Singing Heart (6 page)

“
Then perhaps you would entertain us with a melody or two. It has been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of hearing music. I do own a piano but unfortunately I don’t play.”

Xzan acquiesced trembling so unnerved she was terrified she might humiliate herself. However once her eyes were closed blocking out the people in the room and she felt the familiar notes beneath her fingertips she played superbly. Brett smiled admiringly applauding the loudest with ingenuous praise when she finished. He made it a point to thank her again complimenting her talent as he left. Kissing the palm of her hand it seemed he held it a bit longer than was conventional. Xzan was too shaken and excited to meet his eyes or fathom his motives. Even in her inexperience she had the distinct feeling he was paying more than just a friendly mindfulness to her. The thought thrilled and frightened her.

Floating up to her room quiet so as not to disturb Dawn and the twins, who shared her space and were already asleep, she disrobed leisurely reliving the highlights of the entire evening. Taking care not to wrinkle her dress she hung it carefully over a chair and donned a prim nightgown. Brushing the tangles out of long tresses she allowed her girlish thoughts to drift while romanticizing Brett Colby. She fell asleep still basking in the warmth of his attention.

*****

Brett became a frequent caller at the Winslow farm. When he offered Paul the same business deal his father had Paul jumped on it afraid to let this second chance slip through his hands again.

The voyage was a success. The day they received the news Papa was so lofty with happiness he accepted Brett’s marriage proposal to Xzan thrilled at the prospect of settling his oldest with such an illustrious man. He was good looking, charming, intelligent, wealthy and ambitious. The age difference didn’t really matter since it was no secret that his daughter had been obviously infatuated with the man since their first meeting.

“
It is up to Xzan of course whether or not she accepts your proposal.” Paul warned him, not really seeing any need for alarm. He couldn’t imagine Xzan would put any resistance to the notion. “I would be delighted to have you for a son-in-law.”

Brett departed jubilantly imploring Paul to have a discussion with Xzan that evening and to let him know whether or not to pursue his suit immediately. He also reminded Paul of the stipulation in his father’s will.

Nicolas Colby has seen fit to interfere even in death as he had in life with his son’s future. Brett had married at twenty losing his young wife to a fever only a few months after their wedding. At thirty-two he had seemed in no hurry to replace his bride or create an heir. Nicolas had left Brett a fortune with a clause in his will that if he hadn’t married and sired a son within three years that his entire estate would be donated to charity.

Perhaps it was the concern of a sensible man who had worked hard to garner his wealth truly concerned for his own son’s future. Or it might have been that he was determined to control his son even after he departed. Whatever the case Brett had confided in Paul that his attraction to Xzan was genuine. However because of the rapidly diminishing time margin he felt rushed to declare his suit and not to pursue a lengthy engagement.

*****

“
I will do whatever you think is best for me Papa.” Xzan agreed timorously.

Paul grinned broadly at his daughter elated seizing her in an affectionate bear hug. Despite her unmistakable enchantment with Brett Colby the reality of being married to any man might be alarming for one so young. To a fourteen-year-old Brett might seem antiquated no matter what his charms.

“
He’ll take good care of you little one.” Papa reassured himself as much as her a trifle nervous. Any father would be at the prospect of losing his daughter to another man. “He’s mature, wealthy and attractive. I don’t know if you’ll ever have another opportunity for such a match or I wouldn’t even consider it at your age. Living out so far your resources are limited to meet suitable young men.”

Xzan silently agreed thinking about Hattie Miller’s beaus the past few months. Country bumpkins. If those were her alternatives she personally would just as soon remain a spinster. She still couldn’t believe Brett had asked for her hand. It was like a dream you wish for on a star coming true beyond your wildest hopes. She had wanted to be his wife since that first night he’d kissed her hand. Longed to be more than just a gauche schoolgirl in his eyes.

Papa continued.

“
He has to marry forthwith in order to meet the terms of his inheritance. He’s reassured us that he won’t pressure you into assuming your wifely duties until you’ve had time to accustom yourself to him and your marital status. He knows you’ve never been courted and it will be hard for you to adjust to being so far away from home in strange surroundings.”

Papa took her small hands in his probing deeply into the huge blue eyes she’d inherited from her mother. They gazed back filled with love and trust as she listened entranced by his every word.

“
Why if I hadn’t known his father you might never have had this chance at all to meet a man of his caliber.”

Xzan’s lips curved upward in that old as the hills smile patting her father’s arm philosophically.

“
I understand Papa… really I do. Part of you wants to keep me your little girl…while the other part wants to send me out in the world armed with the best shield you can find. I’ll marry Brett. I will be a good wife to him when he thinks I’m mature enough to accept that role in his life. I’ll miss you and Mama terribly… but we all knew this day would come someday. It’s the natural order of things.” Then mischievously, “At least he’s not Claude Thomas. I’d have to escape down my trellis alone. I’m afraid I haven’t found anyone but Brett I’d care to elope with.”

Paul burst out laughing. So Rebecca had gotten around to confiding their past. He wondered just how much of the story had been edited. Knowing his wife all but the most innocent details. He marveled at his daughter’s theories. She seemed to believe that everything had meaning. Took life in stride no matter what might materialize unexpectedly. Maybe she wasn’t too pubescent for matrimony after all. Brett’s maturity would be a bonus for her. She’d never be bored with someone who was as stimulatingly knowledgeable as he was. She in turn would be the world through new eyes for him.

She deserved the best. The man could provide it. Paul was thrilled with the match and the way his daughter had responded to the offer. She had alleviated any qualms he’d had as a parent. He would set up a meeting with Brett to allow the man to propose to her properly and speak to him about the arrangements afterward. With his arm wrapped snugly around the soon bride to be he swung open the door calling out exuberantly, “We’re going to have a wedding!”

*****

The next evening Brett was left alone in the library with Xzan. Dressed in his best suit, dark hair freshly cut and slicked back with a rakish curl falling over his forehead he was incredibly handsome. His dark eyes sparkled almost black in anticipation of the moment. Xzan licked her lips nervously. She too was bedecked in her finest gown. An emerald silk trimmed with black lace around the modest neckline and puffy sleeves. Her riotous curls had been tamed into a soft french knot at the base of her slender neck with only a few escaping tendrils prettily accenting her forehead and earlobes.

“
I want to do this properly.”

Pulling a small jewel case from his coat pocket he approached her calmly. Heart pounding out of control, distinctly overheated by his proximity, she almost swooned as the tall gentleman sank to one knee directly at her feet staring boldly in her eyes.

“
I realize that you are very young and this is very sudden. I’m sure your father explained to you about my father’s will. I would have preferred to have courted you for a few years given you the time to perhaps consider other suitors before taking such a huge step. Regrettably I don’t have that time to give. I care deeply for you even though we’ve only known each other for a short while.”

If Xzan had any reservations they faded at that moment. As Brett opened the miniature box to reveal a huge diamond solitaire she swayed light-headedly reaching out to hold on to his shoulders to keep from swooning. He felt solid, real under her fingertips. Alarmingly male. She caught the faint whiff of his cologne. It was brisk and spicy. The reality of the situation struck her like a ton of bricks. This man would take her from her home, touch her, spend the rest of his life with her as her best friend, they would have children and create a home for them. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Her dainty fingers trembled as his large hand reached up to enfold them. Dark eyes met her blue ones reverently.

“
Xzan Winslow will you consent to be my wife?”

Too overcome by her emotions to speak Xzan burst out crying, shaken by the magnitude of what was transpiring. Brett unruffled, smiled patiently while waiting for her to regain control. Xzan’s lips curved upward in a tremulous smile.

“
I would be honored Brett.”

He grinned triumphantly knowing that short of a disaster it was settled. Sliding the dazzling ring on her left hand he stood towering over her. She craned her neck back, closed her eyes puckering to receive her first kiss. Heard his soft laughter as he pecked her cheek.

“
Not until we’re married.”

Vivid blue eyes sprang open as her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. She had presumed that he would seal his proposal with a more intimate kiss. He wasn’t paying attention to her stricken face. Still holding her hand he pulled her out of the library into the parlor to announce their news.

Xzan recovered her composure joining in the fervent banter as her parents hugged them both. Grannie reminiscenced about the day Grandpa had asked her to marry him. If her parents noticed Brett’s lack of ardor when he took his leave later that night they refrained from commenting on it to their daughter. Maybe they thought he was wooing her gradually because of her youth or that he didn’t like a public display of his devotion.

The bride to be went upstairs faintly disappointed. Frustrated. She’d never been kissed. Hattie kissed all her beaus. In private and public. Xzan hoped that once she and Brett were married he wouldn’t be so standoffish. She donned a voluminous nightgown gazing at herself critically in the floor length looking glass trying to view herself the way her fiance must. She had an oval face with enormous eyes that changed colors with her moods. A tiny mouth with a full lower lip, a pouty mouth as Papa called it. A delicate straight nose with high cheekbones and creamy skin like her mother’s. She was short. Barely five foot tall. Slight except for her bosom, which had burgeoned alarmingly these past few years. She knew she had Mama’s shape and that Papa liked Rebecca’s figure immensely. She wondered if Brett was attracted to her curves.

Despite their years of impoverishment she had many accomplishments. She could play the piano and harp. Read and write English and French fluently. She even knew a language she had learned in her dreams that she couldn’t share with anyone because she didn’t know what it was. The man in her dreams had taught it to her. They spoke it only to each other.

She was an excellent seamstress. Mama said she could sew better than most tailors. She could cook and bake for the family, clean the house efficiently and budget the household expenses getting the most for her money. Xzan having helped raise her siblings was confident that she would make a good mother when they had their own children. Perusing her reflection in the mirror she decided that even if she were too young for a real kiss yet Brett Colby would find nothing lacking when he did decide to treat her like a woman. She flounced into bed resolving not to let his lack of eagerness diminish hers. In less than three months she would be Mrs. Brett Colby. Then they would have all the time in the world to become intimately acquainted.

*****

So it was arranged. Three months later Xzan’s father gave her away in a small but lavish ceremony. Mama cried happily, Papa strutted proudly and the bride’s eight brother’s and sisters ran amuck attacking the elaborate three-tiered wedding cake, throwing rice and stripping the delicate petals off of countless floral arrangements.

Changing from the gauzy wedding gown into a lavender traveling dress with Mama helping her fasten the endless pearl buttons Xzan felt the first hint of bridal jitters. In fact she had been the calmest throughout the ceremony and celebration afterward. The reality of leaving her home and going off in to the distance with a virtual stranger ignorant of what to expect when they were finally alone for the first time struck like a lightening bolt.

Xzan knew that whatever her parents did to conceive their offspring was so private Mama had blushed scarlet the one and only time she had ever asked where babies come from. No matter how embarrassing it might be Xzan needed some maternal insight to quell her own fears. She didn’t want her husband to think she was totally naïve. Especially since he was so much more experienced in the matters of the heart.

“
Mama can you tell me now? You know. What to expect as a wife? I’m so scared.”

Rebecca turned fiery red continuing to fasten the endless row of tiny pearl buttons on the back of her daughter’s traveling gown.

“
There’s no need to worry about that now. When the time is right your husband will explain it all. There is nothing to be afraid of. Just learn all you can about taking care of Brett and his home. The rest will happen naturally.”