Convenience

Part 35

Beatrice couldn't help the blink of shock. Fine. Did he say that? Fine? This was over.

She frowned at his agreement. "Fine?" Now what, she wondered and studied him carefully. She could tell from his eyes that his brain was working over time. She wasn't sure she was going to like what he was thinking about.

"On one condition." David was fascinated. He watched the myriad of emotions flit through her eyes. She didn't trust his motives. That was the clearest emotion. There was a tinge of hope, that was quickly doused by wariness.

She knew it. "What?"

"You take the settlement I give you." David announced. He knew she'd reject the suggestion. Everything thus far, suggested the woman really did not want a share of his wealth. She would continue to argue her case. He might have been slow to see the steel in her backbone, but he was a fast learner. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would be annoyed by his offer.

"I don't want anything from you!" Beatrice threw her head back and looked up at the ceiling as if imploring it for some divine intervention. Her chin came up a fraction of an inch.

David calmly folded his arms. Now that he had a vague plan of action to work on, he wasted no time in ensuring it was deployed. "You take the money and set up a trust in your grandfather's name." He stated, and held up a hand to stop her from interrupting.

It wasn't something he'd given much time to thinking through, but as he said the words, he realised that it was probably the best approach to take. She was not going to take his money. She knew that. But this way they both got what they wanted. David could pay back her grandfather, for the loan he'd given him, at a time, he'd been in desperate need. Without that loan, the Cardoso business would have struggled to make it. The struggle to turn things around would have been fruitless.

Beatrice would not receive the money to spend on herself, which given her stance so far would meet her wish list. So the Trust was a good way to repay her grandfather, appease David's conscience and ensure that his wife received some credit.

"It's simple. You manage a trust. I supply the funds." A ghost of a smile touched his lips.

His statement had her pausing for thought. She'd never thought about a Trust fund.

For the first time in this meeting with her, David felt he had finally secured the upper hand. Beatrice blinked several times as the suggestion raced through her mind. She stalled, part confusion part interest. She looked as if her interest was piqued. But he didn't know her well enough to know whether it was going to be short-term interest, or whether he could build on it. But he was pleased to see he had managed to get past her wall of defence and her defiant refusal to accept any financial settlement.

"We set up a joint trust, I supply the funds. We set up a trust in our grandfather's names, and you and I or if you'd prefer, you alone administer it." He voiced his thoughts. It would give him a chance to get to know his wife a bit better. For what he had learnt in the last hour or so was proving to be most illuminating. It would appear that the woman he had been looking for as a wife had been in that role all along. He had always known he would need a strong woman in his life. Someone who could hold their own. Someone to stand alongside him. He wanted a partner. And until a few moments ago he hadn't realised that he already had a candidate who met all of those criteria already in place. Beatrice. The Beatrice of five years ago had remained practically mute during most of their meetings. She had lulled him into believing that she would be a doormat in a relationship. The Beatrice of today was no doormat. She was resilient. Feisty. Strong. She had no qualms in taking him on.

The women he had dated never stood up to him. Perhaps because they did not want to jeopardise the gravy train. They had never been partners in any sense. Most were perfectly content to be seen holding onto his arm rather than wanting to have a meaningful conversation. But that was his fault. That is what he had cultivated in his relationships. Little of substance.

How was he supposed to know that their grandfathers were brilliant matchmakers? How was he supposed to know that his grandfather knew him better than he knew himself? They had found him a woman who was not at all bothered about jeopardising her access to wealth. She frankly didn't care about his status or financial worth. She had no qualms in arguing with him. But what he had also learnt was that she had morals. She stuck to what she believed and valued. Despite the fact he hadn't held up his end of the bargain until today, she had not used that to rip him off.