Page 12 of A Lady’s Fairytale Come True
“Well, Grandmother. I actually wished to speak with you about that. About the matter of my…future bride,” he said slowly.
“I am glad for it, as I have been wishing to speak with you about it as well,” she said seriously.
“You must go first,” he said, hoping that she wouldn’t tell him to quickly marry Miss Hawthorne.
“No, no. It is far better that you speak in advance. I should like to know your thoughts on the matter before I interject with my own,” she said with enough of a smile to help Nathaniel feel at ease.
“Are you quite certain?”
“Most definitely,” she answered.
Nathaniel nodded, forming his thoughts. “Well, Grandmother. I must inform you that I have made a decision regarding Miss Hawthorne. And it is not one that my father would have supported, but I do believe it is the right thing to do,” he began.
“And what is that?” she prodded.
“I have chosen to end the engagement. In my correspondence with her, I explained to Miss Hawthorne that I simply cannot marry her, no matter how I may care about her and think she is a wonderful woman. It was a decision made by my father and through the loss of him, now more than ever, I fear that I cannot marry without love,” he said, using the words that he had rehearsed time and time again.
Certainly the words varied from how he had intended them to come out, but they were still enough that Nathaniel felt confident his grandmother would understand the sentiment of what he was trying to say and how it was that he felt.
All was quiet for a moment and he studied her face. There was no emotion as she took in the words and gathered what he had been trying to communicate.
“I see…” she said slowly.
He was hesitant to force her to share more of her thoughts on the matter, but Nathaniel had to know what she was thinking regarding his decision. “Does this…bother you? Do you mind? Or have I deeply disappointed you?” he asked.
“Quite the contrary, my darling. I am rather proud of you for this choice. I imagine that it was not an easy one to make. And as it happens, I did not wish for you to marry that young woman either,” she told him frankly.
“Truly? I thought perhaps there was something about her you disliked, but I was also concerned that you might be angered by my decision against her,” he confessed.
She nodded her head as if trying to form her next words carefully. “In truth, it was not the young woman I disliked. Indeed, she is a very fine young lady, one that would make our family proud, I should think. But I saw that there was no love in it for you,” she told him.
“It was that clear?”
“Oh, you did a very fine job of going along with it all, but I could see that you were simply trying to please your mother and father by moving along with their choice. You did well, but I could not help noticing that your heart was not with her. And anyway, all of that is what I wished to speak with you about,” she told him, leading into what it was that she had wished to say.
“Oh, yes, of course. Please do tell me what your thoughts were on the matter,” he urged.
“Well, as you know by now, I am an old woman. I shall not be around forever, Nathaniel. As we have seen in the past year and a half, death comes without our consent. And as a result of that, I have been thinking of late about your situation in regards to marriage,” she said.
“In what way?”
“It would bring me great joy to see you married before I leave this earth. You are the favourite of all my grandchildren, and you know I have very few. But you are the last to marry and that breaks my heart. I should like to see you wed,” she admitted.
Nathaniel was taken aback by this. He had just received her approval to not marry the woman to whom he was betrothed, but in the same breath his grandmother was urging him to wed quickly. It was confusing and he could not quite understand her thoughts on the matter.
“What I mean to tell you is that I should like for you to find someone who makes you happy. And I should like for you to find her before I am gone from this world. I have lost your father and mother and now I should like to ensure that you will be well looked after beyond my death,” she told him. “Not only that, but I should like to see that our family line will not end. I wish to know that you will have children to continue us. You needs descendants, as do I.”
“You wish me to marry as soon as possible?” he asked in a fearful voice.
“Yes,” she replied with a firm nod of her head.
Nathaniel thought about this and gave a deep exhale of anxiety. He had not anticipated the conversation taking such a turn. He had no idea where he was to go with it now that it had come to this point.
His whole life he had been told that he would marry Miss Hawthorne. And now, now that he had decided against it, he was being urged to choose another. But Nathaniel knew no others. After all, he had never given much thought to marriage. It was something he had no say in.
But here he was, having the decision made on his behalf that he must find someone. Someone he liked.
“Perhaps I was too quick to end my engagement…” he said quietly.
