“You heard him, didn’t you?” Rachel asked. “How much of a troglodyte can he be?”
“He was very opinionated, I will say that much,” Jane said as she wrinkled her nose.
“Say it as it is,” Rachel huffed. “He is a foul, entitled mistake for a human being.”
“Shall I get you some tea?” Jane asked. “You do look a bit pale.”
“That is all because of his words,” Rachel said. “He went on so much that it turned my stomach upside down. I cannot believe men in this time and age when women are doing so many wonderful things, that he is ready to chain us back to the bedpost.”
“Shall I get the tea?”
“Yes, please.”
***
With a calculated guess, Rachel left for the garden just as it neared dusk. She remembered her decision not to be so demonstrative with William but had to talk to him and hoped that he was somewhere there. She did not find him in the first section, so she left for the gazebo.
She spotted his back and tousled head and made her way to him. As she stepped on the flooring, she knew that he had heard her but had not turned. From the motion of his hand, she could see that he was drawing and came to a stop near him.
For once, she saw something odd; he was staring at the rose bush unblinkingly while his hand kept shading in a rose. She did not move and watched the amazing sight with awe. When he dropped the pencil, do did he drop his eyes.
“That is amazing,” she said. “How did you do that?”
He shrugged, “It does not happen too much but when it does it is because I tend to sink into deep focus.”
She turned to him, “Would you mind telling me why you have not looked me in the eyes for the past three days?”
Instead of shying away from her, he did stare at her. “What do you mean? I am looking at you right now.”
“I mean before this,” Rachel said. “Through all the sessions we had, it felt like I was pulling your teeth for you to say two words to me. Is it something I did? If it is, please tell me?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” William said slowly. “You have not done anything to me.”
Rachel felt herself flailing, “But why so silent?”
“There is nothing Rachel.”
Now she was getting desperate, “Stop lying to me. I know something is going on. What is it? And do you not dare tell me it is nothing again. I know there is!”
“Rachel—” His placating tone made her shatter.
“Do you know what happened to me today?” she cried, slumping honestly into a bench. “That horrid Lord Strathmore came, and he told me—he told me what he expects a woman, his wife, should be. And it's all horrid. He has no respect for women at all, and he thinks we are just made to have children and-and—” her breath began to hitch. “—And I c-cannot—”
His warm embrace quieted her, and hidden in his hold, she managed to hold back the tears. As if he were listening to her thoughts, his lips dotted soothing kisses along her hairline.
Her body shook under his, and the distress she felt so acutely began to simmer. “I will not live if I marry him, William, and neither of my parents cares.”
“I do,” he said, “God knows I do, but I cannot do anything about it. I wish I could, but I have no place to do it.”
A small plaintive cry left her mouth. “I cannot do this.”
“I know,” he said. “I know, and I pray you would not have to, but what other way is there?”
“I—” she sniffled. “I do not know.”
With either of them unsure about what to do, all she could do was to hold unto William for the comfort he was giving her. She still had not gotten an answer as to why he had avoided her for the four days, but it did not matter at the moment. All that mattered was where she was, in his arms, and comforted.
He rested his cheek on her temple. “Please do not be angry with me.”
