Page 35 of Foolish Bride
Tears rolled freely down Elinor’s cheeks. From over her shoulder, Daniel handed her a handkerchief. She assumed Marlton would sleep through the play, but he was riveted on the strange theatrical.
The maiden and the horse walked off the stage crying out for the wizard as the lights went down, and the theatre was one again illuminated.
Sophia and Dory used the intermission to freshen up, but Elinor remained. She didn’t want to risk bumping into Michael. She laughed at herself. The entire point of coming to the theatre had been to see him, but now she wished she had stayed at home. She really needed to spend some time thinking about what it was she really wanted.
Male laughter and voices filtered from outside the box before Michael stepped through the curtain. Dressed in all black, save for the crisp white of his cravat, he had not one hair out of place. He watched her, but said nothing.
In the entrance, Thomas Wheel laughed and talked with Marlton.
She stood and curtsied.
Bowing, he took a long breath, then shuffled his feet. “I see you are well, Lady Elinor.”
“Tolerably so, thank you.”
“How is your mother?” he asked.
“She is lamenting my father’s departure tomorrow for the continent, but otherwise she is well, thank you. Is your family well?” The more she thought of her father leaving, the better she liked the idea.
His eyes lit up. “Mother is in the country and the boys are at school. They are all thriving. I am looking forward to school break, when Everett and Sheldon will come home and I can spend some time with them.”
“Good.” Not a single clever remark came to mind. She looked to the other gentlemen for help, but they were engrossed in their conversation.
She sighed. “I can think of nothing more to say.”
Studying her, he tipped his head. “We could comment on the weather.”
Oh lord, the entire evening was a disaster. “I suppose that is an option. I could giggle and simper and you could tell me how lovely I am.”
He frowned. “I meant all the things I ever said to you, Elinor. I was not merely wooing you. You are lovely and…”
She turned away. The crowd below milled about, and many watched them. “I know you did, Michael. I apologize. That was unkind of me. I do not wish to be bitter or unpleasant, but it is not easy to meet you in social circumstance.”
He took a step closer, keeping enough distance for propriety’s sake, and lowered his voice. It was intimate. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Elinor. You have done nothing to deserve what I have put you through. I shall never forgive myself for taking that last assignment, so why should you? I regret that my presence gives you discomfort. I will attempt to stay out of your way, though our common friends make that difficult.” He left the box.
When Dory and Sophia returned, they questioned her about the meeting, but she kept the content of the conversation to herself. Her answer was so short that neither inquired further.
The lights in the theatre dimmed. In the box Michael and Thomas shared, Michael sat forlornly staring at her.
Why couldn’t she be nice? A pleasant conversation with the man she loved was all that had been required of her. She silently berated herself until the lights on the stage came up, and she could lose herself in the performance.
The maiden and the horse traveled the countryside for months. Both were worn and weary when her family found them and forced the girl to go home. She tried to explain that the horse was her love and begged to be allowed to stay with him. However, her angry father did not believe her and dragged her back home.
Her father assumed the young husband was dead and arranged a wedding between his daughter and the baron.
Thrilled because he got everything he wanted, the baron paid for an enormous wedding celebration, far fancier than the one the maiden had before.
The ceremony began with the maiden crying. The further the priest got into the ceremony, the louder the girl cried.
Hearing her wailing, the horse burst into the wedding and reared. He trampled the baron. The crowd attacked the mad horse, stabbing him repeatedly with swords and knives.
All the while, the maiden screamed in protest and tried to help her love. But all was lost as the horse crumbled onto the stage. She rushed to him and dragged the horse’s head off, revealing her husband within. Declaring his love for her with his last breath, he died in her arms.
The maiden held him, vowing to never marry another.
* * * *
Michael waited in the atrium to get one more glimpse of Elinor before the night was over.
