How could they do this to her? Arabella tried to choke down the lump in her throat. Her voice threatened to break as she repeated the words she had just heard, "Marry?" She hoped she had misheard. But the two people across from her in the salon nodded, looking directly at her and sipping from their fine tea cups. Neither her father nor her mother seemed bothered by the sheer horror her daughter felt and clearly displayed.

 "I don't want to get married." she brought over her lips, which suddenly felt dry. 

"Don't be silly. The de Raves family's offer is more than acceptable. In fact, it's more than we should ever have expected given our situation." Her mother Lady Marges raised one of her finely plucked brows meaningfully. Arabella clenched her fists. 

"You've carried the family fortune through, and now you want to barter me away like cattle to an old sack." Her exclamation didn't move a muscle in the people who had raised her for the past twenty-four years. 

 "We all have our role in life." Her mother set down her teacup and waved one of the servants over, with a sidelong glance at her daughter she gave her order, "Lock her in her room and make sure she's ready to be picked up tomorrow." Tears of anger burned in Arabella's eyes as two servants grabbed her.