“Then, they would be blind.”
“It is kind of you to say this to me.”
“It is not kind. It is the truth. If they could not see behind the rags of your clothing before this night when you are now dressed so beautifully, they are blind.”
Abagail turned toward Skenan and said, “Mr. Skenan, our conversation reminds me about a matter of some delicacy, and I find I must ask your advice. Would you be kind enough to walk with me outside during this break?”
“Of course I will,” he said, bowing and then placing her hand upon his arm. Turning, they stepped out of the ballroom. “Where shall we go?”
She hesitated only a moment before she said, “To the southeast bastion, I think.”
“Ah, our own private dance floor,” commented Skenan.
“Yes.”
They strode, then, across the grounds of the fort toward the southeast bastion, and they began to climb the stairs, she positioning herself behind him as had been their practice when they had been scouting through the woods; she even held on to his jacket. As soon as they had climbed the steps leading up to the bastion and had stepped into the room, Abagail tapped Skenan on the shoulder. When he turned toward her, she said,“What I have to ask you is, perhaps, delicate. But, you are the closest thing I have for a brother, and I need some brotherly advice. Do you mind?”
“Of course I do not mind,” Skenan answered. “What is it?”
Oddly, although she had asked him to bring her here, where she knew they would be alone, she hesitated to speak, feeling suddenly shy. Perhaps it was because she hoped to discover Skenan’s true feelings for her, but not in a direct way. And so, breathing in deeply for courage, she said, “Please forgive me, but I need your advice about men.”
Nervously, she glanced up at him, but he didn’t appear startled or condescending, and so she blurted out all at once, “Tonight, more than one gentleman made me aware he would be interested in getting to know me better. But, I have no experience with men, and I am a stranger to romance. And so, I seek your advice.”
There, she’d said it.
But, Skenan nodded as if this were a common question women asked of him. All he said, though, was, “I will be glad to help you, if I can.”
Again, she took in a breath, then asked, “How do I know, Skenan?”
“Know what?” he asked.
She bit her lip, hesitating before asking, “How do I know if a man is the right man for me? I have no experience in these kinds of matters, and I am overwhelmed with so many gentlemen asking to see more of me. I mean, after all, seeing a man is, I assume, what is done to see if he is the one I might like to marry. Am I right?”
“I believe so,” he answered.
“Skenan, would it be too much for me to ask you to…ah…pretend for me, please, that you are in love with me?”
“Pretend?”
“Yes, only a pretense. But, please, if you could pretend to love me, how is it you might show me? I mean, what might you do to make me aware you might favor me?”
He didn’t answer at once, and Abagail felt as though she might likely faint if he didn’t speak up soon.
But, at last, he said, “Well, let me think about this for a moment. I think, if I loved you, of course I would hold you next to me in a tree, bringing comfort to you even though some wild dogs were at your heels. And, I think, if I loved you, I would fight a bear threatening you with no thought as to what the bear might do to me.
“Indeed,” he continued, “if I loved you, I would take you to a cave, where I would treat your wounds and I would go into a pine forest to find the softest pine boughs for you to rest on for your bed, regardless of there possibly being enemy scouts present in those woods. And, if I loved you, I would give you my shirt to keep you warm in a cold cave and I would even cook for you. But, most of all, if I loved you, I would ask you to become part of my family, even if it were to be the part of my sister. If I loved you, this is what I might do.”
Abagail gasped, tears beginning to blur her eyes, and she murmured, “But, Skenan, you have done all these things for me.”
He didn’t say a word. He simply smiled at her.
“Skenan, does…does…this mean…do…do you love me?”
He laughed, and when he glanced down at her, as she met his gaze a feeling of joy swept over her. Still grinning, he said, “Of course I love you. I have loved you for many, many days now.”
And then, bending down toward her, slowly he brought his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. But, when she moaned, he kissed her again, then again and again. Raising his head up, he brought his forehead to hers and he said, “And, now I have a question foryou. One I can ask only of you. Miss Abagail, will you join your life with mine?”
She whispered, “Do…do you mean, will I marry you?”
