He blinked at the small gold band with a single diamond in it. It hardly looked impressive.

She sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I told people that you gave me a large diamond but I didn‟t like it so I insisted

on this ring instead."

He appreciated the fact that she did that. He almost hated what he was about to do to her the next day but reminded himself

it was for her own good. She didn‟t need men pawing all over her before she got annulled from marriage.

He took a bite of the meatloaf and nearly gagged on it. He quickly picked up the napkin and spit it out. That‟s the worst thing I ever tasted!

"Is it that bad?" She took a bite of her own and frowned.

"I added too many breadcrumbs and overcooked it." She tasted

the mashed potatoes and grimaced. "Don‟t eat the mashed potatoes."

He glanced at the drink. Was it safe?

As if she could hear his thoughts, she tasted her own.

"This is actually alright." She took the plates, apologized and went back to the kitchen to get one of mary‟s meals.

Despite her poor cooking skills, he chuckled to himself. She was trying so hard, but there was no way he‟d eat another one of her meals again. It‟s a good thing I can afford a maid. He took a sip of the hot chocolate and shuddered. She obviously wasn‟t used to

decent meals if she thought the drink was acceptable. He dumped the drink into the plant that sat in the corner of the room. He

didn‟t want to disappoint her anymore than he already had.

***

He took an early lunch from the bank so he could get to the library a little before noon. He carried the dress in a brown paper bag so no one would know he was carrying it around. He had to ask the woman at the front desk where Claire was, and the. woman directed him to the children‟s room. He quietly entered the room and stood behind a bookshelf so he could watch Claire without her noticing him. She still wore her hair down, except today she had it pulled back with two barrettes. She wore a navy

blue dress that showed off her hourglass figure. It was a good thing he was here to stop Mr. Martin before he got started.

A group of about thirty children and their mothers sat in a semi-circle to listen to her.

Then noticed Mrs. Brown sitting with three children. Mrs. Brown had been furious with her at the wedding because Claire had made her take off the lace she had sewn on her wedding gown, and now Mrs. Brown looked very happy to be in Claire‟s presence. She certainly has a way with people, or at least the women.

He considered the fact that women enjoyed Claire because Claire entertained their children at the library. The children were excited to listen to Claire as she told them a story. A ten and eight year old boy were standing next to her while a three year old girl sat on the floor.

Claire was narrating the story while the children acted it out.

Austin smiled. It was nice to see Claire at work. He didn‟t realize she could be so much fun. And she didn‟t even have to seek out the women. The women came to her and liked her because their children liked her. Claire was a marvelous businesswoman and she didn‟t even know it.

As the women and children left the room so Claire could put the chairs, plastic eggs, and axe away, he decided it was time to get

down to business. He peered around the door and saw Mr. Martin. Glancing at his watch, Austin saw that it was exactly noon.

I‟ll give him credit for punctuality.

He walked up to Claire and cleared his throat.

She turned around. Her eyes lit up when she saw him.

"Hello, Austin . What are you doing here?"

He suddenly felt guilty for the way he was about to treat her but as he watched Mr. Martin approaching the doorway, he

strengthened his resolve. He took the pink dress out of the bag and threw it at her.

She blinked in surprise.

"Put it on," he ordered, his tone firm.

"Pardon me?" She looked stunned.

"You heard me, woman. Put it on."

She gasped, her shock quickly wearing off.He lowered his voice so that Mr. Martin wouldn‟t hear what he was saying. "Are you deaf?"

"You‟re ordering me to put this horrid thing on?" She looked at the dress in disgust.

"You got it, woman. So get going."

She threw it at him. "You put it on since you like it so much."

"What?" he whispered so she would have to raise her voice.

"You put the dress on," she said in a louder voice. "I can‟t believe you have the audacity to come in here and tell me to do something you know I can‟t stand."

"Believe it," he said in a low voice. "I am your husband and you will do what I say."

"I will not!"

Good, she was yelling. He quickly glanced at Mr. Martin and noted that he was in perfect hearing distance. He stood in the

room and waited for them to finish their argument.

He‟s good to orphans and animals, well mannered, considerate of women and rich. He‟s the perfect bachelor. He makes me sick.

"I am going to undress you and put the dress on you myself unless you obey me,"he hissed.

She gasped. "You wouldn‟t."

He loudly said, as if he were deeply hurt, "Nothing would make me happier than to see you enjoy the gift I bought you."

By now she was fuming. "I don‟t know what sick game you‟re playing but you will never get me to wear one of those monstrosities that you call a gift." She angrily put the rest of the chairs away. She walked back over to him and ripped the dress.

The sequins flew all over the place. "There is your precious gift.

Do you still want me to put it on where people can see me in it?"

"But I bought it for you because I care about you." He pretended to look rejected."You don‟t care about me! The only person you care about is yourself. I see right through you, Mr. Hansworth." She

turned and saw Mr. Martin. "All you men want to do is control women. You disgust me," she spat as she left.

"Are you alright?" Mr. Martin asked him.

"I‟ll manage." He sighed sadly. "I try so hard to please her, but she gets mad no matter what I do." He put the dress back

in the bag and threw it in the trash can on his way out the door.

"I‟m glad I missed that mistake," he heard Mr. Martin mumble.

He grinned. His plan worked perfectly. As he walked toward the front entrance, he caught sight of Claire glaring at him from one of the bookshelves. Or maybe things didn‟t as well as I thought. He walked over to her. She walked behind the bookshelf, and he followed her. He had to make things right with her or

who knew what else she would do to his home. Clothes might not be the only thing she would be willing to throw down the

stairs.

"Get away from me," she quietly snapped as he followed her between the bookshelves.

He caught up to her and gently took her hand in his and kissed it.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, too bewildered to pull her hand away.

"I just wanted to say thank you for standing your ground.

I find your determination to stand true to your values extremelyrefreshing." He meant those words.

Her expression softened. "Why would you test me like that?"

"Because some men have wives that don‟t, and I want to make sure if you tell me anything, you‟ll stick to your word. I

don‟t like weak women." He meant that too.

"Don‟t do that to me again. I don‟t like it."

"I know, and I‟m sorry."She sighed. "Alright. I‟ll let it go this time."

"Thank you. Can I take you out to dinner tonight?"

"Where?"

"Any place you want."

"I do like Italian food."

"Luigi‟s?"

She nodded. "That would be nice. I‟ve never been there but always heard great things about it."

"Done." He was happy to do it since he instigated their argument.

"I‟ll see you after work then."

He felt much better as he left the library. He took the sheet of paper out of his pocket and crossed Mr. Martin‟s name

off the list. "One down, four to go."

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

Much love

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