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He looked at her, his blue eyes beseeching. “Bess, will you marry me?”
She couldn't reply; her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. I don't want this marriage! It will ruin all my chances. … It will ruin my life!
“It won't be a lifetime sentence, Bess. … I have only a few years left.”
“Don't say that, Robert, please—”
“I'm not afraid to die, at least not when you're with me. I love you, Bess. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
What could she say? How could she hurt him as cruelly as she had been hurt? “I … I'll think about it, Rob.”
He squeezed her hand and smiled with renewed hope.
When Robert and Bess arrived, Arthur Barlow was sinking quickly. The death rattle could be heard in his labored breathing, yet incredibly Mistress Barlow was going hammer and tongs at Ralph Leche. “If you don't make her go through with this marriage, I swear I'll have you in the Fleet for the debt you owe us!”
“Stop, please! Have you no sense of decency?” Bess cried.
“Decency? There's little that's decent about the Hardwicks! Your father and brother have taken wicked advantage of me. While my man has lay dying, they've had the use of our land with no intention of paying for it! And you, Bess Hardwick, you're too selfish to help us in our time of need!”
Robert took her arm. “Mother, stop. Bess is the most unselfish girl in the world. I love her.”
The Reverend Rufus arrived with James Hardwick, which put a stop to Mistress Barlow's accusations. He went to the bedside, then came back to the group. “If I am to perform a marriage, it must be with Arthur Barlow's consent, and the union must be in the life of his father because Robert is a minor. Mistress Hardwick, Mistress Barlow, you know all this; we have discussed it at length.”
All eyes swung to Bess. She realized that she held her family's fate in the palm of her hand. Then she looked at Robert, who was mutely begging her. Bess was suddenly furious. As usual, everything fell on her shoulders; everyone in the room was weak, forcing her to be strong and decisive. “I want it in writing that you won't press charges against Ralph Leche.”
Reverend Rufus said, “There's no time; Arthur is dying. All that can be written out later.”
Bess stood her ground. “Unless I get a signed paper, there will be no marriage!”
There was an undignified scramble for paper and pen. Bess got her signed paper, as well as a document setting out her bride's portion of one third of the Barlow estate's income, should her husband predecease her.
Arthur Barlow breathed his last before the vows were completed, but all present chose to pretend otherwise. When Bess whispered, “I will,” she felt completely numb. Surely this wasn't really happening to her. Everything seemed totally unreal!
She looked at Rob across the corpse of his father and suddenly saw that he was near collapse. She straightened her shoulders and addressed her mother-in-law with blazing eyes.
“Excuse me, please. I'm going to put my husband to bed where he belongs.”
