Chapter 52
Before the hour of their departure had arrived, for their dinner engagement with the Westbrooks, the Winchesters, and the Black, of the hunter's party broke up and returned to their rooms within the inn to prepare for what could be the eve that changed their lives.
Samuel and Dean stayed for a long moment in silence, one watching the other for answers, opinion, and options to escape the predicament they had found themselves so deeply ensconced within, but they never spoke, glancing sheepishly around the room as the servants prepared for their evening.
"And so it shall be then?" Dean asked as his brother sighed when at last they were left in only the company of each other; having not come to any other conclusions. "I am to marry?"
"It has always been this way, as you well know, but your days of putting it off for frivolity and impropriety are over, I believe," Samuel said with sympathy in his tone and his looks. "It is a wonder that you made it this long, if I am being completely honest, that is the most shocking part of the whole affair."
"And should I not speak to Anne on the subject first?" Dean asked. "Rather than go to the father directly and risk upsetting the lady to the point of irreconcilable issues that would plaque us?"
"On one hand, she may resent and hate you if she finds out she has been treated like property, but what if she is convinced that you could not make her happy and refuses you, given the chance?"
"Refuse me and the fortune? Her family would not have that," Dean commented sceptically. "Really Samuel, that is not the issue."
"She has already told you as much," Samuel retorted.
"I am many things, but I am not what they say I am and I will not treat her as they think a gentleman is bound to do. I'll not be the man that the Blacks seem to think run this society and Anne Westbrook is not property to her father. She is his favourite. She deserves to be spoken to with respect and convinced of the plan for the safety of her family. If, when this is all over, we are not compatible, I will find a way to release her," Dean vowed.
"Anne Westbrook is also very smart, and understands the world. She knows that she must marry well, for her baby brother will inherit all of the Westbrook fortune. And as much as I believe you are in earnest about the father's relationship with his eldest daughter, he is still a man of this society and has allowed all of these men into the society of his daughters. He may not call her his property but he is selling her, and all of her sisters, to the best of men he can find."
"I will speak with her first. I will lay all of our cards out on the table and I will make her see the importance of this plan," Dean said, set his resolve.
"And hope to Chuck that she is reasonable enough to accept that terrible news as a proposal," Samuel commented sarcastically. "For all the times you have flirted your way into the favour of young ladies, for all the times you've been a scoundrel and improper, and for all the times your tongue has managed to get you out of the worst of situation, you'll not win her heart like this."
"My words are all I have at the present. Love, if that is to be what we call it, will come later, or I will release her. This is not about my matrimonial felicity, it is about saving her life, and the lives of her sisters. Anne Westbrook is bound to understand that reason, and the urgency by which this is to occur," Dean stated angrily. "And for the record, I would not be doing this if I had any choice in the matter! I, who is the most elegant eldest son any of them have ever known, am being forced into this only because of my fortune. I'm not ready to get married!"
"You have six bullets from Miss Shurley that say you have serval choices to make," Samuel countered. "And elegance is not what I would call you, though perhaps, from time to time, you may have the illusions of such."
"You're so droll dear brother," Dean said with a roll of his eyes.
"You started this," Samuel countered. "I am more elegant, you are more eligible, there is a very great difference, and Tepes as all the royal, regality that any young lady could ask for."
"Tepes is not dining with us tonight. If he were I'd do what I need to and face the consequences of the Westbrooks knowing after the fact. And what is regality to being torn from your family and thrown to the wolves in a foreign land?" Dean huffed. "He is nothing to me."
"Indeed, in your eyes perhaps," Samuel shrugged. "But that is not the point, the point is that you have the bullets, Amara gave you an out, and although I do not agree that you should just walk up to the man and shoot him, you potentially could."
"I have loaded the bullets into the colt, and I will carry it with me," Dean said decisively.
"I expect nothing less brother mine," Samuel said approvingly. "And I will be prepared with remedies and weapons of my own."
"Very good, I've dealt with the wrath of gods before, so I believe we may come through this," Dean protested. "Should we come face to face with Tepes at any point between now and our flight from this place, I will shoot him and it will be done."
"Calm down brother, that is not the choice you should be making at this time, though should he come after the ladies of the Westbrook family and the proof is to be found by the ladies of the Black family, then you would have reason to shoot him, but tonight is for other things. For now we must be smart about it, you would have leverage if he is feasting on those girls. Mr Shurley could not deny you your actions if the proof is to be presented to him," Samuel reasoned passionately to prove the severity of the situation. "However, should Mr Westbrook choose to accept you as a son-in-law, should he grant you permission to marry his eldest daughter, he will need to know of the family business. Perhaps that is the talk you should have before you ask for Anne's hand. It may be the deciding factor for, or against, you. At least then he will be aware of the danger Tepes presents to his family and perhaps he will be persuaded to end the acquaintance and flee."
"What if I have a conversation with both of them?" Dean asked.
"She could back you up on the side of the supernatural, maybe her father could convince her to take you," Samuel responded but he wasn't all together certain that the plan would work in his brother's favour.
"I do not think that any of these plans are going to work entirely in our favour, dear brother," Dean commented reading his brother's wordless cues, "nor do they ever, really. But we must find a way to make the best of it, or make it into the best situation for us. I do wish Singer was here. We should have brought him."
"We will be back with him in two days," Samuel said with a shake of his head and if we are to return to Whitby we'll bring him along."
"Yes, and yet, I fear that this two days may be too much without him. I feel I am in need of a good scolding, or that he would have so much more insight into this situation that we are seeing for ourselves. We should have brought him along in the first place," Dean commented.
"I agree brother, though I believe he would have had you married off long before this," Samuel teased.
"Ha, you are right. He has been trying, in father's place, for a great many years now," Dean laughed aloud for the first time and then fell darkly silent once more.
"I will say that I like Anne, I think she would do well for you but I do not like the circumstances of this situation for any of us, nor would Singer. I do not think you are sure of it either. Marry well, or not, and you're stuck with it, though Anne Westbrook does deserve someone like you. You are not ready to accept it, nor would you say it about yourself, but you are the very best kind of man. Or purchance you are afraid of the feeling she has stirred up in you regardless of the situation we find ourselves in."
"Just tell me I'm a fool, Samuel, and be done with it," Dean huffed colouring slightly.
"I don't believe that you are, but you are not ready to change our situation. Anne knows what we do, she will not chase me from your house, nor will I leave simply because you've taken a wife. We will carry on in our work just as before and she will have a choice as to how much or how little she takes on. Singer will teach her everything she needs to know about your house and your life. She was brought up a gentleman's daughter, so she knows how to run a gentleman's household and all that goes along with her social duties within a community. You will make her a hunter if that is what she wants, or at the very least she will give you the children that will carry on in our stead. It is the right and proper way of things, I believe that you will have Chuck's blessing as you already have Amara's. Happiness is not something we have ever really know properly, but Anne Westbrook may bring you close, if she'll have you."
"I fear that she wont," Dean confessed, "because she has told me as much herself."
"I think she has changed her mind. If one can form an attachment as quickly as you have, one can also see the severity of the situation and change one's mind," Samuel said while standing to walk to his brother side, clapping him on the back. He looked him in the eyes to read what was deep in his brother's soul. "Put all things aside and speak to her."
"I will," Dean vowed.
"Then take her to her father and convince him to let the girls away with us. Let everyone believe that the meeting was about one thing and if it comes to that, if she helps you to make up your mind, then you can break the news when this is all over, but do it right Dean Winchester, for your own sake," Samuel advised his brother in a way that only they knew because of their closeness and the experiences they had been through all of their lives together.
"Do it right," Dean repeated, nodded his understanding to his brother, shaking his head to clear it. "You are very wise, baby brother."
"Yes, I have to be, for your sake and for my own; brains and brawn, as they say in certain circles," Samuel laughed as he motioned to himself and then his brother. "Or should I say heart with regards to you?" He asked.
"I believe that we have that in common," Dean replied seriously.
"Indeed," Samuel nodded and then turned to leave getting ready for what would certainly be another eventful and mysterious evening engagement.
