Jane made to ask, but she must have seen the look on Rachel’s face then turned to the door with an agreeable nod. Disrobing, Rachel tried her best not to rip the costly dress into shreds in her haste to get it off her person. Clad in her dressing robe and with her hair pinned up, Rachel tried her best not to look at the ring.
When the bath was filled, Rachel gladly sank into the warm water, trying to scrub the slimy sensation away from her skin. When the water waxed cold, only then did she get out of the tub, dabbed the water away with her towel, and redressed in her gown.
She dressed in a plain nightgown and slipped into bed with a heavy heart. Before slipping into bed, she wished the events of the whole night away, as if they were a horrible dream.
***
The next morning, while Rachel waited for her morning tea and light meal to be carried up to her, she gazed out into the yard, wryly spotting the darkened sky. It might not rain, but the sky was dull and ominous. Rachel felt it fitting as the gray skies mirrored the emotion in her heart.
If only I could escape this fate.
“My Lady?”
“Hm?” She looked up at her maid holding a tray of a cup of tea and a covered plate. But what drew her attention was the tiny bunch of Baby’s Breath and Snow-dragon flowers, bound together with Ivy and she knew that it was from William.
“Your meal and Mr. Smith has sent up a gift for you,” Jane said as she settled the tray on the table.
Instead of taking the cup, she bypassed it to pick up the flowers. “What do these mean? Do you know?”
“I do,” Jane said. “The Baby’s Breath means purity of heart, the Snow-Dragon means consolation and hope, and the Ivy means endurance.”
“Oh…” Rachel felt at a loss for words while warmth began to override the emptiness inside. “Funny enough, I was getting hopeless and lost. How does he know how I feel?”
“I cannot say, My Lady,” Jane said, while her tone hinted at pride. “Mayhap he knows that you are upset about the engagement.”
“He knows that I detest it,” Rachel said while turning the simple gift around. “I wonder how he decided on this combination of flowers. Innocence and purity, consolation, hope, and endurance. Is he telling me that I should be strong and keep hoping for the best?”
“Perhaps you can ask him when you see him today?” Jane asked.
“I will,” Rachel said, tenderly placing the bouquet down and reaching for her tea. “I wonder what he will tell me.”
***
Rachel walked into a strange scene with William. Instead of having paper and his pencils out, he had canvas and thin pencils. “William?”
He looked over his shoulder, “Good morning, sweetheart.”
“Same to you,” she replied while nearing him. Looking over his shoulder, she asked, “Do you not need me to sit for you anymore?”
“No,” he said. “The drawing is done. Her Grace chose this one out of the three, and there is no point in delaying.”
Though a bit disappointed, Rachel understood what he meant and watched quietly as he drew parts of the drawing onto the canvas. “Are you wondering why I sent you those flowers?”
“I think I know a part of it,” Rachel sat. “But why that particular combination?”
“I saw you last night,” William said, while not moving his eyes from the canvas. “You were beautiful, undoubtedly gorgeous, but you were unhappy. I could see your grief from almost twenty feet away. You looked as if you would rather run far away than be seated with your family there.”
His eyes flickered up to her as if asking her to agree to it, and Rachel gave him a nod. “I did want to leave, yes.”
His smile had a saddened quirk to it. “I’m sorry.”
Rachel snorted delicately. “You would be sorrier if you saw what happened later on that evening. We went to father’s study, where he and Lord Strathmore decided to haggle over the particulars of my engagement with me there. They paid me no attention as if I were a decoration on a wall. The very same thing you are creating now.”
William swiftly switched the pencil to his left hand and went off drawing as if it were nothing, but it still fascinated Rachel.
“But then, I should have expected that,” she huffed.
He dropped his pencil and sat back a little. “This may be redundant, but have you spoken to Lord Strathmore about you feel about the arrangement?”
