After they sat down and ordered their meals, Austin turned his attention to her. “Have you ever been to a symphony?”

“No,” she replied.“Would you like to go to one next Friday evening?”

She blinked in surprise. “But what about the dance?”

“We‟re going tonight. That should be good for a couple

of weeks.”

“My contract says I have to go to the dance every Friday.”

He shrugged. “So we‟ll bend the rules a little bit. Next

Friday, I have to spend the day in Everdon. I‟ll be taking a train early in the morning so I can get to a meeting with another bank

owner by the afternoon. Then my evening is clear and I heard there will be a symphony playing there.”

“You want me to meet you for the symphony?”

“Actually, I was going to ask if you can take Friday off and spend it with me. There will be two hours in the afternoon where

you‟ll be on your own. There‟s plenty of things for a woman to

do in Everdon. I doubt you‟ll get bored. I hear they have a bigger library than what we have here.”

“I haven‟t taken a day off work since I got sick two years

ago, so I suppose I could get it off.” She didn‟t think her marriage

to him would involve such entertainment.

“You wanted to know what I do for fun. This will give you an idea.” He smiled. “I know I‟m mixing in some business.”

“I notice you blend the two when you can.”

“At least the dance will be more entertaining with you there.”

She blushed. She wasn‟t used to receiving so many

compliments, but she found that she liked them.

“Would you like to check out an actual Shakespeare play

in New York City two Fridays from now?” he asked.

Her eyes grew wide. “I‟ve never been to New York.”

“And you haven‟t seen Shakespeare in the theater. Isn‟t it

time all of that changed?”

“What‟s the play?”

“Does it matter?”

She grinned. “It might.”“It‟s Much About Nothing.”

“It would be nice to watch a comedy.”

“And we can eat at this restaurant I like to go to that

overlooks the city. You can get fresh seafood there too.”

“Do you have to go to a business meeting first?”

“No. I go to New York a couple times a year for no other

reason than to be entertained, but I haven‟t gone with anyone.”

“I must admit that I‟m pleased you find me good enough

company to take along.”

“Well, you‟re turning out to be a good companion. I think it will be more fun if we go to these things together, especially since I know you enjoy them as much as I do.”

“At least now we don‟t have to pretend to be friends.”

The waiter brought them their meals. Just as Claire was about to eat, she saw Sussex whisper to while pointing their way. She sighed and put her fork down.

“What‟s wrong?” Austin asked.

“Nothing obvious. Mr. Sussex and I don‟t get along very well. I will try to be on my best behavior for your sake.” She

knew that she had a tendency to create a scene when someone upset her. Lord, help me keep calm. I want Austin to have a pleasant evening.

Austin glanced over his shoulder and turned back to her.

“He‟s not my favorite person either.”

She was surprised by his statement. What reason did he have to dislike Paul Sussex?

Paul and Beatrice walked up to them. “Mr. Hansworth, good evening. I thought I saw you over here.”

She focused on her food so she wouldn‟t roll her eyes.

“Good evening, Mr. Sussex , Mrs. Sussex,” Austin politely replied and stood up. “I trust you know my wife, Mrs. Hansworth,

since she and your wife are good friends. You look lovely this evening, Beatrice.”

Beatrice smiled and thanked him.“I wished to congratulate you on your marriage,” paul

continued. “I didn‟t get a chance to do so at your wedding.”

“Did I mention that my wife is here?” Austin continued to smile.

“Oh, yes. Claire and I have known each other since I married Beatrice.”

“Then it‟s only fitting that you say hello to her. After all, I said hello to Beatrice.”

“Good evening, Claire,” he reluctantly stated.

“Good evening, Mr. Sussex,” she replied. “Beatrice, would you like a breath of fresh air on the veranda? Then the men can talk alone.” She noted that her friend looked bewildered.

Beatrice hated confrontations.

She nodded.

Just as Claire stood up, paul touched Beatrice ‟s arm and gave a slight shake of the head.

“I think I will stay here instead. I‟m sorry, claire,” Beatrice replied.

How can she be happy with him? The man is a brute. She stiffly sat back down and took a deep breath. Don‟t make a scene. It was

like that every time Claire and Beatrice met in public and paul was around. He didn‟t want Claire to fill his wife‟s head with ideas of how to be independent.

“Actually, if you wish to discuss business, we should do it another time,” Austin said, his tone still pleasant.

“What a fine idea,” Austin readily agreed.

He‟s like an eager schoolboy around Austin.

Paul continued, “I would be delighted if you would come to a dinner party sometime this week. Beatrice makes a wonderful

pot roast.”

“Mr. Hansworth doesn‟t go to dinner parties,” Claire interrupted, trying not to let her irritation show. “Beatrice, did you

not explain that to Mr. Sussex?”

“Uh...yes,” she softly said.“My wife is right, Mr. Sussex. I do not attend dinner parties,” Austin replied. “If you wish to discuss business, I will be happy to do so at the dance. I do all of my after hour business

dealings there. Otherwise, I open my bank on Monday at nine. It is across from the dress shop on Dela Avenue.”

Sue noted the rising tension in his voice.

“Then Beatrice and I shall be going,” paul rigidly stated. “I might keep my business with Mr. Lencelot.”

“You are certainly within your rights to do so,” Austin easily

responded. “I won‟t hold that against you.”

“Good evening then, Mr. Hansworth. Come along, Beatrice.”

Austin cleared his throat and nodded in Claire ‟s direction.

“Oh right. Good evening, Mrs. Hansworth.”

Claire followed Austin in saying the proper good-byes and released her breath as soon as they left. She hated to see Beatrice

treated like a child.

Austin sat back down. “I can appreciate your fear of being controlled when we got married.”

She tried to relax but it was difficult.

“Try not to let him get to you, Claire. Men like that aren‟t worth the effort. Just be glad he married Beatrice instead of you.”

“I wouldn‟t have married him if he was the only one in town who could pay off my father‟s debt. Even Mr. York was a

better catch.”

“And where do I fit on that list?” He was smiling again.

“At the very top. I couldn‟t have done better,” she softly

admitted, staring at her plate. “Thank you for standing up for me.

It was nice to have someone defend me for a change.”

“You always had to defend yourself?”

She nodded and looked at him. “Jeremiah tried to defend

me but he was five years younger so no one paid him any mind.”

“So that‟s how you got to be bold.”

“Sometimes you do what you have to do.”

“Well, I will do what I can.”She didn‟t expect to be so touched by the reality that he

would defend her. “Thank you, Austin.”

After they finished dinner, they went to the dance where

Mr. Evans took their hats and coats.

“Marriage agrees with you, sir,” he told Jake. “You

actually look happy to be here tonight and no wonder with the

beautiful Mrs. Mitchell on your arm.”

“Yes, she‟s turning out to be good company, and she can

dance better than any other woman in this place. Do you know I

have to fight off bachelors now to keep her to myself?”

Sue assumed he was joking so she laughed. “It‟s not like

that, Mr. Evans. Men hardly notice me. But it is nice that Austin does.”

Austin smiled at her as he led her towards the dance floor.

“Oh, Mrs. Hansworth ,” Mr. Evans stopped them. “I hate to interrupt you but Billy forgot to bring his book back to the library

on Friday.”

“That‟s no problem. I can take it on Monday during the story hour. A couple of late days isn‟t going to the library budget. Do you know Mrs. Peterson made enough money from the play to cover all overdue books for the year? I‟ll

just take the amount due from that fund.”

He nodded, relieved and went to hang their coats and hats

up.

Austin shook his head in amazement. “I think you‟re going

to bring more customers to my bank than I will.”

“Now how do you conclude that?” She followed him onto

the dance floor and accepted his offer to dance.

“You win people over left and right just by being nice to

them, and they‟ll see you with me and figure that I must be a great

banker if I‟m married to you.”

She shrugged. “It‟s easy to be a friend to a woman or

child. They are easy to please. I have a more difficult timeknowing what to even say to a man. That‟s probably why I was a

spinster for so long.”

“You don‟t seem to have trouble talking to me.”

“Well, I know you. You‟ve seen me at my worst and

didn‟t run away. Hosea and Tristan were right when they said you don‟t say no to a challenge.”

“They said that?”

“Yes. You had just fallen off of Bossy and you jumped right back on. It was impressive to watch.”

“And I thought you were only interested in fixing the

stable doors in the barn that day.”

“I did fix them. What we really need is someone to repair the roof. I offered to pay for it but my family won‟t take anymore

money, except for marie to see a doctor about her pregnancy.”

“I might have the solution to that problem. When this

dance ends, I‟ll talk to Mr. Blake over there.”

She looked at the middle-aged man who was standing next to his wife and talking to another couple.

“He came into the bank a month ago to apply for a loan

but we had to deny him because he didn‟t have enough collateral.

He knows how to build and repair roofs. I bet he could use a

couple of the cattle your family has in exchange for the service on

the roof. He sells the finest steaks in town to restaurants.”

“That would be a good arrangement,” she acknowledged.

“You really do care about your customers, don‟t you?”

“I do what I can. Sometimes the best answer is no but it‟s

always better when I can do something to help.”

“I was wrong about you, Austin. You do have a lot to offer a woman besides money. You‟re generous, kind, thoughtful, and

brave. Anyone who can eat all of my food and stand up to my brothers has to have a backbone made of steel. And you are a

handsome man.”“You better watch out, Claire. I just might fall in love with

you if you keep talking like that.” He said it jokingly, but she wondered if there was a serious undertone in his words.