Page 43 of Stay with Me

He hesitated, glancing around.

She followed his gaze. The home reeked of poverty. She doubted Beatrice and Ralph could afford to have her live with them. Could any of the families in the village? They likely wouldn’t be able to pay her or even feed her without bringing hardship to themselves.

He took several more bites of pottage before washing it down with the remaining contents of his mug. Then he stood, his back rigid, his eyes on the door. “If you truly have no wish to marry me, I shall make arrangements for you to reside with Beatrice and Ralph.”

Was he hurt by her rejection? How could he be when they barely knew each other?

Even so, as he crossed to the door, she sensed his frustration, even his disappointment.

“This doesn’t have to do with you, Nicholas. I really do like you.”

He halted inside the doorframe but didn’t turn to face her.

“But this is all so sudden,” she rushed to explain. “And the decision is too important to jump into quickly.”

He stood unmoving for a moment, as though waiting for her to say more. But what else could she say?

As though coming to the same conclusion, he ducked outside and strode away.

The moment she was alone, her heart flooded with longing. For him.

~ 17 ~

“Oh, my heavens.”Beatrice stood back from Sybil and placed a hand over her heart. “It’s no wonder Nicholas is so taken with you.”

Sybil fisted a hand in the coarse woolen cloth which was a dark green. The tunic—as Beatrice had called it—fell to her feet, nearly dragging on the ground over her combat boots—which she’d refused to exchange for other shoes. The sleeves were long too, dangling beyond her wrists.

It was difficult to imagine how women could wear the heavy clothing all throughout the spring and summer. She’d only been attired in the garment for a minute and already she was perspiring and had never wished more for shorts and a T-shirt.

Thank goodness she hadn’t put on the linen smock underneath. The cumbersome undergarment would have made the new outfit worse. Her sports bra and panties were fine, even if Beatrice had been scandalized at the sight of Sybil wearing such scanty attire.

“You are so beautiful.” Beatrice pressed a hand to Sybil’s cheek, her eyes shining with tears. “I never thought I’d see the day when Nicholas would find a maiden to capture his heart. But it’s clear you have done just that.”

Had she really captured Nicholas’s heart?

“Yes, you have,” Beatrice insisted, as though Sybil had spoken her question aloud. “In all these years since losing his beloved Jane, he’s never once taken an interest in anyone else.”

Jane. So that washername.

Sybil tried to imagine what she’d been like but felt only a strange pang at the idea that Nicholas had loved Jane so deeply and so loyally. Could he ever love like that again?

Attraction and love were two different things. Nicholas was obviously physically attracted to her. And kindly enough, his offer of marriage had come with an abstinence phase, a time of getting to know one another before sharing further intimacies. She respected that. Most men wouldn’t have made such a concession.

He hadn’t said much about his family but had shared enough for her to know he was motivated by the need to be different from the brother he despised including how he treated women.

“You’re going to make Nicholas very happy.” Beatrice maneuvered Sybil until she was sitting on the bench at the table. Then she fingered a strand of Sybil’s snarled hair, now hanging down her back.

“I don’t know.” Sybil watched out the open doorway, hoping for a glimpse of Nicholas, but she hadn’t seen him since he’d walked away nearly an hour ago.

“It’s easy to see you care about him too.”

“Is it?”

“Clear as a summer sky.”

“We’ve only just met.”

“My parents made my marriage arrangement.” Beatrice gently unraveled a knot of hair. “Ralph and I had but a day to get to know each other before we wed.”

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