His Spoilt Lady by Vanessa Brooks

that
John would become the sole heir to the business. As the dry
financial details were explained to her, Linnett realised that John
Foster would, in effect, own her! They were to marry in a
fortnight’s time and leave for Boston America the following day
from Plymouth. They would travel on one of the company’s ships, The
Tempest, which her father had given to Foster. It would be carrying
a cargo of tea and cloth back to Boston. When Sir Thomas Wainwright
had finally finished this litany, Linnett had fled to her room,
hastily donned her riding clothes and left the house. She had
galloped off at speed some short while later, on her beloved horse
Pango, the birthday gift from her father three years previous.
    So now here she
was, sitting on the ground wondering what on Earth she should do
about the whole situation; desolately, she plucked at the soft
spring grass. Linnett had always assumed that she would be left to
choose her own husband. Her father had always indulged her, and it
had not even occurred to her that he might select a husband for
her, let alone someone she did not even like!
    Oh, Linnett
knew it was common practice for parents to make matches for their
daughters. But having grown up without a mother, she had become
accustomed to thinking for herself. After all, her father had
encouraged her to do just that. Linnett found her thoughts drifting
to this man Foster. He was certainly very good-looking, if you
liked dark brooding men, which she most definitely did not. There
was something dangerous about him, there had to be, for her to feel
so unsettled around him...especially now after the humiliating way
he had treated her. It was all so unfair! She wanted to marry
someone easy-going like Charles, someone who would not interfere
over much with her perfect life, someone who would leave her to
plan their social calendar and let her do pretty much as she liked.
Not some overbearing tyrant like this Foster, a man who resorted to
violence when disagreed with. And what was it her father had told
her? Oh yes. “John tells me that you are wilful and heedless and
need a strong man as your husband, one who will know how to quell
and modify your behaviour.” Linnett squirmed, absolutely mortified
and furious, the nerve of that man...the insufferable cheek!
    “Ooh,
detestable bullying oaf!” Linnett squealed aloud, startling Pango,
who swung his head up from where he was quietly cropping the lush
spring grass, his dark intelligent eyes watching his beloved
mistress and waiting to see if she would call him to her. As
Linnett continued to sit, frowning into the distance, he dropped
his head back down and began to tear at the turf once again.
    Well, thought
Linnett, if things did not change within two weeks, and the worst
happened and she did end up married to that, that insufferable
bastard, she would show him! If she could make his life difficult
enough, then perhaps she would be able to make an arrangement with
him that he should go back to Boston alone, leaving her behind with
her father; plenty of marriages continued in just such a manner.
The more she thought about her plan, the more sensible it seemed to
be. Fairly soon, she felt much better about the situation, so much
so that Linnett decided that when she saw John she would suggest
her idea straight-away, using her father’s age and ill health as
good reason for remaining behind in England. Having solved things
to her satisfaction, she mounted her horse and turned in the
direction of home.
    On her return
to Lavenstock Hall, Linnett was dismayed to find that John had left
the house and would not be returning until the day of their
proposed wedding. The reason given was that he had business to
attend to in Plymouth. In fact, although he did have some tasks to
attend to, the real reason was that he suspected Linnett would
attempt some sort of plan in the hope that she could put a stop to
the wedding. He had no wish to antagonise her further with his
constant presence.