The Courting

by Bella Bryce

  When Elisabeth reached the bottom of the stairs, she walked to Bennett and stopped in front of him. She could smell his cologne and she would have stuttered if she’d been made to speak first.

  “May I kiss you?” he asked quietly.

  Elisabeth smiled. “Yes, Sir,” she replied, equally as quiet.

  “Good girl,” he said, as he first kissed her hand; then secured her around the waist, with his other hand on her cheek before touching his lips to hers.

  Elisabeth closed her eyes and mingled in the moment. Bennett Fowler had a way of being entirely romantic that took her breath away and kept it for quite awhile. Sometimes just looking at him did that to her.

  Brayden quietly entered the foyer somewhat surprised to see them kissing, considering he’d never seen Bennett doing it before. He knew full well that Bennett and Elisabeth kissed, but it was the sight that he never thought he’d walk in on. They pulled away from each other and Bennett held her chin.

  “And no, just because you’re gorgeous doesn’t mean you can have champagne tonight. I want to keep you innocent,” Bennett whispered in her ear.

  Elisabeth visibly blushed and gave him an embarrassed smile, which he loved. His words had their desired effect.

  “There she is,” Brayden said, as Alice appeared at the top of the stairs and began down them.

  Bennett and Elisabeth turned to see her. The smile on Alice’s face was unmistakeable and stayed long after she reached the bottom. She greeted her uncle, and then he and Elisabeth walked arm in arm down the corridor toward the ballroom, as Alice stood alone in the foyer with Brayden.

  “Happy birthday, Father,” she said, with a bit of nervousness in her voice.

  He was the epitome of what Alice considered the ideal father. He was handsome, a complete gentleman, a man of his word, always dressed well, firm but fair, and knew when to soften himself for the sake of showing her what grace looked like. Alice knew it was an important moment, as she stood before him in her first ball gown to celebrate his birthday. She felt truly prepared to spend the evening around the exclusive social circle and his friends from boarding school after all the time she’d been at Waldorf. Brayden had built such confidence and security in her, that Alice wanted nothing less than to do him proud with how she’d settled into her life.

  “You’ll be the prettiest girl at the ball,” Brayden said, as he kissed her cheek.

  The dress looked perfect on Alice, and anyone who didn’t know her chronological age probably wouldn’t have assumed otherwise. Her long hair had been curled and fell across one shoulder while a matching hunter green satin ribbon secured the top half at the back. Brayden would have insisted that the dress have sleeves, but he also knew that a ballroom full of people meant long sleeves would become tedious. Although, Ana had asked that windows be opened slightly to ensure the roaring fires didn’t add to the heat of a hundred formally dressed, waltzing guests.

  Brayden offered his arm to Alice and escorted her to the ballroom.

  Bennett and Elisabeth were facing each other, each with a drink in their hands when Alice entered. She looked around the ballroom. The orchestra was warming up; the drapes of the massive ceiling-high windows were still open and the view of the estate became markedly more beautiful as the sun began to set. She let go of Brayden’s arm when they arrived and walked to the windows where she looked out across the estate as her father so often did. Alice closed her eyes and inhaled. She couldn’t believe that she lived at Waldorf - that she was standing in a ballroom in the home where she lived, and that everything sad about her life before Waldorf had seemingly become untrue. She was incredibly grateful and wanted a moment to acknowledge it.

  Ana, dressed in a black gown with a black sparkly Peter Pan collar and matching skinny belt, was speaking to the conductor. She wore smart patent Mary Jane heels and her shoulder length brown hair had been curled then separated into large waves with two diamond earrings dangling beneath.

  Once Ana left the conductor, the orchestra began playing their repertoire and the wait staff began loading silver trays with tall glasses of bubbling champagne. The coloured drinks in crystal goblets were non-alcoholic and featured a playful shot of red syrup in the bottom featuring small cherries on sterling silver spears.

  Alice was looking forward to getting her hands on several of those cherry drinks. Brayden didn’t allow Alice to drink anything besides sparkling or still water and orange juice, so it was a rare evening for more than one reason.

  “Happy birthday, Mr. James,” said Ana.

  “Thank you,” he replied, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a glass of champagne. Brayden would have offered her one, but she was working. It wouldn’t have been a moral approach to conversation building.

  “My boss phoned and told me he expects me to work late tonight by staying for the ball,” Ana said, folding her arms across her chest. She wasn’t being impertinent in her regard.

  Brayden smiled with the corner of his mouth and nodded toward Bennett. “That wasn’t me, I’m afraid.”

  Ana looked over at Bennett, who was looking down at Elisabeth. They were quite lost in conversing with each other and Bennett had one hand on her cheek. Again. They looked as though they were about to kiss at any moment.

  “Mr. Fowler?”

  “Yes. He beat me to it,” Brayden replied, and took a sip of champagne.

  “Well, everything so far is in order. Of course, if anything goes wrong, I will also be here to receiving my scolding,” Ana said, uncrossing her arms.

  Brayden was a complete gentleman in every regard, which meant he didn’t let his mind wander. Although, the first thought that entered his imagination when Ana had said, ‘I will be here to receiving my scolding’ was taking her to his study to put her across his lap and smack her backside before making her face the corner. The thought was fitting and he liked Ana’s choice of words.

  She wondered what Brayden was thinking, hoping she hadn’t put him off in any way. Her words had been strategically chosen so as to lead into a potential conversation whereby she could find out if Brayden was a dominant man outside of running his estate and raising his daughter. She couldn’t be with someone who was inconsistent.

  “One thing is for sure, if I scold you, it will be up in my study and not in front of the guests,” he said with a bit of a smile.

  Bingo. Ana gulped and her coy smile faded – it was exactly what she’d been looking for. Brayden was immediately a potential partner in her mind. His wording and tone of voice made it very clear that he took charge and maintained propriety.

  The tops of Ana’s cheeks just below her eyes blushed a crimson red and she averted eye contact. It was precisely the reaction Brayden had been waiting for himself.

  “I see,” Brayden said, nodding once deliberately, and looking down at her with direct eye contact. “You respond well to being directed.”

  Ana glanced at him before letting her eyes go to the floor. She was beginning to feel extremely hot and bothered, and nonetheless whilst in a client’s home! At the event she organised. Just moments before it was supposed to start. It was a side to her that Brayden hadn’t seen or expected; and so pleasantly obvious that Ana was a submissive woman looking to be with a man who would do things precisely as Brayden was already doing them.

  “I doubt you’ll have reason to correct me, Mr. James. I’m quite sure you’ll find everything up to par this evening,” Ana said, trying to find her voice.

  “I certainly hope so. I don’t like to make big girls cry,” he replied, giving Ana a politely serious look. “Excuse me.”

  Ana’s eye darted all over the room, feeling as though everyone had just heard their conversation – the one that nearly made her lose her balance. No man had ever exercised subtle authority over her the way Brayden had very, very unexpectedly just done in those few moments. No man had ever been able to make her feel the way he had just then. She quietly walked out of the ballroom and down to the guest bathrooms around another short corrid
or to the side. She locked the door, closed her eyes and then let out an exasperated sigh. She could hardly believe it. At twenty-eight years old, Ana had resigned herself to thinking she would never find the man she’d been waiting for; the one who was a gentleman, responsible, handsome, taller than her, older than her, could provide for her, valued morals and integrity, was strict, believed in having authority and providing discipline to the woman he loved when he felt she needed it – or simply whenever he wanted to give it. Ana was all about discipline, but no man she’d met yet had measured up. She didn’t play around and she didn’t waste her time, but she’d gone on first and second dates with enough men to know straightaway that none of them would ever work. Brayden was different. Brayden James was the entire package. She didn’t even need to know more about him to know he was the one.

  Ana put a hand on her chest and felt her heart beating. She inhaled and exhaled a few times to steady it again and then touched up her makeup. She felt butterflies in her stomach and wasn’t sure if she could go near Brayden again without falling apart. She wondered if he even knew what he’d done to her on the inside or if he was feeling the same way. Or if his words had just merely been playful. Then again, Brayden had said, ‘You respond well to being directed.’ Those were words from a dominant man who was actively looking for a woman to fit under his direction. Ana prepared herself for the fact Brayden might not fancy her or be interested in chatting to her after that evening. After all, he was her client. He didn’t owe her anything and she would have absolutely no right to feel hurt if he didn’t pursue her.

  “Alice, darling, finish your drink and then I’d like you to stay near to me for the first bit. I want to make sure you meet a few people and then I’ll expect you to reacquaint yourself with those you already know. And mind that dress. Those drinks have grenadine in them and I don’t want you spilling.”

  Alice looked up at him with a frown as she carried on sipping the last few drops of juice through the straw, which created an awful sound.

  Brayden took the tall crystal goblet with a striped paper straw out of her hands and placed it on a tray nearby from one of the wait staff. “Don’t do that. How many have you had?”

  Alice looked up at him and licked the remains of grenadine from her lips. Brayden could see her tongue was completely stained red. “Four?”

  Brayden gave her a look and took her by the hand before leading her toward the front of the ballroom where the guests began arriving.

  Jon and Evelyn Fowler were first. Evelyn wore a long, gorgeous black shimmering, figure-hugging dress. She also had a patent opera clutch in one hand and a pearl bracelet on her other wrist. Elisabeth was nearly speechless at the sight of the middle-aged woman who was so well put together and graceful.

  Jonathan looked dapper, as ever, in his tuxedo and they both approached to greet Bennett and Elisabeth.

  “Mother,” Bennett said, and kissed her twice. He shook hands with his father.

  “Elisabeth, darling, you look beautiful,” Evelyn said.

  “Thank you,” she replied, “so do you,” as they greeted each other with a kiss on each cheek.

  “Now, my dear, I wanted to chat with you,” Evelyn started.

  “May I have a word?” Bennett said to his father.

  “Yes, son, of course.”

  “You were at the club the other night when I came by Greystone,” Bennett started.

  “Is everything all right?” Jon asked, putting a hand in his trouser pocket.

  “Well, not exactly,” Bennett remarked and nodded for him to glance over at Elisabeth and Evelyn. Jon observed Elisabeth looking at Evelyn with that subtle longing – the look that made it obvious she’d already begun to idolise Evelyn. The middle-aged woman was beautiful, independent and wealthy, besides the fact every time she hosted, every detail was flawless. She seemed perfect in every way.

  Jon looked back at Bennett and turned inward toward him. “Your mother would have made Alice her little companion if Brayden had consented, you realise that, don’t you?” he asked.

  Bennett stifled a laugh and shook his head before taking a sip of his champagne. “It’s not going to happen with Elisabeth, either.”

  Jon looked amused and didn’t respond, but the look on his face said, ‘good luck with that.’

  “Speaking of which, she phoned me about Elisabeth going to her luncheon,” Bennett started.

  Jonathan shook his head.

  “Twice she asked and twice I said no. She phoned me the other night to try and persuade me otherwise. Elisabeth and I had an argument because she doesn’t understand—”

  “That Elisabeth’s life will become rather complicated if she gets close to the ladies with teeth on their body parts?” Jon asked, almost rhetorically.

  “Something like that,” Bennett replied, automatically. “Beyond that, I told her my decision and she not only argued with me the first time, she phoned me back a few days later to try again,” Bennett said.

  Jon shook his head again. “Your mother doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘no’. And certainly not from you. She also wants to make Elisabeth the daughter we never had, which you cannot blame her for. You must let your mother play her part.”

  “I want nothing more than Elisabeth to have Mother’s affections. But I won’t let her take Elisabeth here and there to endless functions and gatherings where I don’t know what kind of conversations are being had or what they’re telling her. Surely you understand how damaging that can be.”

  Bennett looked at his father and lightened his intent when Jon faced him. He wouldn’t dare speak back to his father in a tone even at at his age, but Bennett was indeed displeased with his father’s lack of concern. Jonathan was so unaware and apathetic toward Evelyn’s behaviour that he didn’t seem motivated to want to know any different.

  “Father, I’d like to suggest something to you,” he started.

  “A stiff drink?” Jon asked, indicating his champagne wasn’t quite up to par.

  “I think you should thrash her,” Bennett suggested before he lost his nerve.

  Jon laughed and looked away as his son stared back at him stone-faced. Jon eventually stopped laughing and noticed Bennett wasn’t reacting.

  “She will carry on running everyone else’s lives, namely yours,” he warned.

  Jon’s smile faded. “Your mother isn’t ruining my life. That’s rather a position to take, son.”

  Bennett raised an eyebrow and then with the little amount of nerve he had to speak to his father bluntly, he replied, “Mother needs to be reined in. Do something, please, before she drives a wedge between my future wife and me,” before excusing himself.

  As always, Evelyn became rather animated whenever she saw Alice and spent an inordinate amount of time fussing over her. Elisabeth had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

  “Happy birthday, darling,” Evelyn told Brayden, when she’d stopped pinching Alice’s cheeks.

  Brayden kissed Evelyn and shook Jon’s hand. “Thank you.”

  “We of course won’t leave our gift with everyone else’s. Jon,” Evelyn said, holding her hand out toward her husband. He handed an envelope over rather obediently, much to Bennett’s dislike. Jon quietly realised how automatic his following of his wife was and only because he saw his son watching.

  “This is to be opened once we’ve all gone and I don’t want to hear any arguments. All right?”

  Brayden looked at the extremely presentable envelope with his name written in script on the front. “Yes, Aunty Evelyn, of course. I shan’t argue,” and kissed her cheek again. “Thank you,” he told them both, and then slipped the envelope into the inside pocket of his formal jacket.

  “Speaking of courting,” Bennett started, out of nowhere.

  “No one is speaking of courting, Bennett, thank you,” Brayden said, and put his empty champagne glass on a tray offered to him.

  Evelyn looked at Elisabeth and then Bennett and then Brayden. “What’s this?” she asked.

/>   “Evelyn, let’s not pry,” Jon started.

  “All right darling, you don’t pry, you go and get us some more champagne,” Evelyn said, waving a dismissive hand in his direction.

  Jon raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m afraid this shall have to wait; look who has just arrived,” Brayden said.

  Bennett looked over and spied two of their former fellow Prefects from boarding school as they entered. There would be another four to arrive and they would be priority for one reason or another. Friendships and connections made by Brayden and Bennett whilst being Prefects at boarding school were not easily dismissed. It was schoolboy honour to keep those lines of communication open and healthy and so they behaved as if no time had passed, despite prior to a few months before, they hadn’t seen some of them in years.

  “Maxwell,” Brayden said, as he approached Colin.

  “Still calling me by my last name since Bennett’s dinner party,” he said, receiving Bennett’s handshake.

  “That depends, are you behaving as a gentleman this evening? If you are, I suppose we can drop the schoolboy banter and refer to you properly,” Bennett replied, with subtle sarcasm and a handsome smile. Bennett was charming far beyond many people’s level of acceptance.

  “Now now, I’ve only just arrived, let’s play nice, shall we?” Colin said.

  “That’ll do,” Brayden said.

  Colin Maxwell wasn’t like their other schoolboy friends and most of their old mates just barely tolerated him, for one reason or another.

  Colin glanced just beyond Brayden and spied Alice chatting to Bennett’s parents. Precisely whom he’d been looking for. Bennett would have picked up on it, but he was thinking about Elisabeth and turned to indicate for her to approach.