Ruin Me Please (31 page)

Freya
was f
ascinated by Durham
’
s
groveling;
she reached up to
g
ently touch his face.  “I have exhausted myself from running from you
,” she a
dmitted looking directly in hi
s eyes.  “You hurt me deeply.”

“I know I hurt you
,
”
h
e said
expressing deep regret.  “You
have
bewitched me
,
”
h
e said with a slight frown.
“I don’t want anyone else but you.”

Freya
laughed
a light and airy sound.

“I was scared
,
” he
admitted.  “I thought it was easier to be thought of as a wastrel
.
”
H
e
grimaced
.
“
B
ut not if it causes you to look upon me in contempt
,
” Durham
meekly acknow
l
edged.  “I would rather die
a thousand deaths,
than see that look in your eyes again.  Please say you will forgive me?”  His eyes
overflowed with
grief.  “I will spend the rest of m
y life making this up to you.”

“Your anguish is no more than you deserved after the pain you caused.”

“I agree.”

Breathless and dizzy
, Freya’s
ey
es glittered with unshed tears, t
hen
she froze with a shocked look. 
“Are you proposing
to me,
Durham?”

Dropping to one knee
, he gripped
both of Freya’s hands
.
“
I am
not asking, I am begging.  B
egging
you
to put me o
ut of my misery,
I love you.
”

She fell to her knees and t
hrew her arms around Durham
with a joyous cry.

“Y
es
!  Y
es
!  Y
es
!” 
She pu
nctua
ted
each word with a kiss t
o his face.  “I love you, too.
”

Rounding the corner, Poppy almost stumbled upon her two guests in a somewhat co
m
promising position. 

Quietly backing around the
corner,
she tried unsuccessfully to mask the amusement in her voice when she
called
, “
Freya,
are you out here?”

***

Not more than a
n hour later
the
women
were seated
beneath
the
large
gazebo in the gar
d
en
under the pre
tense of a
reh
ears
al,
their reading from Sha
k
espeare
scheduled as the
a
f
ter dinner e
n
tertainment
that night
occupying their minds
.

“Miss Harris,
” Chloe
inquired, “Are you sure we should not read
from
Othello
?” 
Gently
she
c
hew
ed
on her bottom lip.

Miss Harris looked up from her needlework.  “
I think you should read whichever you prefer,
dears.” 
A dreamy smile appeared
.
“
But,
I
must admit that I
love
Romeo and Juliet
though
,
s
o
r
omantic.”

Adele snorted. 
“Why does everyone find a story about two lovers that kill themselves so romantic?”

Chloe
responded, “I thin
k it does lesson
some of the romance
.”

Freya hesitantly piped in, “I have something to tell everyone.” 
N
ervously
she
gaz
ed
around
afraid
of what her friends might think.
“Durham has just asked me to marry him and I have said yes.
”

Shocked, they all jumped up
h
ugging Freya close and congratulating her.

Chloe
still holding on to her friend,
with a bemused look on her
face
stared at Freya
.
“So you are in love with Durham?” 
She
tilted her head
in confusion
.

“I know,”
Poppy agreed.  “Durham? 
But y
o
u were adamant that he
was a
n unrepen
t
ant
, cynical rake?
”

“
Yes
I love him
.
  Umm…”
s
he stammered
a little.  “
Well,
I-I was mad at him
.
”
  S
he smiled sheepishly.  “He kissed me and then I saw him ki
ssing Collette.  I was
furious;
I thought he was playing loose with my feelings
.
”
Freya cringed.  “He told me
most adamantly
that Collette
co
r
nered him and kissed him.
Hussy that she is, I should have known.
He told me that had I but stayed a moment
longer
I would have seen him push her away in disgust
.
”

“So this whole time you were just mad?”  Chloe
let out a
puzzled
chuckle.

Adele chimed in once again,
“Familiarity breeds contempt.”

“That’s correct.” 
Miss Harris
agreed.

Poppy wrinkled her
nose
.

“I for one think it is wonderful
.
”
Piper smiled.  “You have been lucky enough to find your true love.”

“I thought you did not care about love?  I thought you were content with being unma
r
ried and reading your dusty tomes and pamphlets?”  Poppy
teased
her twin.
“
I am extreme
ly glad if I have been wrong.”

“I
am
happy reading my dusty tomes and pamphlets as you call them, but if I fell in love I would be even happier
,
”
Piper said
frankl
y
.
“I do
n’t
want to marry just to marry.”  S
he s
mil
ed
contentedly.  “I would rather wander around R
osebriar a dried up old maid
.”

“You will never be a dried up old maid
.
 
But w
e better rehearse or w
e will bore everyone to tears i
ncluding your affianced
,
”
Poppy said,
as she pursed
her lips
ma
king
kissing
noi
s
es at
Freya.

“Girls
,
” Miss Harris
cautioned
a
s Freya swatted Poppy on the arm.

“
Ladies, I wanted to mention that we are going to plan
a festival for the
girl’s
s
chool.  I
had hoped all you would agree to assist
with the festivities.
”

“Oh, how fun,” Chloe
smiled. “I would love to help.”

“Yes, me too,” Freya agreed.

Poppy grinned
and nodded
. 
“We are goin
g to have much more than tea.”

The courses of true love never

did run smooth.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

*William Shakespeare

E
ven though they were laughing hysterically
,
each
girl
tried their
very
best
to put on a bri
l
liant performance
, or as close to it as their talents allowed
.  Apparent
ly, they did a poor job,
if the
multitude of
boos
and groans coming from their intimate audience
were an
y
indicator,
Se
y
mour be
ing the most vocal
of the group
. 
Poppy was
certain
that if the men had possession of rotten fruit,
they would
have surely hurled
it
quite vigorously
in their di
rection
.

It all seemed so trivial anyway. 
She was not in the best of moods
.  Declan did not show
for dinner or for their performance. 
She hoped Parker had not sent him away, f
rowning
wo
r
riedly
,
she continued to watch the door
, distracted
. The show must go on, or so
she had heard
.

“I think the world of you
,
Freya
,
my d
ear.  It is prodigious luck that you needn’t
make a living as
an actress.  You would starve,”
Durham said
his
tone
filled with amusement
as he blew her a kiss.  Freya blush
ed a
t
trac
tively, still
grinn
ing
.

Chloe read the part of Juliet
with as much drama as she could muster
.

 
“
No, madam; we have cull'd such necessaries
as
are behoveful for our state to-morrow
”

“Boo!  Boo!  Boo!”  Seymour chanted in the middle of Chloe’s speech.

Chloe
frowned at him as she continued
.
“
So please you, let me now be left alone,
a
nd let the nurse this night sit up with you;
f
or, I am sure, you have your hands full all,
i
n this so su
d
den business.”

No one could have portrayed
Lady Capule
t
in a more monoto
nous tone than
Freya
.
 

“
Good night:
 
Get thee to bed, and rest; for thou hast need.
”

Chloe threw her
hand across her forehead in a
most dramatic
fa
shio
n.
 

“
Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.
 
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life:
 
I'll call them back again to co
m
fort me:
Nurse! What should she do here?
 
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.
 
Come, vial.
”