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Dressed in the gold and cream brocaded silk as Samuel requested, Eliza sat before the dressing table mirror while Kitty styled her long brown hair. The emptiness that swirled made her nauseous.
Suddenly Kitty smacked the brush on the table and dropped her arms. “Liza, I can’t stand it any longer. What’s going on? Why are you marrying Samuel? This is madness. You love Thomas and he loves you.”
How I wish I could tell you! Eliza could not open her mouth for fear that both the few bites of food she had eaten, and an uncontrollable wailing would erupt. She wrapped her hands around her stomach.
Kitty’s mouth tightened into a straight line. She looked into the mirror and met Eliza’s wet gaze, her face softening as she gripped Eliza’s shoulders. “That mark on your cheek. How did you get it?”
Kitty’s words struck Eliza’s crumbling defenses and she cupped her hands over her face and tried to stop the flow of tears.
“Liza, please tell me!” Kitty knelt at her side with her hands on Eliza’s knees. “If you are unhappy, you don’t have to do this. It rips at my heart to see you hurting. Why won’t you tell me—”
“There’s nothing to tell, Kitty.” Eliza sucked in a ragged breath and wiped her nose with a clean handkerchief. “I’m simply over tired and wishing Mother and Father could be here, that is all. Please don’t worry about me.”
Eliza studied her reflection. Swollen eyes, splotchy cheeks, a red gash on her face. Not the picture of beauty that a bride wishes to be on her wedding day. The mar on her cheek represented the beginning of a life filled with the pain of regret and wounds that would never heal. And it was all her doing.
Eliza rested her face in her palms again and breathed through her fingers. Father in Heaven, please deliver me!
Slowly, Kitty rose to her feet and squeezed her sister’s shoulders. She blinked, shedding
large tears and her soothing voice wavered as she kissed the top of Eliza’s head. “I love you, Liza. I hope you know that.”
Blotting at her own eyes, Eliza tried to smile. “I know.”
“If this is what you really want, then I know you will be happy. Samuel loves you deeply, I’m sure of it.” She looked away, and her grip grew tighter. “And I . . . I hope you can forgive me for my outburst. I want you to know I hold no ill feelings toward you, even though you and I cannot agree on certain things . . .” Her voice trailed away as her lips pulled down.
The tenderness in Kitty’s voice clamped around Eliza’s fractured heart. She spun on her seat and flung her arms around Kitty’s middle. “Oh Kitty, I love you. Please forgive me for causing you pain. I would never want anything to come between us.”
Kitty fell to her knees again, clinging to Eliza, clutching ever harder as she cried. “Forgive me for being so angry. No matter what you believe, I will always love you.”
Before too long, Kitty pulled away. She tilted her head and smiled through tight lips as if trying to be happy for an event that she knew Eliza didn’t want. “I suppose we better finish your hair. There isn’t much time left before the reverend arrives.”
Eliza nodded as her heart stopped beating. No, there wasn’t much time left. Not much time before her world ended.
While Kitty placed the last curls atop Eliza’s head and worked the cream colored ribbon through her hair, Eliza prayed. She prayed more earnestly than she’d ever done. Though it seemed her prayers would float no higher than the top of her mirror. Had God forgotten her?
With her coiffeur complete, she stood to examine her appearance. Kitty came forward and rested her head on Eliza’s shoulder. Eliza set her cheek on Kitty’s head, relishing in her last moments of freedom. She had chosen this path to keep Thomas alive, but even that was no guarantee. She could do nothing to protect him from what awaited after she and Samuel were wed.
Surely, God in his wisdom could find a way to protect her dearest Thomas, even if He would not deliver her.
“You are more lovely than I have ever seen you, Eliza,” Kitty whispered.
Eliza blinked slow, ignoring the shallow sensation that wedged its way into her middle. “I suppose that’s thanks to you, dear Kitty.”
A knock sounded on the door and Samuel pushed it open. His eyes grew wide and trailed over her, possessive. “You look like a dream, Eliza.”
A familiar rolling nausea surged upward and Eliza had to force a smile as she swallowed it away.
“I’ve come up to tell you the reverend has arrived.”
“Already?” Every muscle flexed and the bit of hope she’d clung to, that maybe God would still provide a way to deliver her from such torture, died instantly. Her legs twitched with the need to run from him—from her future. But she couldn’t. Thomas’s life depended on this night.
Samuel bobbed his head and a demanding grin possessed his lips. “He’s waiting downstairs, and since you are ready, we may as well begin.” He motioned toward the door in a quick, soldierly movement after a nod of acknowledgement to Kitty.
When she didn’t instantly move, Samuel took her arm. “Are you feeling alright my dear? Here, let me escort you downstairs.”
Eliza’s legs were heavy as sacks of flour and she was forced to lean upon Samuel as he helped her walk down the stairs and into the parlor.
The reverend greeted her, bowed, and offered a gentle smile. “Good evening, Miss Campbell.”
