This chapter is a little bit shorter than the other three have been, but I thought that it was probably about time you all learned a little bit more about what's going on and why this arrangement is beneficial for both parties.
A few of you have also mentioned that you would like to see some of Daryl's POV so this one's for you. Hope it doesn't disappoint your expectations of what it looks like inside of his head!
In general, the tour of the Greene home had mostly been a half-hearted attempt at showing Daryl around, but he wasn't exactly going to start complaining about the lack of enthusiasm that he felt from Hershel. It was more than obvious to the younger man that Hershel had jumped at the first opportunity that he was given to get the two of them alone, and as much as Daryl had never been the type to beat around the bush and play these sort of games, he supposed that it would be best to simply humour the man instead of cutting to the chase with everything, or even point-blank refusing his offer of a tour.
"So," Hershel said as the pair strolled down the long halls of the house. "How was your journey here? Not too troublesome, I should hope."
Daryl shrugged his shoulders as he looked over the paintings on the walls of the hall.
"Was alright," he commented, recognising that there were several paintings of Hershel's youngest daughter, Beth - the woman who he would soon call his wife - and his gaze lingered on what had to be the most recent portrait of her for a little while longer than it had done on any of the other paintings down the hall.
If Hershel had noticed, he didn't give the younger man any sort of indication; choosing to simply nod his head at Daryl's nonchalant response as the pair approached the door that Daryl presumed led into the dining room due to the sound of unfamiliar voices coming from the other side of the door. Daryl had overheard Patricia talking to Beth as he and Hershel had wandered away for the tour of the home, and he remembered the woman mentioning something about waiting for the men in the dining room, and that some stew had been prepared for dinner.
Food wasn't too far from his mind at the moment. The journey into town had been a little less than 'alright' if the pounding in his head was anything to take into account, but Daryl decided not to bore Hershel with the details of the trip.
It had been quite some time since Daryl's last visit to the town, and he had completely forgotten the way in which the roads were much smoother back home in Georgia than they were here. It seemed as though the trip itself had taken twice as long as it usually did (whether or not that had to do with the sense of nervousness that had settled in the pit of his stomach at the thought of meeting the woman who he would be married to soon enough, Daryl wasn't sure) and he wasn't much surprised that he had a headache after the way in which his carriage had been thrown around roughly due to the uneven surfaces of the streets here.
Daryl had taken the time to stop off and have meals on his journey to the Greene home, but he was still hungry nonetheless and was more than eager about getting a warm meal into his stomach. It had been a long couple of years since Daryl had tasted a good bowl of traditional Irish stew, and he was hoping that Hershel's staff were capable of making a half-decent dinner so that he wasn't disappointed.
Before either of the men were close enough to reach out to the doorknob of the dining room door, Hershel stopped in his tracks and placed one of his hands on Daryl's shoulder; effectively stopping him from moving any further. Daryl immediately stilled at the contact and turned his body slightly so that he was face-to-face with the older man instead of side-by-side, his brows creased over in confusion as Hershel cleared his throat.
"Whilst we're here, alone," Hershel began, his light eyes dancing around the room a little awkwardly as he spoke and eventually lingered on the door of the dining room for a moment.
The nervous and uncertain behaviour of the older man caused Daryl to immediately be suspicious, and the first thing that he considered was whether or not the older man had changed his mind about their whole agreement. Beth had seemed pleasant enough when they first met out on the porch of the home, but maybe Hershel's young daughter wasn't half as kind and polite and calm as she had initially seemed. Maybe she was a little bit more of a spitfire; someone who had stomped her feet and raised her voice and folded her arms when her father informed her that he was going to be marrying her off to a man that she didn't even know.
Hell, Daryl wouldn't even blame her for behaving like that - even if it was looked at as being improper.
Hershel seemed to notice the way that Daryl had tensed up at the pause in his speech and began to talk, this time at a much quicker rate than before.
"I just wanted to take this opportunity, now, to thank you. For everything."
Hershel was looking Daryl straight in the eyes as he spoke, and Daryl wasn't surprised that he managed to keep his expression stone-cold and composed, even though he felt more under pressure than ever. Daryl had always been good at keeping his emotions from his face - it was a skill that he had mastered from an early age, not having much of a choice in the matter, either - and now that he was much older and much more practiced, it was rarer to see the youngest Dixon brother showing any signs of how he felt through his expression than it was to see him straight-faced.
"I don't know what I would do without you here, helpin' me. My Bethy... Well," he stopped himself, shaking his head for a moment and looking at the ground before glancing back up to Daryl. "I don't know what I would do if anythin' would have happened. If we would have lost this house."
Swallowing down the lump in his throat was hard enough for Daryl to do without having to think much about what he should say back to the Greene man. Words had never been Daryl's strong suit, and as much as he wanted to brush his father-in-law off in the way that he would do with most other people that he knew, Daryl thought that it was probably better if he at least tried to be courteous.
"Do you have the papers written up?"
It was a lousy response and he knew it, but Daryl wondered if it was better than saying absolutely nothing at all. As much he wished that he could make out as though this was all about being wed - maybe pretend that he was only interested in this whole damned agreement because it meant that he would be able to call the pretty young Greene girl his wife - he really knew that he couldn't. After all, he had only first laid his eyes upon her that very day.
The whole reason that he had agreed to marry Hershel's youngest daughter in the first place was so that he could buy out the older man's land and add it to his ever-growing collection. Daryl owned almost all of the farm land in the town and had set his eyes on the acres of the Greene farm several visits before, although the opportunity had never arisen for him to purchase it - until now. He had heard the news that Hershel Greene was in more debt than he could manage from one of his employees, and that's what had pushed Daryl to contact him several weeks before.
Initially, Daryl had proposed that he would buy the farm from Hershel and in turn pay off his extensive debts. At the same time, the older Greene man could continue to live at the farm along with all of his workers (who would now be paid by Daryl for their services) and nobody in town would even have to know about the deal if Hershel didn't want them to. Another part of the agreement that they had discussed was that in turn for Daryl allowing Hershel to stay at the farm, instead of offering any money as rent, Daryl would take a hefty percentage of the money that was made selling the crops and produce to the townspeople, so long as Hershel continued to organise the trade and use his own animals and equipment.
It was evident that Hershel really had been desperate to get himself out of his debt and had already expressed his many thanks more than enough in the letters that they had exchanged with one another. However, Hershel had also mentioned one last thing that he wanted to take care of when doing their deal: his youngest daughter.
Beth really was as beautiful as Hershel had described. Daryl hadn't bothered to hold his breath on the matter since he imagined that all father's believed that their daughter's were the prettiest women around (hell, he had met plenty of men who said that and Daryl hadn't necessarily thought much of their daughter's looks at all). Still, Hershel had proposed that as part of their deal, Daryl would marry his daughter; making her a Dixon and effectively setting her up for life.
Saying that it was well-known about how the Dixon brother's were wealthy was most definitely an understatement. Daryl and his brother were partners in their businesses; running several of the largest and most successful plantations in the state of Georgia. Daryl had also extended his expertise and invested in the farming trade; acquiring the deeds to large amounts of land, and also homes, too.
Many had questioned him on why he had never chosen to marry himself off to a woman, although he had never really put much thought into it until Hershel had suggested it. Daryl had never cared much about the idea of being a husband; but if marrying Hershel's daughter meant that the older man would finally sell his land over to him, then Daryl would happily oblige.
Besides, it wasn't like the idea of marrying Beth was necessarily unappealing. She was youthful and pretty and the fact that she had shown little sign of reluctance in regards to their wedding suggested that she was a good daughter who had respect for her father, and that in turn hinted to Daryl that she would (probably) make a good wife who would have respect for him - her husband.
All that was left now was for Hershel to sign over the deed to his land - and for Daryl to marry Beth.
"I have," Hershel said, his voice a little strained as he spoke, but Daryl chose to ignore that. "We can talk more about it after dinner, if you'd like."
Daryl nodded at that and didn't say anything more, waiting as the older man finally removed his hand from Daryl's shoulder and made a move to open the door into the dining room. The scent of the fresh food that was already placed in bowls at the table filled his nostrils, and Daryl instinctively inhaled deeply, his stomach growling as he stepped further into the room.
His deep blue eyes danced across the long dining table as Hershel made his way towards the end of it and Daryl couldn't help but stare at the petite blonde who was sat in the center of the wooden table, seeming to have been patiently awaiting the arrival of her father and her betrothed.
As he took her in - her light hair that almost glowed and her pale skin that looked so soft and smooth and the top half of her body that looked so small - he decided that he wasn't all too sure what was more appealing; the smell of the food, or the sight of her.
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