“Aye,” she replied. “I am agreeable.”
Atticus still seemed concerned. “Are you feeling well enough to do this?”
Again, Isobeau nodded. “I am.”
With a faint smile, perhaps one of both encouragement and pleasure, Atticus extended a hand to her. When she placed her small, soft hand in his big, rough one, Solomon grabbed the priest by the arm and practically yanked the man back over to the altar where Atticus and Isobeau were now standing. As the tiny man began to intone the marriage mass from his dog-eared book of liturgy, one he had copied himself when he had been a seminary student, Atticus found his attention drifting to the crypt beyond the altar where his brother now lay.
There was great finality in the marriage ceremony, perhaps more finality than there was in the funeral mass. The funeral simply commended Titus’ soul to God, a final motion in a death that had been dragged out for almost two weeks now. Titus’ actual death had only been the beginning of a long journey of his passing that had brought them all to this point. Now, themarriage ceremony binding Titus’ widow to his brother was sealing the deal.
Titus was dead and gone and now they were all expected to move on with their lives without him. Atticus knew, as he’d realized from the start, how difficult that was going to be. His missed his brother more every day. His gaze lingered on the crypt as he said his vows and then his attention finally turned to the woman that was now his wife.
Isobeau….
Now, she was his.
Farewell, Titus….
CHAPTER TEN
~ The New Beginning ~
Ionian scale in C– Lyrics to A Day of Dreams
A day of dreams is upon me still,
And I see your face in the sky.
My heart knows only that it misses you still,
Until the time goes by.
—Isobeau de Shera de Wolfe, 15th c
It was justafter dawn.
Atticus had spent most of the night watching his new wife sleep, pondering the turn his life had taken and feeling the loss of Titus to his bones. Yesterday had been a pivotal day for him, burying his brother and getting married all in the same stroke. But in the same breath, he knew that he had to push his grief and heartache aside. He had a task to accomplish, and a new wife to know, and he couldn’t do it with the constant sorrow of Titus’ death hanging over his head.
Today, his new life with Isobeau began and his determination to bring de la Londe and de Troiu to justice was stronger than it had ever been. Something was screaming in his soul about it, demanding his brother be avenged louder than he’d ever heard it. His thoughts had moved between his brother’s murderers and his new wife throughout the night andby the time the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon, de la Londe and de Troiu had won over. He could think of little else.
After he and Isobeau had married yesterday morning, he’d escorted her back to the chamber that had been prepared for her, the chamber that had once belonged to his mother, where she had lain down to rest and ended up sleeping all day and all night. Even now, as dawn broke, she was still asleep, her body recovering from the trials and tribulations it had been forced to endure. Through it all, Isobeau had remained strong, at least as strong as she could. She had never complained or lamented her situation, a manner that Atticus found admirable. He’d seen that quiet resolve from the woman since the beginning but the sheer strength of character was coming to impress him. Ever since that night in the stable at Rothsburg, he had seen the woman in a new light.
In spite of everything, he was glad he had married her.
But a new day was breaking and, much like him, Isobeau would be forced to face her new future. There was something they had to do, a purpose to their lives. They would need to move south, following Norfolk’s trail, in their search to locate de la Londe and de Troiu. Atticus was, in fact, planning a meeting with Kenton and Warenne this morning to plan that very journey and for the past hour he had been trying to figure out how to discourage his father from joining them. It was true that Solomon didn’t travel, and hadn’t for ten years, but these were extenuating circumstances. It was possible the old man would try, which would only drag them down. That thought concerned him.
“Did you even sleep last night?”
It was a soft, female voice that spoke, interrupting his chaotic thoughts. Atticus looked over to see that Isobeau was sleepily gazing at him. When their eyes met, he smiled faintly, watching her lips bloom with a lovely smile. It was a glorious thing soearly in the morning, on this day that started their new life together. As Atticus looked at her, any lingering grief he had for his brother slipped away. If there was joy to be found in the darkness of his sorrow, he was looking at it.
“I may have,” he said quietly, a glimmer of humor in his eye. “I cannot recall.”
Isobeau stifled a yawn and lifted her head. “Surely you are weary,” she said. “I will rise and you may sleep in this bed for a time if you wish. I will sit outside of the door and make sure everyone is quiet.”
He laughed softly. “Although I appreciate the offer, it is unnecessary,” he said. “How are you feeling? You slept a long time.”
Isobeau couldn’t stifle the second yawn that caught her by surprise. “How long?”
“All day and all night.”
