Alannah's story excerpt 4

     The dance ended and he held out his arm. She wrapped her hand around it, and he led her out through the open French doors. She let out a sigh of relief when the cool night air enveloped them. Jeremy smiled at her. "You look very beautiful."

     "Thank you. You do too, look good—I mean handsome."

     Jeremy laughed. "Will you please tell me why you were at my house?"

     "I thought you said that you knew."

     "I said that I thought I knew, but I want to hear it from you."

     Alannah answered honestly. She was not interested in playing games. "I wanted to know what kind of man you are. My mother had just reminded me that she and my father were planning for us to marry. She told me that I didn't have to marry you if I was certain you would make me miserable. I know they love me and picked a man who they believed to be good, but I knew it was possible that they had been deceived."

     "And what kind of man am I?" His voice revealed curiosity and nothing else.

     "You're kind and respectful to your grandfather when you don't have to be. You could ignore him and do whatever you want to, and nobody would be the wiser. Your horses love you because you're a gentle master, and you're more than fair with your tenants, and…" her voice trailed off at this point.

     "What else?" His voice was soft.

     "You want to marry someone who truly loves you, but you don't know how to tell whether she’s marrying you for your money or because she’s fallen in love with you."

     "It would seem that marrying for money also disagrees with you, Alannah. You were willing to risk your reputation by riding to a stranger's estate at night, all alone, just to find out what kind of a man he is." Jeremy reached out to brush away a stray lock of hair that had blown into her eyes. He wasn't giving her any obvious clues about how he felt, yet she felt that strange heat-filled tension building between them again. Suddenly a voice cut through the shadows.

     "Ah, there you are, Alannah. Come dance with me. It's the last dance of the night." Isaac stood beside her with his hand out.

     She gave Jeremy an apologetic look. He nodded at her, giving her permission to leave with Isaac. In the ballroom, Isaac gripped her arm tightly and looked around triumphantly as if he’d won some kind of victory. Anger rose inside her when he treated her like a possession, and she struggled to stay poised and calm.

     When the dance was over, Isaac held onto her arm and continued to talk to her. There was no graceful way to excuse herself and leave. Eventually, her parents came to her rescue from one side as Jeremy approached from the other direction. He hung back and watched to make sure she left safely with them. They went upstairs to the rooms they’d been assigned to sleep in that night.

     Her bedroom was next to her parents’ and her maidservant was waiting inside. Mary helped Alannah prepare for bed, and she was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow. Most of the other guests continued to socialize late into the night.

     Alannah woke early in the morning while the rest of the house was quiet. Mary had a tray of toast and tea ready. Her new day dress was set out. Mary smiled at her cheerily.

     “Good morning, Miss Alannah." She brought the breakfast tray over. "Did you enjoy the dance last night?"

     Alannah could tell she was bursting with curiosity, so she told her everything that’d happened.

Mary had a sly smile on her face. "So do you like Sir Jeremy?"

     "I do like him very much. I just don't know how he feels about me." Alannah felt her heart clench.

     "All will turn out as it should, even if there are some rough patches along the way." Mary spoke confidently as she took away the tray. Then, she helped Alannah change into her dress and put her hair up. "A morning walk will do you a world of good, Miss Alannah."

     "What a good idea! Thank you, Mary." She slipped down the stairs and through a side passage. It was still quiet, so she assumed most of the other guests were sleeping in. Hurrying out a side door into the rose garden, she ran straight into a very solid, tall, and handsome man.

     "Oh, Jeremy, please excuse me. I didn't expect anyone else to be awake."

A broad smile lit up his face. "Good morning to you, as well. Would you like to walk with me?"

     She nodded. They ambled through the rose garden and past a hedge toward some weeping willow trees and a small pond, talking as they traveled. I hope he really wants to spend time with me, and isn't just doing this because no one else is awake. They eventually wandered back to the house, where a game of croquet was being organized.

     Isaac spotted Alannah right away, and cast a scowl at Jeremy before he pulled her away. He monopolized her as much as possible all day, and was by her side through the picnic by the lake and the boating activity. She had a moment to herself when Isaac ran off to threaten someone else who’d been talking to her.

     Jeremy approached her. "Do you want me to tell Isaac to leave you alone?"

     She smiled gratefully. "I know you could get him to leave me alone, but he won't go away quietly, and I don't want a scene."

     "I'm not just offering out of the goodness of my heart. I'd like to spend more time with you."

     Her hopes soared. "You would?"

     "Yes. Can we arrange to meet somewhere later?"

     "Where could we go after my parents rescue me tonight and 'send me to bed'?"

     "Meet me in the library. It's quiet, and people don't usually go there during parties."

     "Alright. I'll plan on it."

     Jeremy smiled and she reluctantly returned to the group. Isaac had been searching for her, and stayed even closer during the ostentatious dinner and parlor games that evening. Alannah had grown very tired of his company when her parents finally rescued her and took her upstairs to bed.