Claiming What is Rightfully Mine (Walter Deville)

Chapter 2

Colette and her father arrived home, where Colette's father urged her to make her way up to the room and get ready for the evening.

"Now Colette, I need you to go up to your room, bathe and get dressed in a beautiful dress. I want you to get your hair done all nicely. It's important that you look your best, because we have a very important guest coming to dinner tonight. I need you to look beautiful, so you impress our guest tonight," Lucas said as he gently urged his daughter to go up the stairs to her room.

"Father are you sure I need all of this time to get ready for dinner tonight? It's just another one of your formal dinners that you always have with your business partners. I have been to many of these kinds of dinners before. What makes this one any different that I have to make a good first impression on this man who you want me to impress," Colette asked.

"Colette, darling we have an extremely important guest attending this dinner. I want you to have good first impressions with him when he comes, because he could benefit us if you do help give the little push that we need," Lucas said. That and it would be an even better benefit if he were to take an interest in you and want to take you as his wife. It would mean that you are going to have money and have everything that you could ever want in life, Lucas thought to himself.

"Are you going to tell me when your guest is due to arrive," Colette asked.

"He will be showing up in good time. Possibly even earlier than that. But I need you to go and get cleaned up. While you're at it, pamper yourself a bit. Once you are done bathing and relaxing, the maids will be up in your room ready to help you dress and do your hair. I want you to look extra beautiful. Make it so that our guest has a hard time forgetting about you," Lucas said.

"Alright," Colette said before walking away. Father is acting extra on edge tonight which is not like him. Usually when he has dinners like this, he's much calmer about them. I can't help but wonder how important this guest is that father is on edge like he is right now, Colette thought to herself as she made her way back to her room.

Lucia waited until she was sure that her daughter was out of ear shot, before turning to her husband speaking in a tone to make sure that her husband knew she wasn't happy with him. "I can't believe you are going to sell our daughter to a man who you know nothing about. Where did you even meet this man anyway?"

"Lucia dear, I keep telling you that he is a lord of a manor. He was born into money. He doesn't have to go to work and worry about how he's going to make his riches. Besides, if he takes a liking to our lovely daughter, Colette, then we know that our little girl will be set for life. I know you don't like how things are going right now, but we must think about what is best for Colette. My darling wife, our little girl could be marrying a lord if he takes interest in her. Let that thought sink in for a moment," Luca said.

"That doesn't answer my question on how you met this man, when he doesn't reside anywhere around here. I want to know the truth Luca. Tell me the truth, or I will make it so that your little guest of honor doesn't take our daughter away from me," Lucia said.

Lucas sighed knowing that his wife would keep up her threat just to spite him. She would make it so that their daughter couldn't be married off, which would ruin his chances of being connected to someone who was powerful. Lucas refused to have that happen to him. He worked too hard to get in touch with this lord, to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. That and he's heard stories about what this lord had done to people who had wasted his time or lied to him. Lucas didn't want to risk angering him.

"I met him through a friend who works in business like I do. He told me about a lord of a manor who is searching for a suitable wife to call his lady. I inquired as much as I could about this lord, though it seems that there isn't a lot of information about him. All that he is a lord who owns a manor, who is lonely and would like to settle down and start a family of his own," Lucas said.