ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13) (39 page)

Suzanne put on her evening dress and made her way down the stairs again to accompany her family for dinner with the Brooke’s. She was seated near her father at the edge of the table but her mind was not even in the room anymore. All she kept thinking about was Alan. Her mind also went back to what her nanny, Nurse Abby, said about Alan’s father – Tom. Moreover, Tom’s appointment by her mother must have been based on some inherent good qualities that her mother had seen in Tom. So Suzanne thought that there must be some good in there in the bandit raised man as well. She never realized when dinner got over; her plate was left almost untouched and she had missed what all that loud laughter around the table was all about. After finishing lunch, her father and Mr. Brooke smoked a cigar along with their drinks before the whole Swan family escorted them to the front porch where the carriages were waiting, ready to whisk them away.

Chapter 3

Suzanne got up the next morning on time for breakfast. She made her way to the dining table where everyone was already seated awaiting the breakfast to be served. Suzanne went ahead and sat down on the empty chair at the edge of the table near her father who seemed to be in good spirits this morning.

“Good morning Suzanne! It’s been a while since I saw you at breakfast. I have some good news!” declared Edward.

“Yes, we both do” added Diana.

“Well, what is it?” asked Edward Jr.

“Is this about the discussion that you were having with Mr. Brooke yesterday evening?” asked Stephen.

“Indeed it is!” exclaimed Edward Sr.

A flash from outside caught Suzanne’s eye and as she looked out, she saw Alan bringing back logs of wood. He had no shirt on himself and his toned abs and muscles were looked gorgeous, with the sweat glistening in the sunlight. Suzanne felt something rush to her head as she saw Alan’s upper body. There were a couple of scars on his torso; something she thought could be attributed to his more wild days as a bandit. Suzanne had not even heard what good news her father had shared. She was snapped back to the discussion at the table when Stephen poked her and asked if she was happy with the decision.

“What decision? I’m sorry. I’m not feeling very well.” she said thinking of an excuse to rush to her room and ogle at Alan from her window.

“Well, you marriage of course!” exclaimed Violet.

“My marriage?” asked an astonished Suzanne. She had missed something vital.

“Darling I was just telling everyone how your mother and me, we thought that Daniel could be the perfect suitor to you!” explained Edward Sr.

“What? You have found me a suitor and even discussed this with someone else without consulting me?” said Suzanne even more astonished.

“Well, we thought this would be in everyone’s best interest. You will very happy with the Brooke’s. They are kind folks and you will not be spared any luxury. I have already seen to that!” said Edward Sr.

“What about what I want? What about my interests?” asked Suzanne and got up from the table and stormed off to her room upstairs.

“That girl needs to learn some manners before we send her to another family!” said Diana sternly.

“Well, she has her mother’s blood! But, she will come around. I know that!” said Edward Sr.

Violet, Elise, Stephen and Edward Jr. made their way to Suzanne’s room to speak to her after finishing their breakfast. But she was in no mood to speak right now. She asked them to leave her alone for the time being. She especially did not appreciate the tone that Violet and Elise had taken up with her, as if she should be thankful that Daniel had thought Suzanne worth to be his bride. Suzanne certainly did not want to hear anything that was in support to the betrothal that her father had agreed to. So, the siblings left her alone and Suzanne closed the door behind them and went and sat down on the edge of her window peering into the garden and the kitchen just adjacent to it.

She could see that Alan was still carrying logs from out back through the garden and into the Kitchen. He certainly did have a good physique. Even though his lower body was covered with a pant, she could see the tense muscles underneath them. Alan did not have a big body, but a slender and well-toned one. He had a chiselled body with bulging biceps which seemed to be accentuated right now given the heavy lifting that he was doing. Suzanne felt herself biting her lips thinking about him. Suddenly, Alan looked towards her as if he could feel her eyes peering out of her window looking at him. As soon as Alan saw her, she pulled the blinds over her. She cursed herself as she felt a blush creep upon her face. Her maid knocked on the door and when she let her in, she handed her a note which seemed to have come from Daniel. It asked her to be ready by 5 PM when he would come to pick her up to take her to a ball. She rushed downstairs to her father and he told her to give him another chance and so she agreed. She just wanted to get Alan out of her mind and since her father was trying so hard for this marriage to go through, she thought she should at least given it an honest chance. Moreover, she was pretty sure that there wasn’t going to be a better hand in marriage that she could ask for in the whole of England right now. And there was no way that she could even think about Alan being married to her – that would be preposterous.

Her brothers and sisters had come back to her room after hearing that she had agreed to go out to a ball with Daniel. Violet and Elise could not stop heaping praise upon praise for Daniel and it seemed both her brothers had a great deal of respect for him too. With Violet and Elise’s help she picked out the gown that she was going to wear for the evening too. By the time she was ready, Daniel was already downstairs sharing a drink with her father. He got up as she was descending the stairs and offered his arm as she walked up to him. They got into the carriage together as it pulled away from the Swan Manor.

Chapter 4

Daniel complimented her as soon as they were alone in the carriage. She thanked him for his kindness and thought that she would try and keep her thoughts to herself lest she cross a line again like she did the other day during the match. Daniel even apologized for the incident from that day, albeit half-heartedly. He kept telling her how he thought that Alan had escaped a severe beating because of her.

“From what I hear, it was you who skipped a beating, Daniel!” quipped Suzanne.

“Where did you hear that from?” asked Daniel laughing.

“A little bird. I hear that guy has quite a story! It seems that he has even wrestled a bear once with his bare hands.” declared Suzanne.

“He is not match for me! I am a boxer and a hunter! He is just a servant!” shouted Daniel.

“Please Daniel, do not raise your voice in front of me.” said Suzanne sheepishly.

“I am so sorry, Suzanne! Anger gets the better of me at time!” said Daniel.

An awkward silence fell over the carriage as the sound of hoofs pounding against the road took over. Till the time they reached the place of the ball, no one spoke a word. Once they had reached the place, Daniel quickly jumped out of the carriage and held the door open while placing his hands for Suzanne to reach out to, when trying to alight the carriage. They made their way inside the ball with Suzanne’s hands around Daniel’s arms. She could feel everyone’s eyes being squarely on her since the moment she came down from the carriage.

“Don’t worry about them. You will get used to it!” said Daniel winking at her.

Suzanne detested Daniel’s brashness and arrogance but she had given her word to her father that she would try to be nice to him so she played along. After having a couple of drinks, Suzanne went dancing and after yesterday’s event she was happy to let her hair down for a bit and enjoy the music and the dance for the time being. Daniel it seemed had a few too many drinks since he could not be seen dancing with any one woman at a time. He kept moving from one woman to another as if she was not even there. After enjoying as much as she could, she decided that it was better she left for home before it got too late. Seeing her step out, Daniel ran towards her to the door and got a hold of her arm.

“Where are you off to, soon to be wife?” asked Daniel his words slurring from the excessive drinking.

“Let go of me Daniel. You are not in your senses right now and I do not want to embarrass you right now. Let go of my hands and we will speak tomorrow.” said Suzanne calmly.

“Just who do you think you are, talking to me like that? Do you know the number of women who are ready and waiting for me to make a move to get into their dresses?” said Daniel.

“Yes, I saw that. Since you seem to enjoy the company, why don’t you just let go off me so I can go back home?” asked Suzanne.

“Alright! Let me see you off to your house then!” Daniel said as he screamed for the carriage to be drawn up to the front of the building.

Suzanne was really scared for the first time in her life. Daniel was too strong for her and she was not able to control his behaviour which was going from bad to worse after he was drunk. She thought it best to just play along as long as she did not reach her house and then she could let her father know all about the evening’s proceedings in detail. The carriage was over to their side soon enough and they boarded it as the carriage pulled out of the driveway to the building.

As soon as they were in the carriage the stench from Daniel’s mouth was quite noticeable to Suzanne. She shoved herself towards her side of the window so she could get some fresh air. Daniel kept on talking all this while about the new firearms deal that he had struck for his father and how much he would soon be making for his family and himself. Suddenly, Daniel placed his hands over Suzanne’s and she jerked it away from him swiftly shocked.

“Come on! You should loosen up a bit Suzanne! It’s alright to have some fun! And I am your betrothed. There is no shame from me!” exclaimed Daniel.

“Get off you drunk bastard!” shouted Suzanne.

“Come on. There is no need to use such words” said Daniel as he was now hovering over Suzanne trying to kiss her and put her hands on her breasts.

Suzanne kicked him and he fell towards the seat on the opposite side of the carriage, she looked out of the window to see that she had almost reached home. She asked the carriage driver to stop at once and jumped out of the carriage. She started sprinting towards the gate screaming at the top of her lungs. When she reached the gate, she saw Alan standing there and she then heaved a huge sigh of relief. She was surprised, however, when she felt a hand pull her over her shoulder and as she turned around, she felt a push which made her stumble back and drop to the ground.

Alan was now standing right beside her as a drunk Daniel tried to reach her again. But, he was not able to touch her as he wasn’t even able to budge Alan off his feet. Alan got a hold of him in the friendliest manner possible and put him back inside his carriage, asking the driver to drive away and take his master back to his house.

“Thank you for that! I almost felt as if he was about to rape me! I have no idea what I would have done had I not stumbled upon you.” exclaimed Suzanne.

“I am sorry madam that I could not rush over sooner. May I please escort you to the manor?” asked Alan bowing his head.

“Yes, I would like that.” said Suzanne smiling. “That bastard is going to get it from my father tomorrow.” she added.

“It is not my place to speak about such things madam, but I don’t think telling your father about this will help much.” said Alan.

“And why would you think that?” asked a surprised Suzanne.

“Things like this incident are common among your kind of people, isn’t it?” asked Alan.

“I hope not! He is supposed to be my betrothed. Is that how you treat your wife-to-be?” asked Suzanne.

“That is certainly not how a gentleman conducts himself!” said Alan.

There was something about the way Alan spoke that pushed some very sensitive nerves on the back of Suzanne’s head. That image of his body glistening in sweat in the morning kept flashing back to her mind. She stopped Alan with her hand and proceeded to kiss him on his lips. Alan did not move at first, but he quickly pushed her away from himself.

“I am so sorry!” he said again bowing his head.

Suzanne licked her lips and asked “What have you done to be sorry about?”

“I did not mean to disrespect you.” said Alan.

“Well then, kiss me again!” said Suzanne with a smirk as she leaned over to his face again.

Alan did not push her back this time and they kissed long and hard. They had almost reached the garden area and Suzanne scared that someone might see them pulled away from him.

“It seems quite enough right now but I see a few servants are still up and about. Throw a stone at my window once everyone is asleep and then I can open the window so that you can come up to my room.” directed Suzanne.

“I think it would be better I did not madam!” said Alan.

“Let me be the judge of that. And would you please stop calling me madam. My name is Suzanne as I am sure you are well aware!” said Suzanne as she sped off to the house.