The Queen Of His Heart (completed)

Chapter 4

It was raining. Brandon was positive that the clouds agreed with his mood. It was sad and cold. He had no family to speak of, only friends. He was such a well kept secret that nobody would believe him if he ever revealed the name of his father. He envied his friends who had a family to love and support them.

When he met Emma, Brandon was positive that he was looking at his happily ever after. He would have gladly punched William in a ballroom full of Lords just to show that he was not letting go of her. He wanted every person to know that he was pursuing her because he would not let go of the only good thing in his life. His life was perfect for a few hours, then Lord Malcolm died and Lady Malcolm vanished.

It was almost as if the God hated him. If he had been a religious person, he would have prayed for a solution to His dilemma. After Brandon's mother died he stopped trusting whoever was running this work and started working for things he wanted.

Bastards don't get miracles. Brandon thought bitterly before he remembered Max. I must be someone special then.

Brandon realized that he was getting nowhere with his bitter thoughts. Maybe he just needed a fresh prospective. He had his friends. There's nothing wrong with asking a friends help. He quickly rang for the butler and asked him to bring tea to the study.

"Oh and make sure you tell Will and Max that I want to see them." Brandon saw the butler's already sour face turn red indignantly.

"I will tell his Grace and Lord Dalton." the butler left with his twitching nose. Brandon always hated butler's with a passion. They always acted like they were better than him. Max's butler thought that it was too presumptuous of him to call his two best friends by their given name. He thought that Brandon was a gentleman's bastard , not a high ranking Lord. He did not have the right. If only....

To distract himself from dangerous thoughts, he reached for the quill and some paper. He will write the letter when all was settled with his friends.

Max was the first one to arrive, Arthur followed him. The two were still discussing something important by the looks of it.

"That woman has been driving me crazy since the first day of our marriage. If I didn't love her so much, I would have strangled her multiple times by now." Brandon raised his eyebrow at Arthur's passionate speech. The man had been married for merely a fortnight.

"Don't look at him like that, I know exactly how he feels. Wait till you get married. She said she was feeling good enough to travel, well now who's the one vomiting on our bedrooms floor? She is." Max bitterly announced. Brandon wanted to point out that maybe she was with child and he was the cause of her but refrained. Max was a grown man who could figure things out on his own.

"I will tell you these woman are completely crazy. Mental I swear. Bella goes to the country to help her Ella and has to return because the sister wants her to have the best medical care that only London can offer. Now one has a backache she can't get rid of and the other has a stomach bug." Brandon was shocked at the stupidity of men in England. Surely a man like Arthur can see that his wife had labour pains. Even though they were just starting but the time was just right.

Brandon realized that he was acting like a fool. This was England, not India. Nobody openly talked about the birthing process. They will eventually figure it out. Gossip like old women for now, one of you will not sleep a wink for the next three months.

Brandon smirked with self satisfaction before seeing a tall frame resting on door frame. William gave him a secretive smile. Brandon returned it. Someone sensible, finally!

"Look at you, the two of you are busy complaining about your wives like two old man." Brandon's smirk grew in anticipation of the big reveal. It looks as if William will tell them.

"You wait till you are married to George. We will be the ones laughing then." Max scowled at his oldest friend. Brandon poured whiskey in four glasses all the while. They will celebrate once the idiots find out the truth.

"I will be joining you soon then. I'm getting married in a week." Brandon started the celebration earlier than his friends and paid for it. As soon as William made his announcement, the whiskey that Brandon had been drinking came out his nose. Apparently, drinking whiskey and voicing your surprise together was bad for health.

All his life Brandon had felt the burn of whiskey in his throat. For the first time he realized that the burn was far worst when the nose was involved.

"Are you felling fine?" William asked with concern. Brandon wanted to curse the bloody man but he was the one who assumed too much. Nodding his head to say he was fine, he pointed at the glasses.

"Let's celebrate then, what are you waiting for?" They gladly took one and started drinking.

"How are you getting married in a week?" Max asked seriously. George was like a little sister he never had.

"Took an appointment from the church and applied for a special license. All the other preparations will be handled by my steward. George will marry me in rags, her words, not mine. I want to give her a society wedding. We just have a week to plan it." William looked pleased with himself and Max looked as if he was ready to attack him. Brandon thought it best to distract the two man.

"But the negotiations for dowry, they will take time. Your lawyers will meet hers and the whole thing takes time." Brandon could see the small smug smile forming on Max's face but choose to ignore it.

"Simple, I'm not taking any dowry." The smug look on Max's face started disappearing.

"Lady Malcolm will never agree to that. Her father did put a large amount aside for her dowry." The glare that Max gave Will would have sat a normal man on fire.

"I won't accept it. It belongs to Lady Malcolm and she must keep it. I know for a fact that you didn't take the dowry Ella's father offered, why are you suddenly in favor of the idea?" William looked angry and Max looked like he was ready to fight.

"I wanted Bella to have it. I know that Arthur isn't that rich,sorry but it's the truth, and I wanted to help her. I didn't want Bella or her poor innocent child to suffer because of the mistakes his father made. I know what that feels like and I wanted to protect my family from it." Max was breathing hard and his eyes were glassy. He took a large gulp of his whiskey before settling back on the sofa. Everyone was silent after that, each lost in thoughts.

Brandon kept thinking of how busy his friends were. His problems were his own. He had no right to take these men away from their women. He had to do it himself. He had to find the solution himself.

Finally an update and it's longer than the first one. I really hope you enjoy it. My exam is on Wednesday, wish me luck.