All is Fair in Love and War

Chapter 7

Seline sat on the edge of the bed staring. She could not believe what she was hearing. “Alene darling how can that be? What do you mean?” Seline put her hand on her sisters shoulder who was now sobbing even harder than before. Alene was sobbing and hiccuping, but looked at the wall next to the other side of the bed and said. "I was seen by the old widower coming out of Mr. Glassman’s room in the hay barn in the early morning. I ran away as fast as I could but it seems that he knew who it was and assumed the worst. I was only there to surprise Mr. Glassman with his favorite blueberry biscuits for his birthday.” Alene buried her head in the blankets once more and cried. “I know you must hate me now so leave. Just leave me. It’s all my fault that you and Alice have to marry the wrong people, while I get exactly what I want. I don’t deserve it.” Came the muffled cry from the blankets.

Seline looked at her anguished sister and leaned over and gave her a kiss on the back of her head and embraced her. “I could never hate you Alene. We will try and figure this out somehow. Did you tell Papa this?” Alene threw the blankets off her face and sobbed “I tried to, but Papa cut me off and said he did not want to know anything or he would have to follow the law. He told me that the marriages were to happen as arranged and there was to be no discussion.” Alene rolled back over and pulled the blankets back over herself and began to cry some more. Seline rubbed her back and then whispered. “It will all be alright. I will have Henni send up some tea.” With that she left.

Seline headed down stairs and through the kitchen. Henni was already on her way toward the stairs to bring Alene some tea. Seline went out into the yard. She needed to be alone. So many thoughts swimming in her head. She had thought that she was ready to accept whatever happened because it was her fault. Now it appears that she and Will were not the ones that were seen. It was Alene and Mr. Glassman, and what they were doing was completely innocent. Papa must surely know that or he would have turned his back on her. That is why he has done everything as the note asked to keep her safe. He must know that she was bringing Mr. Glassman something nice for his birthday. Papa knew how Alene felt, everyone does. Although she should have had one of us go with her so that something like this would not happen. Seline shook her head and sat down on the old wood splitting stump. She rested her face in her hands and sat. She was going to be betrothed to Will. There was a time that she only considered him a friend and did not even consider him when thinking about who she would end up betrothed to. After the kiss this morning, she knew that he was the one that she was always meant to be with.

The faint smell of him still lingered on her. It made her memory of the kiss more real each time she closed her eyes and thought about it. The reality of having to marry the old widower was not a prospect that she wanted to face. By marrying him, she knew that he only wanted a wife so that he could have a son, she was just there to have babies. He did not care about her the way that Will did. The old widower was named Charles Dells and though she had not heard anyone call him by his first name in many years. She had also never heard his wife call him by it ever when she was alive. She always called him “Sir”. She knew that most marriages were not born of love in the beginning, but many of them grew to love each other. However, she did not think that this man, who seemed to treat his first wife as property just like his cows, could ever learn to love her. She knew that even though Will was also being forced into marrying her younger sister Alice, that they too could learn to love each other in time. She envied them.

Seline sighed and wiped her face. She brushed her hair back and stood up to walk into the house to go help with the chores and to get ready for tonight. If Alene was stuck in bed there would be that many more chores that would need to get done.

Seline started walking back toward the kitchen door, when she heard her father’s carriage approaching. Seline stepped back out of sight of her father. She did not want him to see her crying. She waved her hands in front of her face to try and fan her eyes so she could hide her crying, lest her father would see. Seline took a deep breath in and, then walked toward the driveway. Her father was usually a slow and careful driver with the horses, but today he seemed to be in a hurry. Indeed he must have been in a big hurry all the way back, because the horses were all in a lather. Heinz came out of his shack when he heard the horses, and took the reins from Papa as he jumped down. Papa turned and said something to him quietly in his ear and then quickly moved toward the house. Heinz watched Papa go into the house and then he backed the horses up to the carriage shed to unhook the carriage. Heinz also seemed to be moving with urgency now.

Seline decided that she had better go inside to see what was going on. Following Papa into the house, she arrived in the kitchen with everyone already in an uproar.