AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How long has he been plotting my marriage to the daughter of one of his cronies?
CHAPTER9
Sebastian
Lunch passes in a blur, and I process little that is said. I’m grateful when the conversation revolves around anything but me and my apparent urgent need to secure a new wife.
Mother mentions the ghostwriter who is staying in the cottage whilst she writes the family biography that Grandfather has been talking about for quite some time. This piques my interest, and I welcome the distraction from the tension streaming through my body.
‘How is she getting on?’ I ask.
‘Did you meet Jamie? She’s a rather fabulous fiery redhead,’ says Grandfather, in-between bites of Bessie’s mouth-watering home-cooked cod and chips. ‘Got Damian on his toes, I can tell you.’ There’s a wicked sparkle in his eye and I guess he’s having fun pitting them against each other.
My mother says Jamie is working closely with Damian and, although they had something of a bumpy start, they seem to have settled into a productive routine.
‘Yes, I’ve met her. She’s great.’ I laugh, imagining what a nightmare it must be to extract any personal information from between Damian’s tight lips. He’s notoriously closed off and keeps his thoughts to himself.
‘Poor woman,’ I say. ‘I bet she had no clue what she was signing up for.’
‘She didn’t.’ Grandfather lets out a sudden loud burst of laughter, like a cracking machine gun. ‘She thought she would be working with me, but I decided I’m far too old for all that, so I passed the baton to Damian.’
‘I bet he didn’t thank you for it.’
When lunch is over, I say goodbye to Grandfather, and he reminds me that his assistant will be in touch to set up a date for me with myperfectfuture wife. Those aren’t his exact words, but they’re the words running through my brain.
I feel like he’s just handed me a death sentence.
‘Great!’ I don’t want to upset him, and I don’t know what else to say.
I promise to follow through, even though every fibre of my being is urging me to run.
Daisy leaps from the chair where she’s leaning over her schoolbook as soon as I poke my head into the room.
‘Bessie baked your favourite cake, pumpkin,’ I say.
Nathalie smiles at me, her blue eyes as deep as the Aegean Sea, and I swear the angels break into song.
‘How was your trip?’ she asks, her voice soft.
‘Pretty good,’ I reply, over the top of Daisy’s head as she scrambles up and wraps her arms around my neck. I don’t tell her that things are about to change dramatically if my grandfather has his way, and I’ll be engaged just as soon as he can arrange it. I don’t tell her there’s a heavy weight, that is not Daisy, bearing down on my chest, and I can barely breathe.
In true Sebastian style, I push those ugly thoughts right out of my head and say to the girls, ‘Who wants to go deer watching and eat ice cream?’
Nathalie looks confused.
I suppose it does sound like an odd combination.
Daisy shouts and almost pierces my ear drum. ‘Yes, please, Daddy. Me! Me!’
On the drive home, I decided that today’s the day to take Nathalie to Richmond Park for the first time.
‘I would love to,’ Nathalie says in her breathy voice that sends shivers down my spine and other places.
‘Do you like ice cream?’ I ask her.
She nods enthusiastically.
I realise how little I know about her, and it saddens me. It’s like I’ve known her all my life, but I don’t know her at all.
