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had filled the early morning hours while Mary had slept beside him returning. Between then and now he still hadn’t thought of some way out of their predicament, and an opportunity for earning money had yet to present itself, except the one he’d avoided considering.
    “What are we going to do?” Mary asked, the small crease between her eyes deeper than before.
    Charles hesitated. After Mr. Pratt’s visit, there appeared to be only one option left and he was certain she wouldn’t like it. He hated having to propose it, but he had little choice. Without money they would lose the pub anyway. He straightened and turned to her, calling on his experience leading men in the Army to steady him. There’d been many times in Spain when he’d had to command things of his soldiers they hadn’t liked or which were dangerous, but they’d been necessary. He hadn’t flinched there and he wouldn’t do so here.
    He drew her into the tap room and shut the door on Mr. Ogden and the few other patrons’ curiosity. Then he faced her and with all the composure of an officer laid out his idea. "We can sell the Marquis of Granby, repay Mr. Pratt from the profits, and use the rest to start our life together.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
     
     
     
    "Sell the pub?" Shock stole the vigor of Mary’s voice before she reclaimed it and with it the raging fury she’d been forced to hide every time she’d faced down Paul and one of his disastrous decisions. “I won’t. My grandfather established this pub with the money he received from the Marquis of Granby for fighting with him in the Seven Years war. I won’t give up on his dream, or mine for John. Someday, I want my son to be his own master and not beholden to anyone else for his livelihood, the way my mother and I were to Paul.”
    “I want those things for him too, but maybe this isn't the best way for him to achieve it. If you sell the pub before Mr. Pratt seizes it, we’ll have the profit and be able to pay the debt. I’ll support us with my pay until we can establish another business.” He remained steady, not provoked by her indignation. His calm didn’t influence her.
    She twisted her white apron between her hands, worry and fear making her thoughts spin. “And what if a fever steals you away like it did my father and leaves me without any means? Then where will I or John be?”
    “You’ll have my pension.”
    “We can’t live of the pittance paid to captain’s widows?”
    He swallowed hard, hesitating before he answered. “I’d be a major, and stationed in London where I can earn a proper living and support a family and have a much larger pension.”
    Understanding made her drop her hands to her side before anger tightened them into fists. “No wonder you were so eager to gain my trust last night, you needed it to convince me to give up the Marquis so you could purchase a better rank.”
    He jerked back, indignant at her accusation. “This isn’t a plot to get what I want.”
    “Then what is it?”
    He took her by the arms, as tender as he’d been last night before they’d made love. “It’s a way for us to start anew without the pub and all its problems crushing us. There’s no other way. You must see that as well as I do.”
    She didn’t respond, but her tight arms eased under his grip. He was right. With only hours left to repay the debt, and no more valuables to sell, there was little either of them could do. If they didn’t sell the pub, they’d lose it and any profit they might gain from its sale.
    The profit. She tugged her arms out of his grip and stepped back disgusted by him and his proposal. He made it seem like it was the best decision but it wasn’t. Like Paul’s marriage to her mother, her selling the pub was all to Charles’ benefit. He would have the money for his commission and she and John would be bound to him for everything. He could hawk her things like Paul had done or send John away to school as was a father’s right. No, she wouldn’t