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She lowered the jewelry and looked up sharply to him. “Go on,” she said after a second, biting her lip in thought.
“I did that once,” he explained. “I kept torturing myself with something that could have been but never was. In the end, I chose not to hold onto the memories of it. You, on the other hand, seem to torture yourself by wearing a reminder of what may have been around your neck.”
He waited, watching as his words sank in. They seemed to register strongly with her indeed as she looked down at the locket.
“Perhaps it is time you found some new jewelry to wear, Lady Hermione,” he said softly. For a while, she said nothing. She merely stared at the jewelry in her hand just as the wind picked up around them. It bristled her hair making it dance behind her head as he watched her.
Antony couldn’t remember being so open with anyone before. Even when he had once attempted a romantic relationship, in truth, he had never talked like this. Being with Lady Hermione felt as though a door had been opened, for no topic was out of bounds, even ones that were perhaps difficult or painful to discuss.
“Maybe you are right,” she said abruptly, shaking him out of his thoughts.
“You’re going to stop wearing it?” he asked.
“No, I’m going to get rid of it, so that I do not have to torment myself with what could have been.” She smiled as she said the words and stood to her feet.
He left her fossil on top of his jacket on the rock beside him and jumped to his feet too, following her as she walked down the beach, closer and closer toward the ocean. When she reached the edge of the stones, where the foam of the waves was beginning to fill small rockpools, she halted for a moment, holding the locket in her hand.
“Is this a little rash?” he asked, suddenly feeling nervous. “I didn’t mean get rid of it; just don’t wear it.”
“I know,” she said, looking at him, “but I think I needed to hear what you just said. In a way, I don’t think you know how right you were, Your Grace. Keeping it only makes me sad. What would be the point in keeping it?” She held it up in the air, turning back to the ocean one more time. “There is one problem with this though.”
“What is that?” he asked.
“Though you already know I have excellent aim when it comes to archery, I am a shockingly bad thrower. With my aim, it’s likely to end up behind us,” she said, mocking herself and drawing a laugh from him. “How is your aim?”
“It is not bad,” he confirmed, remembering all the days he had played cricket with his friends at university.
“Then, you throw it for me,” she said, lifting the locket up toward him. “Throw it far into the ocean, so that it never has to come back to torment me again.”
“Are you certain?” he asked, taking the locket out of her hands. The movement made their fingers brush together. He felt a tingle go off in his body, echoing up his arm and into his chest. He rather wondered if she felt the same thing from the way that she breathed deeply.
“I could not be more certain,” she assured him, stepping back and releasing their touch. “Throw it.”
He wound up his arm and did as she asked, tossing the locket high into the air and out across the ocean. It landed far indeed, out somewhere in the distance where the waves hadn’t yet crested into foam. As it plopped into the water, he saw Lady Hermione’s face crack into another smile. It was so wide and lighted up her face so brightly that he didn’t want to stay away from her. He turned back another time to look at their chaperone, seeing that she had their back firmly to them, walking down the beach in the other direction. With this assurance of privacy, he looked to Lady Hermione, stepping closer toward her.
“If only I could make you smile like this all the time,” he whispered softly to her.
“You frequently do,” she said, still smiling. When she lifted herself up on her toes, he wasn’t prepared for it, not until her hands rested on the opening vents of his waistcoat, then he understood. She kissed him, placing her lips gently against his. It was a soft kiss, tenderer than any other kiss he’d ever had.
As that tingling sensation erupted in his chest, growing by the second, he realized what a danger this was to him. If he carried on like this, he could soon be suffering that heartache and agony all over again.
Why am I not pulling away?
