The Prisoner(25)

He leaned back in his chair. “Okay, so here’s my proposition. I’ll give you the hundred thousand you need to go to college if you marry me now, here in Las Vegas.”

I stared at him. “Marry you?”

“In name only,” he said firmly. “And for the shortest time possible. As I said, it’s a business proposition, not a proposal.” Now he leaned forward. “Think about it, Amelie. We get married, I give you a hundred thousand. My parents are furious but powerless. I’m off the hook regarding Isobel Algerson and you can go to college without having to worry about money. A couple of weeks later, we say that we got carried away by the whole Las Vegas vibe, we’ve realized now that our marriage was a silly mistake, and that we’re separating. Then we file for divorce.”

I couldn’t believe he was serious. “We couldn’t,” I said. “It wouldn’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because nobody would believe it. I mean, why would we get married? I work for you, you’re my boss. It’s not as if we’ve hung out together or anything.”

“We can say we’ve been seeing each other secretly.”

I laughed. “You really think that people would believe that?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Because no one would believe that you would actually marry me, not when you are who you are, and I’m who I am.”

He shrugged. “Stranger marriages have happened. Beautiful models marry old men, young men marry old women, ladies marry tramps. Marriages of convenience.” He paused. “No strings, I promise. I don’t expect anything, except for you to act as if you’re happy to be married to me for those first few weeks until we announce that we’re separating.”

I shook my head, trying to rid it of the absurdity of what Ned was proposing. But somewhere, I felt the stirrings of excitement at the thought of taking control of my life, of being able to fulfill my dream of going to college so easily. I tried to imagine what it would be like to not have to work part-time to supplement my grant—if I managed to get one—and be able to devote myself fully to studying. It would be total luxury. But.

“I couldn’t,” I said.

“Because?”

“Because it wouldn’t be right. We’d be tricking people.”

“Who are you concerned about tricking? You said you don’t have any family.”

“Well, Carolyn, for a start. I couldn’t lie to her, I’d have to tell her the truth.”

He nodded, sat back. “In that case, let’s forget this whole conversation.”

I looked at him, startled. “Oh.”

“I’m sorry, Amelie, but for it to work, you’d have to agree not to tell anyone that it was purely a business transaction, even once we’ve separated. But if you feel you have to be straight with Carolyn, I respect that.” He paused. “Although, if you’re worried what Carolyn might think of you, wouldn’t she be more understanding if she thought you’d made a silly mistake, rather than a calculated decision?”

It bothered me that he was right. Carolyn would think less of me if I admitted that I’d only married Ned because he offered to give me one hundred thousand pounds.

“She would still wonder where the money came from,” I said.

“I’ve thought of how to explain that to everyone. Shall I run through it for you?”

“Alright. But I still think it’s crazy.”

“So, we leave this bar, we go and get married. We need a license, which I already have.”

I frowned. “How come?”

“Because yesterday, I had a particularly fraught phone call with my father. He was incensed that I’d come here without telling him, and accused me of trying to escape the weekend with the Algersons. That’s when I came up with the whole idea. I made inquiries, discovered that we’d need to get a license twenty-four hours before the event, and arranged one in case I decided to tell you what I’d been thinking. Because, as you rightly said, it’s a pretty crazy idea. But a crazy idea that could work in both our favors.” He paused. “So, once we’re married, I release the news to the press. Tomorrow, when we arrive in England, we go to my house in Wentworth where you’ll have your own rooms. At some point, the press will want an interview, during which we’ll play the happy couple. A few weeks later, we announce that we’ve realized our marriage was a mistake and are separating, pending our divorce. We file for divorce, I pay you the hundred thousand that people will think is our divorce settlement, you move back to your apartment. That way, people will never be able to say that you married me for my money.”

“I’m glad you thought of that,” I said. “I’d hate people to think that of me.”

“But please know that I’m happy to give you more if you want.”

“No.” I shook my head quickly.

“Does that mean you agree?”

“I’ll need to think about it.”

He shot back his cuff, glanced at his watch. “You have approximately forty-five minutes. The ceremony, if you decide to go through with it, is booked for four o’clock.”

“Wow,” I said, my heart racing. “No pressure then.”

“Actually, no pressure at all. It’s entirely up to you.” He nodded to somewhere over my shoulder. “See that chapel? That’s where the ceremony will be. Why don’t you go for a walk and think it through? If you decide it’s something you’d like to go ahead with, I’ll meet you outside at five to four. Wear something cute so that we can take a picture for the press. If not, I’ll see you back at the hotel.”