The Haunting of Josephine (5 page)

“Josephine, I know that you are resistant to the whole idea but you seem to get along best with Mr. Kinsley and I want to give you every possible chance with him.
With the others I can tell that it is hard for you to hold a conversation with them
it is as if you are not interested in them but you are clearly interested in Mr. Kinsley
.”

“Aunt
Katherine
, that is because I feel as if you are preparing me for auction like some cattle. But you are right. I am more comfortable with Mr. Kinsley. I do
n
o
t know what it is about him but I just feel so much more relaxed around him.”
Katherine
pulled Jo in for an awkward side hug.

“I understand dear. Trust me. When it was my day and my parents began this process I felt overwhelmed and hated it all. But then I met your Uncle and for some reason with him it just was simple and easy. I hope that is what you have found with Mr.
Kinsley.” Jo bit her lip in consideration causing her Aunt to cast a disapproving look at her.

“I guess I hope that you are right and that is what I have found. But like you said before I first met him. He is way out of my reach so I am trying my best not to get my hopes up.”
Katherine
did her best to look as if she was disinterested but she did not fool Jo.

“But you have some hopes when it comes to Mr. Kinsley?”
Katherine
asked hopefully.

“Yes I do have some tiny hopes. They also include the hope that I am not going to regret even thinking it might be possible because this whole thing is hard enough le
t alone if I end up hurt.”
Katherine
readily
shook her head in agreement.

“I will do my best to not let you get hurt. If I sense or notice that Mr. Kinsley does
n
o
t seem to be returning any affection or seems to be backing off in his interest in you I will immediately end all pursuit to get him to marry you. I honestly do
n
o
t want you hurt and want the best for you. I do
n
o
t want you to ever have to struggle the way that your parents have.” Jo thought about that for a moment.

“My parents may have struggled but they have always loved each
other. I hope to be so lucky as to find a love like they have
. I have seen what love can get you through and how it can help get you through many hardships. I do
n
o
t ever want to have to live without feeling that kind of love.
Is it really worth being married for financial security if you do not also have a love for each other? Something that could help
sustain
you through any hardship that should come?
” Their conversation was interrupted when Mr. Kinsley walked into the room.

“I hope that I am not interrupting anything important. Did I hear right are the two of you talking about love?” Mr. Kinsley bowed his head at Jo with laughter in his eyes. “Have you already fallen for one of your many
suitors
? I believe I will need to start coming to dinner more often to
dissuade
you from him.” Jo’s heart melted at what was clearly as close to a
declaration
of feeling
s
as Mr. Kinsley had probably
ever
bestowed on anyone.

“We were discussing how my parents love each other truly and how I have seen what love can get you through. I hope that I will be so fortunate as to find something like that.” Mr. Kinsley moved a chair closer to Jo and sat down looking rather intrigued.

“So you would
n
o
t care if the man you married was poor as long as the two of you loved each other?” Jo shook her head.

“
Of course
, money can come and go even from the wealthiest of families. So if you marry for money you are marrying something that is not guaranteed to always be there; however, if you marry for love you will have married for something more solid and more likely to last.” Mr. Kinsley smiled broadly at Jo.

“That is exactly what I have always thought. One of the reasons I have never married is I have only ever been able to find a women who was in love with my bank account. Though I never plan on being poor and have a good solid business there is no guarantee that I will always have such a standing.”
Jo and Mr. Kinsley smiled broadly at each other.

“
Well
, I can guarantee any feelings that I might possibly have or may form toward you will be
solely
based on you
and your person
and never based on anything to do with your profession or how much you are worth. Though, I must admit that I do rather admire that you have a profession. Though I am sure that you are able to understand that it is
solely
for the fact that you choose to have one when you were
n
o
t raised to feel the need to have one.” Mr. Kinsley clasped his hand to his heart.

“Be still my heart fair lady. Can you be real? I do understand your admiration for the fact that I have a profession and that just makes me admire you more.” Mr. Kinsley cast
a look
to
Katherine
before
continuing
. “I do have something rather serious that I came here to ask you today. And our conversation thus far has only confirmed and
cemented
my desire to ask.”

“By all means. What is it that you have come here to ask me today?” Mr. Kinsley immediately began to look nervous as if he honestly thought that what he was about to
ask her she would possibly
reject.

“Would you mind very much if I asked your Uncle
Joseph
to pronounce me as your suitor? As your only suitor?” Jo was shocked. It could
n
o
t be possible that this marvel of a man who was everything that she wanted and everything that it would take to please her family could possibly be honestly asking to be her only suitor!

“You may do as you wish. The only thing that I ask is that you post haste.”
Jo immediately felt faint and turned to her Aunt who was already up retrieving something from the sideboard.

“I will my love.” At that Mr. Kinsley was out of the room and headed in the direction of her Uncle
Joseph
’s office. Jo was
n
o
t aware of fainting until the
pungent
smell of smelling salts assaulted her nose.

“Oh Josephine! I can
no
t believe that you did it!”
Katherine
led Jo up to her room for a rest before dinner. Jo could
n
o
t believe it had just happened.

Knock, knock, knock

Without waiting to be invited in Mr. Kinsley entered
Mr.
Cline
’s office. He did
n
o
t bother to look around or anything. He knew what he was there for and was
n
o
t willing to wait another minute before ha
ving as legally binding as Mr. Cline
’s word to make Jo his.

“Sorry to interrupt. I have come to ask for the right to be Josephine’s only suitor.”

“Are you kidding me?” The voice that answered was
n
o
t
Mr.
Cline
’s causing Mr. Kinsley to spin in response to face Mr. Genus.

“Oh, I did not realize tha
t Mr. Cline
was busy in here. Would you mind giving us some privacy?” Given that his business was not with Mr. Genus Mr. Kinsley did not bother with responding to his outburst.

“Mr. Genus please do leave us,
I will get back with you tomorrow for the rest of our business. I have a feeling that I am going to be in here for a while.”
Mr. Cline
waved Mr. Genus out of his office with no more
than
a small glance in his direction and did
n
o
t bother with waiting for the door to close before addressing Mr. Kinsley. “Are you certain that you are truly ready to fully commit to my
niece
? I am not going to make you her only suitor just to have you later decide that you are
done with her after ruining her chance at any other prospects
.”

“Yes sir, I am fully ready to commit to your
niece
. If it was
n
o
t
for
protocol that required me to court her first I would be here asking that you change her coming out party to an e
ngagement party.” This had Mr. Cline
speechless. “Sir, I have been intrigued by your
niece
since the moment that I first met her to the point where I was tempted to ask you for her that very night.
She is everything that I have ever wanted. The more time that I have been allowed to spend with her has only left me wanting to know more about her.”

“Have you discussed any of this with her yet?”
Mr.
Cline
looked slightly concerned about pledging her
niece
to someone without first knowing her opinion on the matter. He knew of her reluctance to being married off and did not want to pledge her to someone unless it was someone that she could see herself later growing to love.

“Yes I have. And she advised me to post haste to you. I would have never asked for her withou
t first asking her opinion;
I respect her
too
much.”
Mr. Cline
continued to think a bit more.

“How much is it that you respect her?”

“Sir, I respect her so much that I would allow her to work as a school teacher if that is really where her passion lies. That I would even build her a school in which to work if that is what she so desired. Though I would never require her to work. I would allow her to do whatever it is that would make her happy. I hope only to please her.” Mr. Kinsley’s sheer passion was clear across his face as he talked.

“That is a rather honorable
declaration
. Does it bother you that she is several stations below you?”

“No sir, I believe that actually makes me respect her and want her more. She understands the need and
wants
for challenge in life and clearly does
n
o
t settle for just
what life has handed her.” Mr. Cline
picked a bell up off his desk and rang it.

“I am sure that you are telling me the truth and all. Do you mind if I talk with my
niece
and make sure that your affections are returned?”

“By all means please do. I hope only for her to be happy and if she does
n
o
t truly feel that I could make her happy than I would
n
o
t want you to pledge her to me.” A maid entered the room.

“Sir?”

“Please f
etch Miss Josephine and ask Katherine
to please come and keep Mr. Kinsley company in the sitting room.”

“Right away sir.” The maid left leaving Mr. Kinsley and
Mr. Cline
alone again.

“
Before your
niece
arrives I did have one thing on the business side that I wanted to address with you. I have ma
de the changes to yours and Katherine
’s wills that you have requested. If you do not mind would you sign them before I
forget
in all the excitement
tonight?”
Mr.
Cline
signed the pieces of paper that Mr. Kinsley laid down in front of him.

“So when you are family will I get a discount on legal fees?” Mr. Kinsley
flashed a bright smile at
Mr.
Cline
.

“Anything for my best customer and hopefully my future Uncle.”
Mr. Kinsley took the papers and placed them in his briefcase before leaving the room. He
exchanged
a quick glance at Jo in passing as she went into her uncle’s office.
Both wearing matching
ecstatic smiles.

Chapter 5

I canno
t believe that Mr. Kinsley would steal Josephine right from under me just as I was starting to get her to see me and actually talk to me. The nerve of him. I have been working harder than ever, creating endless reasons t
o be invited to dinner as often as possible
in order to see and talk with Josephine. She must feel duty bound to accept Mr. Kinsley’s offer. After all she is
n
o
t after money the way the rest of her family is.