"I had thought about it. Her relatives live there. We spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family, so it‟ll be their turn. What will you be doing for Christmas?"

"With any luck, I‟ll be welcoming my bride home."

He raised his eyebrows in interest. "A confirmed bachelor like you has decided to settle down?"

"It‟s a long story but yes."

"You‟re not going to ask miss petty, are you? I know she‟s pretty but she‟s shallow. She won‟t amuse you beyond the honeymoon."

"No. Miss petty is definitely not on the list. I‟m considering Miss Claire Lewisville."

He looked impressed. "She‟s rough on the outside but she‟s got a heart of gold. My wife owns the library and thinks well

of her. Actually, she is part of the reason I wished to speak with you tonight while things are friendly."

Austin stood at attention, aware that the conversation was going to be serious. "What is it?"

"Miss Lewisville has been telling everyone at the library about

Mr lancelot‟s decision to veto your and Mr. Moore‟s plan to help her family. Now, under ordinary circumstances, I would not

allow such a thing to influence my business dealings. However, my wife is very fond of Miss Lewisville and has insisted that I

withdraw my accounts from the bank on Monday. I will be transferring all of my accounts to the bank in the next town."

He sighed. "I can‟t say I‟m surprised. I warned Jackson and his father that this would happen."

"When are you going to open your own bank? You have often discussed the possibility with me."

"I have to wait for one of my investments to mature before I have enough funds to buy the building across the street from the dress shop. I should have it open shortly after New

Year‟s Day.""Hmm...In that case, I can probably keep my accounts there until then. I will want to transfer my funds to your bank.

My wife will be relieved. We really didn‟t want to go to the next town but saw little choice."

"Mr. Peterson, if you don‟t mind, would you not tell anyone my plan? I don‟t wish for Jackson or Matthew to learn of this.

With Jackson‟s ethics, it‟s hard to tell what he will do."

He nodded. "I understand."

He was relieved.

"I‟ll let you rescue Miss Lewisville."

Austin was surprised by the protective urge that came over him when he saw the old man "accidently" touch her bottom.

This is going to stop and it‟s going to stop now. "It was good talking with you," he politely told Mr. Peterson.

He walked back to his wife who was talking with her good friends.

Austin tried his best to not scowl at Mr. Sussex who was bragging to Claire about his coin collection. "Good evening, Mr.

Sussex, Miss Lewisville," he interrupted.

They stopped dancing.

She looked relieved when Mr. Sussex released his hold on her.

"Mr. Hansworth, just the man I wanted to see." Mr. Sussex smiled and shook his hand.

Austin returned his smile though it wasn‟t easy considering how greasy his palms were. "Mr. Sussex, it is always a pleasure to see you."

"Yes. Well, I heard what you did for Miss Lewisville and her family. I hadn‟t realized that Mr. Lancelot‟s son was at the age where he‟s ready to take over the bank. I must admit that I‟m disappointed in the decision he made."

"Yes, it is quite distressing." Just how many people know? He didn‟t know one woman could have such a profound impact on people. He didn‟t know whether to be alarmed or impressed."Actually, I had a question for Miss Lewisville and wondered if she would be willing to dance with me so I could ask it?"

"Oh, I don‟t know. We‟re having a great time together," he argued. He winked at her.

She smiled but it seemed forced. "Of course, we are."

"And I am very grateful she has been able to be in your company since you kept her away from men who would take advantage of her while I was away," Austin pleasantly stated. "I had asked her if she would marry me last week, but she said I had to wait until tonight for her answer. So after I returned from Everdon today, I came right by here to see what her answer is. I hope you don‟t mind that I got her first."

"You didn‟t tell me about this." He frowned at her.

She looked flustered as she tried to think of something to say.

"I asked her to keep it a secret," Austin quickly inserted. "I know she thinks you‟re a very attractive man. Did you know she thought you were fifty?"

"Did she now?" He smiled, obviously pleased.

"She did. She wanted to dance with you last week, but I got jealous and insisted she spend her affections on me. I am sure you can understand my reason. I hope you didn‟t steal her from me."

"Oh, well now, Mr. Hansworth. You are a fine man. I couldn‟t take something that belongs to you." He turned to her.

"Claire, you are very precious and I‟m flattered you would consider leaving Mr. Hansworth for me, but he is a good friend of my son‟s, and I must keep my loyalties to my boy. I don‟t wish to upset him, and if you break Mr. Hansworth‟s heart, my son would be sore with me. I hope you can move on and not dwell on what might have been with me."

"I...I don‟t know what to say," she stammered.

"I fear I did some damage, Mr. Hansworth," he said. "Mr. Hansworth may not be as charming or attractive as I am, but he‟s agood man and he‟ll treat you well. You go on with him." He softly pushed her to Austin and quietly walked away.

Austin expected her to express her relief over being saved from a marriage with an old man, but instead of gratitude, she was upset.

"You have a lot of nerve," she quietly hissed.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"I had him exactly where I wanted him and you ruined it for me. He was just offering to pay off my family‟s debt."

"So am I." Now he was getting upset. "I just asked you to marry me. Weren‟t you listening?"

She rolled her eyes. "The only reason you did that was to „save me‟ from him."

"No. Though it was a nice benefit. He‟s like a dog in heat. You can do better than that."

"I figure he doesn‟t have much longer to live and he will pay my father‟s debts off."

"I can pay that off just as easily as he can. And you only have to spend six months married to me instead of years married to him. I offer the better deal."

She gasped. "Is that the way you see marriage? As a business deal?"

"This one is. I will explain everything if you‟ll dance with me."

She crossed her arms and remained still.

"I warned you not to do that."

She quickly put her arms back down. "I know. I forgot, alright?"

"I don‟t understand you. I‟m a much better choice than Sussex is any day of the week."

"If you were desperate to save your family, you would go to great lengths too."

"I wouldn‟t know that kind of loyalty seeing that I have no family. And quite frankly, if that‟s what family loyalty will get me,then count me out." He took a deep breath to calm down. If anyone could get him riled up, it was Claire Lewisville. "May I have this dance so I can talk to you? We can even pretend to be friends while we do it."

"You‟re ruining all my chances for me."

"I‟m giving you the best chance of all."

"Alright. But I‟m not going to enjoy myself."

"Fair enough." This is why I hate marriage for myself. Women are difficult to manage when it comes to romance. He ignored the way his body responded with pleasure as he took her in his arms. "Before I go into detail, I need to ask you a question. The answer is probably yes but I need to cover all my bases. Are you a virgin?"

Her jaw dropped and she stopped dancing. "I beg your pardon?"

"I‟ll take your horrified look as a yes. Only a virgin would respond like that." He led her in a common dance step so that she would move again.

"Since we‟re discussing personal matters, are you one?"

He grinned at her sarcasm. "Yes. And our marriage won‟t change that."

"You are speaking in riddles."

"Not really. Here‟s the situation. My father died recently and left a will. I am his sole heir and am entitled to everything he owned on one condition. I have to get married to a woman who is a Christian who does honorable work, provided she doesn‟t live with her parents, and is a virgin. She must also be close to her family. I only have to be married for six months. Then I can get an annulment. Here‟s the good part. My father was rich." He told her how much money he would receive on the wedding day.

Her eyes grew wide. "He had that much?"

"That‟s only half. I will give you that amount as a wedding gift to you. I will receive my part of the money after six months is up.""I can see why you‟re tempted to do this," she admitted.

"That‟s a lot of money."

"So, you can see that this isn‟t really a marriage. It‟s a business transaction."

She frowned. "I don‟t know. Isn‟t it sacrilegious to make a marriage into a business deal?"

"I think it‟s better than what you were trying to do with Mr. Sussex, don‟t you? If you help me get money, then I can help you get money so you can save your family‟s property. What better cause can a person have than to help others?"

"You would really give me all of the money you will get on the wedding day?"

"Yes. I‟ll even draw up a contract which you can read over to make sure it‟s all legitimate."

"And I won‟t have to have sex with you?"

"Correct. You will be as pure as you are today."

"Then we‟ll get an annulment and go our separate ways?"

"Yes. No one gets hurt. It‟s a win-win situation."

"I want to take the contract to a lawyer and have him look at it."

"Of course," he agreed. "I wouldn‟t expect you to do anything less."

"Should I stop by the bank on Monday to pick up the contract?"

"As long as you come before noon. I have to attend meetings for the rest of the day."

"If this is legitimate, you have yourself a deal."

He smiled. "And who knows? Maybe we‟ll even become friends instead of pretending to get along at these dances.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much love

V.A💙