise.”
“I have to go to town tomorrow,” Ryan said. “How about I pay a visit to Mr Richardson?”
“Oh, could you?” Martha gasped.
“I don’t know what I can do about any warning Arthur has given the man, but I can assure Mr Richardson that he will lose my business if he gets rid of reputable employee like Isambard.”
Isambard blinked at looked at him with such awe that Ryan knew he had expected to be thrown out on his ear. That set Ryan to wondering how the locals viewed him. Everyone certainly seemed to expect the worst of him. As far as he was aware, he had never done or said anything to anybody that would give them the impression he was some sort of draconian monster. It was a little worrying and made a mental note to ask Norman about it the first chance he got.
“It would be so wonderful if you would,” Mabel breathed.
Ryan didn’t mind because he personally wouldn’t want an accountant who had his business ruled by another man’s stringent dictates.
“What do we do if father won’t agree to us marrying? Should we run away?” Martha looked askance at Isambard, who was too busy staring miserably at the fire to notice to begin with. When Martha’s words did register on him, he looked truly horrified.
“If we wed, we are going to do it properly and with our families in attendance,” he commanded in an uncompromising voice.
Martha immediately nodded her agreement, but still looked doubtful. “Then we aren’t likely to wed because once father says he won’t agree to something it is unlikely anybody can make him change his mind.”
She began to weep quietly. Isambard immediately stood up and hurried up to her. Soothing her gently, he looked at Ryan. “What do I do?”
“You can do nothing for the time being. I will speak with Mr Richardson in the morning. Ignore Arthur. Unless there is any need for you two to rush into marriage, there is no reason to panic. You carry on as you were and let us deal with the rest.” Ryan offered the younger man a smile of encouragement and received Isambard’s effusive thanks.
“Thank you,” Sian mouthed.
Ryan winked at her. It was only later, when Isambard was being escorted to the front door by a besotted Martha, and Mabel had taken Lucinda up to her bed chamber to calm her frazzled nerves, that Ryan and Sian were alone and able to talk privately.
“I don’t know how I can ever thank you for this,” Sian began.
“Can you just clarify whether your father is usually like this?”
“Dictatorial?” Sian asked.
She sighed and contemplated what to say. It wasn’t that she minded telling Ryan her family’s intimate details. After everything he had done to help them, taking him into her confidence was mandatory. However, it was difficult to know what to say that didn’t make her sound disloyal to her father, who had done his best. It was just that he was a little, well, dictatorial.
“In the p
ast, my father used to play with us a lot. We never had the kind of house where we were confined to the nursery. We ran around the house and had a happy childhood. It has only been these last couple of years or so that he seems to have aged beyond his years. He has become aloof, dictatorial, and has lost most, if not all, of the contentment he used to have. I think contentment is the right word. He seems unhappy but is unable to identify why.”
“His marriage to your mother is not a happy one,” Ryan sighed as he dropped onto the chaise beside her.