Originally posted to tumblr. Please enjoy an Arranged Marriage Regency AU with Sutton and Steve!

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"Mother, I refuse."

Sutton clenched her hands at her sides and pursed her lips. Her mother's expression didn't waver, she could be just as stubborn and Sutton felt a trickle of unease at the steel in her mother's eyes.

"We have no choice." Her mother said. "I've already arranged for you to be introduced to Captain Rogers at the next ball."

"You cannot just marry me off against my will! I'll refuse him."

"Oh? Refuse him and be left destitute?"

Sutton scoffed and looked away, but her mother marched forward, her skirts swirling around her feet.

"Don't scoff at me. You know Howard's firm has been in decline recently. And beyond that, what he has legally must go to Tyrese."

"Tyrese would not leave me destitute."

Her mother took a breath.

"No. But you would leave his allowance smaller than it already is and with slimmer chances of a good match. Would you do that to your brother when you have another option available to you?"

Sutton hissed under her breath. Using Tyrese wasn't fair. She would disgrace herself in public for him and her mother knew that.

"Why would Captain Rogers agree to this match?" She asked instead. "His family is of good fortune last I heard."

"And your head is in the clouds far too often to hear the local gossip. Captain Rogers cut Captain Rumlow in town, right in front of everyone. His social standing is in question and he could use our family's name to salvage his own."

Sutton, indeed, had not heard the gossip. She rolled her eyes.

"Over ignoring him in public? Please, mother. A man of his wealth only has to announce an apology and his name will survive-"

"Captain Rogers refuses."

The statement lingered. That was a bit more severe.

"Oh." Said Sutton.

"His reasons are his own, but he is a man that stands by his convictions." Her mother paused, a soft, pleading look took over her face. "By all rights, he is a good man, Sutton. Please. I am thinking only of your future."

Sutton found herself, coiffed and pristine, at the ball. Her nerves were alight and she wanted to hide in a far room, but of course she couldn't. And she couldn't look as frazzled and nervous as she felt either. Lest she also give herself a poor reputation and ruin Captain Rogers' only reason to marry her.

Which she still didn't want to agree to.

Her mother arranged Sutton's curls herself with a few decorative pins and the reminder that Sutton should be concerned for her own future. And of how sincerely wonderful a match Captain Rogers would be.

Captain Rogers was newly stationed in town, though his family's name was well known. It seemed like the locals hadn't stopped chittering about him and his fellows since their arrival. Though in Captain Rogers' case, now the talk was for a different, less admirable, reason.

If Sutton weren't so distressed, she might have been impressed with how quickly her mother was able to negotiate the arrangement.

The dancing hall was full of people and lively music. Mr. Stark was hosting, yet again, and his parties were always an event. Sutton would have been more eager for a few dances if a looming marriage arrangement didn't shadow the entire evening.

"You mustn't look so glum, Sutton. You'll put off all the eager gentlemen looking for a dancing partner."

Sutton turned at the voice and put on a smile.

"Glum? At a Stark party? Hardly."

Natasha, her dear friend, smiled as she took Sutton's hand.

"And yet you've been scowling at the crowd for the last few minutes. Tell me; did Victoria drive her carriage by your house with a new, fancy bonnet?"

Sutton laughed lightly at that. As much as was socially acceptable.

"No. Though I wish it were something so trivial."

"Oh, I sense delectable gossip. Now you must share."

No one in the room was paying particular attention to them yet, and no one approached to make introductions. Sutton dipped her head closer to Natasha's in order not to be overheard.

"I hardly want to even say."

"Sutton, I insist. You're hardly ever in poor spirits and you'll make me worry."

"Can you keep a secret?"

"My dear sister-in-arms, you know that I am full of secrets."

That, of course, was an understatement. If there was one person who kept tabs on all the local gossip, and some beyond, it was Natasha Barton. Sutton was too afraid to ask how she found out so much.

"My mother," Sutton whispered, "is planning to have me...to have me wed to Captain Rogers."

Natasha cocked a brow, looking rather more conspiratorial than sympathetic. Sutton frowned.

"That certainly would salvage his social standing." Natasha said.

"Not you too. Really; does no one care that I would rather marry for love than for station or fortune?"

"Do you think you couldn't love a man like Captain Rogers?"

"I do not know him, so I could not say."

Natasha flippantly waved off Sutton's argument as if it were no important matter.

"That's what the courtship is for.

"Ugh, never mind I said a thing, then. You're just as impossible as my mother."

"I shall take that as a compliment."

Sutton was kept from returning a snide remark by two approaching figures. One familiar and the other a stranger. Both women smiled politely as the two men stopped before them.

"Mrs. Barton, Miss Regan."

"Mr. Stark." Both women said in unison.

They dipped slightly in greeting and Anthony Stark bowed at the waist.

Anthony Stark was not only the host, but a friend of the family. Sutton was quite fond of him, generally, despite his shortcomings. But her opinion of him could be swayed depending on who he was about to introduce.

"Might I introduce Captain Rogers," Mr. Stark said. "He's recently arrived with his company and will be staying in town for the foreseeable future."

Sutton's mouth went dry and her heart thudded. Mr. Stark dropped a few notches in her list of esteemed peoples.

Captain Rogers was a tall man with well kept blond hair and a defined jaw. He held himself in a stiff, business-like manner, and he offered them a polite enough smile, though Sutton felt it was a bit forced.

She and Natasha dipped as he bowed, and Natasha cast her a knowing look from the corner of her eye. Sutton knew the look. It said Natasha thought that Sutton would be impressed or should be forced to admit that she was. And true, Captain Rogers appeared to be the sort of gentleman that would attract all of the local ladies gossip, but for how much would that account in terms of personality? A handsome man did not necessarily mean he was genteel underneath and away from the public eye.

"A pleasure to meet you, Captain Rogers." Natasha said. "Your service to this country puts us in your debt."

"Hardly." Captain Rogers said. "It's a duty and an honor to serve."

"Admirable, Captain." Natasha smiled, disarmingly friendly. "And, pray tell, do you have an estate here? Or are you boarding with friends for your duration?"

Steve dipped his head.

"My family has an estate in Brooklyn," he said. "It's of enough size that I hope to be able to host dinners for some of the men without family in the area."

"So generous of you, Captain."

Sutton's tone was neutral, she had the practice, and she kept her expression just as neutral as all eyes turned towards her. Mr. Stark had a shine in his own eyes and a curl of his lip that said he was amused. Likely he knew of her mother's schemes already. Likely he was the very one her mother had conspired with to introduce her to Captain Rogers in the first place. And if that were the case he knew her enough to guess that she was less than enthused.

Captain Rogers tilted his head in a gesture that said he knew her comment meant more but would graciously ignore it.

"It's not my aim to draw attention to myself. I simply wish to bolster morale where I can. I know just as well the struggles of being a solitary man in a foreign place."

They studied each other with equal scrutiny. Sutton was sure he found her at least slightly unpleasant, seeming to toe around the edge of decency. But then, he didn't have much room for judging her on that account, did he?

On her end, she was immediately suspicious of men who managed to only say the right thing in their conversations with the fairer sex. More than once she'd seen her peers swoon for a man who presented himself as wholly doting and refined, only to show himself as stubborn and as affectionate as a mule once wed. Or worse.

She had vowed to herself that she would never succumb to such a match, but now all the choice had been ripped from her.

And Captain Rogers was rushing from the gate with only the right things pouring from his lips.

"Well put, Captain Rogers." Natasha said blithely.

Mr. Stark looked between Sutton and Captain Rogers before he clapped the man on the back and gave Sutton a wink.

"Mrs. Barton," he said, "would you do me the honor of a dance? It looks like your husband is momentarily distracted by the buffet table."

Natasha's eyes sparkled despite Sutton's nails digging into her arm.

"It would be my pleasure Mr. Stark."

Propriety forced Sutton to relinquish her hold on Natasha despite the growing anticipation in her stomach. The last thing she wanted to be was left alone with the man her mother would guilt her into marrying.

Mr. Stark left with Natasha on his arm and Sutton turned back up to Captain Rogers. His gaze was elsewhere for a moment, but he turned to her before she could search to see where he was looking. The smile he gave her was pressed and obligated.

"Would you like to dance, Miss Regan?"

Nothing would delight her more than to deny him and find a more quiet corner of the party to retreat to. But she could see her mother now, off behind Captain Rogers, and she was giving Sutton so murderous a glare that to follow through with her own wishes would be tantamount to suicide.

And denying him would be a sign to everyone that she agreed his social standing was in ruin and she wanted nothing to do with him. With her family's good name, it could destroy him most thoroughly.

Sutton's face split in just as obligated and polite a smile as she held out her hand.

"I would be honored, Captain."

They made their way to the dance floor and Sutton felt all the eyes in the room upon them as they took their places. Natasha selected an especially lively song and Sutton readied herself as she reminded herself of the first steps to the dance. Captain Rogers stood across from her, his shoulders a little too tense and his eyes not quite meeting hers.

The music started and everyone stepped forward, nearly coming together, hands up, and stepping away. Spinning, turning, weaving around each other. Sutton saw Captain Rogers clear his throat rather than heard it before they stepped forward again to circle each other.

"I'm assuming your mother already informed you of her designs for us."

Sutton bristled internally, but focusing on the dance helped keep her from glaring outwardly.

"Recently, yes." She replied. "I have to thank you both for finally including me in on the details of my future."

They pulled away, twisting about the room, and Sutton felt her love of the dance wain as Captain Rogers' discomfort only seemed to grow.

"Your mother approached me with the proposal," he said when they next met. "In my situation, I have just as little choice as you."

Sutton's hackles rose at that and her eyes sharpened.

"Really, Captain? Last I checked, I had little choice in the success of my father's business, while you had every choice to cut Captain Rumlow out in the town square where all could see you."

This time Captain Rogers didn't duck in uncomfortable sheepishness. His own look hardened and his jaw tensed in defense of his actions.

"You don't understand the circumstances."

"You should know that circumstances hardly matter to the masses."

They turned again and Sutton made eye contact with Natasha at the front of the dance line. Natasha grinned, hopeful, and Sutton frowned. Natasha made a face in return. Sutton would have to have a word with her after the ball for leaving her like this.

"Do you object then," Steve said as they held up hands, nearly touching, and turned, "to marrying a man with what you consider a tarnished reputation? Without knowing the details of such?"

"I object to marrying a man I don't know when I swore to marry for no less than love."

"You anticipate that I'll fail to reach your expectations of love."

"I find it interesting how you assume my agreement to this arrangement without asking me, and now know my innermost thoughts on the future. Your ability to know a person after mere introductions astounds me."

They spun away from each other, back into their lines, and Sutton's heart pounded as her anger swelled. How dare he! How dare he imply that she was the one in the wrong here. When she had so little choice in life compared to him; how dare he scoff at her for wanting to cling to this one decision.

The music ended and the lines bowed and curtsied to each other, finishing the dance. Another woman hurried to the musicians to request the next song and dance. Sutton smoothed out her dress and brushed back some of her curls. As much as she loathed it, she knew what would happen next.

He would ask for one more dance, to openly show his interest, and she would be obligated to accept thanks to her mother. Then everyone in attendance would share murmurs about the possible forming connection.

Before the end of the ball he'd go to her mother, to ask to call on her, and her life would be locked on the track of her mother's design. For her good.

She swallowed and attempted to catch her breath as she briefly met Captain Rogers eyes. He gave her a nod and another bow and stepped away from the dance floor.

He did not ask for another.

Sutton blinked at the dismissal. If he were just another man at the ball, she would not have thought twice about it. One dance was perfectly acceptable. But Captain Rogers was supposedly agreeing to an arranged marriage with her, and not making an effort to show interest in her was shocking to say the least.

She and her mother made eye contact from across the room, and her mother appeared just as scandalized and irate. Their saving grace was that no one else was aware there was supposed to be an interest, arranged or otherwise. Or likely Sutton's own reputation would have been gossiped about as well.

A thought arrested her. Perhaps he now wanted to call off the arrangement because of her bluntness in their conversation. Her mother could never know the cause, if that were the case. She feared her mother's wrath more than she feared being left destitute.

Though, would he really call off everything because she had the audacity to be blunt with him? When he was the one who asked? If nothing else, it seemed her opinion had offended him enough that he felt the need to slight her.

A man with such a delicate disposition, over such a matter as a personal conviction besides his own, didn't bode well to Sutton for what she would be subjected to in a marriage.

If there was still a marriage to be had.

Her mother idled in the crowd, obviously fretting now, and Sutton left the room. Her emotions were too tumultuous to be in public and she needed some space.

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First Lieutenant James "Bucky" Barnes smiled sharply as Steve Rogers stepped off the dance floor. It was a strained expression and Steve frowned when he saw it.

"What is it?"

Bucky clapped his good hand on Steve's shoulder and kept the smile for the sake of the company in the room.

"You're finished dancing already, then?"

Steve tipped his head and shifted so that they could speak with a sliver more privacy.

"Can I assume you don't approve."

"Steve, you're meant to be showing interest in this girl. Wooing her; and you only ask for one dance? There's not another ball scheduled later this week. Now is the time to lay foundations."

"Miss Regan made it plain that she doesn't agree with the arrangement," Steve said. "I won't force her hand under public pressure."

"Steve, you have likely insulted her or called this arrangement into question. Unless you mentioned these thoughts to her before the dance ended?"

Steve remained silent making the answer obvious. Bucky huffed under his breath.

"Steve, I lost an arm and yet you manage to somehow be more of a frustration for me."

"Last I checked it was my reputation at stake, not yours."

"You say that as if I don't care about your reputation for you; since someone has to. You want to stick to your convictions and have nothing to do with Captain Rumlow, fine. But don't toss aside your best opportunity to keep your family's name in good standing."

Of course Bucky, as ever, had a fair point. Steve's parents had labored to build his family's name from the ground up, and it wasn't a burden he bore lightly. As their only child, it was his duty to continue the legacy they started. To continue on so their struggles were not in vain.

And it seemed to do so meant marrying one Miss Sutton Regan.

If she would accept him.