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“I need you to know that what I say here, I say as a friend.” Oliver needed to clear this up right at the onset of this difficult conversation. “If you have no plans of getting married then I would like to ask you a favor. One friend to another.” He lifted his gaze to Joseph, determination borne in his every line on his forehead which became more prominent than before. “Do not call upon either of my two sisters again.”
“Oliver, I–”
“Please,” Oliver lifted his hand at Joseph, signaling that he was not finished. “Allow me to continue. They are my sisters. It is my duty to see them protected in every possible manner a woman can be protected. Their life path is one of marriage, and the best way I can protect them is to assure that they are married to the men who will not only love them but also respect them and cherish them.”
Oliver had made his point without actually stating aloud what he wanted to say. Everything was crystal clear.
“Oliver, I assure you that I would never even consider compromising either of your sisters in any manner,” Joseph said.
The moment those words passed his lips, he felt as if someone dealt him a punch in the abdomen. He was a liar. A dirty scoundrel who dared to lie to a dear, close friend right to his face. Worst of all, he endeavored to assure this same man that he did not have any ruinous desires towards his sister when only half an hour ago, he had her cornered in the darkness of a room, alone. He had uttered more lies in the last two minutes than in the entire previous month. The thought of forever turning away from Bridget was unthinkable. It was unpalatable. He could not refrain from feeling all this for her more than he could stop breathing. It was all beyond his control. But one thing he could promise, and that was that he would never allow Bridget to suffer a ruined reputation because of his inability to control his urges. He could never do that to her.
“You and I are friends, Joseph,” Oliver continued in the same cool manner. “But the moment I see my sisters in any kind of danger, any friendship ceases to exist. No one is more important to me than they are.”
Joseph could understand this loyalty. He could also admire it.
“I understand,” Joseph assured him. “I admit, I have shown Bridget attention which perhaps could have been construed as something more than mere friendship, and for that, I apologize. I should like to apologize to her as well.” Saying those words aloud actually hurt, not only his pride and ego.
“No apologies are needed,” Oliver cut him off. “You should merely cease to visit, and our friendship shall continue outside the confines of my home, just as it has existed previously. I hope you understand.”
“Of course,” Joseph nodded several times in an effort to assure his friend that his message was received, loud and clear.
This was a situation Joseph was certain he would never allow himself to be in, yet his life path had proven to be otherwise. With the women he was used to visiting, he never needed to worry about their reputations. But with Bridget, the story was completely different. It was a story he wished to read until the end, but that end would lead exactly where he did not wish to go. The only way out was to disappear from her life although he knew that she would never be erased from his.
“You and Iarefriends, Oliver,” Joseph mirrored his friend’s words back to him, “and friends would never do what you just accused me of doing.”
“I did not accuse you,” Oliver corrected him respectfully. “I simply wished to clarify your intentions. Since they do not align with the intentions of either of my sisters, that means that your paths need to diverge for the benefit of everyone involved.”
Everyone but Joseph, yet he kept this part wisely to himself.
“You have nothing to fear, my friend,” Joseph patted him on the shoulder affectionately. “I would never compromise any lady, least of all your sisters.”
Once again, the lie burned his lips, like molten hot lava, and it was a taste that would never leave his lips. The burning sensation was there even an hour later, when the ladies and the gentlemen were reunited for one final hour before everyone dispersed according to their own evening plans.
When Bridget and Sarah approached him, his first instinct was to excuse himself and leave the room, but the magnetism drawing him to Bridget was unavoidable. He could not fight it. All he could do was float towards her, towards her melodious voice and those eyes that seemed to pierce right through him. There was nothing he would not do for her, nothing that he would refuse her. Yet, he could not give her the only thing that she truly wanted.
So, all he could do was listen to her voice, knowing that this very well might be the last time they spoke so cordially as her brother sent daggers at him from the other end of the room.
The end was near, and there was nothing he could do about it but allow himself to fall deeper down the dark hole which he had dug for himself.
Chapter 14
Joseph believed he heard a knock on his bed chamber door in the middle of the night, stirring him from his sleep. He frowned in the darkness, the only light being the dim trail of moonlight which oozed through the window. He propped himself up on his elbow, half-expecting it to be a dream.
There it was again. He was certain he heard it clearly this time.
He had no idea who that could be at this time of night. Perhaps it was one of the servants come to tell him that his mother was feeling unwell? The thought filled him with dread. Hastily, he wrapped himself in his banyan then went to the door. He only pulled it slightly open when the sight of a familiar face made him gasp.
“Bridget…” he whispered her name softly, tenderly.
She was wearing a thin robe that almost revealed her to his gaze. Her hair was flowing down her neck, framing her face. She was tantalizingly beautiful. He doubted any man could resist her the way she was now as if made of moonlight itself, glowing in front of him, effervescent and out of this world. He had no idea how she ended up here or why for that matter, but the last thing he wanted to do was send her away.
“What… what are you doing here?” He felt his voice betray him in front of such beauty. Words could not do her justice. Only the palpitations of his own heart that seemed to beat only to praise her loveliness.
“Shhh,” she said, the tips of her fingers traveling up to his face, only to press themselves against his lips. “Invite me in.”
He swallowed heavily. He had just given a promise hours ago. Was he about to break it so easily, so thoughtlessly? What if someone saw her? What if…
There were so many what ifs, yet none of them was as important as the proximity of her lips to his. Her breath was warm, feathered over his face. His entire body pleaded with him not to turn her away. He noticed her shivering. A groan thundered somewhere inside his throat. He had been dreaming of this, and now she was here. How? None of this made any sense, yet he refused to question this blessing. Her very presence here was sinful, teasing him, daring him to pull her closer.
