Falling in Love With Her Husband (2 page)

friend. I"m used to seeing him pull something on me and my

sisters.”

“Is Todd ever behind any of it?”

“I don"t think so. Whenever it"s just Todd, things are

dull. He used to try to get us riled up but our parents put a

stop to that early on, so now he just hangs out by himself or

rides his horse unless Alex is around.”

“I suspected as much. I noticed the same thing,

though he has been hanging around us lately. Don"t you

think that"s strange?”

“He asks about your school work because you share

many classes together. He usually leaves after that.”

“True.” I had suspected there was more to it than

that, but Agnes was probably right.

“Why are you feeling so melancholy?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

Her eyes lit up. “For you? Of course, I can!”

I chuckled. She had a tough time holding back

gossip for anyone but me. “My parents are making offers to

other parents to attract suitors. They"re offering a pretty

good sum of money in my dowry. They announced this

when I was a child but it"s beginning to get attention now

that I"m seventeen.”

“How much are they offering?”

I told her.

“That"s a lot of money.”

“I"m also their only child, so I suppose it"s easier for

them to make that deal. I almost feel like I"m being put on

display for the whole world to see. A thirty year old and

forty-five year old stopped by to greet me yesterday. Then

Jack"s parents visited with my parents about an

arrangement. Thank goodness my parents insist that I

make the choice.”

“Yuck. I can see why you"re disheartened. If it

makes you feel any better, not everyone knows about your

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

dowry. Todd doesn"t. I assume my parents know but they

haven"t spoken a word about it. My father is more interested

in Todd working at the bank than if he gets married. Todd

turns eighteen in April, and you would think if anyone is

feeling pressured, it would be him. But the rules are

different for men. They can be forty and a bachelor and no

one cares. It isn"t like that for us.”

“What wil you do?”

“I don"t come with a big dowry like you, so I suspect

it"l be easier for me. I"m looking forward to being courted.”

“Just make sure you stay in public where at least one

person can see you and the young man together at all

times. It"s one of my rules. Ginny always makes sure I"m

safe.”

“Don"t you trust any of the men in this town?”

“Your brother is the only one, but that"s because

we"ve known each other all of our lives and I"ve seen how

he is, even on his worst days.”

“He"s a good person. Very stable, patient and loyal.

He"s kind of boring.”

Lucy and Abigail jumped up and screamed as a

couple bugs fell into their hair. Since they were sitting by

the slightly opened parlor doors, they were the logical choice

for Creepy Alex"s next prank. I sourly noted the sound of

footsteps as he ran off. He was probably looking for Todd

so he could blame it on him, which only proved how much of

a friend Alex really was.

“Get him!” I demanded as I stood up.

“Ewe! Get the bugs off of me,” they whined.

The other girls ran to help them.

I stared at them in disbelief. Were none of them

going to get even with him? I stormed out of the room. I

would make it so that he didn"t mess with them anymore, at

least when I was around. I saw the closet door by the room

and opened it. My eyes lit up when I saw the broom. It was

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

time to show Alex he couldn"t engage in such rude behavior.

I raced down the hal until I found him hiding in Todd"s room.

“This has to stop!” I ordered and started hitting him

with the broom.

Todd burst out laughing.

“I didn"t do it. Todd did,” Alex protested, holding his

hands over his head. “He wanted to see if you"d do

anything.”

“Oh right. Like I believe that,” I retorted. “Everyone

knows you"re the instigator. Leave my friends alone you

creepy boy!” I continued my assault on him until someone

grabbed me around the waist and pulled me out of the room.

“Ann Clara Statesman, stop this right now!” my father

ordered as he held me up in the air.

My mother looked flustered as she pried the broom

out of my hands. “What"s come over you?”

“Alex Dawson won"t leave my friends alone. He

needs to be taught a lesson.”

“It wasn"t me,” Alex argued but no one believed him.

Todd couldn"t stop laughing.

“You creepy boy!” I yelled. “You better not go near

any of my friends ever again.”

“That"s enough, Ann.” My father set me down and

gave me one of his stern looks that immediately quieted me

down.

“Apologize to Mr. Dawson.”

“But he threw bugs in Abigail and Lucy"s hair.”

“I don"t care. Apologize or you won"t be able to

attend Agnes" birthday party.”

I crossed my arms. “Sorry,” I muttered, not looking

at Alex.

“Look at him and tell him nicely.”

I sighed and faced the little rat. “I"m sorry, Alex.”

“You can go to the party, but you won"t receive any

guests for a month.”

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

“Real y?” My face lit up. No suitors for a whole

month?

He frowned. “I don"t know why but I think I just gave

you a reward.”

“It wil be nice to have a break from all the men

coming over,” I admitted.

His expression softened. “Perhaps your mother and

I have been somewhat pushy. I can see your point. But you

won"t be able to receive female visitors either.”

“It"s worth it, though I will miss Agnes.”

“Alright. Go with your mother to the buggy. I"l say

goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Brothers.”

Once my mother and I were in the horse-drawn

buggy, she shook her head. “My dear, you know I love you,

but you"ll never find a good man with the way you act in

public.”

There it was again. The whole marriage discussion.

I decided to keep quiet.

After a few tense moments, my father joined us and

sat next to my mother.

George, one of the three servants in our household,

clicked the reins on the horses so we could head home.

“Please help me with this, Dan.” She turned to my

father. “We want her to be treated well by her future

husband. If she keeps acting unladylike, who can she

possibly attract without the help of her dowry?”

He paused for a moment as he considered her

question. “She may be attracting the right kind of attention

and we aren"t aware of it. Did you see the look on Todd"s

face? He actual y seemed to be impressed with her.”

I blanched. Todd? Sure, he was okay looking. He

had a slender frame with broad shoulders. His dark blond

hair turned lighter in the summer when the sun hit it. He did

have nice blue eyes and an infectious smile. But he was

Agnes" brother.

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Fortunately, they did not press the issue. We rode

the rest of the way in silence. I was so relieved to be away

from Alex, I didn"t mind missing the rest of the afternoon with

Agnes.

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Falling In Love With Her Husband

Todd’s Point of View

I still remember the day I realized I loved Ann. My

parents took the whole family to her house to celebrate her

sixteenth birthday. Since I wasn"t allowed to bring Alex

along, I figured it was going to be boring with no one but our

parents and my sisters there. I would have brought another

one of my friends had they been able to come along, but

they were busy. When we got to her house, I sat in the

parlor, bored out of my mind, while the girls all giggled and

talked about stuff only girls would be interested in. I tuned

these topics out fairly well.

As I was staring out the window, Ann walked up to

me. “Would you like to play the new game my parents

bought me for my birthday?”

Anything to get away from the mindless chatter

appealed to me, so I nodded and followed her to her

bedroom. Ginny, one of the servants in her household, was

with us, so there was no way anyone would think we were

doing anything improper. Her bedroom was a typical girly

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bedroom but somehow, it didn"t seem so bad compared to

what my sisters" bedrooms were like.

She handed me a deck of cards. “The game is

called Solitaire. Are you familiar with it?”

I shook my head.

“It"s a game you can play by yourself.” She shuffled

the deck and set seven cards out in a row on her desk. I

watched as she continued to set the cards out. Some were

faced up and some were faced down. As she did this, she

explained, “Since I"m an only child, I don"t receive games

that are for two or more players. This card game is fun and

can be tricky. If you make a mistake, you have to hope

you"l get to use the necessary card again.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” I had to ask it.

Usual y, she didn"t notice me.

She smiled at me.

I blinked. Since when did she look pretty?

She handed me the rest of the cards. “It can"t be fun

for you to sit in the parlor and listen to us talk about clothes

and jewelry. I know our parents are close and wanted to

spend the day together, but it"s hardly any fun for a boy to

be surrounded by girls. Also, I was the one who insisted

that Creepy Alex wasn"t allowed to come. I"m sorry, Todd,

but I just can"t stand him. He thinks his pranks are funny but

I don"t.”

I shrugged. “I guess he"s not for everyone.”

“I had hoped that maybe one of your other friends

would be able to come. Simon and Jeff are actually nice.

It"s too bad that didn"t work out. So I thought if you could

play an interesting game away from the rest of us, it would

help pass the time.”

“Thank you.”

She spent the next five minutes teaching me the

rules of the game, and I was intrigued by it.

“I will let our parents know that I invited you back

here so they won"t bother you until it"s time to eat,” she said.

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“Would you like me to stay here, Miss Ann?” Ginny

asked her.

Ann looked at me for a moment before turning back

to the servant. “No. I trust him.”

That was when I fell in love with her. From that

moment on, I sought her out whenever she was around. I

found that I was able to have a good conversation with her

as long as we were alone, with a servant quietly watching.

Being wealthy with servants following us all over the place,

we grew up used to it. But the times when I could talk to her

without one of my sisters, our parents or a friend with us

was rare. Most of the time, I had to listen to her and Agnes

talk. I stayed as long as I could tolerate the conversation.

On several occasions, I attempted to change the topic, but

Agnes dominated the room so I gave up and left. As much

as I loved to sit and look at Ann, I could only handle so

much female talk.

I spent hours staring at her picture. It was the only

one I had of her. It was taken on her sixteenth birthday.

She gave Agnes a copy. I wanted to ask for one too but

was suddenly too nervous around her, so I offered to buy

Agnes" copy.

“Ann"s my dearest friend,” she said. “If I sell this, it"l

be like I"m selling my friendship. I can"t do that.”

I didn"t hide my disappointment. “It"s just one

picture. You have others of her.”

“True but this is her most recent one.” She paused

and gave me a careful look. “Do you love her?”

I shook my head. “Of course not.” Like I would ever

admit such a thing to my sister!

She didn"t seem convinced. To her credit, she didn"t

give me a hard time about it. “I"l tell you what. I"l ask her

for another picture.”

“You"re not going to tell her why, are you?”

“I should. It might be the first step to her becoming

my sister by marriage.”

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