Chapter 270
“You didn’t bring your granddaughter here just to pass down that old engagement, did you?” Achilles asked, trying to keep his tone light, but he was already bracing himself inside.
Honestly, bringing Latonia over today, he’d wanted to bring up the whole thing with her and Dane. But if Padgett was here for the same reason, things were about to get awkward.
He glanced over at Padgett’s granddaughter, sizing her up without trying to be obvious. She really did look a lot like Melissa-bright, beautiful, and full of life. Achilles hated to admit it, but next to Claire, his own granddaughter seemed a little dull. That was going to make things complicated.
Padgett just shrugged, a smug little smile on his face. “I might not care about all that, but someone in my family has their heart set on Claire. They’re sure she’s meant to be Dane’s wife p>
Achilles hadn’t even had a chance to respond before Latonia jumped in, clearly unable to keep quiet any longer. It was already bad enough that Claire was Melissa’s daughter, but now she was supposed to inherit the engagement too? Why did Claire get everything?
“Mr. Green, what century do you think this is?” Latonia said, her voice rising. “People fall in love on their own now. You can’t just arrange a marriage for them p>
“And Dane and Claire… there’s a big age gap. They probably don’t have much in common. If you force them into an engagement, what if they end up totally wrong for each other p>
She was so worked up she barely finished her sentence, and Achilles had to shake his head a little. She was rushing things, as usual.
Baldrick hadn’t expected Latonia to be the one to object. He watched her, noticed the way she kept glancing at Dane, and suddenly it all made sense. Latonia had always stuck close to Dane when they were kids, even though he never paid much attention to the younger girls. Was it possible she actually liked him? If that was the case, things were about to get tricky.
Still, as much as he’d watched
Latonia grow up, his loyalty was with Claire. She wasn’t just Melissa’s daughter she was Pandora’s granddaughter too. And if Pandora ever found out her granddaughter had beenated out of what was hers, she’d be on the first train over to make a scene.
Baldrick looked at Dane, who was frowning, obviously not thrilled by Latonia’s words.
Dane was honestly kind of annoyed.
Since when was the age gap
between him and Claire such a big deal? And what was this about not
having anything in common? Latonia had only been out of the
country for two years, and now she
was acting like they were from
totally different worlds.
“Am I really that old?” Dane asked, his face completely serious as he looked at Latonia.
She just stared at him, totally confused.
Achilles stepped in, trying to smooth things over Dane, if you’re old, then your grandfather and I should be six feet under by now. Don’t let Latonia’s words get to you. She’s only worried you and Claire might not get along. Claire is still young. You two hardly know each other. Rushing into an engagement… If things go wrong, it could turn to a huge joke for everyone. Remember when Melissa left Ablett and ran off with some poor country guy? Our whole circle talked about that for years p>
Achilles really did think Claire was too young for Dane. His own granddaughter, at
least, was closer to Dane’s age and had grown up with him.
Claire didn’t like the way he put it, not one bit. “How do you know we wouldn’t get along?” she shot back, the edge in her voice clear.
She could tell Latonia liked Dane. That much was obvious.
If Achilles really looked down on Padgett for being all about money, he should feel the same way about Baldrick. It wasn’t like the Green family was poor. Or maybe Baldrick just read enough books to make people forget his family was just as wealthy as the Churchills.