Phyllis St. Clair
The inked words on the parchment conveyed a request that tugged at the fabric of Alexander’s composure. Phyllis St. Clair, in her graceful script, implored him to meet her at dawn in the secluded embrace of the nearby park. The letter offered no explanation, only the allure of an enigmatic rendezvous beneath the waking sky.
Intrigued and somewhat perplexed, Alexander’s mind danced between apprehension and curiosity. What could prompt such a clandestine meeting? He wondered if her father was perhaps the object of this mysterious letter, that she wished for complete privacy to let him know that he had decided to invest in his business endeavor. But he quickly shook his head to that idea. Why such secrecy? It was unnecessary. It had to be something else. As the midnight oil continued to burn in his study, he pondered the significance of the dawn encounter, its implications lingering in the air like an unanswered question.
Just as he had predicted, sleep did not grace him with its presence that night. Or it did so barely, with Alexander tossing and turning, his mind plagued by the contents of the mysterious letter. Finally, as the first light of dawn painted the sky with gentle hues of pink and gold, he found himself pacing through the tranquil park. The thick shrubbery veiled him in a cloak of solitude, and he found solace in the absence of prying eyes.
Every step seemed to echo the rhythmic beating of his heart, anticipation mingling with uncertainty. The rustling leaves whispered secrets as he awaited Phyllis, the air pregnant with the promise of revelations. He wondered what awaited them here, in the quietude of this secluded rendezvous. He wondered what he had come here to discover.
“Alexander?” His name echoed in the peacefulness of the park.
Phyllis emerged from the subtle shadows, her silhouette blending seamlessly with the ethereal morning light. The delicate rustle of leaves beneath her steps announced her arrival, momentarily startling Alexander as he turned to face her. Although he knew that he was meeting her here, a part of him was still startled to see her, as if she came unexpectedly and unannounced.
“Phyllis…” All he managed to say was her name, when she silently pressed her finger to her lips, then beckoned him to follow her without a single word.
With a mysterious glint in her eyes, Phyllis gestured towards the thicker trees. The verdant foliage formed a natural curtain, shielding them from prying eyes and casting dappled patterns of light on the ground beneath their feet.
Alexander felt as if his heart was beating in his throat, making it increasingly more difficult to breathe. He followed Phyllis until she finally stopped and turned to face him. Her lips were parted, her eyes resolute and stern. He tried to read them, but they did not divulge anything. Instead, he only became more curious, more apprehensive as to why they were here. Every second he stood there felt like an entire eternity, until she finally spoke.
“I propose we marry,” she declared, her voice not faltering even once as she spoke.
There was no good morning, no greeting of any sort. All he heard was a proposition that left him momentarily baffled. Her words, delivered with a blend of determination and vulnerability he had never seen in her, hung in the crisp morning air as she broached a subject that had the power to reshape their destinies.
He didn’t say anything to that. He was stunned into silence, no words forming inside his mind, which was a clear blank. It was as if his brain had forgotten how to think, how to speak, and his body was breathing as a result of mere instinct, nothing else. All this prompted her to clarify.
“You may have my dowry, just as you desired initially,” she added in a rather matter-of-factly tone of voice, as if this was exactly the reason they had met here.
The gravity of her offer lingered between them, as the dawn bore witness to yet another unexpected twist, their shadows intertwined on the ground behind them, proving that whether they liked it or not, their fates were also intertwined. He still didn’t say anything. After all those protests she had voiced to him, all those discussions on how to avoid marriage, and here she was suggesting it. He couldn’t believe it. It felt like a dream, or maybe a nightmare. He still wasn’t certain which one of the two.
“It’s what you wanted, no?” Her angry and impatient tone of voice brought him back to the present moment. He didn’t like it.
He eyed her carefully. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her eyes were wide and sparkling, watery almost, as if she had spent only a few hours asleep the previous night, just like he did. Despite this, he refused to allow anyone to speak to him in such a manner.
“I did,” he finally replied, still weighing in his mind what happened.
He could understand that the pragmatic side of her nature had won over. Marriage was truly the best option for them both. They would appease their loved ones and arrange their marriage in such a manner not to disturb the other person. It all sounded so simple, which was why he was so surprised she was so adamantly against it. And now… this complete turn. Marriage was no longer an option. It was a requirement for her.
Still, Alexander had always considered himself a good judge of character. Although he did not know Phyllis all that well yet, he could see that something was wrong. She wasn’t behaving in her usual manner, and he knew that them being here, at the crack of dawn meant that something was not only wrong, but terribly wrong. However, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t irritated by the tone of her voice. Whatever happened had nothing to do with him. That much he was sure of.
“So, what is the problemnow?” she asked anxiously, demanding a response.
He frowned at her. “The problem is that you seem to think that this is something Ihave todo. But in reality, it is not.” He paused, watching the change in her eyes as she listened to his words. “You didn’t even ask if the circumstances are still the same. You merely assumed that they were, and you are speaking to me in a manner I do not really appreciate. I might have changed my mind or found another heiress. You are not the only eligible bachelorette in town, you know.”
As soon as he said those words, he regretted them. But it was too late to take anything back. Those mean words had already left the confines of his mind. He could immediately see the effect they had on her. Her eyes were sparkling even more now. It seemed that she was barely holding back the tears.
“Your Grace, I…”
It didn’t escape his attention that she reverted back to referring to him formally, by his title, although they had agreed before to be on a first name basis. He didn’t know how to feel about that. Still, he didn’t say anything. This was not the time to be questioning how they were addressing each other.
“Please, marry me,” she said softly, her voice down to a whisper, and he could tell how important this was. “I promise I will not bother you as a wife. I will keep my distance from you. I will agree to any conditions you set. Just please… marry me.”
Alexander could not listen to the sound of her voice. This wasn’t the Phyllis he had come to know, a strong, courageous Phyllis who was unafraid and strong headed all the time. He never expected to see her pleading for anything, and here she was, doing exactly that. He sympathized with her more than he thought he ever would. The pain she carried like a burden inside her heart was etched on her beautiful face, and he couldn’t keep looking at her like this any longer. He also couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t unbearably curious as to what had caused this sudden change of heart.
“But… why?” he asked only this one word, because it was eating it him alive.
“I have to,” she confessed, her voice a barely audible whisper.
He didn’t ask anything else. This response was strangely unpleasant.
