And Arthur and I would have both been twenty-seven.
“Yes, of course. The solution is this.” He bit his tongue before what he was about to say next.
God, I better not regret this come morning.
“I will marry you.”
CHAPTER10
Selina stared at Arthur, at first in utter shock, then searchingly. She looked into his eyes for any sign that this was some kind of macabre joke. Or that, in actuality, all the events of the previous evening were nothing more than a vivid, intense fever dream. But it seemed she was awake. And Arthur’s expression was earnest. She did not want to pull away from his embrace, in fact, wanted nothing more than to remain in his arms for the rest of the night. It made her feel so warm and protected.
But this was a decision that needed a clear head. Her head was anything but clear when she was near him. Taking a deep breath, she stood, moving to the fireplace with its merrily crackling blaze.
What am I to answer? Have I run from one forced marriage straight into another? Arthur is also older than I am, though he seemed to forget how much by.
“That is quite an offer, Arthur,” she said, “more than I could ever have expected.”
“It will solve both of our problems. If you are married to me, then your father cannot continue threatening you into marrying Christleton.”
“That is true. Do not think that I am not tempted. It is just…a shock, that is all. I think that in my wildest dreams, my best hope was that I would spend some time with you while I worked out my next move.”
“You can certainly still do that. I will apply no pressure on you. My friend thinks I should put you away somewhere, out of sight. But…”
Selina turned away from the fire to look at him. He was staring back as though waiting for the reaction. Their eyes met and held. Blue met black and they fell into each other. Selina felt time slow, her awareness of it disappeared entirely. She occupied a world in which there were only the two of them. She drank in his handsome face. His eyes, twin pools of infinite shadow.
So serious, always now so serious. What has happened to the carefree boy that I fell in love with all those years ago?
Arthur rose and walked towards her. He stopped before the fire, looking at her sideways. She tried to control her breathing, which she felt was far too fast. Her heart beat rapidly and her mouth felt dry. She was suddenly aware of every inch of her body, every muscle. A movement of air in the room brought her a waft of his cologne, mixed with the bitter scent of cigar smoke. She had always hated that smell, her father smoked cigars, but entwined with the enigmatic aroma of wood and spice that came from Arthur, it seemed exotic and exciting.
It made her acutely aware of the proximity of his body and her own in relation to it.
“I would not push myself on you. Nor place any inappropriate demands on you,” Arthur said, “this would be a marriage of convenience first and foremost. A solution to a problem. A transaction, if you will.”
Selina nodded, swallowing. It was hardly a vow of love, but she could not expect that, could not even say that she loved him. Once upon a time she had. As a girl, she had lost her heart to the poetic gentle young man, and together they had lost themselves in a perfect world of their own imaginations. It had been a refuge from the cruel world for both of them, and she had loved him for helping her to reach it as for anything else.
But that was a long time ago and we have diverged, possibly, over the years. This grown man is darker than my Arthur. Older and wounded by the world. His innocence is lost.
“I will not pressure you. I merely think it is the best course of action. Since you are over the age of one-and-twenty, you do not need your father’s permission to marry. I can obtain a special marriage license quickly and this matter could be resolved in the space of…a fortnight,” Arthur said earnestly.
“A fortnight? Oh my. I…I don’t know quite what to say. Somehow, I did not imagine my marriage beginning like this, though I often imagined it with you.”
Arthur nodded, gazing into the fire for a moment, stroking his chin, fingers running along the scar. Then a smile crept across his face, and he turned to her. That smile transformed his face. The eyes, so prone to shadowed introspection, seemed to gleam with a new life. His expression softened. Selina found herself smiling in return, unable to stop herself.
“I have denied you the romance of an earnest proposal. That must not stand.”
He promptly lowered himself to one knee and reached up to take her hand. Selina gasped as she looked down at him, the gasp quickly becoming delighted laughter to match his boyish grin.
Now, this is the Arthur that I remember.
“Selina, you have stormed into my life as though blown on the east wind. And like that wind, you have picked up all in your path and thrown it into the air to fall as it may. My life is a jumble, but…I find that it does not displease me. I think that perhaps I was in need of being shaken up. Will you do me the honor of accepting my hand that I may protect you from harm, support you, and that we may, together, help each other find…if not love, then contentment and…”
He seemed to run out of words and Selina laughed in delight. “Contentment and adventure?” she suggested.
Arthur beamed at her. “Contentment and adventure. Who could ask for more? Do you wish to consider the matter or…?”
Selina shook her head. She felt reckless, giddy at her own bravery. “I don’t need time to consider. Thank you, Arthur! I accept!”
Arthur grinned. “I do not know why I feel so pleased. This is not a true proposal or a true marriage, after all,” he said.
