Your Interest At Heart

Chapter 8: The Supper

When someone knocked at the door, we all looked at eachother and shot out to see who it was. Father was standing at the door and the maid, Terri, opened it. It was Samuel and Alexander. Samuel was holding a bouquet of flowers and a cigar. When he walked in, he made nervous eye contact with Father. As soon as he saw him, Samuel handed him the cigar.

"I got this for you." He told him. A small smile crept across Father's face. Terri took both their coats. Samuel was wearing a light grey button-up shirt and black pants. Alexander was wearing a white shirt. When he saw he mother, he handed her the flowers and bowed.

"Samuel Seabury." He looked up at her. She glanced at me with a giddy expression.

"Catherine Schuyler." She smiled at him. He came back up from his bow and shook my father's hand.

Alexander greeted them and stood beside Eliza.

"Bianca?" Mother led me out of sight and earshot of the group. "He's adorable!"

I glanced around the corner to have a look at him. He was standing nervously with Alexander and my sisters.

"I guess he is." I admitted.

"Oh, you are so the smitten kitten." She teased.

(Im gonna throw references to other things in here. For ex: Friends, The Office, and other things.)

I grinned and we went back to the group.

"Samuel, a word?" My father asked. Samuel nodded and stepped away with him.

~Philip Schuyler's POV~

"What are your intentions with my Bianca?" I asked the boy. He looked really nervous to be speaking with me.

"I want to marry her and give her the best life I can offer." He told me. I nodded in approval.

"Are you going to try and move her to Britain?" I asked.

"Absolutely not." Samuel shook his head. "If it would be alright with you, I'd like for us to live at my house."

"I would need to see if it's good enough for my daughter." I told him.

"Is that a yes?" He asked hopefully.

"What?" I glanced back at him.

"You said that you'll look at my house. Does that mean that I can marry her?" Samuel looked at me sheepishly.

"If she wants to marry you as well." I nodded, even though I already knew Bianca's answer. "You have my blessing."

"Thank you, sir." A wide grin spread across his face.

"Keep her safe." I ordered.

"Yes, sir." He nodded solemnly, and we went back.

~Bianca's POV~

Samuel and father came back. Samuel looked happy and Father looked just a bit less happy.

"Foods ready." Jane, the cook, told us. We all say down at the table and started on the food. Alexander and Angelica were talking about tragic plays and Eliza was trying to follow the conversation. Samuel was carefully trying to start a conversation with my mother.

"How—How did and your husband meet?" He stuttered. Mother looked at me and smiled.

"We were at the market and my father met him. When I turned nineteen, he married me to Philip." Mother told him. "I don't regret it."

"I would never had expected you to." He shook his head.

"You can call him Philip, and I Catherine." She told him. Father looked up from his plate.

"No he can't." He corrected her.

"Can I?" Alexander asked. Father shook his head. "Yes, sir."

Samuel let out a little laugh and my mother smiled at my father, then him. Samuel awkwardly returned the smile.

"Where's you family from, Samuel?" Mother asked, trying to break the ice that Father had set.

"We're from London." He told her. "My father sent me to preach for the king, but that didn't go very well."

"That's for sure." Alexander nodded, grinning.

"Do you have any siblings?" Peggy asked. "Specifically, any little brothers around my age?"

"No." Samuel chuckled. "I have an older brother and two little sisters."

"That'll work." Angelica leaned forward. "How old's your brother?"

"Caleb's twenty-one." He informed us. My father shot Angelica a stern look.

"No loyalists." He told her, glancing at Samuel.

"I'm not a loyalist anymore, sir." Samuel reminded Father politely. I realized that I wasn't partaking in the conversation.

"Father, when will Alexander and Samuel be fighting?" I asked, turning to my father.

"Until the war is over, until you or Eliza make them come home, or until they died." Father told me. I shuddered when Father said died. Samuel shot me a sympathetic look and I felt a pang in my chest. I looked at both him and Alexander.

"Don't die." I ordered. Eliza pointed at Alexander.

"If you die, I will bring you back and kill you myself." She threatened lightly. Alex put his hands up in surrender.

"I'm not going to die." Samuel promised solemnly.