The Fourth Mistress

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Graham saw his mother leave the room, the sound of her footsteps receding, and the room turned quiet. Though he had agreed to his mother's words, he wanted to know what Louise' opinion was on it.

He understood where his mother came from, and truthfully, he preferred to have a quiet wedding than inviting every person they knew in and across the town. The first two times when he had been married, the wedding had been held with great pomp. The third time they had tried to tone it down. But luck didn't seem to favour him or his family.

"Graham," called his father, and Graham broke his gaze in the direction he was looking at the room's entrance.

"Yes, father?" he turned to look at his father, who came to stand where he stood.

His father placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "Now that you both have agreed, I would like to meet this lovely girl before the wedding takes place."

"I will check with Ms. Evardon to see when she will be free to come and meet you, father," replied Graham, and his father nodded his head.

Louise had mentioned that she didn't have to go to work because of Mr. Winkle's little slip in the staircase, but by what he had gathered about her so far, it would be better to check with her. After all, with the wedding in motion, she would need to prepare for it.

"That's good," replied his father and with a smile, he left the room, leaving Reed's siblings behind.

Alison said to her brother, "You don't have to listen to mother if you aren't okay with something."

"I know she means well," came the short reply from Graham. "How did you convince mother to meet Louise?" questioned Graham, his olive-green eyes that were looking at the entrance of the room shifted back to look at her.

By his mother's response, Graham could only decipher that his mother wasn't exactly keen about Louise joining the family, even though she was the one who had gone to Louise's house with the proposal.

"I just told her the facts and the truth that we all know about. I don't think she expected you to agree to it either when I spoke to you about it. I didn't know you had taken an interest in her," Alison smiled, a sigh escaping her lips. "She's not some airhead as you call the other young women, whom mother has shown you until now. I know how hard this is for you, but I would like to tell you that you have been a brave man. Louise is a nice girl, I know she will make you happy."

"Hm," responded Graham. It was true. Louise was brighter than most of them. "I should go change my clothes," and he excused himself from there while stepping out of the room.

Watching Graham leave, the smile that was on Alison's face slowly lowered down, and a small frown appeared on her face.

While the news about Louise' decision reached the members of the Reed's family, Louise, on reaching home, relayed the same information. Her uncle and aunt seemed to be taken aback by this information, and Aunt Merlin had covered her mouth in surprise.

"Oh dear lord! My niece is going to get married!" came the excited words from Aunt Merlin, who quickly hugged Louise.

Louise smiled at her aunt's reaction, "Yes, Aunt Merlin."

"I am so happy! I was worried that you had decided to live a spinster's life," said her aunt, pulling away from the hug. "But are you sure about it? I mean people are going to speak about it," her tone was filled with worry.

As happy as Aunt Merlin was by hearing the news about her finally getting married, Louise knew people would speak on how she had snared the wealthy, handsome man and everything a girl would want in a person to be her husband. After all, Graham Reed was a perfect man with the only black dot on his reputation being him losing three wives at an early age.

Louise nodded her head, "Things that people speak behind our backs are cowards and it is not worth listening to them."

Her uncle nodded his head in agreement, "Our Louise will be fine. People will be jealous about anything, Merlin," said Uncle Hugo. "It was only two weeks ago that Mr. Wingfield said how he envied my lunchbox made by my skillful wife."

"Oh, please dear," Aunt Merlin waved her hand before saying, "I know I make excellent lunch boxes." This had Louise and her uncle laugh at her aunt's words. She then got back to the subject, "Are you sure that this is what you want?"

Louise nodded her head, "Yes."

A smile broke through her aunt's lips, "If you are okay with it, then we are more than happy with your decision," said Aunt Merlin, holding both sides of Louise' face. "Go wash your hands and change your clothes. I will fix lunch. Go on."

"Yes, Aunt Merlin," replied Louise, seeing her uncle offered her a warm smile before she left the hall.

Louise walked to her room, hanging the bag on the stand before pulling out the scarf tied around her neck. Now that both families had agreed, both the family would need to meet to discuss the wedding. She decided to ask her uncle when he would be free from his work so that the day and time wouldn't be inconvenient to him.

Leaving her room, she made her way back towards the hall. But before she could reveal herself, she heard her uncle and aunt speaking in a low voice about something that had her footsteps slow down.

"Lower your voice, Merlin," hushed her uncle over something her aunt said. "There's still time."

"We should have prepared ourselves. I mean, I was the one pushing her for it, but I didn't realize it would happen this fast," said her aunt in a worried tone.

Louise didn't know what her uncle and aunt were speaking about, and she tried to lean in closer to hear what they were speaking.

"There's still time," assured her uncle. "There might be not enough money here in the house and the bank. Also, we can arrange it by selling the land that we have in Brokehill."

"We don't know how much we need and we'll know only after we speak to the Reeds," replied Aunt Merlin. "It is good to see that she will be getting into a decent family. We don't have children of our own and Louise has been our child. It is only right that we sell the land. Will you be able to arrange it?"

"You don't have to worry about that…"

Her uncle and aunt's voice dulled down, and Louise realized the trouble she had caused them. With her getting married into a wealthy family, it was possible that Graham's family would want to hold the wedding in a high place and invite their social circle, thought Louise to herself. Her uncle and aunt had been too kind to her, and she didn't want to burden them by having them sell out the land for the sake of her wedding. She knew they wouldn't mind it, but she did.

This would be something she would need to discuss with Graham, thought Louise to herself.

The following day, Graham came to her house to speak to her uncle and aunt, inviting them to come and have lunch at the Reed's Manor the coming week. Louise was waiting for a chance to be alone with him so that she could discuss the little situation before their families would meet personally and discuss about the wedding dates and the expenditure.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. DeRose," he bowed his head.

"Let me see Mr. Reed to his carriage," Louise offered before following Graham out of the house and to where his carriage was parked.

She was glad that her uncle had not tagged along, and she framed the sentences while going through them in her mind. Reaching the carriage, Graham turned to her, his handsome face facing her and looking at her with those olive-green eyes.

"Mr. Reed-"

"There is something-" They both spoke simultaneously and stopped mid-sentence. "Please go ahead, and it's Graham," he reminded her about dropping the honorifics.

"My apologies, Graham. What were you going to tell me?" Louise wondered what Graham wanted to speak about. She stared into his eyes, waiting for him to speak.

"I was wondering what your view was on holding a simple wedding. Just family members and probably in the manor," said Graham. His lips set themselves in a thin line when Louise didn't respond right away, who was taken aback by his suggestion. He then continued, "It was something that came up when I was having a talk with my family. But if you are looking for a bigger wedding, we can arrange-"

"No!" Louise didn't know luck would favour her, and she was happy hearing Graham's suggestion.

Mistaking her response, Graham said, "That's understandable. You can pick the place where you want it to be and we can speak to the concerned person and the priest who is there."

Louise' eyes widened, and she shook her head, "No, no. I meant I am perfectly fine with a small and simple wedding. Having just family members for the ceremony will be much more convenient."

The worry that had been hanging over her shoulders since yesterday had suddenly been lifted, and Louise couldn't tell how good it felt. And to think she didn't have to even bring the matter up with him.

Graham was more than impressed with the thought that Louise had agreed to what he said when he had anticipated at least a murmur of disagreement from her. It was because, from what he knew, most of the women secretly wanted and dreamt of a big wedding.

Noticing him stare at her, Louise asked, "Is something the matter?"

"No," came his curt reply, and he then asked, "I will send the carriage here to pick you and your family. I insist," he added, seeing her lips part and ready to protest.

She closed her lips before nodding her head and saying, "Okay," agreed Louise. For now, she was happy thinking her uncle and aunt didn't have to worry themselves about arranging the money for her marriage.

Watching Graham get inside the carriage and take his leave, she couldn't help but remember something that she had heard about the Reed's. The family were private when it came to people who entered and left their large property.

But she doubted the treatment was the same for every person. It made Louise wonder if they were being cautious of the outsiders stepping into their estate and stealing something valuable from there.

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