“I, of course,” he interrupted her gently. “I will finance the entire thing. All I would need you to do is oversee the arrangement, for I would like it to be exactly according to your wishes.”
Marjorie swallowed heavily. He could see her throat twitch for just a second. “I don’t know what to say to this, Alexander.”
Every time she pronounced his name, he wanted to pull her into his arms and press his lips upon hers. He wanted to make sure that she would always have everything she could possibly ever need. But too much had happened between them. And he could see the way she would engage in conversation with Percy. She wanted to make this work. Perhaps she was not in love with Percy, but she certainly was not in love with him, either. He had been too much of an oaf all this time. Atoning for the mistakes of the past would be a long, arduous process, and he doubted she wanted to bear it with him. Still, he could try and make amends by being a good person who helped others. It was at least the first step towards something better.
“Just say yes,” he smiled. It was not the yes he was hoping for, but it would have to do.
She looked at Edith again who was smiling with her mouth wide open, unable to believe it either. “Yes,” Marjorie finally agreed. “Yes, a million times yes!”
She hugged Edith first, the two girls giggling, laughing, chuckling, expressing their happiness in every possible manner they could. Then, Marjorie surprised him by hugging him as well, and burying her face into his neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered again. All he could do was hug her back, in hopes that this hug would last forever.
Chapter 14
Several days had passed since Alexander had shared his wonderful news, and Marjorie could still barely believe her good fortune. What started off as an unpleasant endeavor now seemed to have transformed into something completely different, something that filled her heart with both warmth and longing.
“I still feel like this is all just a dream, and I might wake up any moment,” Marjorie admitted to Edith, as the two ladies found themselves in Marjorie’s drawing room, partaking in their pleasant morning tea ritual. There was nothing amiss with the world. The children they were taking care of had been fed and sleeping in cozy beds for several days now.
“I have been pinching myself every morning,” Edith chuckled, as her cheeks flushed softly and her dark, chocolate curls framed her face.
The tea was served in dainty little cups, decorated with delicate pink roses around the edges of the plates as well as the cups. Marjorie proceeded to pour the tea, like any good hostess ought to, then inhaled deeply, enjoying the aroma. Occasionally, she still found it difficult to believe that she had come such a long way from never having tasted tea to now having it daily.
“When do you think the renovations of the Miller residence should commence?” Edith wondered curiously. “I do believe I am more thrilled about it than the children!”
“Alexander has written me yesterday,” Marjorie said, taking a cup with her thin, willowy fingers and bringing it to her lips. Hot steam pinched at her nostrils. “The papers should be signed next week, he hopes, and then, we can commence with the preparations.”
“When will you be seeing him?” Edith asked again, watching as her friend took a quick sip of the tea. That was done intentionally, as it provided Marjorie with a response.
“We have arranged to meet,” Marjorie nodded, putting the cup back down. The table that separated them accepted the dainty cup, almost like an offering. “Along with Percival.” The tone of voice with which she added this obviously pertinent piece of information did not escape the notice of her friend.
“Why does it seem to me as if you are not particularly fond of that idea?”
Marjorie sighed, lifting her chin up and glancing at the ceiling, as if something up there had caught her attention and she simply could not look away. Concern stabbed at her, as her friend looked at her, wondering if she was imagining it all or not.
“Oh, I simply do not know what to do,” Marjorie admitted, well aware that she could not hide anything from the person who knew her almost as well as she knew herself.
“What do you mean?” Edith inquired.
The conversation had commenced on such a joyful note for both ladies. They shared a moment of genuine happiness, something that they both desperately needed in their lives. But now, something in Marjorie’s voice made both wary.
“I believe I have done something utterly silly,” Marjorie spoke, as she tried to figure out if there had perhaps been a sign on his part that allowed her feelings to blossom to exponentially over the course of the time they had spent together.
“You are speaking in riddles, dear Marjorie,” Edith tilted her head as she addressed her friend. “But I do suppose it has something to do with the earl, does it not?”
“Oh, Edith, you know me better than I know myself…” Marjorie felt her heat twitch with anxiety, like the strings of a violine tightened too forcefully. She decided to remain quiet for a few moments, leaning forward to her tea, and stirred it ever so gently with her spoon. Then, she tapped the spoon against the ridge of the cup. The clinks and clanks filled the room, echoing as if it were a deep, dark cave. Edith knew better than to force the answer out of Marjorie.
“I believe I have fallen utterly in love with him,” Marjorie finally found the words that described her feelings with perfection. “I had assumed… well, hoped is perhaps a better word for it, that this time he had spent with me and the children, and his sudden desire to help came out of some hidden compartment of his heart where he… where he felt the same.”
Stating it out loud in this manner assured Marjorie that it was all too ridiculous to even consider as a possibility.
“Well, hedoesseem different,” Edith mused. “I mean, I remember what you’ve told me about him before. To be frank, he doesn’t seem like the same person he was before.”
“Perhaps, but that still does not mean that he feels the same way. We haven’t been meeting with Percival in the last two weeks, and I… I must admit that I did not think of that gentleman once. Not a single time, Edith. And I should have.”
“That simply means that the said gentleman must try much harder to win you over,” Edith concluded wisely.
“But what if he can never win me over?” Marjorie felt a heavy sadness wash over her. “You know that I always hoped I would marry for love. I do not need much in life, I never did. But love is something I do not wish to live without, something I cannot live without.”
