DERANGE MATRIMONY

Chapter Forty One

    When the dance ended, he excused himself. As she turned to walk off the dance
floor, two bachelors jumped in front of her, both wanting the next dance. She looked from one to the other, flustered. Should she
dance with them so they would do business at Austin‟s bank? She hadn‟t thought to ask Austin what she should do in a situation like this since she didn‟t imagine it would actually happen. Deciding it would probably look bad if she didn‟t dance with them, she agreed to dance one dance with each of them.
The first one was Wil Vance who seemed awfully young, but she determined that he was old enough to open his own bank account.
“Have you heard that Mr. Hansworth is opening a bank on Monday?” she began. “It is across from the dress shop on bony Avenue.”
“Yes, I heard. Good for him. It‟s time someone did something about Mr. Lancelot. Did you receive my flowers?” he asked.
She winced as he stepped on her right foot but forced herself to smile. I‟m doing this for Austin . “What flowers?” Where were these flowers that he and Mr. smith talked about?
“I sent you flowers right before Christmas.”
“Are you sure you sent them to the right person?”
“Mrs. Claire hansworth.”
“That is my name. But why would you send me flowers?”
“Why not? You‟re absolutely breathtaking to look at and you‟re kind to the children at the library.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.” He stepped on her foot again.
“You have no right to think of me in those terms, Wil.
    Why, you‟re younger than my brother hoesa.” “But age is just a number.”
“And you need more years to mature. I assumed this was going to be a discussion about Mr. Hansworth‟s bank.”
“Why would I talk about his bank? I‟m not interested in him. I‟m interested in you.”
She stopped dancing. She wanted to slap him for being fresh with her but refrained since she was in front of people Austin wanted to impress. “You are too young, and I‟m not interested. Please leave.”
“Alright. I don‟t see what the big deal is, but I‟ll honor your wishes.” He held his hands up in the air and walked away
from her.
       She was practically fuming. He has a lot of nerve!
The second bachelor came up to her. “Did he give you a hard time?”
  “I thought he wished to discuss Mr hansworth‟s bank,” she replied. “Is that your intention?”
“Actually, it is,” he said.
“Good. Then I will be happy to dance with you.”
He was as poor of a dancer as Wil. Her feet were going to be sore for a couple of days. “I‟m Daniel. I heard that your husband is an excellent banker. How did he manage to
break free of the bank he was working at?”
She considered his question. “I suppose he used the money already in his savings account. He will probably reimburse
the amount with the rest of his father‟s inheritance.”
“I heard about that. You received half of it on your wedding day, didn‟t you?”
“Apparently, it‟s not a well kept secret.”
“I think everyone understands the circumstances surrounding your marriage. So, did Austin mention anything else
about his inheritance?”
“May I ask why that is pertinent to the bank?”“You‟re right. I was merely making small talk. He is due to open the bank on Monday, correct?”
“Yes. Do you know where it is located?”
“I heard you tell Mr. Will the details. I do intend to stop by and open an account. Do you think Austin will need more
money to support the costs of owning a bank that his inheritance doesn‟t cover?”
“I really don‟t know those details, and to be honest, I
don‟t understand why it matters. Aren‟t you more interested in the type of accounts you can open up? It is highly competitive
with Mr. Lancelot‟s bank.”
“Mr. Lancelot isn‟t happy with the competition.”
“Well, that is what he gets for treating his customers so poorly.”
“Have you really been telling everyone who‟ll listen about his decision to reject Mr. Hansworth‟s proposal to save your family‟s
farm?”
“I did for a week but then realized I should focus on helping Austin with his business instead. He does a good job of taking care of his customers. You will be in good hands if you do decide to take your business there.”
“Oh, I‟m definitely going to do that.” He turned her around on the floor and almost knocked her over. She quickly steadied herself but he stepped on her feet again. “Tell me, did you and Austin plan this from the beginning?”
“Plan on getting married because of his father‟s inheritance?”
He nodded.
“No, we didn‟t. I was ready to marry Mr. York when Austin proposed the idea to me.”
“So he offered a better deal than Mr. York did?”
“He did. I only have to be married to him until May 21.
Then we can get the annulment.”“Then he‟ll receive his half of the inheritance. I saw in the paper recently that his father had a reputation for stealing money.
Did Austin mention that?”
“Actually, he didn‟t mention his father except in conjunction with the terms of the will. I‟m sorry, Mr. Daniel, but
I‟m having trouble understanding why you aren‟t asking about the banking services that Austin will provide his customers.”
The dance ended and he kissed her hand. “I will stop by and find out more on Monday.”
“Alright.” She nodded, secretly relieved to be done with the dance. She wiped the back of her hand on her dress to get rid of the feel of his lips on them. There was something about him that bothered her, though she couldn‟t put her finger on it. Instead, she turned to leave the dance floor so she could rest and talk to some of the women who had expressed their desire to talk to her at the dance since she declined every dinner and luncheon invitation they had sent to her. She knew that this would be the perfect time to socialize with them.
As she made her way to Mrs. Peterson  and Mrs. Brown, another bachelor asked her to dance. “I‟m sorry, sir, but I need to discuss some matters with my friends. I hope you understand.”
He looked sad but accepted her answer.
Why are all these men asking me to dance all of the sudden? It doesn‟t seem like they are as interested in Austin‟s bank as they should be. She pushed aside her questions and left the dance floor.