“Lord what fools these mortals be!”cried Puck. Daniel considered this for a moment. Was he being foolish? Hoping to start afresh in the village of Treweham? Was it a pipe dream? His glance moved to Tobias, sitting a few seats away. There was a lot hinging on his decision. Would he sell him Keeper’s Cottage?
Marcus was observing Sebastian closely. Although by first appearances his brother seemed confident, Marcus’ eyes narrowed at the slightly uneven steps he made. He also noticed his hand quiver slightly when pouring the “magic potion” onto his characters. He suspected Tobias’ concerns were well founded.
After almost two hours of constant entertainment, Puck spoke the closing words of the play,“If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended. That you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear.”
This was met with a thundering applause and a standing ovation from the crowd. The cast all lined up, joined hands and took their final bow.
Megan’s eyes watered at seeing the utter pride and joy in Sebastian’s face. Then, on seeing Edward stir from the loud clapping and cheers, she picked him up from his pram. Luckily, he was happy to be tucked inside his mother’s arms without wailing.
Tobias gently stroked the top of his head. Then he turned sharply towards the security staff, who were positioned round the audience. Their job was to swiftly guide every member of the public out of the grounds with minimum fuss. He was perhaps a little paranoid where his family was concerned, but always hid this from Megan. The last thing he wanted was to make her fearful.
*
Daniel carried a now sleeping Emily back to The Templar with Christie.
‘She looks so angelic,’ whispered Christie.
‘I know,’ agreed Daniel, his heart melting. ‘I’ll put her straight to bed. Then do you fancy a nightcap?’ he asked, knowing Emily would be safe and not wake up.
‘That would be nice.’ She really didn’t want to go to bed in this mood. Although she’d enjoyed the play, the feeling of melancholy it brought was proving hard to shake off. Would this empty emotion always haunt her? She prayed not.
After safely tucking Emily into her comfy bed, Daniel came back downstairs to join Christie in the bar. It was fairly quiet and Dermot had a bottle of wine chilling for them.
‘You two go and relax with this.’ He pointed to a secluded alcove near the inglenook fire. Christie smiled to herself. If she didn’t know him better, she’d swear he was trying his best to match-make.
‘Good idea, Dermot,’ replied Daniel and carried the wine and glasses to the table. Christie followed. ‘There you go, get this down you,’ he said softly, pouring generous measures. Hell, this pretty lady needed cheering up.
‘Thanks. Cheers.’ They clinked glasses. There was a moment’s pause, then Daniel was horrified to see a tear slip down Christie’s face. She quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand. ‘Sorry.’ She glanced at him, then looked away as if embarrassed. Daniel swallowed, then decided to take a leap of faith.
‘Christie, what’s troubling you?’ Daniel spoke gently, his beautiful blue eyes full of concern. Christie gulped back her wine. Why not offload? It might do her good to talk,reallytalk and open up. She had to a degree with Dermot, but had always restricted herself, taking care not to divulge too much. Well, she was sick of playing it careful; she was growing tired of having to put on a front, for staff, customers, and even herself. Who was she kidding? Admitting to herself how exhausted, both physically and emotionally, she actually was, Christie made the decision to spill – everything.
As Daniel sat and listened in silence, it proved cathartic for Christie to finally get everything off her chest. To let go. It was a release, and a long-awaited one that had been building momentum for weeks. After several more glasses of wine, she finished her story, leaving Daniel dumbfounded.
‘Sorry, was that information overload, Daniel?’
‘Of course not. I… I’m just speechless. Who in their right mind would treat a girl like you in that way?’ he asked incredulously. He truly was staggered at the man’s actions.
‘My husband apparently, especially if I can’t have children,’ she replied with a sad smile.
‘Then he’s a bloody fool, Christie,’ he said with force, ‘and so not worth your tears.’ He stared into her face and that same impulse to kiss her gripped him again. He sensed her reading his thoughts. She held his gaze. Was she inviting him? In a split second he took another leap of faith and leant forward to softly kiss her.
Christie’s chest was pounding. She felt her lips responded to his instinctively. That earthy smell of sage and the touch of his slight stubble intoxicated her. The kiss deepened, until they were both oblivious of their surroundings.
Luckily, being hidden in the discreet alcove meant that they were quite out of view of everyone except Dermot, who had seen them from across the bar and grinned. Good on ’em, he thought. They both deserved a break.
