Chapter Four:

A "Happy" Engagement

"How was your trip, Ben?" Felicity asked, standing in the doorway of the barn. Ben was returning the horse he had borrowed, Old Bess, from the Merriman's back to her stall in the stable.

"Well to start with, my father is forcing me into an arranged marriage," Ben replied with a mix of sarcastic enthusiasm and irritation.

"With Annabelle Cole?" Felicity promptly replied without thinking.

Ben looked up from his work. "How did you know?" he asked with surprise.

Felicity looked down in shame, realizing she'd spoken out of turn. "Well to be honest, Elizabeth told me the Coles were writing to you right before you'd left for Yorktown," Felicity solemnly admitted.

Ben sat down on a haystack to face Felicity and placed his hands on his knees. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked disappointedly.

"For plenty of reasons," Felicity replied. "Among many things, I didn't want to spread a rumor ahead of the Coles, or get you all worked up over what could've turned out to be nothing right before your trip, or excite your family before anything was official, or make my father wonder how this all would revolve around your apprenticeship with him…do you see?" Felicity asked.

"Yes," Ben relented with a chuckle.

Felicity shrugged. "It wasn't my secret to tell."

Ben chuckled and nodded in submission. "I see."

"I'm really sorry about all of this, Ben. Mostly because it's ol' Bananabelle," Felicity teased with a smirk, trying to cheer Ben up.

Ben smiled, until he remembered that "ol' Bananabelle" would shortly become his wife.

The following day at teatime in Miss Manderly's sunny parlor, Felicity and Elizabeth reluctantly indulged in Annabelle's chosen "topic of general interest." Once more, Annabelle rattled on and on about potential wedding arrangements—yet again, annoying Felicity and Elizabeth to no end.

"And of course, we'll be getting married this spring, which means that the whole chapel can be a practical bower of flowers! Pale shades of blue, purple, and perhaps even pink…"

Felicity and Elizabeth looked at each other and winked. "Are you quite certain, Annabelle, that Ben agrees in regard to all of these arrangements? It is his wedding too, after all," Felicity inquired, interrupting Annabelle's fantasies of the wedding march.

Annabelle was taken aback and scowled. "Of course, Ben can't be bothered with preparations for the wedding, he's a man! As long as I'm content, he couldn't care less. Besides, I'm sure if Ben did wish to be involved, he would agree with me on every detail. He and I's relationship is so strong, even I can read his thoughts," Annabelle snapped with disgust.

Annabelle continued chattering on with Ms. Manderly about her ideal wedding day without stopping for breath, nor with any end in sight. Felicity and Elizabeth exchanged another glance and rolled their eyes.

At this point, Annabelle's general mood had greatly improved. She would be a wife, and as her husband, Benjamin Davidson would belong to her. Ben, on the other hand, consistently found himself in a state of panic. He knew he didn't want to marry Annabelle, but he also understood his duty to his family. Therefore, he decided to call on Annabelle a few times a week so he could at least get to know her better. He figured he may as well give her a chance, and maybe he'd come to love what lie beneath Annabelle's first impression. However, in the coming weeks, cultivating a closer acquaintance did not improve Ben's opinion of Annabelle—in fact, the more he came to know, the more he grew to dislike her. Still, what other choice did he have?