Page 30 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
Anna forced her head back up and blinked several times, in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. “He’s a villager in the town over. I’ve seen him there for years. We’ve always had a bit of a… well. We’ve always noticed one another, I think,” Anna whispered.
Rose beamed. “What does he look like?”
Anna blushed. “Well, it’s quite tall, with this gorgeous dark blonde hair. Over the years, he’s grown a marvelous beard, and he’s grown stronger and thicker and more… more…”
“He became a man,” Rose said.
“Something like that,” Anna whispered. “Anyway. He works as a farmer, and he has this enormous stand of the most beautiful vegetables and fruits. Every time I see him, he always saves a few blueberries and strawberries and raspberries for me. And we eat them together and—and Rose, I can hardly speak to him, I’m so nervous!”
“When did he start writing you these letters?” Rose asked.
“Probably about a month ago,” Anna returned. “When he handed the first one to me, my heart nearly exploded, because I knew that this meant I would have to confess to the fact that I don’t know how to read….”
“Did you tell him right then and there?” Rose asked.
“No. Of course not,” Anna said. “I felt far too embarrassed to tell him then. The next time I saw him—for I absolutely have to, in order to collect vegetables and fruits for the kitchen—he seemed terribly disappointed that I hadn’t responded to his letter. But the next week, he came back with another one. Since then, we haven’t been able to speak to one another—rather, he’s just given me letter after letter.”
“Goodness,” Rose breathed. “I haven’t heard something so dramatic in quite some time. Shall we read the first one?”
Anna’s eyes became enormous. She didn’t breathe for perhaps an entire minute. Then, she slowly nodded. “Please. If you could. I would love it.”
Rose smeared the first of the letters flat. She cleared her throat, sensing the apprehension that played about on Anna’s face. Then, she started to read.
My dearest Anna,
For the past several years, I’ve watched you here at the market. I noticed you from the first moment you stepped inside. Beautiful, with this bright and optimistic face. The moment you smiled at me—perhaps it’s silly to say—I knew that you would be important to me. I wanted only to draw you close to me, to keep you here. But instead of knowing how to do that, I’ve filled you with strawberries and raspberries and blueberries, just waiting for my time.
Anna, I believe that time is now. I’m 29 years old, and, if I’m to remember correctly, you’re now 24. I believe if we don’t act now, we might become very old people—me behind the vegetable and fruit stand, and you working as a servant in somebody else’s house.
It makes me question: how often do people allow those beautiful, big moments in their lives to just slip away? How many fruit-stand men across England have fallen in love with beautiful women at their stalls and simply allowed them to grow older without acting?
I have decided not to be one of those men. Anna, I long for you. I ache for you. Please, tell me what you’re thinking. Is all of this only in my head? Or do you believe we may have a future together?
Eternally yours,
Ernest
“Eternally yours!” Rose chimed once more. She beamed at Anna, who had broken into full tears at this point. She brought her hand over Anna’s and squeezed it hard. “Really, this is remarkable news, Anna. Somebody is in love with you! Do you know how rare that is?”
Anna’s nostrils flared. “It’s just. It’s hard to explain, Rose. But I never imagined that anybody in the world would ever fall in love with me. Probably that’s difficult for you to imagine. You’re…”
“I’m an orphan who grew up with nothing,” Rose interrupted. “Of course I think nobody will ever love me.”
Anna nodded. They lived in this moment of desolation together, until Rose shook the letters once more, ruffling them. Anna’s eyes raced back up to hers, as Rose cried, “You must learn to read, and you absolutely must learn to write! Ernest is waiting for your response. And you don’t wish to make him wait the rest of his life, do you?”
Anna shook her head. She let out a little, wild yelp of joy and then she surged forward and wrapped her arms around Rose’s neck. Rose hugged her back, feeling a little pang of pain in the back of her skull. She whimpered a bit with the pain, and Anna yanked back, absolutely petrified.
“I’m terribly sorry, Rose! I really should be more careful. I’m sorry. Oh, how wretched. Are you…?”
“I’m fine, Anna. Just fine.” Rose rubbed at the back of her head, feeling her smile fall away. “Perhaps I’ll rest a little bit more this morning. I should say… I should ask Colin’s approval prior to teaching you, I think. He has such strange rules for the people in his house, and I wouldn’t want to mess with them. Do you mind if I take some time next week to ask about the lessons…?”
“Of course,” Anna said, although her face looked strangely shadowed. “I really don’t mind at all. In fact, I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
Anna bid Rose adieu for the morning, telling her from the door that she’d prepare a platter of breakfast for her and bring it back up in the next hour. Rose’s stomach grumbled on-cue, as she remembered that she had hardly eaten the day before. She then knocked her head deeper into her pillow and felt her eyelashes flutter closed. Perhaps just another few hours of sleep that morning, before she gave herself over to the rest of the world….
When Rose awoke a few hours later, she found that Anna had laid out a sandwich and a glass of water on the stool beside her. Rose reached for the glass and gulped the water back. Her throat felt like a dried-out cracker, salty and rough.
“Goodness. I cannot wait until I’m well again,” Rose whispered to herself. After just a day and a half in bed, she felt like a caged animal, locked to her bed and at the mercy of the goodwill of others. She simply couldn’t do it anymore.
