Joseph wanted to inform them that wealth wouldn’t buy Mercy. After all, if his title and the aristocratic life hadn’t attracted her, then two thousand pounds wouldn’t either. If she didn’t want to marry him, she certainly wouldn’t want to marry any of these men. Would she?

He studied their eager, young faces. Most were of the laboring class, likely having emigrated from England, similar to the women they sought to wed. These were the kind of men Mercy was used to. Would she feel more comfortable with them than him? Would she eventually change her mind and marry one of them?

His body stiffened at the thought. Why was she arranging meetings anyway? After seeing the eligible men, had she already decided to put aside her reservations and get married?

“Why is there a list for Miss Wilkins?” Joseph asked again, trying for a measure of calmness he didn’t feel. “What if she doesn’t want to get married?”

“Oh, she does,” chimed in a different fellow. “The reverend, who was her chaperone on the ship, informed us she’ll pick a man and marry him by Sunday.”

“What the devil?” Joseph shook his head. Impossible. Mercy wouldn’t do such a thing. Could it be they had her mixed up with someone else? “The one with the fair hair, at the tub near the door?” he asked.

“That’s the one.”

Her back was facing the men. He willed her to turn and see him, so he could beckon her. Even now he was tempted to shout her name and call her over. If only he could do so where he might have a moment to speak to her alone without half the town’s male population watching them.

If Mercy had indeed changed her mind about getting married, if she really was picking a man and marrying by Sunday, then why had she turned down his proposal? She seemed to care for him. He assumed she’d enjoyed spending time with him as much as he had with her. Surely he hadn’t imagined her passionate response to him the time he’d kissed her.

But what if he’d misread her signals? After all, he hadn’t exactly courted or spent much time with women over the past few years. Perhaps his skills with the fairer sex were lacking. Maybe he’d only assumed she was attracted to him when instead she was relieved to be rid of him.

He shook his head. No. She’d been sincere earlier when she informed him that she’d miss him. And yet what if she would only miss him as a friend? Doubts piled upon doubts until he didn’t know what to think.

“You fellows may as well go home and blubber,” chortled a stocky man sitting on the fence. “One look at me and she’ll take me right to her bed.”

“Watch your tongue,” Joseph rebuked sharply.