“I need a bath too. Let’s go.” He dropped all the plates and followed her out of the kitchen and to the staircase.
She turned around and stopped. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to take a bath too.”
“You better not think you’ll be taking one with me.”
“Did I say I was?”
She hesitated. “Well, no but you’re following me.”
“I like the way you walk. I’m just admiring you.” He grinned.
She gave him a look of disgust and walked up the steps.
He followed her.
She turned around again. “You’re too close to me.”
“I’m not close enough.”
“I don’t know what has suddenly gotten into you, but I would ask you to remember your manners. I don’t want you standing so close to me.”
“But you have such a wonderful body.”
She gasped. “You are impossible to talk to. Do you know that?”
“Good, I was getting tired of talking anyway.” He stepped up so he stood in front of her, took her in his arms and kissed her. He felt her relax as she responded to his kiss. She’s definitely not cold. “You know, your pudding isn’t half-bad.”
It took a moment for her shock to wear off. “I don’t understand you. One minute you’re telling everyone how horrible I am and the next thing I know, you’re seducing me.”
“Seducing you? We’re covered in food. It’s hardly the time for seduction.”
“Oh, never mind. You are very hard to figure out.” She turned and walked up the rest of the steps.
“Am I?” He followed her.
“Where are my new clothes?” She crossed her arms and looked at him.
“I’ll have Ralph return them after your bath.”
“That isn’t necessary. Just tell me where they are and I’ll get them.”
He shuddered at the thought of her in his bedroom with food in her hair and on her dress. Who knew what she would choose to touch. “No way. I value my things too much to let you near them when you’re so...so...” He wasn’t sure how to describe her. She was surprisingly beautiful but he wouldn’t trust her near his things in her soiled condition.
“Filthy?”
“That’s the word. It’s nice having you around. You’re like a walking dictionary.”
“I’m thinking of a word right now to describe you.”
“Sue, I didn’t think women thought such things,” he smiled, sure that whatever the word was that it wouldn’t be flattering.
“I am a spinster, Mr. Mitchell. I don’t have to have delicate thoughts.”
“What other crude thoughts do you have?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I will take a bath so Ralph will return my clothes.” She walked to the bathroom. “I can’t believe you had the audacity to put me through all that work and humiliation. And all for what? To get rid of the men? What good will that ever do your bank if you constantly push clients away?”
I’m not pushing men away from my bank but from you, honey. It amazed him that she couldn’t imagine that she might be desirable to a man. He followed her into the bathroom and quickly dodged behind her so she didn’t notice he was in the room with her. He watched as she started to unbutton the front of her dress.
As soon as she turned around and noticed him, she gasped and struggled to conceal her abundant cleavage that couldn’t be fully contained in her undergarments.
“Don’t stop on my account,” he said. “This beats Shakespeare any day of the week.”
“Get out!” She quickly opened the door.
He didn’t hide his disappointment. “Why?”
She tried to speak but was too flustered to do so.
“I’ll take my clothes off too,” he offered. He took off his suit jacket and started to unbutton his shirt.
“You do that.” She held her dress tightly around her bosom as she ran to another bathroom.
He ran after her and stepped in front of the door of the other bathroom. “Aren’t you the least bit interested in what I look like under these clothes?”
She struggled to find a proper response.
“Now when the men ask, I can tell them for sure that you are definitely not built like a board. In fact, everything about is definitely feminine.”
“You have no right to be fresh with me.”
“Don’t I? I am your husband.”
He noticed that she didn’t seem as upset as she had been in the kitchen. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying their playful banter as much as he was. One thing was for sure, she was a lot of fun.
“Really, Mr. Mitchell,” she finally began, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
“You can do anything you want.” His smile widened as he took off his shirt.
She hesitated.
Is she actually considering it? He took off his undershirt and started to unbutton his pants.
“Oh, you can’t be serious.” She looked flustered and curious at the same time.
“Why don’t you join me in the bathroom and find out.”
Her face grew bright red. “No. You aren’t serious. This is all a game. Yes, that’s what it is.” She turned around. “There’s no way he can be serious.” She shook her head, still baffled, and quickly scurried to the other bathroom. She checked to make sure he was still standing at the other bathroom. She hesitated for a moment. “No, he’s not serious.” She went into the bathroom where she shut and locked the door.
He chuckled. She was more entertaining than any play he’d seen or book he’d read. He sighed. Honey, you have no idea how serious I was.
Chapter Sixteen
Try as Sue might, she couldn’t figure Jake out. He was an enigma. He intrigued her in a way she didn’t want to admit. Was he really interested in being intimate with her? The idea pleased her in a way she didn’t anticipate. As much as she wanted to be mad at him for making her go through all that work and spreading all those lies about her, she was flattered that he pursued her so romantically afterwards. He made her feel beautiful and soft. She wasn’t even aware that she enjoyed receiving feminine gifts like flowers and perfume until he sent them to her. He cared about what she wanted and what she thought. He liked to talk to her, and she felt that she could talk to him about things she couldn’t discuss with anyone else. For the first time in her life, she felt desirable to a man. She wanted to be with him. She had lied to Ethan Bower. She wasn’t simply fond of him. She loved him. It seemed that he felt the same way. All of these thoughts went through her mind as she took a bath.
Of course, he acted as if nothing happened after she had gotten dressed. She was surprised to find that her new clothes were neatly hung in her closet again. She suspected that he had hidden them for the intent that she would have to wear one of her old dresses. After all the fuss he made about her impressing people to make him look good, he deliberately chose for her to be unimpressive to people. She didn’t understand him at all.
So after she got dressed, she went into the den and he smiled at her, told her she was nice to look at and went back to his work. She took out a book to read by the fire, but this night, she couldn’t focus on her reading. She kept looking over at him and she would catch him staring at her and smiling. She blushed and returned to her book. When he went to bed, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and told her to have dreams about him. The way he said it made her pulse quicken.
The next morning when she got dressed, she brushed her hair and thought of him. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Perhaps there was something worth looking at. Maybe he was right. Perhaps she was desirable after all. She smiled at the thought. When she went down to eat breakfast, he didn’t read the newspaper. Instead, he asked her about her plans for the day.
“It’ll be like every other Tuesday,” she said. “I put books back on the shelves, update the card catalogue, and do the children’s story hour.”
“I hope you can find time for l
unch with me in that schedule.”
“Haven’t I been doing so for the past two weeks?”
“Yes but I don’t take it for granted that you do. I know it’s not something you have to do but choose to do.”
“Where are you taking me today?”
“I thought I would let you decide.”
She chose a restaurant that she favored.
“I hope you won’t hold yesterday against me,” he said.
“Which part? Before or after I dumped pudding on your head?”
“The part when the men were here. I definitely don’t want you to forget what almost happened upstairs.” He grinned at her in a way that made her blush.
“I don’t understand why you insist on intentionally grossing men out when they come over here.”
He set aside his food and looked at her. “Don’t you get it yet? They’re coming by for you.”
“For me?” What was he talking about?
“You are a very attractive and wonderful woman, Sue. Men are noticing that now that you’re not wearing those old clothes and pulling your hair back into a bun. They want to court you as soon as our marriage is over.”
“So I’m only appealing because I’m married?” She found the idea offensive. Was her worth solely based on being Jake’s wife? Just because he had impressive taste men figured she would suddenly be worth something too since he picked her?
“No, you’re not only appealing as my wife. When you were at the dance looking to snag some poor, unsuspecting bachelor into marrying you in order to save your family’s farm, I noticed how beautiful you looked in that blue dress. And when we were on the dance floor, I thought the conversation went fairly well. You had a lot to offer. I can’t help it if the other men didn’t see it.”
“But you only married me to get your father’s inheritance.”
He shrugged. “I did wish to help you save your family’s farm but I would never have married just anyone. I did have to be selective in who I picked. And you were the only one worth considering.”
“One might think you mean those words.”
“That would be because I do.”
She found the revelation endearing.
“When I saw you in your wedding dress, I realized that you are an extremely beautiful woman. I should have expected the men to notice too. That’s when the men started coming by for you and sending you flowers.”
She blinked. “There really were flowers?”
He chuckled. “Yes. If you don’t believe me, you’ll find two trash bags full of flowers I hastily threw out yesterday before you came home.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“And take the chance you’d leave me for one of those men? I’d rather tell them horror stories about you. I’m a selfish man, Sue. I don’t like to share.”
“Who said you had to?”
“You say stuff like that and you wonder why I don’t want other men to get a chance to talk to you? As soon as they hear you talk, they’ll want more of you.”
She tried to dismiss his words as merely polite conversation but her heart raced with excitement.
He cleared his throat. “Well, I need to get to the publisher I mentioned to Henry.”
“You’re going to submit his poems?”
“I said I would if they were any good.”
“You are a good man, Jake. A person can depend on you to follow through with your word. That’s an important quality in a man.”
“There you go again. Didn’t I warn you that if you keep this up, I’ll fall in love with you?” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
She watched him as he left. She missed him already.
***
When she got to the library, she hung up her coat and was ready to take some books to the bookshelf when a bachelor walked up to her.
“May I help you, Mrs. Mitchell?” he asked.
She blinked. “Uh...no. I got it. Do you need something?”
He smiled at her. “My name is Brad Allen. I wanted to introduce myself to you.”
“Are you here to talk about Mr. Mitchell’s bank?”
“To be honest, ma’am, I’m here to talk to you. I understand your marriage is strictly business and thought you might be interested in a possible courtship once the annulment happens. Did you get the flowers I sent?”
She almost dropped the books.
He stooped down to help her so that her books stayed in her arms.
“But I’ve been a spinster for so long,” she said. “Why are you interested now?”
He sighed. “Sometimes men miss the diamond in their midst. At least for me, I didn’t realize how beautiful and nice you were until your wedding. Then I saw the play you directed and figured that there was more to you than meets the eye. I was relieved when I learned that your marriage wasn’t serious. Forgive me for being forward. I hope I’m not embarrassing you.”
Jake was right. How many men have been coming by and I didn’t even know it? “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect anyone to notice me.”
“I do not wish to put you on the spot. I thought if we just talked, it wouldn’t be so awkward.”
“I’m not sure, Mr. Allen. I am flattered, but I have grown to enjoy Mr. Mitchell’s company. It wouldn’t feel right to be friendly with you while I am married to him.”
“I understand, Mrs. Mitchell. I do not wish to make you uncomfortable. I regret that I did not take time to notice you before he did.”
“He only married me for his father’s inheritance.”
“He had more than enough money on his own, and considering how he didn’t associate with his father since he was ten, I imagine it was hard for him to take the inheritance. Anyway, he must have seen something in you that he liked in order to go through with the arrangement. And I’ll be honest. I’ve seen how happy he is with you and there are some of us who never thought he’d ever open up to any woman since Johanna Clarke broke his heart.”
“Who is Johanna Clarke?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head.
“Mr. Mitchell was twenty when he began courting her. She was pretty, though not as pretty as you are, and she loved to entertain and go to dinner parties. The only thing she didn’t like to do was dance because she had two left feet. She wore expensive gowns. Her favorite color was pink and she loved frilly stuff. It wasn’t Jake’s style to go entertaining or go to dinner parties, but he would go to please her. He spent most of his time bored. I remember he used to bring his work along so he could slip off into another room. He’s just not a social person by nature but she was. He asked for her father’s permission to propose to her a year after he began courting her, but her father said he needed more money before he felt comfortable handing her over to him. Jake worked two jobs during that time and learned how to invest and accumulate wealth. He didn’t have much time for the dinner parties or the entertaining she enjoyed, and there were those of us, me included, who thought that he was relieved to be off the hook for going. When he was twenty-two, he went back to her father and made the same request, and this time, her father approved it. So Jake proposed to Johanna and she said yes. Their engagement was six months. He was excited to finally be marrying her.
“An hour and a half before the wedding, he wanted to know what musical piece she wanted for the first dance number, so he left the groom’s chamber without his tuxedo jacket because he figured he would be right back. Just as he rounded the corner to get to her chamber, he saw Patrick Stafford knock on the door. She still had the door closed, and he was telling her that she needed to call the wedding off because they loved each other. Johanna opened the door and came out and told him that she was only marrying Jake because of his money but planned to divorce him after a year so that she could get half of his money and be with Patrick. I have to hand it to Jake. He handled himself very well. He calmly went to the front of the church and told everyone that he regretted to inform them that he
had decided to call off the wedding. Then he left.
“Johanna tried to talk to him but he refused to see her. Instead, he went to his house and stayed out of sight, except to go to work. For the longest time, all he did was go to work and go home. He did start attending the dances two years later so he could do business. A lot of business goes on at the dinner parties, but he refused to go to those or let guests into his home. Johanna ended up marrying Devon Hammond a year later and they moved to South Carolina. As far as I know, she’s been divorced twice, so Jake was better off missing that experience.
“Anyway, you can read the newspaper article from June 4, 1886. It covers the events of that day but it doesn’t say anything about Johanna’s conversation with Patrick. Patrick confessed to what happened that day a month later because he found the wedding ring on the floor where Jake had been standing. I think if you read the article, you’ll understand Jake better. Well, Mrs. Mitchell, I talked your ear off. I will go now. Good day.”
Sue nodded as he left. There was a lot she didn’t know about Jake. She decided to read the newspaper article after she put the books away. She laid the newspaper gently on the desk in the backroom and scanned through it until she found it in the Entertainment section where other weddings were listed.
The Wedding that Almost Happened
An hour before the wedding of Jake Mitchell and Johanna Clarke on June 3 at the First Baptist Church on Adams Avenue, Jake made the startling announcement in front of family and friends that he wouldn’t be marrying Miss Clarke. He gave no explanation for the decision and he showed up in front of everyone without his tuxedo jacket on, which demonstrated his lack of respect for his guests. Mr. Mitchell might be better off remembering in the future that when he goes out in public, he should be properly attired, as is befitting his social status. A heartbroken Miss Clarke, a beautiful bride, didn’t get the joy of being wed. She spent the afternoon being comforted, and no one knows why Mr. Mitchell left her at the altar.
An Inconvenient Marriage Page 23
