Page 71 of The Burning Passion of a Fiery Lady
They were alone, again. Susannah picked up one cup. “Milk and sugar, or lemon, Leonard?”
He settled back in the overstuffed armchair, looking very pleased. “Milk and one lump of sugar, if you please.”
She slowly prepared the cup, handing it to him, before adding lemon to her own cup. They both sipped. Susannah put down her cup, turning to him.
“You were so good to come at such short notice,” she said, in a quiet voice. “I was very anxious that I had not given you enough time, and that you would not be able to make it. That you may have a prior engagement …”
He placed down his own cup. “Even if I had a prior engagement, you must have known that I would cancel it to see you, Susannah. You must know by now that I prioritise you over everything, my dear.”
She sighed deeply. “I think that I have come to that realisation, at long last, my dear friend.” She bit her lip. “I have been deeply upset, over the way that we parted, last time that you came to The Willows. It has kept me awake at night. I have had many sleepless nights about it …”
He smiled slightly. “As have I, Susannah. Old friends should never part in such a way. And weweregood friends, weren’t we, all those years ago?”
“The very best of friends,” she said slowly. “There have been so many times, over the years, where the memory of that friendship was the only thing that sustained me through the terrible times that I have endured. If that is not the test of a real friendship, then I simply do not know what is.”
“Indeed,” said Leonard, his eyes shining. “I am so gratified to hear the esteem in which you hold me, my dear. The affection is mutual. I have not been able to forget you.” He sighed. “In fact, the thought of you has been the only thing that has got me through the trials of my own life, as well.”
“It saddens my heart to hear that you have had trials in your life as well, my dear friend.” She dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. “I had hoped that I was the only one of us who had to endure such tribulations.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “We shall not talk of it, my dear. It is the present, and the future, that matters now.” His dark eyes shone as they gazed at her. “You have not told me yet, why you have invited me to this afternoon tea. Was it just to apologise for the way that we last parted?”
She sighed again. “I did want to apologise for what happened. Of course I did. But yes, I must admit, there is another reason that I invited you here today …”
He leant forward in the armchair, gazing at her so avidly that she almost reeled back in distaste.
Focus, Susannah, she told herself fiercely.Do not betray yourself and your true feelings.
“And what is that reason, my dear?” He looked smug like the cat that had just eaten the cream.
“I hardly know where to start,” she said, gazing at him bashfully. “But I must try. The last time that you were in this parlour, Leonard, you requested my hand …”
“I did,” he said slowly. “It has always been my fondest wish to unite our lives in holy matrimony. That has been my dream from the moment that I first laid eyes on you, my dearest Susannah.”
She dabbed her eyes with the handkerchief again. “I know, Leonard. I know how much you love me and how much you have always loved me.” She took a deep, ragged breath. “I made a very, very bad mistake when you first asked me to elope with you, all those years ago. I should have said yes. But instead, I chose Gilbert Drake. We both know how that turned out.”
He nodded avidly. His face was shining with an almost fanatical light. Susannah thought that he looked like an evangelical preacher about to deliver an impassioned sermon.
“I do know,” he said, his face twisting with emotion. “To think of how that man treated you, what he did … well, I have no words for how much it has pained me, to see your pain …”
“I am better now, Leonard,” she said slowly. “Time heals all wounds, as they say. And the past is the past. I am finally ready to look to the future, at long last.”
He nodded again, still staring at her.
She took a deep breath. “And so, with that in mind, I am ready now to begin again.” She paused. “I have had many suitors since Gilbert passed away. None of them have interested me in the slightest. I tried to convince myself that perhaps I was being overly cautious, after what happened with Gilbert. That it was me, not them that was the problem. After all, none of them could be as cruel to me as he was, could they?”
She took a deep breath.
“Now, I realise that there was something else at play,” she continued. “I could not accept any of them because they were wrong. It was seeing you again and hearing how much you esteemed me, that made me realise that I need someone in my life who reallyknowsme.” She paused. “An old friend, who can share the good times and the bad, who I can be myself with, completely and utterly.”
He reached forward, grasping her hand, almost crushing it within his own. He had a triumphant light in his eyes.
“You have been kind to me from the very start,” she said slowly. “You have always looked out for me. If I had have listened to you, all those years ago, then I would never have wasted so much time trapped in a terrible marriage. I would have been happy, with you, from the very start.”
“We have wasted time,” he said in a husky voice, gripping her hand tighter. “I could have been worshipping you, all these years, as you are meant to be worshipped. Itisfate that we should be together, Susannah. You see that now, do you not?”
She nodded slowly. “It is as if my eyes have suddenly been opened, Leonard. As if a veil that has been clouding my vision has suddenly been ripped away, and the truth is finally there, at long last. I imagine it must be how Abraham felt when God appeared before him as a burning bush.”
“My dearest,” he said, leaning forward in the chair, almost squirming in his eagerness.
