I don‟t want you dictating my life for me. I have my own interests and you won‟t stand in the way of them.” Now she was offended. Did he think so little of her? “I
don‟t care what you do as long as you honor your word and pay off my father‟s debts.”
“Good. Then it‟s settled. You will live your life as you please and I‟ll live my life as I please. I just need your company
on Friday nights so I can network with potential customers. If I don‟t show up with you, the wives will most likely take offense
and insist their husbands do business somewhere else. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, I don‟t!”
“Then let‟s get down to business,” he snapped. He shoved the contract at her
“This states everything in clear terms.”
“I‟ll take it to my lawyer before I sign it,” she shot back.
“I know. Just bring it back before Wednesday. I have to let my father‟s lawyer know I‟m getting married this Saturday.
The sooner I can get the money, the sooner your father‟s debts can be cleared and the sooner your family won‟t have to worry
about Jackson foreclosing on you. Then on May 20, I can annul this marriage and receive my money. Let‟s just get this over with so we can go back to our lives.”
“Fine. I will be back later today. I want to finish this as much as you do.”
“At least we can agree on something,” he grumbled.
She stiffly nodded and left the bank. He made her so mad she wanted to scream. What right did he have to accuse her of
trying to control him? She had no such desire. It was men who controlled women with their misuse of the “women submit to
your husbands” verse in the Bible from the book of Ephesians.
She went directly to the lawyer‟s office and sat in the waiting room until he could squeeze her into his schedule. She liked the lawyer. He was an honest and fair man who helpedher family out in the past. After he read the contract, he gave her his approval.
“It‟s all very clear and precise,” he said. “I see nothing wrong with it.”
“So I won‟t lose anything?”
“The only thing you‟re in danger of losing is your heart.”
She snorted her opinion.
He shrugged as he handed it to her. “Mr hansworth is a fair and generous man. Not only will your family‟s debts be absolved,
but he‟ll make provisions to teach them the basics of money management so they won‟t fall into debt ever again. Then you will
receive the remaining money into your personal account to do whatever you see fit to do with it. You will be financially well off
for the rest of your life. This is an excellent deal for you.”
That made her feel better. Her anger over her argument with Austin earlier that day began to die down. She returned to the
bank, ignoring an irate jackson who glared at her, and entered Austin‟s office unannounced. He seemed to be surprised to see her.
“I‟m ready to sign it,” she said. “Mr. Bart said it had to be notarized to be official and you can do that at this bank.”
“Good. Follow me.”
She noted that he still sounded sour but was trying to be polite. This only served to irritate her again.
“Good morning, Jasper.” He smiled as they walked to Mr. Moore‟s office. “Do you have a moment?”
She shook her head at how he could be so pleasant to someone who wasn‟t her or Jackson.
“As a matter of fact, I do.” austin waved them inside. “I just finished some paperwork and my next appointment won‟t be
for another ten minutes. What can I do for you?”
“I need you to notarize this contract between myself and Miss Lewisville.”
“Alright,” he slowly replied as he got the necessary supplies out. He called in two witnesses.She signed her part of the document and he signed his part. After the two witnesses signed their names, Austin finished the process.
“This is an odd way to propose, Austin,” he softly said as the witnesses left his office.
“As long as it gets the job done,” Austin blandly replied.
“Here you go.” He handed Austin and Claire a copy of the contract. “What lengths you won‟t go to in order to help out a
customer.”
“I would have offered you to her but you‟re already married.”
“I am standing here,” she reminded him.
“Marriage isn‟t all bad jasper" Austin assured him. “If you allow it, you can actually have fun.”
“I‟m not interested in having fun with her, nor is she interested in having fun with me. We will have fun while we are
married but we won‟t have fun together.”
“I know when I‟m not wanted,” she snapped. “I‟ll see you at the church on Saturday at noon.”
“I‟ll be sending a seamstress by your place later this week to take your measurements for your wedding gown,” Austin notified
her.
“You‟re already trying to dictate my life,” she angrily replied.
“Give me a break. You can‟t show up in the same blue dress you wore to the dance two Fridays in a row, nor can you show up in one of your peasant clothes. I do have an image to maintain in this town, and I refuse to let you tarnish that image.”
“Peasant clothes?”
“Yes. You may be pretty but your clothes leave a lot to be desired. I am going to have a beautiful wedding which will impress important people. You have to do your part.”
“You just wait, Mr. Hansworth. I‟ll wear the dress but you won‟t dictate anything else I do.”“As long as you go dancing on Fridays, I don‟t care what you do. You can roll in the mud on your other days or go around
nagging the rest of the town.”
She was ready to throw something at him so she quickly turned to leave.
“I think you‟ve met your match,” she heard jasper chuckle before she left the bank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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DERANGE MATRIMONY
Historical Fiction*******A DERANGE MATRIMONY******* This time he would have to let Claire talk to her about what she wanted. He didn‟t know whether to be relieved or annoyed. He was glad she wasn‟t into all the flashy and flowery material women seemed to crave but...
