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Laurence held her just like that, the two of them resting against the beat-up old divan, her head rising and falling with his inhalations. Despite all that was going on around them, despite the uncertainty of their situation, he felt a sense of utter peace settle over the two of them. Here, in this little room where the motes of dust danced in the amber sunlight, it felt that nothing could ever harm them or take them apart from one another.
And that strange feeling of being tied or connected to some spirit or apparition felt stronger than ever…yet it was now utterly clear to Laurence that this was a good feeling, a warm and welcome feeling. The chain he felt binding him was not restrictive but comforting, like being held by his mother or holding hands with a loved one.
Is this what it feels like to truly love someone?he thought, awestruck.
“Can I tell you something?” Alicia asked as she looked up at him, her eyes beginning to brim with tears once more.
“Anything,” Laurence answered, lifting her fingers up and kissing them gently.
“I am just so very happy that Herbert has taken so long in his task. This has been the happiest time of my life, Laurence. I never knew life could be so sweet and wonderful until I came here and met you.”
He kissed higher up her arm, along her pale, supple wrist. “That…is exactly what I was trying to say by the riverside.” He looked into her eyes once more, feeling a rush of sadness from somewhere in his soul. “It’s a frightening thing, isn’t it? To know the beauty that has been hidden in this world all along?”
“What will become of us?” asked Alicia weakly. “When Herbert returns with the carriage, whenever that is…what’s going to happen? Will I still be able to see you?”
Laurence set his chin, suddenly filled with resolve. He brought a finger under Alicia’s jaw and lifted it up to look at him with an expression of utter seriousness.
“I don’t know, Alicia. I wish I did know what tomorrow might bring. But as uncertain as the future may be, and as lost and confused the whole world seems to have become, I am utterly certain of one thing, now more than ever.”
Alicia looked up at him, eyes wide and lips parted in anticipation.
“I love you, Alicia,” said Laurence.
“Oh, Laurence!” she cried. And as her lips parted to unleash another exclamation of despair, Laurence did the second most intelligent thing he would do all day and kissed her deeply once more.
Laurence would spend a great deal of time later reflecting on just how terrible it was that, just as they succumbed to further celebration of their feelings for one another, the wheels of a carriage creaked up the road to the Gillingham home.
