Torn Curtain pt 32
Part 32: Believing
She awoke to the sound of his breathing. His arm was draped across her, and she looked down to see that their legs were still tangled together. She smiled in the direction of the sunbeams streaming through the sheer curtains. After a moment, she started. The sun had risen and she was still tangled up with in bed with a man whose ring she did not wear. Oh, and where was she?
“What is it, my love?” he asked.
My love . . . Her smile returned to her and she cast her eyes about the room once more before turning to face James. She was safe in her father’s house and in the arms of a man who loved her.
“I am not accustomed to awakening at home,” she said, pushing back the hair that had fallen onto his forehead.
She sighed as he dropped his head into the crook of her neck and said, “It is daylight.”
“What will happen now?” she wondered aloud.
Everything felt clear in the moonlight. She told her husband that she would stay behind and help her father and his staff put things in order. With indifference, Will told her that she would do whatever she liked regardless of what he might say. His cold indifference only made it easier for her to disregard him throughout the night. Now, in the daylight, could she brush him aside as easily?
And what of the man who lay by her side? James put duty and honor before all else. Would he, with the rising of the sun, let guilt get the better of him? Would he blame her for his tortured conscience?
“Will you stop loving me now?” she whispered, unaware that she’d spoken the words aloud.
“Never,” he said, holding her face in his hands. “I swear to you . . . never.”
And as his lips touched hers, she gave herself over to the kiss, believing-- oblivious to the quiet tapping at her door.
Author's Note:
If that was an abrupt changeover, I apologize. However, I did have to leave that party. The characters (and I) spent over 10 installments of this story at the ball and, after months, I figured that it was time to give all the characters an opportunity to change their clothing.
I am still getting reacquainted with this story. (List of previous installments found here.)
Feedback, criticism and flames welcome.
She awoke to the sound of his breathing. His arm was draped across her, and she looked down to see that their legs were still tangled together. She smiled in the direction of the sunbeams streaming through the sheer curtains. After a moment, she started. The sun had risen and she was still tangled up with in bed with a man whose ring she did not wear. Oh, and where was she?
“What is it, my love?” he asked.
My love . . . Her smile returned to her and she cast her eyes about the room once more before turning to face James. She was safe in her father’s house and in the arms of a man who loved her.
“I am not accustomed to awakening at home,” she said, pushing back the hair that had fallen onto his forehead.
She sighed as he dropped his head into the crook of her neck and said, “It is daylight.”
“What will happen now?” she wondered aloud.
Everything felt clear in the moonlight. She told her husband that she would stay behind and help her father and his staff put things in order. With indifference, Will told her that she would do whatever she liked regardless of what he might say. His cold indifference only made it easier for her to disregard him throughout the night. Now, in the daylight, could she brush him aside as easily?
And what of the man who lay by her side? James put duty and honor before all else. Would he, with the rising of the sun, let guilt get the better of him? Would he blame her for his tortured conscience?
“Will you stop loving me now?” she whispered, unaware that she’d spoken the words aloud.
“Never,” he said, holding her face in his hands. “I swear to you . . . never.”
And as his lips touched hers, she gave herself over to the kiss, believing-- oblivious to the quiet tapping at her door.
Author's Note:
If that was an abrupt changeover, I apologize. However, I did have to leave that party. The characters (and I) spent over 10 installments of this story at the ball and, after months, I figured that it was time to give all the characters an opportunity to change their clothing.
I am still getting reacquainted with this story. (List of previous installments found here.)
Feedback, criticism and flames welcome.