“I don’t want that,” she pleaded. “I want to be with you.” She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his arm. She had effectually ruined herself coming here. Her step had been decisive.
“This is foolhardy,” he said, reflecting the thoughts in his head.
“No, this is what I want. I don’t care about houses or balls. I tried to get my feelings for you to abate, but they didn’t. I want to be with you.”
He felt hope starting to trickle into him.
“Etienne will never forgive me.”
“Etienne is not here,” she said. “And this wasn’t your doing, I came here. I chose this.”
She was his. She had come for him and made it so she couldn’t go back. She had risked everything and now she was here, his. The thoughts chased around themselves in his head. Anything could have happened to her on the way. The world was a dangerous place, not for a beautiful young girl travelling alone. He felt a rush of rage at the thought of anyone hurting her. He stepped to her and kissed her. A kiss he’d never thought he’d have. Her soft lips yielded to him. He felt like he had sun for the first time after a very long cold blackness. She was his, he repeated in his mind. He kissed her deeper, letting go off all the pain and frustration he’d felt. He still knew this was wrong. He didn’t deserve this, but he took everything the kiss offered him.
“She’s mine,” he said to himself when he broke the kiss, looking over every part of her face. He hadn’t meant to it be out loud, but it had slipped out.
“Yes,” she said. He had never felt so elated and exhilarated. It was like he’d been given the greatest gift in the world. But then reality started to creep in, he wanted it to stay away so he could exist in this moment for a little longer.
“Let me show you where I live,” he said darkly and stepped away from her. He didn’t move for a while, he didn’t want to do this, he wanted to stay in the sweetness of this moment, but it was fleeting away, replaced by harsh reality. He strode across the field and toward the area where their cabins were. He kept walking and heard that she followed. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to. Whatever fantasy she’d built up in her mind that had driven her to do this would now be quashed with the reality of his existence. He walked to his cabin and opened the door.
“This is where I live,” he said and let her walk inside. The small cabin was nothing more than a room, four wooden walls and a roof containing little more than a bed and a table. It had window flaps that held open with sticks to let cooler air inside. She would now learn of the very grave mistake she’d made. She stepped around the room looking the cabin. “This is all I have to offer.”
“I don’t care, I have already chosen you,” she said turning to face him. “If this is where I will live, then so be it.”
“Don’t be absurd, Virginie. How could you possibly be happy here?”
“I’ve only ever been happy when I was with you and if you recall, we had a whole lot less than this at the time.”
“It is your impetuous youth making you say these things,” he said feeling trapped and miserable.
“I love you,” she said. “And I can’t go back, so you might as well just accept me.”
It was true, he knew she couldn’t really go back, and he suspected that she’d refuse to even if they could somehow device a story and a chaperone to assure the world that her virtue had been properly supervised. He felt hope flare in him again, that most painful of emotions.
“Tomas, stop fighting me,” she beseeched him. “I love you and I’m here. I don’t care if this is where we live; I just need to be with you. I tried being without you and I spend the whole time wondering when you were coming back.” He closed his eyes, because he knew that he’d spend the whole time thinking about going to back so he could be near her, even if she was married and happy, he just wanted to be near her.
Virginie wished she could just wipe the worry and the concern from his mind. She knew he wanted her, she could feel it in the way he kissed her. She wanted him to kiss her again. She truly didn’t care about the cabin. It was simple, but she didn’t mind. It wasn’t much worse than the little house they’d stayed in at the fishing village on the coast along from Nantes. That short time that had become so precious to her. She’d wanted to go back there, where it was just the two of them. She could wait for him to come home in the evenings and they would be together. She didn’t care about the surroundings; there was nowhere else she wanted to be. Seeing him had only reaffirmed that. Her longing for him had only elevated. His simple clothes didn’t hide his form.
“We will need a bigger bed though,” she said looking at the bed that was only really made for one. He was quiet. He still stood at the door, brooding. She knew that he was waiting for her to run away, be shocked at the simple living conditions, but she wasn’t going anywhere.
“I’ll make you a bed,” he finally said quietly, almost hopefully. She felt the change in him. He was starting to see that she was entirely serious and she would have him in whatever condition he came in. She wasn’t afraid of not having servants and nice wall coverings. Those things had never made her happy, not the way that lying next to him and being enveloped in his arms had.
“I love you,” she repeated and she could see him visibly softening. She could see the tension leaving the muscles of his shoulders.
“I love you too,” he said. She beamed. She knew it. He’d tried so hard to push her away, but she knew he loved her. All the weeks of travelling were worth it just to hear that.
“Maybe you should close the door,” she suggested.
“No! I am not touching you until we are married. I have done enough harm to your reputation; I am not going to do any more. I refuse.” He stepped away from the cabin.
“Tomas!” she said stamping her foot. She did not want to wait until they were married. They were here and she hadn’t seen him for a long time. All she wanted was to be with him on that small bed, to take his clothes off and run her hands all over him.
“No,” he said as she ran after him.
“Come on, it’s not like we haven’t done it before,” she said. “The rest can wait, let’s just go back to the cabin and-“ He put his finger on her mouth. He started untying a horse.
“You will not announce that to the whole world. It’s bad enough that I take you as a bride without them knowing that I seduced you first. I am quite a cur enough as it is.” He mounted the horse and held his arm out for her like he always used to do. She took it and let him pull her up. It was so familiar and comfortable sitting here behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her cheek on his back. If nothing else she could do this. She loved the feel of the muscles of his back as he rode and she breathed in the smell of him.
“I think you’ll find that I seduced you,” she said after a while.
“Not this time,” he said. “This time, it will be proper and legal. Not that it is going to make much of a difference; Etienne is still going to murder me.” It saddened her to think of it because she knew it was true. His illegitimacy meant that a match between them could not be accepted, even by Etienne who loved Tomas. She sincerely hoped that it was true that the new country here was more forgiving of more unfortunate starts in life. Tomas deserved to be treated better. She hugged him a little tighter. She had no idea where they were going. She hoped he wasn’t taking her back to New Orleans.
After some time, they arrived at a small village with very simple houses. As they rode along the main street they reached a little chapel. It was tiny, painted white.
“There is a priest here?” she asked.
“There is one around here somewhere.” Tomas dismounted the horse and lifted her down. They walked up to the chapel and knocked on the door. It took a minute before someone answered. Virginie saw a priest standing on the other side of the door.
“We wish to marry,” Tomas said.
“Now?” the priest asked.
“Yes,” Tomas answered. The priest opened the door wider.
“You have no party with you?”
“No, it’s just us.” The priest stepped aside and they walked into the small chapel.
“You have no one to give you away?” the priest said turning to Virginie.
“No, my father passed away. I have no family,” she responded. It wasn’t strictly true and she didn’t feel comfortable lying to a priest. “I have distant relations, in England, but my relationship with them is a little strained at the present.” This wasn’t information he needed to hear, but she couldn’t lie to a priest.
“I see,” the man said. “Well, if you insist on expediency, you will still have to wait a little longer as I prepare.” The priest disappeared into a small room out the back of the chapel.
“I don’t know what preparation he needs,” Tomas said while they waited. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“It can’t be undone.”
“I know. I am sure. I crossed an ocean for you, I am sure.”
He leaned in and kissed her. She melted into the kiss, letting it take all her senses and all the worry and troubles of the past months.
“That part comes last,” the priest said forcing them to part. “Now, shall we start, from the beginning.”
“I am Virginie Sanbonne,” she said as they rode back to the logging yard where Tomas, no, they lived.” She could see Tomas smiling and it warmed her insides.
“Not the day I expected when I woke up this morning,” he said. “A life changing day.” It was a life changing day. There was no going back now, they were married. She couldn’t quite believe it. He was her husband. It felt more like a relief than anything. She didn’t know exactly what her future would entail, but that was much better than knowing day in and day out exactly how your life would be. And she would have a man she loved and adored at her side the whole way.
“I don’t have to live in these conditions,” he said when they got back to the cabin. “I am saving money for a new business.” Virginie tried to listen, but she was too distracted by the fact that they were now alone and they were man and wife. She couldn’t stop her hands from roaming up his sides and across his abdomen. She dreamed of touching him for so many months now and they were finally together.
“Once I get my business started and thriving, we can build a house,” he continued. Virginie kissed the exposed skin just below his neck. She let the taste of his skin diffuse her senses. It had such a heady effect on her. She kissed the skin on his neck and she could feel goose bumps rising on his arms. “There are opportunities here, for someone like me. My burdens aren’t as important here.”
“And what occupation shall we have?” she asked. She had every intention of helping as much as she could. She was reaching up to kiss his chin. There was a hint of stubble that teased her sensitive lips.
“We shall make paper,” he said but his voice was softening. He let her kiss him for a few seconds before he took charge of it, deepening it. He grabbed her to him until she was off the ground and supported completely by him arms.
“You’ll never understand how much I’ve missed you,” he said as he pulled away from the kiss and moved his mouth down the column of her neck. “I thought I’d never recover. Probably never would have.” He stopped kissing her and pulled her head back slightly so he could look down into her eyes. “I still can’t believe you are here, that you travelled all this way. I promise you, I will try my very best to provide for you.”
“I know,” she said and she did.
“But the opportunities exist for me here in this land, not in Europe. I will probably never go back.”
“I know,” she repeated. The idea of not going back to Europe didn’t feel daunting for her as there really wasn’t much calling her back either.
“Besides, it is probably a good thing that there is a large ocean between me and Etienne. He may never come to accept this,” Tomas said with sadness.
“Then he is trapped by his own prejudices,” Virginie assured him. She’d had enough of talking and began undoing the buttons of his shirt. Heat was pooling in her stomach and she needed to exorcise the tension that was building in her and that had existed in her for months. She wanted him inside her. There was also a knowledge in the back of her mind that their union wasn’t completely unbreakable until they’d lain together. She knew that Tomas still had the propensity for denying them both for what he thought was in her best interests. She wanted to get this done in case he reverted to some notion that she should go back to Europe and marry some ridiculous aristocrat.
She turned to have him help with the buttons down the length of her back. It had been an impractical dress to travel in, but it had been more comfortable once she got rid of the corset. She wasn’t planning on wearing it for a little while now, maybe if they travelled to New Orleans where the women were clearly still very conscious of fashion. She felt the whispers of his fingers on the skin of her back. Once she was clear of the dress, she lifted her shift of her head.
She turned around and faced him. His gaze was captured by her body. His breathing became heavier and his eyes returned to hers.
“I can’t believe you are here,” he said.
“I love you,” she repeated yet again. His hands came around her neck and he pulled her to him. His skin on hers felt absolutely glorious. He lifted her to the small bed and came down on top of her. She wrapped her legs around him, but he was taking his time, letting his hands explore her. His hand travelled up and caressed the mound of her breast. She didn’t think she could take this tension anymore.
“Please Tomas,” she said, but he wasn’t listening. He leaned down and took her nipple in his mouth. Her insides were throbbing for him. She felt her pulse deep down in her belly and the ache was unbearable. She didn’t think she could take it, but she also knew that she could not live without this.
He kissed her down her belly, moving further down. His mouth closed around the little nub at her entrance and her internal throbbing turned into convulsions of pleasure. It relieved some of the tension, but not completely. He was above her when she regained her senses and the convulsions started again as he pushed into her. She held nothing back as he came into her. She belonged to him in every possible sense and nothing in her life had felt as right as this did.
His strokes in and out of her created whirlwinds of sensations and she couldn’t keep up. The convulsions never really stopped, they just built stronger and stronger until she didn’t think she could take any more. She tried her hardest to wait for him, but she was losing the fight. He came to his release and arched into her. She felt the sheer joy and happiness of this moment; it literally was the best thing she had experienced in her life.
She wrapped her arms around him when he sank down on her. This was her new definition of wealth. She had grown up in a gilded cage and knew the true lack of meaning in wealth. Now she had love and this, and they were not things that wealth brought. If fact, most aristocratic marriages that she had seen were an exercise in tolerance, with hope that some affection would grow over time.
She wanted more than affection, she wanted someone she lived and breathed for, and she had found him. He slid to her side and pulled her close to him.
“I will build you a new bed tomorrow,” he said huskily. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted a bigger bed. She liked the idea of sleeping in his arms just like this, but she also got the idea that providing for her was very important to him. She just wished he could understand that whatever he had was enough for her. She just wanted him and he gave liberally. That was enough.
“You can’t go on wearing that dress, it is only going to get warmer,” he murmured into her hair.
“I will have to make something lighter,” she said. She had no idea how to sew, dresses had always been measured and brought to her. It couldn’t be that difficult, she thought. Then again, it could be very difficult for all she knew. Her education had not left her well versed in the more practical things in life, but th
en her education might be useful in some respects. There were always people in need of teaching. She could perhaps find a use for her less practical talents. She would keep those thoughts to herself. She knew he was very sensitive about the topic of providing for them, but she would find a way to cover the topic later. She turned and kissed her husband, the stubborn, prideful man who held her so lovingly.
Epilogue
Tomas started building his business shortly after they were married. It was hard going to begin with, requiring long hours and endless dedication. Tomas initially objected to Virginie’s suggestion that she teach children in one of the nearby townships, but he relented after she refused to give up on the idea.
He built a house for her before two years had passed, just in time for the birth of their daughter, Estelle. Their son, Etienne soon followed. Virginie loved the house that contained and protected her family. It was open and airy, taking advantage of the breezes off the river to cool the house. The children thrived and their life developed and they became more a fixture in the society around the area, as well as down in New Orleans, where they eventually built a second house. Virginie liked the second house, but she never loved it as much as the first, the one hidden away from the world up along the river. It felt like their own little paradise.
Etienne took twenty years to forgive Tomas and to finally agree to visit. He had trouble adjusting to the new rules in the Americas, and he was astounded at this young society’s complete lack of care for Tomas’ background.
Etienne finally reclaimed Aubesvines, but it required a fight through the courts covering several years. Gunther guarded it well throughout the Marquis’ absence.
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