Her excitement was contagious. “And?”
“And I found myself telling him I thought I’d quite like to marry him one day, too.” She blushed and looked away from me. “You probably think it’s all too soon and I’m an idiot, but I do love him, Lily.”
“Far be it for me to tell you what you feel, Annie,” I said, moving to sit next to her and hugging her. “You know if you love him or not, and you know if you want to marry him one day or not. He’s an adult, and you’re nearly eighteen. Plus, it’s not like you need to save for the wedding! Hell, marry him tomorrow if you want!” I said with a laugh.
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad? I love you like a sister, and seeing you happy is the most important thing in the world.”
“Would you believe, he loved me this whole time, but believed I was indifferent?”
I feigned surprise. “No, no I didn’t. See, I told you he wasn’t like the other boys. He’s too kind and modest for his own good.”
“I am the luckiest girl alive! I can’t believe someone as good as Jax loves me!”
“I can.”
“Oh, Lily, if only I could see you so happy. If only there was such a boy for you.” Her tone was slightly pointed, but I ignored it.
“If you were to give me forty such boys, I could still never be as happy as you, Annie. Until I am as sweet and good as you, I could never have your happiness. But, I am content to be me. Who knows, maybe Seb has a friend for me?”
We descended into fits of giggles which were halted when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and found one of the school’s secretaries.
“Lily Brewer?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me, please. You have a visitor in the principal’s lounge.”
I looked back to Anne and made a face, but followed the secretary to the lounge. I had no idea who the hell would be visiting me in the principal’s lounge. I looked down at my clothes, still a little wet as they were, and decided I didn’t much care about my state anyway.
The secretary let me in and I was surprised to see Lady Celia sitting regally on a chair waiting for me. There was no one else in the room.
“Lily,” she said simply.
“Lady Celia,” I replied just as simply.
“Sit.”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Very well, I will get to the point.” Lady Celia sighed. “You will know why I am here, of course.”
“No, I really wouldn’t,” I answered, sharply.
The look on her face cautioned my tongue.
“Lily, you should know I am not to be trifled with. You may choose to be dishonest with me, but I assure you, I will not be dishonest with you. It has come to my attention that you and Austin are to be…acquainted. Knowing this must be false, I decided to let you know how I feel about such things.”
“How lovely of you. But, if you know Austin and I can’t be…acquainted, I wonder why you bothered coming to visit me.”
“I thought to hear you refute the claim.”
“I hardly see how you had to do so in person. And, if we are to be acquainted, your coming here isn’t really likely to do much about it, is it?”
“If? Am I to understand you are not?
“I’m not likely to tell you, am I?” I retorted.
“You will tell me, Lily. Has my nephew made you an offer?”
“You have declared it to be impossible.”
“I would not put it past you to have bewitched him and made him forget his duties.”
“Because I have magical powers now,” I scoffed. “And, if I did, I’m not going to own to it.”
She stood abruptly. “Do you know who I am?”
“An insufferable old bat by all accounts,” I snapped.
She was incredulous. “I am unaccustomed to being treated in this manner. You will give me a straight forward answer, Lily. I am Austin’s aunt, and have the right to know his dearest concerns.”
“But, you have no right to mine. And attempting to browbeat me will not make me want to divulge my secrets.”
“You will never be with Austin. He is going to marry Fleur van Wilhausen. What witty remark have you to that?” She was losing her cool façade.
“Only this: if that is so, you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me!”
“His mother and Fleur’s intended them for each other since they were very young. Have you no propriety? No regard for the wishes of his family? Were you, perhaps, unaware he was destined for her?”
“How could I not know? But, what is it to me? If this is your only objection to me being with your nephew, I shall certainly not be kept from him because other people want him to marry Fleur. If Austin doesn’t want her, why can’t he choose someone else? And, if he chooses me, why should I not say yes?”
“Because you will be shunned, dear; society, the family, everyone will despise you.”
I laughed. “Oh noes! How could I ever survive such a thing? I would think, Celia, that anyone fortunate enough to be Austin’s wife would be surrounded enough by happiness that she wouldn’t care one whit about you and Fleur shunning her.”
“You are infuriating. Fleur and Austin are destined. They both come from noble lines, are both vastly wealthy. Their union is wished for by many. And, who would divide them? A poor nobody from the colonies?”
“Austin and I are equal where it counts. I couldn’t care less about his money, he’s much more than his property or bank statement.”
“Tell me once and for all, are you engaged to him?”
I look at her, stunned that she could honestly believe such a thing. “No, I’m not.”
She smiled, evidently pleased by my answer. “And you will promise me never to enter into such an agreement?”
“Piss off, I’ll do no such thing!”
“Vulgar girl. I will not leave here until you have promised me.”
“Then you may as well move in!” I retorted. “Even if I was to give you such a promise, how does that ensure Austin marries Fleur? He will be so dejected as to commit himself to marrying a God-awful creature?” I snorted. “I don’t think so. You obviously don’t know me at all, Celia, if you think anything you’ve said will persuade me. I have no idea what Austin thinks of you snooping in his affairs, but you have no right to snoop in mine.”
“Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?” She asked, looking me up and down in my bedraggled state. “With someone like you.”
“God, but you’re a miserable old woman, aren’t you? I can’t imagine you have any more witty insults to dish out, so I will kindly bid you good day,” I bowed, “and a happy go feck yourself.” I nodded to her and made to leave, not bothering to hide my smile at the utter outrage on her face.
“You are resolved to have him, then?” she called.
I turned at the door. “I’m not saying that. I only promise to act in whatever manner will secure my happiness, and nerts to you or anyone whose opinion means nothing to me!”
As I closed the door behind me, I heard her ranting, but paid her no mind; Anne was beyond happy with one Cooper twin and I had reason to believe I could be happy with the other. I didn’t know if he still wanted me, but I had to believe Celia’s visit came from somewhere.
Chapter Fifty-Six: Austin
I laughed. “No! You didn’t?”
Jax blushed. “I did. God, embarrassing or what?”
“Well, she didn’t turn you down, did she?”
Jax’s face brightened. “No, she didn’t. She actually said yes. Should I..” He looked to the drawer where I knew he’d stashed Mum’s ring.
“Mate, I’m not going to stop you if you want to go on with the madness.”
He looked surprised. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really. It worked for Dad, who’s to say it wouldn’t work for you, too.”
Seriously, I was done messing in his life. If Anne had acce
pted an unintentional marriage proposal, who was I to stand in the way of a real one? I’d tried to force my views on my brother plenty already in the love department and it had made everyone miserable.
“No, dude, you do whatever your heart tells you is the right thing,” I said, holding my hands up in defeat and grinning like a madman.
I hadn’t seen Jax this ridiculously happy in… Well, I couldn’t even remember.
The door opened.
“Cass, what did I- Aunt Celia…” I stammered, jumping off my bed.
Thank God I’m wearing a long-sleeved top, I thought.
She looked around our room in disgust. In all the years we’d been at Netherfield, I couldn’t remember one time that Aunt Celia had come to the dorms. In fact, I was hard-pressed to remember a time she’d been anywhere at the school that wasn’t the ballroom or boardroom.
“Aunt Celia, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Jax asked.
She gave me the biggest stink eye I’d ever seen.
“Is…uh, everything okay?” I asked.
“I will speak to you about Lily Brewer.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Jax said, starting to sidle towards the door.
I shot him a look that clearly begged him to stay, and his return look told me there was no way in hell he was. Until, Aunt Celia spoke again.
“Jackson, you will stay for this. You will benefit from this conversation as much as your brother.”
Jax dropped onto the bed and we waited for her to speak.
Finally, she cleared her throat. “I have just been conversing with Lily.”
“You’ve done what?”
“She is a truly vulgar girl. After Amanda came to see me the other day, I began to worry that the ring she’d taken was not, after all, intended for Fleur.”
Shit, Amanda had done what?
Jax and I shared a look, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.
“I waited a few days, mindful of what you said about a surprise, then met with Fleur. She assured me she had neither spoken to you nor had an offer of marriage from you. Naturally, I put two and two together, realising Amanda had lied to me and you intended the ring for Lily, instead. Well, I set out immediately to confront the conniving little madam. You can imagine my disgrace and disappointment when Lily told me she had no intention of rejecting you-”
“I beg your pardon?” I interrupted, earning me another stink eye.
Aunt Celia gave me a scathing look. “Indeed. I informed her you were going to marry Fleur, and that your mother’s ring would be Fleur’s. Lily all but told me she would marry you against the wishes of the whole world.”
I saw Jax grin and my brain went into overdrive.
Our aunt sighed. “I tried to convince her the match was a terrible one, but she persisted in her disagreement. Telling me she wouldn’t stop a trifling thing like your mother’s wishes to stand in the way of her happiness.”
“Her happiness?” I asked.
“Oh, Austin, really you must see she’s not the right girl for you!”
“She’s a good person, Aunt Celia, and I won’t hear you say anything more against her.”
Aunt Celia actually looked flustered for a moment. “Well, you’ll think less of her when you hear what she said to me!”
I rolled my eyes. “And, what did she say to you?”
“She told me to have…sexual relations with myself.”
“The fact that Lily would not have used those words makes me doubt your story.”
Aunt Celia drew herself up. “She wished me a happy go feck myself.”
Jax and I both snorted.
“That, I believe,” Jax said.
“Ooh! You will do well to remember yourself, Jackson! Austin, you will not give Lily Brewer your mother’s engagement ring!”
“No,” I said quite cheerfully, “Jax’s giving that to Anne Macklin.”
Aunt Celia’s look of triumph turned to disbelief.
Jax shrugged. “Well, I’m thinking about it. I might…I probably will…yes, okay, I’m going to give Anne Mum’s ring.”
“What?”
“You’re a splendid shade of purple, Aunt Celia,” I commented dryly.
I could practically see the fumes shooting out her ears. She took a moment to compose herself, the smiled at me without any humour or affection. “Then, you can’t be thinking of marrying her.”
“On the contrary, I’ll do what I like when I like. I just won’t be giving her Mum’s ring.”
“Good luck paying for a ring, I’ll make sure your bank accounts are inaccessible!”
I laughed. “Firstly, I have Amanda’s birth mother’s ring, so I’ll be grand, thanks. Secondly, we’re eighteen now, Aunt Celia; you have no power over our money or any other assets now.”
“You will regret this, boys,” she said and swished out of the room.
“Bu-bye.” Jax and I waved, then broke into giggles.
When we’d calmed down, Jax looked at me scarily seriously.
“Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?”
“Proposing to Lily.”
I thought for a moment. “I don’t know, man. It’s quite possible that I did.”
“We can have a joint wedding!”
“Jesus, dude. I have only just stopped thinking you proposing to Anne now isn’t ridiculous, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“You do know a wedding usually follows a proposal right?”
“Ha ha, yes. It just doesn’t have to be thought about just yet. Especially when neither of us has been accepted.”
“Well, you haven’t,” he replied, looking very pleased with himself.
“Yeah, I’m not sure an accidental proposal really counts, mate.”
“No, you might be right…”
“Are we planning the real one now?”
He grinned at me, then nodded.
“Ugh, fine, but I’m not doing anything involving flash mobs or fancy dress, okay?”
“Would you consider playing the guitar?”
“What, you want me to do the wooing?”
“Hm…yeah, good point. You could teach me guitar?”
“That could take a while…”
We spent I don’t even want to know how long on proposal ideas. Eventually, Jax decided leaving it for a little while was best, since he didn’t want to rush the planning stage.
“It has to be perfect!” Jax said.
“Honestly, I think the whole ‘yes’ answer would make it as perfect as it needs to be.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven: Lily
After Celia’s odd visit, I didn’t see Austin much. Neither, actually did I see Jax or Anne much.
One would suppose they had quite a bit to catch up on and I didn’t really want to be a part of that. So, as I had for the last week, I left them in Anne and my room and went wandering about the campus. It was a clear day, still bloody freezing, mind you, but I expected not to get stuck in a deluge of water again, at least.
I wandered along, wondering how long I needed to walk to justify another piece of cheesecake, when I heard my name called.
I turned and saw Austin swinging a long leg over the seat as he got off his motorcycle.
God, he was beautiful.
He wore jeans, black boots and his leather jacket over a white shirt. Damn what I’d said before Christmas, he looked amazing in leather. When he pulled his helmet off – Did he actually just swish his hair? – he was grinning like some cover model. I am not ashamed to say I may have drooled a little. He raked a hand through his hair, pausing when his hand reached the back of his neck. Damn, I saw skin where his top pulled up.
“Austin Cooper, what are you doing?” I asked, sounding a little more breathless than I’d intended.
If possible, his grin widened. “Took the bike out for a bit while Jax is… Well, I imagine you know.”
I laughed, my mind so far from Jax and Anne, Aust
in had no idea. “I do know.”
“How are things?” he asked leaning against the bike.
I found I was standing right in front of him. “Uh, good. You? You seem fairly chipper.”
“I am feeling rather chipper.”
“May I ask why you’re so chipper? Or, is it a secret?”
“No, no secret.” He shook his head.
“Right, so going to tell me or not?”
He chuckled and looked over my head. “Well, I hadn’t intended to have this conversation quite like this.”
“What conversation?”
“I might have spoken to my aunt recently…”
I tried to keep the panic from my voice. “Did you now?”
He nodded. “She told me…some interesting things.”
“Okay, look, firstly, she totally deserved it. I know she’s your aunt and all, but she’s a massive bitch.” I blurted out.
He smiled. “Oh, I know, but that’s not all she told me.”
“Really?” Shit, shit, shit! What in the actual hell had she said to him?
He nodded again, looking at me very intently. “Really. In fact, she said some things that made me feel very inclined to talk to you.”
“Really?” I actually squeaked, yes, squeaked. Tres cool, I know.
He suddenly looked serious, not like scary serious, but like something seriously serious was about to happen. I felt butterflies go mad in my stomach and was incredibly glad I hadn’t made up my mind about the cheesecake before I’d seen him; I had a feeling said cheesecake wouldn’t have still been in my stomach at that point…
“Lily… I need to ask you if there’s any chance of us. I mean, if not, I understand and I’ll not mention it again. But, Aunt Celia’s words gave me cause to hope and…well, my affection hasn’t changed…”
Netherfield Prep (Austen Reimagined: P&P #1) Page 37