Fate's Intervention (5 page)

“
I
’
ll do my best to keep all prospects under the age of being on death
’
s door,
”
her
father
said, raising his hand as if delivering a solemn oath.

“
Not funny!

“
Okay, under forty,
”
he said, and Marcelle realized he wasn
’
t joking.

Forty!
”

“
I said
younger
than
forty,
”
he clarified.
“
The
number of eligible men, suitably wealthy enough to care for you, under the age of forty is already limited in the nearby counties. Still, if you want to narrow the field even further, I can always bring the age requirement down to below thirty, thereby decreasing your chances of marriage to close to nil. Understand?
”

“
Very well,
Father
.
”

“
A
lthough I
’
ll be hard-pressed to find anyone suitable after that little stage act you put on here today,
”
her
father
grumbled.

“
Oh,
Father
, you couldn
’
t possibly have seriously considered Clifford Stanharbor a match for me, could you?
”

“
What
’
s wrong with Clifford Stanharbor, dearest?
”
He asked,
“
Isn
’
t he charming enough for you?
He
’
s definitely wealthy enough for my requirements!
”

“
Charming isn
’
t the problem.
Neither is his being prosperous.
”

Her
father
snickered,
“
Well, he was a bit portly for serious consideration.
”

“
Portly!
Father
, please! He even called himself a barge.
”

“
Well, since you
’
ve scared away every eligible suitor that
’
s come to call, he was just about the last option open to you.
”

“
Over the age of fifty, perhaps.
”

“
Perhaps, but that lovely little lady down the lane is attracting the suitors
under
fifty.
”

“
That
insipid twit? Carol
Ann
Black
heart
?
”

“
That
’
s
Black
warth
, dear.
”

“
S
he isn
’
t
warth
anything.
”

“
Careful. You
’
re getting catty
,
”
he admonished gently,
“
W
hile she may not be worth much to look at, her
father
is worth plenty. It also happens that little Carol
Ann
is now marriageable age, so you might want to consider that when you start showing your claws.
”

“
Who would be interested in a simpleton like that?
”

“
Yes, well, she may not have your intellect, dearest, but she does know how to keep her tongue in check and how to entertain a suitor properly, so quite a number of gentlemen will be calling upon her shortly, I
’
ve no doubt.
This is going to make things even more difficult for you.
Perhaps Clifford Stanharbor will take a liking to her and eliminate her as competition for you.
”

“
Point taken,
Father
, but how would you know how perfectly refined she is? Not looking for a young bride yourself, are you?
”

“
Hardly,
”
her
father
scoffed.
“
I merely met her when I went to welcome them to the neighborhood. Something my nicely
-
reared daughter should have done
have done ahead of me
,
and still h
asn
’
t.
”

It was time for Marcelle to scoff,
“
You went because you are a perfect gentleman, not to drum up some more business for
Weatherman
Stables
?
”
Marcelle teased.

“
Without a doubt,
”
her
father
smiled.
“
Now, are we clear about marrying?
”

“
Yes,
Father
,
”
Marcelle said dutifully,
“
but can we keep the requirements to under forty
and
under
two-hundred fifty
pounds, please?
”

“
I
’
ll do my best. Now, shall we go into dinner? I think I need to add a few pounds to this skinny hide of mine.
”

“
T
hink if I get to be portly, I might be less appealing to the male species?
”

“
Get up and let
’
s go eat! Enough talk
of
marriage!
”
Her
father
swatted at her bottom as she ran from the room, but Marcelle dodged it easily enough.

He watched Marcelle skip from the parlor and his heart grew heavy. He
’
d kidded with and played around
with her
for too long. Now his time was running short and she was growing up. Finding his daughter a husband would be a trial, now that she
’
d reached her seventeenth year.
O
h, why hadn
’
t he pressed her marriage prospects when she was fifteen?
Over the last couple of years, t
hey
’
d attended weddings of young ladies that Marcelle
grew up with
, and those ladies
were now having
children of their own. Marcelle, however, had never shown an interest in marriage, but now, if he didn
’
t find her a husband before he passed on, she may very well end up in the clutches of his sister, Vera. That made him shudder with dread, so he could only imagine what it would do to his darling baby girl
should
she force him to send her
to Georgia.

No! He wouldn
’
t think about that. Tomorrow, he would double his efforts to find Marcelle a husband. Maybe even hire someone to find eligible prospects for him since he wasn
’
t up to the task any longer. If he had to increase her dowry as well
–
though finances were tight
–
then that
’
s just what he
’
d have to do.

Matthew popped the whip, halting the horse in its tracks. He shifted his position slightly, popped the whip again,
and the horse
turned ninety degrees.
He watched the beautiful stallion pick up speed until he was galloping around the confines of the brand new circular training facility.

Watching the muscles strain in the forelegs as the mighty beast pounded the dirt, he was suitably impressed, but a little puzzled as well. This was good
quality horseflesh. Not at all the
sort
of animal he saw stabled for sale near the main house. In fact, this animal was so extraordinary, that it made Matthew wonder further how
his current employer had persuaded
the
horse
’
s
previous owner to part with the
beast for the rumored low
purchase price
. If
he were to believe the rumors surrounding t
he boss man
’
s taste in horseflesh and his stingy purchasing requirements, this animal shouldn
’
t be here today; Matthew shouldn
’
t be training him at all. He was glad to be doing so, but
was
still a bit bewildered.

As hard as he worked in training the horse, he worked just as hard in trying to convince his employer of the benefits of selling better quality horseflesh over his current preference of
horses
–
decrepit, old, and ready for the glue factory. It would not only benefit the stables here, but his chances of continued
gainful employment and a possible raise in
the
near future.

Right now, he could only train this horse in his spare time, because he was swamped training the other acquisitions that came in by the truckload every few months. If it could be called training. He barely had time to teach a horse respect for people before
his boss
shipped them off to the buyers.

If he didn
’
t need the job so much and if he
’
d been on the job for more than two weeks, he might object to his boss
’
s business practices
; m
ight
even dare to
speak out about those business practices
; however, s
ince he
did
know his boss well enough, he kept his opinions and suggestions to himself. He didn
’
t want to lose his job as the previous trainer had because of th
e very objections Matthew was thinking about this minute
.

His distaste for the other horses remained unvoiced, but working with White Star made his job the more bearable and enjoyable.
Although
he needed to train the horse on his own time, he hoped that one day his boss would see the benefits and something would happen to change his circumstances
–
for the better. Not like before or the time before that or the time before that, and so on.

It made him a bit nervous that his circumstances here were similar to former employment. Namely, each had a daughter that reached marriageable age while he was there, and each time those girls set their sights on him. This situation was the same.
Clifford
Stanharbor
had one daughter. The eldest of nine children. She was thirteen going on marriage-minded, and already
he
’
d caught her eyeing him
,
similar to the way Mary Lou had
when she
’
d been thirteen going on
fourteen.
Why
Mary Lou
took a
liking to him when she hit the age of maturity, he still didn
’
t
understand.
He was more than twenty times her senior.

Still, it seemed, that no sooner had they cut the cake celebrating her birthday, than her attempts to snare him multiplied a hundredfold. She
’
d already been watching him with the horses, bringing him picnic lunches
,
and dropping hints that were none-too-subtle, but when the day came that declared her a
“
woman
”
, she went after him like a mare in heat.

Man, but he couldn
’
t abide little girls that tried to be women before they even possessed a woman
’
s body or intellect.

He popped the whip again and the stallion eased to a halt.

Matthew slid a grain cookie out of his pocket and stood with his back toward the stallion, slowly wrapping up the whip.
A
snort sounded behind him and he heard hoof beats walking slowly
in his direction.
He could almost feel the horse
’
s caution with each step.

He smiled when he felt the nuzzle push up against his shoulder. A horses
’
curiosity beat out their tentative natures
–
nearly every time.