Captured by Him ~ The fourth novelette from "Different Desire", a Gay Victorian Romance and Erotic novelette collection

 
    ~ Captured by Him ~
    A Victorian Romance and Erotic Novelette
     
    by Lady T. L. Jennings
     
     
    It truly was one of the worst days imaginable for poor, young Mr Milton Huntington. The day had started rather badly and was rapidly degrading; however, the worst was unfortunately yet to come.
    Indeed, one would assume that leaving the Bradwardine’s magnificent estate with an accepted marriage proposal from their youngest daughter, who was both pretty and agreeable, would have made any noble gentleman the happiest man in the British Empire.
    Regrettably, I am sorry to say that this was not the case for poor Milton Huntington. In fact, the handsome young man was finally allowing himself to slowly break down and cry silently in the comforting solitude and privacy of the horse carriage after a wretched day , which had culminated when Miss Constance Bradwardine had, beaming with youthful happiness and excitement, agreed with a whole-hearted , “Yes! But of course!” to become his future wife.
    As expected, he had pretended to be as delighted as she was , and he hoped that if anyone had noticed his slightly stiff behaviour, they would assume that it was just a result of poor nerves after the ordeal of asking the stern and elderly Lord Bradwardine for the permission of his daughter’s hand. Milton was quite convinced that no one had managed to wry out the true cause and origin of his distress , which he desperately tried to hide.
    He knew perfectly well that he should consider himself a lucky man because he had no stringent obligation to marry. He did not have to end up with a dislikeable heiress because he needed money or land, like so many others. His family had enough of both, although he did wonder slightly about the family Bradwardine’s motives for the upcoming marriage. The Bradwardine family owned an impressive estate, but only owned a small piece of land , which had been considered unsuitable for mining.
    Nor was he forced to marry an old widow to gain a title or to improve the family’s connections either, although of course the Huntington’s connections would indeed benefit from being able to include the old and respectable Bradwardine family into their own.
    O f course , he had absolutely no illusions about marrying out of love. It was out of the question , really , and besides , it was an absurd and silly idea, fit for daydreams and unrealistic romantic novels only. Who on earth would be able to marry because of love in these days, in the middle of the 19th century, anyway? Well, perhaps the unsophisticated peasants could at least have that benefit to wed their beloved sweethearts ; however , for the aristocracy and the upper class , it was never something to neither hope nor strive after. And it clearly w as never going to happen to Milton anyway, that was for sure.
    So then , why had he bent down on one knee and proposed that morning in that case, one may ask.
    Well, Milton Huntington had, in a rational manner, mentally composed three very sensible and logical reasons behind his inevitable decision to ask Miss Constance Bradwardine to become engaged to him.
    First of all , he had decided to marry to keep everyone else from being so utterly disappointed in him. He knew he was something of a failure in the eyes of his family. He was suppos ed to be, not only a true Huntington, but the Huntingtons ’ heir . A young man with vast potential and prospects. However , he found it hard to live up to everyone’s expectation s . His father was never satisfied with his studies and constantly complained about his inability to focus on the economy regarding manufacturing and coal mines. He would often prais e Milton’s brother instead , who was both clever and charismatic, and sometimes he would comment with a sigh that he wished that Milton had been born as intelligent as Walter. At least his mother could not be disappointed with him too, since she had died in childbirth when he was young , and his stepmother had always kept a certain distance from him. She doted on her own three daughters and seemed to think that Milton and his brother were her husband’s responsibility. Therefore , by marrying Miss Constance Bradwardine he was at least finally able to do something right for once.
    Second, by marrying , he would, at the same time, permanently end the faint rumours regarding Lord Huntington’s oldest son and his preferences. Being a disappointment was one thing, bringing shame and disgrace over his friends