***
A few days later I found out that I was perfectly healthy and all my hopes of getting out of this situation were crushed. This meant that the day to meet the famous Everett family had arrived. It seemed as though the preparations to make me pretty enough to woo the young Everett bachelor lasted forever. At this point, I was already passive and ready to accept whatever my fate turned out to be. Marrying a stranger was something I definitely didn’t want, but I had accepted that there was no way out from the situation I was trapped in.
There was a limousine waiting for me in front of the hotel. The driver had complimented me on my looks and opened the door for me. That was the first time I was riding in a limo and its luxurious leather seats and expensive screens made me panic all over again. How was I supposed to meet these people? They had money, class, style and they could afford the most expensive things one could imagine, whereas I was merely a poor girl from Rosemont. I had no money, no rank and no expensive things. Ironically, I didn’t even have a good education, despite the fact that I’d always dreamed of being a literature teacher and a writer. It felt like I was headed for a suicide mission.
As the car pulled up into the huge driveway, I tensed, because I knew that nothing would ever be the same again. There was a huge garden and a mansion that was bigger than any other building I had ever seen. I stayed in the car, paralyzed and unwilling to move. Sudden fear crept into my bones and I couldn’t help but wonder what I was doing there. A man in a suit was waiting in front of the door. I was curious if it was Sebastian’s father, but then it occurred to me that it must be someone from the help, because these people would probably never personally welcome any of their guests—let alone a penniless girl from Rosemont. When the driver opened the door for me again, I exited the car and barely caught my balance with my shaky legs. The man in the suit addressed me.
“Good afternoon, Miss Walsh. It is nice to meet you. Follow me, everybody’s waiting for you,” he said in a very official tone and gestured me towards the huge door.
As I followed the man in the suit who hadn’t even bothered to introduce himself, I was struck by the luxurious surroundings of this incredibly huge house. Marble floors, expensive furniture, paintings that must have been worth a fortune each, wide windows spreading down the lengthy hallway and chandeliers that looked like they were made of gold, all screamed money and even more frighteningly—power. The feeling of not belonging in this place poisoned my mind and sent my body into a state of fear, because I had no idea what to expect or how to behave.
Finally, we stopped by a door at the end of the hallway and the suited man opened it, raising his palm as a signal that I should wait until he invited me to come.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Isabelle Walsh has arrived.” That was my cue to walk in.
I was in the middle of the room filled with people I didn’t know—rich, powerful, and famous people. The room looked like a living space, only it was much bigger than all the rooms in my house combined together. In the middle of it, there was a group of people whose sole focus of attention was me. I could feel them measuring me up with their eyes and staring at me like they were wondering how long I would last before running away. My palms started sweating as I fought to breathe evenly. The situation was entirely awkward, because I didn’t know if I should introduce myself first, or wait for them to open the conversation. It looked as if they were all waiting for me to do something, but I didn’t know what. Every second felt like an eternity of torture and I prayed for them to make a move already. At last, the older man, who was probably in his late fifties, spoke to me.
“Welcome, Miss Walsh.” His eyes pierced straight through me and I felt this was a man in charge, a man whose orders must always be obeyed.
“T-thank you,” I said in a shaky voice and bowed slightly, which made the slim brunette who was sitting next to a young man, glance at him then back at me, before she chuckled mockingly. I felt like a complete idiot.
After a few moments of silence, which felt like an eternal torture, the older man finally introduced himself.
“I am Theodore Everett, Sebastian’s father. This is my wife Catherine.” He gestured at the lady sitting across from him.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, but all she offered was a small nod in response.
“My younger daughter, Helen.” The redheaded girl who was sitting next to Catherine smiled at me and all I could do was return the favor.
“And at last, my daughter Dianne, and her husband, Caleb.” He motioned towards the girl who had mocked me earlier.
“It... It’s a pleasure,” I stuttered and while her husband sighed and looked away to show how uninterested he was, Dianne was determined to prolong my torture.
“Oh no, Miss Walsh,” she chuckled again, “the pleasure is all ours,” she said sarcastically and I had to look away in an attempt to chase away the stress, but the loud breath I couldn’t stop myself from taking, revealed just how nervous I was.
“You look awfully pale.” Dianne tried to show her concern but was doing a very poor job at it. “Are you sure you’re alright?” This woman would definitely be no friend of mine—that much was clear.
“I am fine, thank you. Only a bit tired,” I barely responded.
“Make yourself comfortable, Isabelle.” Catherine invited me to sit down and I quickly glanced through the room, nervously searching for an appropriate place to sit.
“You can sit next to me.” Helen smiled warmly.
She was the only one who had been nice to me so far, and there was something about her that made me think she was sincere, something that radiated kindness and compassion.
When I sat down and took in my surroundings one more time I started wondering why Sebastian wasn’t there. Didn’t he want to see his future wife? I certainly wasn’t interested in marrying him all that much, but at least I wanted to see him. Was that going to be taken away from me as well? For a brief moment, I considered asking about him but I didn’t dare to speak. Only five minutes with that family had made me realize that things were going to be much more difficult than I had imagined, and there had been some pretty horrific things running through my mind.
“Sebastian will join us for dinner. He is a very busy man, you see. But he’s very excited to meet you,” Theodore answered my question as if he was reading my mind. That scared me.
“Thank you.” It was all I managed to reply.
After that, a brief inquisition with the main goal of putting me in my place had followed. They asked about my education, my family, whether I’d traveled a lot before, my favorite food, and so on. Dianne was the leader, coming up with so many questions and mean comments, openly taking pleasure from my inexperience and ignorance, which brought me to the verge of tears, but I’d sworn to myself I would not cry and give her the satisfaction. It was the last shred of dignity I had in front of these people and I was going to keep it. After what felt like eternity, Theodore announced that he had a meeting to attend and Catherine informed us that dinner would be served within an hour and that I should rest a bit. Sudden discomfort overtook me for a moment, because being alone in that huge mansion full of strangers was scarier than being subjected to this snobbish family’s inquiring attention.
Thankfully, Helen took my hand and offered to spend some time with me, which I gladly accepted. She suggested we should take a short walk outside so that I could relax a little, and she was right, because walking through the wonderfully decorated garden helped me feel at ease. For a while, we walked without saying a word.
“I must apologize for Dianne,” Helen started the conversation. “She can be a little...” It looked like she was lacking the word to describe her sister.
I shrugged. “It’s alright.”
“I know you must be nervous about everything.” She smiled at me.
“I really am...nervous. Especially because I...” I trailed off.
“Because you haven’t met Sebastian yet?” she concluded.
I nodded and b
lushed like a little girl. What on earth was wrong with me? I needed to pull myself together, and fast, but the chances of that happening were almost nonexistent. The truth was that I wasn’t nervous about meeting him, I was absolutely terrified. If he was anything like the rest of his family, I was doomed.
“He’s not that bad, you know. He’s just a bit rough around the edges. You’ll have to work hard if you want to earn his trust and make him care about you.” She paused and looked at me as if she wanted to make me realize the importance of what she was telling me. “He takes great care only of things he cherishes. So make him cherish you. It’s the only way you’ll survive in our world.”
I gasped because of what she had said and couldn’t think of anything to offer as a reply.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you.” She smiled softly. “It’s just a piece of advice. We should hurry back, it’s almost dinner time.”
“Thank you,” I whispered and attempted to fake a smile, but I wasn’t very successful at it.
“It’s alright. You’ll be fine,” she reassured me as we headed back towards the house.
***
The tension in the dining room was growing with each passing moment. Everybody but Helen—who glanced at me with the intent to ease my nervousness—was quiet and looked generally bored. After what seemed like a torturously long while, the massive door opened and everybody’s attention turned to the suited man again.
“Mr. Everett has arrived. He stopped by the office to rid himself of some documents and he’ll be joining you in a minute.”
“Thank you, Frederick. Please inform Alice that she can start serving dinner,” Theodore addressed the suited man and I finally learned his name.
Soon, I heard footsteps approaching the dining room again and I knew it was him. My palms started sweating and I was shaking slightly. Dear God, was this the way I was going to meet my future husband? Dianne’s eyes were shooting fire at me, and I couldn’t do anything but lower my gaze at the table. The door swung open, startling me, so I looked up and met his gaze for a moment, and then lowered my head back immediately. A pair of piercing green eyes sent shivers down my spine in only a split second. Beautiful. They were absolutely freezing cold, and beautiful.
“It’s nice that you decided to join us, son. We were starting to worry.” Theodore’s sarcastic words clearly meant he was scowling at his son for being late.
“I had some business I needed to take care of at the company. No need to worry, Father.” His voice was cold, determined, and it scared me.
Theodore laughed and motioned his hand towards me. I still couldn’t make myself look at Sebastian, but I felt he was watching me.
“This is Isabelle.” Theodore gave me a sign to stand up.
I stood up but my gaze was still directed at the floor. Sebastian made a few steps in my direction, and then stared at me intently, without any indication that he would say or do anything. Apparently, I was the one who needed to break the ice. I bit my lower lip, took a shallow breath and made myself face him. Then I offered him my hand. He took it without hesitation and squeezed it in real businessman style as if he was letting me know that that was all this would be—business. Goose bumps rose from the core of my body, sending a tingling sensation all over my skin. Such was his immediate effect on me, and I didn’t know if I would be able to tell him my name without making a complete fool of myself.
“Isabelle,” I said and instantly got distracted by those green eyes. They were magnificently beautiful and scary at the same time. I blushed because of the sole fact that I was gracing this man’s presence. “I’m Isabelle.”
I almost added ‘your highness’ because he exuded an air of royalty. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find a single flaw in his appearance. He was suited, tall, handsome—and terrifyingly beautiful. His face seemed to be a work of art. His brown, satin skin, flawless facial contours that appeared to be boyish and rough at the same time, as well as his short, black hair which was simple, yet perfectly styled, made him look like a model from the cover of a magazine. Why on earth would he want to marry a girl like me? I glanced at him with a huge question mark rising above my head, and my confusion grew as I was subjected to the meticulous inspection of his bright, scrutinizing eyes. His composure radiated an unmistakably unyielding attitude. This man bowed to no one, that much was clear. And his coldness served him well as a weapon of intimidation.
“Sebastian,” he said in a voice that was stripped of any emotion.
Almost instantly after introducing himself, he let go of my hand as if I disgusted him and sat across from me at the table. I returned to my seat, feeling uncomfortable and not knowing on what to focus my gaze to escape his interrogating eyes, so I directed it at the floor again.
“She’s quite a catch, brother. Don’t you think?” Dianne continued with her earlier tormenting. Sebastian’s eyes focused on me for a moment, and then glanced at Dianne.
“Not quite the catch as your husband is, sister,” he replied in a cold tone and it was clear he aimed to hit Dianne where it hurt. She exhaled angrily, rolled her eyes and looked away.
Nobody was saying anything and if something didn’t happen soon, my nervousness would become unbearable. At last, a group of maids walked in and started serving dinner. One of them announced that we were having a mushroom truffle soup which would be followed by an exquisite salmon stuffed with fromage frais and the desert would be crème brûlée. I didn’t understand what half of it meant and hadn’t ever eaten anything from the announced menu. It was yet another bitter reminder that I didn’t belong there, and probably never would. But how could I make my mother understand that I could never be happy with those people? She wouldn’t listen anyway, since the only thing she ever cared about was money.
“Isabelle, right?” His voice startled me from my thoughts. It was commanding and it meant that I had to look at him, and I honestly didn’t know if I could at that moment. But I lifted up my head, met his mysterious gaze and nodded in response.
“How was your trip to New York?”
Normally it would be a question one would ask to show courtesy or interest in another person, but there was something in his tone of voice that made me think he had no genuine interest in me whatsoever.
“It was okay. Everything went according to plan.” I bit my lower lip again to hide my discomfort, but I felt I couldn’t hide from him.
“Have you ever flown in a plane before?” he asked as if he knew the answer to his question.
“No…” I didn’t know how to address him; he was still nothing but a terrifying stranger. “No, Sir, I haven’t. That was my first time.”
I blushed because calling my future husband Sir seemed like such a ridiculous idea, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough around him to call him anything else, and he obviously wasn’t about to correct me.
“First time...” There was something in his voice that accentuated an inappropriate undertone of his words. “What a surprise,” he said ironically and looked away from me.
Everybody started eating their soup but to my dread there was a bunch of cutlery surrounding my plate, and I had no idea which spoon to use. I looked at Helen to see which spoon she was using, and somehow managed to recognize the right one in the pile around the plate.
“Do you like truffle soup, Isabelle?” Helen intended to ease my nerves but her attempt only led to yet another admission of my inexperience.
I smiled shyly. “I don’t know, I’ve never eaten truffles before. I’m looking forward to trying it though.”
“I think you will like it. Well, maybe not at first.” She smiled back. “It takes some time to like truffles. Well, generally, everything that has anything to do with liking or loving takes some time.” She nudged Sebastian, who was sitting next to her, but he only glanced at me shortly and showed no intention of responding to Helen’s comment.
As we moved on to the rest of the meal, I had a lot of trouble finding the right cutlery for the salmon dish. It was so
obvious that I had no idea how to eat my meal, I earned another mean chuckle from Dianne, and Sebastian was also thoroughly observing my every move. The frustrating fight between me and the salmon resulted in my shaky hands cutting the damned fish with a knife that had obviously been wrong, and intended for something else entirely.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Sebastian turned towards his father and his words cut deep into my heart—a simple, cold message that meant I disgusted him.
My face reddened in shame and I dropped the knife and the fork from my hands, deciding that I was done with eating for the evening. Helen looked at me apologetically and tried to mend the damage her brother’s words had caused.
“It’s alright Isabelle. Sometimes even I have difficulty with eating properly. Use whatever you want. I will explain it to you later.” Her warmth was the only thing keeping my sanity.
“Thank you. I hope I’ll get the hang of it,” I replied in a small, humble voice. I just wanted to get out of there.
“Haven’t you used spoons or knives in Rosemont before?” Sebastian’s impatient and insulting cold voice startled me and for some reason it hurt so much to be mocked by him again.
“Of course, it’s just that... I still don’t know the purpose of everything.” I managed to reply through my shaky breath.
“Well, that means you’ve come unprepared!” His eyes glared at me.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, because I was at the verge of crying and he looked like he was completely annoyed by my meek presence.
“Remorse is not a quality I value in people, Isabelle. You should refrain from making mistakes instead of leaning towards apologizing for them. What if I took you on one of the business dinners with me and you embarrassed me like you’ve embarrassed yourself tonight? I do hope that reason will prevail in this family for once and that we’ll stop marrying gold-diggers from that redneck town.” He glanced at his father and rolled his eyes at him.
Virtue & Vanity Page 3