She stared back as she thought, but the truth was easy to define. “I want to remain working there, in the same way I currently do, as majority owner, overseeing production, managing orders, and doing all the things that fall to me to do.”
Somewhat to her relief, he nodded, and a wry smile lit his eyes. “I’m hoping, at some point, to lure you into spending some time helping to establish our new venture across the street and lending your expertise in deciding which alloys will not just be best for our products but will also set them apart.”
She laughed and gripped his fingers. “You won’t have to ask twice. I would love to contribute to such an enterprise.” She sent him an arch look. “In common with all the steel men at our gatherings today, I would be delighted to be associated with bringing a new industry to Sheffield.” She grinned. “Indeed, judging by the way their ears pricked when you mentioned your new undertaking, I predict you’ll be fighting them off.”
He smiled and raised her hand to his lips again. “It’s you I want by my side. From the beginning to the end. All the others are incidental.”
She sighed and batted her lashes at him. “You say the nicest things, sir.”
He laughed and squeezed her fingers. “All right. Between us, we have that much clear.” He met her gaze. “You’ll remain managing the steelworks and will help me set up the new plating works next door.” His lips firmed, and he added, “And yes, I definitely want to bid against Atlas to supply your pig iron. I can guarantee the lowest price and also your input into the smelting conditions.”
“Ah.” She shifted to face him. “Now, you have my full attention, sir.”
His grin turned smug. “I thought that might do it. Mind you, in return, I’ll expect excellent deals for procuring Carmichael steel for my knife and wire-and-cable factories, and perhaps, together, we might explore making steel buttons.”
She beamed. “That all sounds quite splendid.” Entirely sincerely, she went on, “I can barely wait to see it all come into being.” She gripped his hand more tightly. “Our life together is going to be filled with inventions and exciting new endeavors.”
“Indubitably.” Martin had discovered he truly adored making her smile like that, with excitement flashing in her turquoise eyes and her smile radiating happiness. He lowered their hands. “That, I believe, resolves the immediate questions regarding the merging of our business interests. The rest can come with time.”
She nodded, and he continued, “That brings us to our more personal decisions.” He summoned a serious expression and trained it on her. “Now that we’ve eradicated the threat to the steelworks, you are going to make an honorable man of me by marrying me, aren’t you?”
She struggled to keep her lips straight, but lost the battle and laughed. Then she leaned close and brushed her lips to his. “Yes. I most definitely am.” She drew back, and her smile faded, replaced by a faint frown. “About our wedding—”
“We have to have a proper wedding.”
She studied him, no doubt wondering at his adamant tone and the determined set of his jaw. She arched a brow. “Can it be just a small one?”
Lips firming, he shook his head. “You don’t know my family. You’ll understand once you’ve met them. I’m one of the youngest of my generation, and the wider family will definitely expect a huge wedding with all due pomp and ceremony.”
“Really?” She blinked. “You haven’t told me all that much about your family.”
He sighed. “I suppose this is the point when I should warn you about all the relatives and connections you’ll acquire through marrying me.” She looked at him encouragingly, and he started working through the long list, commencing with his brother-in-law, the Earl of Alverton, and continuing through the wider Cynster family, touching on the other major ton families to whom they were linked by marriage.
When he reached the end of his recitation, she stared at him. “Good Lord. I had no idea, but it’s no longer any wonder that Blackwell reacted as he did when I introduced you. It wasn’t just you he knew about sufficiently to be wary but your family as a whole.”
He nodded. “There are benefits. Aside from all else, the Cynster connection will make the steelworks and all our enterprises well-nigh impregnable on all fronts—financially, politically, and socially.” He paused, then glanced at her. “I should also mention Lord Randolph Cavanaugh, who was something of a mentor of mine, along with Alverton, when I first returned to England and started investing in businesses. I think you would enjoy meeting Cavanaugh’s wife, Felicia, and her brother, William John Throgmorton. The pair are inventors and specialize in steam-powered machinery.”
“Throgmorton?” Sophy’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard the name. One of the steam winches in the main shed is a Throgmorton design.”
Martin smiled at the distracted expression that overlaid her features as, without doubt, she imagined what might be possible were she to meet Felicia and William John.
Then she blinked and looked at him again. “You also haven’t told me how you came to make your fortune. Was it family money you invested and grew?”
He considered saying it was, but partnerships were based on trust. “No. It wasn’t.” Resigned, he captured her gaze and tightened his hold on her hand. “I was once a young, reckless, and very inexperienced man.”
He told her all of it—of his ill-advised flight from England, drawn by the lure of the colonies, and his years of hard, dogged, determined work there. “I was little more than a clerk to begin with.” He continued, describing how he’d risen through the ranks of the import-export business that had hired him. “Primarily because of my diction and the ability to interact with people of any social rank. I was never intimidated by anyone, you see.”
When she smiled as if perceiving some revelation, he asked, “What?”
Her smile deepened. “Your ability to interact with those of any social rank.” She tipped her head, studying him. “That was something I noticed about you in the hours after we first met. You knew how to speak with the men in the shed. Very few of our class do.”
“Yes, well. Now you know why and where and under what circumstances I learned the knack. I had to in order to survive.” He paused, remembering those times. Then he drew breath and told her the rest—of the events that led to him returning to England and reconnecting with his family. Those were memories that, even now, made him inwardly squirm.
But he told her all. She deserved to know.
When he finally reached the present, more or less, and fell silent, she continued to study him as if fascinated with what she saw. Eventually, she smiled. “Your years in America explain how, at the shepherd’s hut, you knew what to do to knock out those two thugs.” She arched a playful brow at him. “I did wonder, you know.”
He grunted and waited, but she simply continued to look at him as if waiting herself… He frowned. “Is that all you have to say about my past? I was no better than one of your workers for years, and yet here I am, claiming your hand.”
