Free Never a Bride by Amelia Grey Page B

left.”
    “We don’t need you to repay the first half of the dowry. We need to secure the other half of it as soon as possible. All my investments have gone sour. We have enough money to get by from the entitled lands but there is no extra money for other things, Camden.”
    His father was acting as if he hadn’t protested at all and Camden knew why. His had always been short of cash as long as Camden could remember. That was one of the reasons he’d allowed his father to make this match. Twice was one time too many.
    “I’m sorry if you were counting on that, sir.”
    “Son,” his father said, “let me see if I can make this clear. You have to marry Miss Whittingham. There is not enough time to work out details on a new match for you or Hudson. Creditors are knocking at our door. If they suspect the betrothal is off, there’s no telling what they will do.”
    Exasperation quickly rose in Camden that his father had somehow managed to get himself in such dire financial straits again. And for the second time he expected Camden to rescue him.
    “Last night I caught my fiancée in the arms of another man. Does that bring back memories for anyone other than me?” His gaze jerked from one parent to the other.
    His father looked away from him and blinked slowly. “Are you sure?”
    “Of course I’m sure.”
    “Perhaps they were dancing,” his mother offered nervously. “Surely if she was in a man’s arms they were dancing.”
    “No, Mama, they were not dancing. They were in the garden embracing, kissing.”
    “Oh, dear, I’ve never heard a breath of scandal about her. Wilson?”
    “No.”
    His father didn’t look at him. His voice was less than convincing. Camden’s stomach knotted. He knew his father must have heard rumors about Mirabella. Damnation! Those young bachelors he overheard talking the first night he arrived in Town must have been talking about his fiancée. It was probably only a matter of time until her indiscretions showed up in the gossip columns.
    “Neither had we heard anything years ago, as I recall, when we saw Hortense in the arms of another man. I’ve no idea how many other men Miss Whittingham has been with. I don’t care to find out. And I have no desire to wed or bed her.”
    “I can’t believe this, Camden.” His mother sank into a chair. “Wilson, what are we to do? If the engagement is broken, and Camden pays back the dowry, where will we get the money to pay back all that money we borrowed?”
    “Yes, paying back the dowry is the least of our worries,” his father muttered weakly. For the first time he looked Camden in the eyes. “It’s creditors we have to concern ourselves with. You must marry her.”
    Camden had a feeling that by creditors his father really meant gambling debts. “You would have me marry a woman I found in the arms of another man?”
    “For the good of the family,” his father said.
    “You don’t know how bad things are. Tell him, Wilson.”
    Anger flared in his father’s eyes and tears pooled in his mother’s. Camden took a settling breath. “It doesn’t matter. I told you I have money. I’ll help you pay your debts.”
    “You couldn’t have enough.” His father sighed. “All the land we have outside the entailed lands are mortgaged and will be lost by the end of the month.”
    Camden took a step forward. “All your land? That can’t be true.”
    “It’s true,” Wilson admitted, shaking his head in frustration. “I’ve been very foolish over the years and not a very good keeper of what my father left to me. Our income is down to a meager amount and most of that is obligated to debts.”
    Camden swore under his breath. “Father, how did you let yourself get in this situation?”
    “Gambling,” his mama said, confirming what Camden suspected.
    “Not entirely,” his father remarked abruptly.
    Camden made a fist of desperation at his side. “Why didn’t you stop after the trouble you had years ago.”
    “He did,” his