Heaven And Hell novel Chapter 115

"And when will the wedding be?"

"No date set yet. Just take care of the announcement, Miss Beaufort," she ordered brusquely.

"Might I ask who the lucky lady is?"

She smiled like a cat finding a bowl of cream. "Olivia Mathison, a California native and beauty."

"Lovely, lovely," Laura said excitedly, obviously taking down notes. "And have they known each other very long?"

"Old friends. Make sure to let out that the dowager Duchesses of Rossington and Cynster, the Marquess and Marchioness of Sterling, as well as the Duke of Cynster, sponsor this engagement and match. Every Cutting in the family, more like."

Portia wagged a finger at her.

"All right, Lady Cutting, this will be set in motion within a week and --"

"Tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow? But we have to prepare and there are still so many other --"

"My grand-nephew vowed to be the next George Clooney, even though he hasn't said any such thing, and now that Clooney has married that Amal woman, he's now above the list of eligible bachelors," she cut in directly, walking toward the window.

"You're forgetting Prince Harry and Leonardo DiCaprio and --"

"Good Lord, we're talking about Colton Cutting, Marquess of Havenhurst! Are you saying it isn't newsworthy that he has finally found a potential bride? It certainly won't take a lot of preparation for this."

"Ehm..."

"Exactly. I want it done tomorrow. My man will provide some pictures, if necessary, and all you have to do is announce the news."

That sound bubbled up a laugh in Portia's throat that she actually ended up clutching her stomach and laughing richly. Margaret scoffed at that but her traitorous lips eventually twitched and the two dowager duchesses shared a great laugh like they were young girls again. Then they toasted to their master plan and smiled above the grand frescoed ceiling. Cheers.

During the next day, Cole was sitting at his desk in his study, talking about urgent matters with his secretary, who was filling in tasks onto his mobile. Cole was quite alone due to Aunt Marge's invitation of noontime refreshments with his grandmother and father. He was used to being alone, so he'd merely nodded when the two went off to Rossington Park to see his aunt.

"Care to expand the venture with this particular company?" Ned Barley inquired quietly, waiting for his boss to answer. The telly was solely on BBC News and Ned could hear the reporter talking about some international politics regarding Obama and the congress. "If you venture, your fortune will amass and investments will triple, like you've done before. So shall we?"

Cole nodded once and flipped a page from The Times that Pemberley handed him this afternoon. Ned, along with everyone under the marquess's employ, was used to this and they didn't expect much verbal answer. When he was not pleased about something -- anything -- he never raised his voice because he merely blasted his chilling gaze and made the person who displeased him quake.

Ned did what he was supposed to do and gave his boss's contact the affirmative and to send a contract henceforth and, when that was done, he simply waited for Cole to finish reading the newspaper to await further instructions. When none came, he turned around and leaned back in the plush chair, watching Laura Beaufort's megawatt smile flash across the screen as another segment came.

"On to some piece of entertainment news," she said. "An engagement has been made and we get the first announcement."

To Ned's complete and utter surprise, the face of his employer was plastered on the screen, and on the other side was a separate picture of a striking blond with slanted, cornflower blue eyes, and tanned skin.