The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

Jane looked out the window at the young ladies the carriages passed. "Why are they gathering so many flowers? Some of them have flowers in their hair."

"Oh. I forgot about the festival. There will be a large gathering around this time where the entire countryside attends. The ladies make headpieces out of flowers to match their dresses, and by the end of the night, they offer them to a gentleman," Eloise explained.

"You can have the headpiece with no intention of offering it to anyone. Or, you can offer it to Damien. It is not all about being romantic. If you see anyone without flowers, you can offer them one," said Eloise.

"So, it is a giant gathering about making everyone happy?" Jane asked, uncertain if she wanted to attend. "Are those ladies with their mothers?"

"Yes. If you like, I can take you to get flowers and make headpieces. The ladies are going to make them together. It is exciting," Eloise said, wanting Jane to try.

"When you were here without your mother, who did you do it with?" Jane asked, worried she might not fit in without a mother. She envied the ladies outside the carriage.

"I attended with the other ladies, but at first, my father was present. Our neighbours always welcomed me to join them," Eloise explained.

"I see. Perhaps if we have time, we can see what it is about. I would have a story to share with my friends. There are plenty of flowers back at the manor, so we don’t need to buy any," Jane said, not wanting to be amongst the other ladies.

Jane always felt out of place being the only one without a mother.

"Well, you see, everyone has their little gardens, but still, we buy from the vendors. Everyone tries to buy from each other, so they all get a little business. It is only the two of us, so we can buy a few. We can buy for the maids as well," Eloise considered. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Jane stared at Eloise. She concluded that it wasn’t an act, but that Eloise was just too kind.

"I have a pink dress which I can wear to the event, so I will need flowers to match. Will you help me? I’ve never made anything out of flowers," Jane said, excited to try, but she hid it.

"I can. Buying flowers can be our first stop. It shouldn’t take long," Eloise assured Damien.

"I don’t mind," Damien replied. He noticed the attention the carriage gathered. "We must be careful."

"Since your family has not visited for years, they do not know the carriage. They are only curious and won’t trouble us. We should walk from here," Eloise said, recognising where they were. "We can get flowers, food, and see my friends."

"Is the home where you used to live nearby?" Damien asked, curious about where Eloise grew up.

"No. It is a little way out from the market," Eloise answered.

Eloise accepted Silas’s help out of the carriage when it stopped.

"You are trying to buy that home, aren’t you?" Jane questioned, seeing through Damien’s plans. "Why don’t you just tell her?"

"Be quiet, Jane. It is called a surprise for a reason," Damien said before exiting the carriage.

Jane shook her head. ’What if she doesn’t want to buy the home?’

Still, Jane looked forward to seeing Damien make a mistake.

Jane was the last to exit the carriage.

"Eloise? Eloise!"

Jane was startled by the calls of Eloise’s name. She drew closer to Damien to be shielded by him. "Brother, your wife is quite popular."

Jane looked up and noticed how displeased Damien was with the crowd starting to swarm them. He clenched his jaw but didn’t say a word.

Jane covered her mouth, trying not to let her laughter be heard.

Damien hated crowds, and since he was always concerned about safety, this couldn’t have been pleasant.

"You have gotten taller."

"You took too long to return."

Eloise tried to keep up with all the questions.

"Who is the gentleman?"

All eyes went to Damien.

"This is my husband, Lord Damien Hawthorne," Eloise said, reaching for Damien’s hand to pull him forward. "I got married a while ago. We’ve come with his little sister, Jane Hawthorne."

Jane listened to the muttering amongst the ladies. She noticed how some were surprised.

"Is it because he is a lord?" Jane wondered.

"Move along. You’re scaring them," a voice came from the crowd. "She will answer all your questions in due time."

Eloise inspected the crowd, searching for the voice of her friend.

"This is how I reunite with you, Eloise?"

"Anna!" Eloise exclaimed, her smile broadening when she laid eyes on her friend. "I was going to search for you," she said, approaching Anna to hug her.

Anna wrapped her arms around Eloise. "Well, you made it quite easy to find you. Fancy carriage you have there."

Anna stepped away from Eloise to clear her throat. "Was that the proper way to greet Lady Hawthorne?"

"It was for a friend. I am still the same woman you grew up with. Damien, this is my friend Anna. Anna, this is Damien. Anna is the daughter of the librarian in town," Eloise introduced the pair.

"Lord Hawthorne," Anna curtsied.

"It is nice to meet you," Damien returned the greeting.

"I am so sorry about your father, Eloise. We received your letters, but we wouldn’t have been able to attend the funeral in time. A few of us gathered some gifts and money to send to you," said Anna.

"If only you had written that you were coming to town. The gifts must have already been loaded with the other mail to be delivered to your home. I do wonder if I can get someone to retrieve them," Anna considered.

"It is fine. I wanted to surprise all of you, so I didn’t write. I will see the gifts when I return home. If you don’t mind, Jane and I want to buy flowers for the festival. Will you join us?" Eloise asked, eager to spend more time with Anna.

"Of course. I bought my flowers not long ago. There is a dashing gentleman to whom I intend to give a headpiece. He won’t be able to ignore my interest in him," Anna whispered.

Eloise chuckled. "You are still bothering the poor soul."

"It is not bothering him. Oh! There is someone who will be most happy to know you have returned. He will be angry with me for not telling him right away," said Anna.

"I have never been in a setting where everyone is not excited to see our family. She must have been missed," Jane said, realising Eloise had a lot of people who cared for her. "No wonder she has been in a good mood."