As Emerald rode out with Tobias in the afternoon glow, her mind whirred, full of observations, hopes and giddy revelations. She had always supposed that when a maiden found herself in love, she would be swept away by the feeling, her mind quieted by the pangs and pull of her heart’s decisions. Yet here she was, most certainly in love, heart pounding, breath shortened, unable to quell a multitude of smiles, all in dazzling variations, yet also unable to quell the flood of thinking!
Her thoughts swam, mainly circling Tobias, on his very superiority to every other man Emerald had yet encountered – indeed, she thought, she preferred him to every man she was likely to meet for the rest of her life. Wondering how this could be so, she imagined all sorts of other men, tall, short, in trade or in court, reserved or loquacious, and could not think of a single quality that would be better than the collection of qualities she saw in Sir Le Baron. Even his baldness was now the highest of virtues – how crass of other men to have hair atop their head, and how sophisticated it was of Tobias to have been rid of it.
So her thoughts ran, alongside more scandalous pensees about what would come to pass once they’d left the town confines for the wilder moors and forests surrounding them. Emerald had already abandoned any hope of maidenly virtue, the last shred disintegrating as Tobias’s strong hand gripped hers in assisting her into the saddle. Still, she imagined herself putting up a good front of modesty, at the very least exclaiming “I am overcome” at various points, and for a time, these plans occupied her thoughts, until the road before them gave way to nature, and her mind turned to the man beside her and the dazzling day they had ridden into.
It was then, dear readers, that poor Emerald looked curiously behind her and noticed a very strange sight indeed. In a cobalt blue autumn sky, otherwise untouched by cumuli, sat a small, round, dreadfully dark storm cloud. Not only was it threatening in its colour, but it seemed to be heading quite quickly for the very spot where she and Tobias were now reining in their horses.
Oh dear…,thought Emerald, her pretty brow furrowed, and then, Oh my dear Tobias, as his hands circled her waist to lift her from her horse. As her feet touched the ground, his hands loosened but remained there, trembling slightly. He looked into her eyes adoringly, his face so very close to hers. Emerald closed her eyes and raised her chin. Tobias gulped and released her, turning to tie up the horses.
Emerald stood in place, her breath caught in her chest. How much anticipation could she stand? This maidenly virtue pretense was difficult in theory – in practice, it was excruciating! Confused, her thoughts finally stalled by her body’s frustration, she walked to him and laid a hand lightly on his arm. He stared forward, his mouth set in a serious, scholarly expression.
“Tobias…” she murmured.
He wheeled about and kissed her strongly on the mouth. His hands were now around her waist, now at her neck, now entangled in her hair, and seemingly all at once. The beautiful vista around them was wasted as everything whirled dizzily around Emerald and Tobias, everything inconsequential in comparison to their touch. Emerald’s breath felt fiery as she gasped between kisses; she felt herself sinking and rising and needing more, much more closeness than this, and was on the verge of saying a very sincere “I am overcome,” when Tobias stepped away from her. He took a few steps, rubbing his face, before he turned to her with deeply sad eyes.
“I confess I love you,” he said. “I love you desperately, dear Emerald. And it is for this love that I cannot, CANNOT betray you here!”
“But,” Emerald inquired tremblingly, “what do you speak of?”
“Your maidenly virtue!” cried Tobias, seemingly on the verge of tears.
“Take it!” yelled Emerald in a very undemure tone. “I don’t want it anymore!” Realizing what she’d said, she clamped a hand over her mouth.
Tobias looked at her for a moment, his face a little shocked. Then he verily ran to her, his hands once more around her, his mouth finding hers as she laughed in relief.
He laid her down in the tall soft grass of a lovely low field, hidden from view from the roadway. Emerald giggled in nervous anticipation as Tobias struggled to untie her many laces. Just when she felt her bodice freeing, Tobias’s mouth on her throat, she heard the menacing rumble of thunder above them. Tobias paused and looked up. There in the sky was the nasty little storm cloud, full to bursting with rain, and gaining on them by the second.
“Please,” Emerald cooed, “it doesn’t matter…” Tobias agreed with her for a moment, until another rumble joined the thunder in the distance. This sound was unmistakable – the low roar of a horse and rider approaching at great speed.
Alarmed, Tobias rose to his feet. He knelt to Emerald, and retightened the laces on her bodice with a truly apologetic expression. He kissed her hand and brushed the grass from her dress, as she stood mutely, confused about what had just transpired.
“It is just as well, my love,” he said, all courtesy, and pressed his lips to her hand. “This was overhasty. You are too fine a prize to have been first taken in a meadow like a common farm wench.”
Emerald opened her mouth to disagree, but Tobias kissed her and continued.
“We shall dine together tonight, my dear.” His eyes were full of plain meaning for a moment, as he looked at her, then he turned decisively and walked toward the road. At the crossing where their horses were tied stood a member of the Duke’s guard – the verysame guard that Emerald had spoken with that morning. Tobias, flustered to see someone awaiting them, half bowed to the guard. Emerald stifled a laugh to see him so befuddled. She certainly felt a bit all at ends herself.
The young man – Justjohn was it? – bowed deeply to Tobias to cover up his embarrassment, then rose, glancing at Emerald with an alarmed expression.
“Sir Le Baron,” he said. “The Duke requests an audience with you at once. I’m afraid there is some pressing news he must discuss with you.”
“Of course,” said Tobias, already unhitching the horses. “I shall meet with him upon the hour.” Justjohn nodded and immediately mounted his horse and thundered away. As Emerald watched him go, she saw him look back at her. How very strange he was.
“Come, my dear,” said Tobias, gently. “I am sorry to see our day so spoiled, whether by rain or politics, but return we must.” Emerald smiled, feeling the first drops of rain pierce the canopy of trees above them. Poor Tobias, she thought, riding back swiftly. He blames himself, when it is only my ill luck that is at fault.
They parted at Goldenseal Cottage, agreeing to meet once more at Tobias’s lodging at the hour of eight o’clock.
Emerald watched him go, then sat fretfully. She attempted to garden a bit, then to embroider, but no occupation seemed as fulfilling as sitting and waiting fretfully for her evening to begin. Finally, just past the hour of seven, she resolved to walk about the town. If she should pass Tobias’s manse and see him waiting idly for her, well then, she may as well start their proceedings early. She felt her heart might burst to wait any longer.
She walked down the path, intending to stroll a bit through town, but instead finding herself arriving quite prematurely at Tobias’s abode. A groom stood a bit apart from the house, attending to three horses. Emerald stepped to the doorway to present herself, then thought better of it. How rude it would be for her to arrive so early, when Tobias might have another visitor to tend to. Feeling a sudden irrational pang of jealousy for this mysterious visitor, to whom the third horse must necessarily belong, she crept around the side of the house, well away from the groom, who might be justifiably shocked to see a young women peeking into a salon window.
Having had some experience spying on her elders as a child, Emerald knew just the angle that would give her a view into the house without exposing her to those within. Muffled voices approached the elegantly furnished sitting room that she now looked in on.
“But it cannot be true,” said one, unmistakenly her dear Tobias.
“It is beyond question,” said the other man, stepping slightly into the room. “It is Emerald.”
Emerald gasped. Why did they speak of her? And who was this other man? She craned her head, dangerously close to being exposed. The man took another step, running a hand through his dark hair. It was the duke’s guard, Justjohn! He turned to a crestfallen Tobias, who had followed him into the room.
“She is my sister,” said the guard.
Emerald’s head reeled, and she stepped, dizzy, away from the window, while everything seemed to shake around her.
She turned to the road and saw Juniper standing there, a sure hallucination. She might have called out to her just the same, but her view was suddenly covered, and such was the state of her mind at that moment that it took her some time to realize she had a bag over her head and was rather roughly being carried off through what smelled like the forest. As that revelation sank in, she felt a flood of panic rush through her veins, the final straw to her delicate mind and body, both of which promptly dissolved into a dead swoon.
