Seth hadn’t spoken to him in a very long time but they had been friends since he had met him at a corporate do one night and they’d hit it off. In some ways he’d been Seth’s guide and mentor when it had come to negotiating the highs and lows of the city’s financial world. Anything a person needed to know about money Ash knew it all, it seemed.
He’d been born into Arabian royalty—his father was the ruler of a substantial and powerful kingdom and he was his only son and heir—and he’d had to fight for his freedom to go to New York and utilise his financial knowledge to make a fortune working on Wall Street, knowing all the while that if he failed he had a kingdom waiting for him to oversee when his father died.
Seth called him back immediately.
‘Seth! I am so glad you rang. Your secretary tells me you’ve decamped back to the UK? What are you doing there, man?’
Smiling a little ironically to himself—he had yet to fully come to terms with the move himself—Seth told him, ‘I’m here because I needed a change. And I’ve bought a house. A rather grand house. I’m still not quite sure what to do with it...’
Ash chuckled. ‘Well, I’m sure that your wife knows what to do with it! I take it you are married after all this time, my friend? If not, I demand to know the reason why.’
The question was sobering, to say the least. ‘Well, I’m not married, and the reason is I haven’t yet found anyone I care for.’
‘That is easily remedied. Have an arranged marriage. A beautiful woman who you can tolerate spending a little time with now and again and who will be proud to bear your name and your children for the privilege of being the consort of an important and wealthy man like yourself.’
Frowning, Seth commented, ‘Arranged marriages are not really the done thing here.’
‘Replace the term with “marriage of convenience”, then—something that suits both parties and bypasses the complications of romance. Talking of which...my father is looking for a new supplier of classic sports cars and I recommended you to him. That’s why I wanted to get in touch with you. He’s very particular when it comes to tradition and marriage—he likes to know that his business partners have settled down and proved themselves when it comes to marriage. If you are to be accepted by the elite classic-car fraternity in his country, you’ll need to have a wife. Even a trophy wife would be better than no wife at all. It could be an incredible opportunity for you, Seth.’
It wasn’t the suggestion of having a marriage of convenience that stuck with Seth long after his conversation with Ash had ended. It was the phrase ‘if you are to be accepted’ that lingered. It was the one thing he had striven for in his life and never truly achieved, no matter how much money he made or how much success he had.
But Ash was right. It was an incredible opportunity. And didn’t he pride himself on making even the most tenuous opportunities work in his favour?
He found himself heading back to the grandiose edifice known as Evergreen to have a proper look round the property. The cheerful name was apt to lead people astray about its presently austere interior, but in the welcome sunlight that streaked through the windows the cavernous rooms seemed far less daunting, less prone to be haunted than they had the day before.
With its voluminous green acres, as well as the generous-size accommodation, there was no doubt that if renovated it might potentially be a terrific place to raise a family...
Lulled into what was almost a pleasant daydream, Seth could hardly believe the thoughts that were tumbling through his brain. He didn’t often think about marrying and having a family, even when goaded by his colleagues. The truth was he doubted he had it in him anymore to make such a commitment. Not since Louisa had he seriously entertained the idea—and that had been during a time when he’d had the optimism of youth and dared to believe that anything was possible.
His belittling encounter with her father had changed all that. As well as injuring his pride, it had opened up the old wounds of his childhood, when he’d been yelled at more times than he cared to remember, told that he was useless by his own drunken father. Thank God the man hadn’t hung around for long. But being told that you were worthless by someone the rest of the world seemed to look up to—like Siddons—was apt to scar even the strongest of men. No matter how determined he was to rise above it.
Yet standing there alone in that remarkable old house, it came to him that he shouldn’t deny himself the hope that things could change for the better. His friend Ash had planted a seed with his surprising suggestion. He wasn’t searching for love anymore, but what was to stop him from sharing his life with someone and having some kind of helpful connection?