Page 34 of In Just a Year
“I need to speak to Pavel,” Tate said and left.
Alma sat next to Esther on her bed and watched her intently, blinking excitedly. Although Esther usually had a response for her siblings, a whirlwind of feelings rushed through her, and she didn’t know what to say or do. Somehow, her feet were heavier than lead, and her chest thundered with the force of a thousand butterflies trying to take flight.
Gideon remained standing in the doorway to Esther’s room with a solemn look on his face. He cleared his throat excessively but Esther wasn’t sure what to do or say.
“Esther, may I speak with you, please?” He unbuttoned his elegant black coat and took something from his pocket.
“I should go.” Alma jumped off the bed.
“No, please stay,” Gideon said. “It would be improper for me to be in Esther’s room alone and yet this situation calls for privacy.”
When Gideon Klonimus, the tall and handsome man with coal-black hair said something, no girl could refuse. Consequently, Alma melted back onto Esther’s bed and stayed by her side.
A shiver ran through Esther when Gideon unfolded a paper and brought it to her. “My brother asked me to deliver this in person and ensure that you’d read it.”
Esther took the letter and instantly recognized Ben’s handwriting. It was neat with a flourish that surpassed his previous letters as if he’d practiced writing it to ensure it was nice.
Dear Esther,
I owe you a lifetime of explanations for my cowardice because I should have declared my love much sooner than I did, and I owe you all the moments we missed together this year. Never again do I want to miss another second with you because I wish for nothing more in this world than to be yours completely and forever as soon as I return. If you’ll forgive my failures and do me the honor of accepting my proposal, I hope you’ll take the ring I made for you as a promise for a lifetime together that I shall deliver in person. My oldest brother will present you with the ring on my behalf, and I hope that you shall wear it as a sign that you accept when I see you again upon my return.
Love,
B.
Esther sniffled. She didn’t remember when the tears started rolling down her face again.
“Let me see.” Alma took the letter from Esther, who accepted a handkerchief from Gideon.
His gaze met Esther’s but he waited.
She couldn’t see clearly through her tears. Although Ben’s words meant the world to her, his absence was a void no declaration of love could fill. She missed him so much.
“What do you say, Esther? Do you want the ring?” Gideon produced a small brown box and opened it. A large, round, pinkish-red gem sat on a cream-colored cushion. It was surrounded by tiny diamonds set in white gold but held in place by six yellow-gold prongs, each of which continued to the shaft and twisted into the loop. “He made this ring when he was twelve. I think it was always meant to be yours,”
Esther tried to focus her eyes and wiped more tears away. Alma gasped somewhere in the background, but Esther could only focus on the gesture when Gideon took the ring off the little cushion and held it out.
“Ben probably thinks that I don’t remember but I do, Esther. He created this unique setting to show the big heart he offers you and the gold-wire work represents that you shall be forever intertwined.”
Esther heaved and covered her mouth with her free hand while Gideon slid the ring up her left finger and held her hand gently between his for a moment.
“On behalf of my brothers and my parents, I welcome you to our family.” And with these words, Gideon wrapped his arms around her and held her in a brotherly hug until she stopped crying.
CHAPTER15
Calcutta, November 2, 1817.
The morning sunlight filtered into the room, casting an ethereal glow upon the polished tile floors. Various latticed patterns, meticulously crafted, added an air of elegance and grace to the space that was almost too embellished for the eye of a jeweler. Despite the palace’s beauty, Ben thought of the bustling London streets this time of the year.
His favorite place in the palace was the courtyard, a splendid oasis of tranquility amidst the bustling building where servants and English delegates spoke loudly at all times. The carriages here made different rumblings on the limestone roads surrounding the garden paths, the firewood emanated a nuttier smell, and the servants’ murmurs in the halls before dinner were in a different language, but people were, as Papa always said, the same all over the world.
Ben sat at his desk, fountain pen in hand—a gift from Fave Pearler—and stared at the sheet of paper. Where should he start to write to Esther? What could he possibly say that could express the longing in his belly and the pain in his chest when he thought about how far away he was?
She’d been right, he truly didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into, and now he had no choice than to push through if he ever wanted to hold her in his arms again.
“No!” A cry echoed from the hall. “Stop!”
Ben shot up from his chair. The young woman’s voice reminded him of Esther. Anything he saw, tasted, and heard reminded him of her, yet the piercing cry from the hall startled him. He opened the door and stepped into the long, tiled, arched-ceiling hall that ran parallel to the palace wall on one side and bordered a veritable palm forest on the other.
