The Duke and the Deal

05. Stranger

~ Not Edited ~

It was the most beautiful diamond ring Ella has ever laid eyes upon. The circular ring displayed the shiniest and prettiest silver there ever was and moreover, the oval shaped diamond that lay upon it sparkled brilliantly beneath her eyes. It was so beautiful that Ella gasped uncontrollably at the sight. Aye, she was mesmerized, and speechless.

Ella thought real hard. Aye, she was taken by surprise at his generosity of actually having the time to bend down on one knee and propose to a common girl who – in obvious state – is dressed in her best attire suited to drive any sane noble away. Unfortunately, that didn't work to the least bit and this nobleman was definitely not sane at all.

No. No. No, and an absolute and definite never in a million years would I ever marry a nobleman, especially not this one. I swear it on my life. Never. Ella immediately pressed forward the thought, vowing to herself internally in the process as she finally realised who was proposing to her.

After three exact seconds passed by, Ella finally gave her already vowed answer.

"No."

It was simple and precise. Not only that, but it was a strict and a defined answer meaning to send a clear message that it would never happen.

With George, Jennifer, Jacob, and Michael all waited with anticipation to hear Ella's answer with joy jumping at their hearts to hear Ella accept the Duke's proposal. For the brothers, they knew Ella and they already knew she would reject his proposal, but they partially hoped that she would have the decency to at least think about it and the benefits of having to be the spouse of a nobleman who was the Duke of Westland, especially since the brothers seemed to have already come to terms with the Duke and having to have found a liking of him, unlike their sister.

George and Jennifer waited for Ella to accept the Duke's proposal, hoping that Ella would think about her future, considering that this might be the only chance their daughter would ever get a man, especially one who is of nobility, to consider Ella as a suitable wife. Knowing that Ella has always been a strong feminist.

However, when they had heard Ella's reply, the only ones who were not surprised was Naomi and the Duke, himself. Unlike, the rest of Ella's family, they all felt as if they were the ones who proposed to Ella with a loving and willing heart only to have it being crushed in the end.

From generosity to a dark and hard expression, Amos immediately released his hand from Ella's, placed the ring back into his jacket pocket and immediately arose from his silly stance that he had wasted his time upon. Upon his thought:

I knew I should've gone with the hard way first. Amos thought disappointedly.

Stepping back a bit, Amos turned towards George and Jennifer and gave them a curt nod.

"Mr and Mrs Pearson, I am sorry to have wasted such valuable time. If you may excuse me, I have business to attend to." Amos said sternly, causing the family to feel a slight fear of the Duke, all except for Ella who was glad and happy that all went well in the end for her.

Leaving the family without another time to waste, Ella couldn't help but internally dance joyfully of her success of driving the Duke away. On the outside she was as just normal as any other situation, seeming as though nothing had just occurred in the past five minutes.

All is well. Ella thought gleefully as she slumped in relaxation. All is well.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

If one came to think about it, which was Ella of course, something felt fishy about the Duke. With his last comment before leaving the Pearson's, the Duke had given Ella a mischievous and sly grin that clearly displayed that something bad was going to happen. Or at least something out of the ordinary that wasn't of a nobleman's doing.