Page 42 of Fortuitous Encounters

“When you put it that way, I imagine you can dream, but personally, I suspect you are doomed to disappointment.”

“I am afraid so. Maybe it's time to just give up.”

“I would if I were you. Face it… you are bested.”

“Yes, I think you’re right.”

~

“Ho-Ho, Son. I understand you finally bested Benita in a wager. Congratulations, my boy!”

“Thank you, Papa. It feels good to finally win one.”

“It has been a long, hard battle.”

“Brutal! I've spent an hour in the mill pond… thrice. Lost two horses, had to walk naked through school, crawl through poison ivy, steal honey from a beehive. I cannot even count how many bugs, worms, and fish I have had to swallow, and let me tell you… that blistering hot sauce she imported from India was not much fun. It has been brutal… absolutely brutal.”

“I hope your terms were sufficiently egregious to extract your full revenge?”

“They were.”

“So, what exactly did she lose?”

“You will see on Wednesday along with everyone else.”

“So, public humiliation is the order of the day?”

“More or less.”

“You are heartless.”

“She made me that way.”

~

“Benita, I hear Bennet finally bested you.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Your bets have been getting worse and worse, with more and more egregious punishments for years. How bad is this one?”

“It was the biggest wager we ever made.”

“Oh dear! Just how bad is it? What were the terms?”

“You will see Wednesday. It is to be a public finish to this long battle.”

“You will not give me a hint?”

“No, Mama, I shall not.”

~

“I, Benita Sunset Fitzwilliam, take thee Bennet Honeysuckle Darcy to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold—”

~

“Benita, I cannot believe you married a man on a bet, or that you even made such a big bet with someone you have hated man and boy since your cradles.”