25

Parental Guidance

"Oh, Vera, congratulations!" exclaimed Evelyn as she and Vera walked into the house at the end of the reception. "You must be thrilled! I know how much you adore Philip!"

"I know," said Vera, trying not to look as excited as she felt. "I can barely look forward to the day we get married."

"Evelyn!" called out Fleta's voice. "I need your help!"

"Coming!" Evelyn shouted. She turned to Vera and said, "I need to go help Fleta with something. See you later."

Evelyn walked out the door at almost the same time Lombard came through the door. He ran up to Vera and said, "I shall call my mother and tell her the news before getting ready for bed." He kissed her hand and said, "See you in the morning, ma cherie."

"Bonne nuit, mon cheri," replied Vera, using the other hand to stroke his cheek to pull him in and give him a kiss.

They separated. Lombard smiled and walked to the stairs and up, looking down at Vera as he went.

"I think he really cares for you, you know."

Vera turned around to see her mother standing in Evelyn's place. She smiled and gave her daughter a tight hug. "Congratulations, sweetie. I really hope this will be a happy marriage for you and Philip."

She loosened and Vera got out of the hug and said, "I can't believe it. I'm actually engaged to someone whom I thought would be nothing more than a fellow survivor. It feels...like a wonderful dream I'm about to wake up from."

"And you had better, real soon," said Mr. Claythorne, coming in through the door.

"Father?" asked Vera, surprised at the look of mixed fury and astonishment on his face.

"How can you be so flighty, so impulsive?" asked Mr. Claythorne. "You've only known this man for three months and you're already engaged?"

"Oh, Fred, you and I only knew each other for three months when you proposed to me," pointed out Mrs. Claythorne.

"Yes, but I was an honourable man," rebutted Mr. Claythorne. "This Philip Lombard has practically no nobility about him. Vera, did you know he left twenty-one men to die?"

"Yes," said Vera calmly. "When we were accused of our supposed crimes, he told us what had happened. Even so, he was not the man who killed all those people, nor did he record those horrid accusations. I try to keep that in mind."

"What is it about that man that makes you completely forget your common sense?" grumbled Mr. Claythorne. "Don't you even care about your personal safety?"

"Of course I do," said Vera, feeling as though she were about to lose patience. "And for your information, Philip is really a good man to be around. He's polite, brave, intelligent, noble..."

"Just what is so noble about him?" spat Mr. Claythorne.

Vera knew she was playing with fire, but..."One night, I woke up from a horrible nightmare, and Evelyn was out. Philip came and...held me, and comforted me until I fell asleep. And not once did he ever take advantage of me."

For a moment, Vera considered fetching the doctor. Her father looked as though he was about to have a heart attack.

"He...he...you...he was in bed with you?!?"

"You'll have to excuse your father," spoke up Mrs. Claythorne, taking her husband by the hand and leading him away. "He knows nothing happened; he just needs a few minutes to calm down. I think you'd best go upstairs."

"You're engaged?" gasped Carolina.

"Yes, mother, Vera and I are to be married in eight months and six days counting," said Lombard proudly as he spoke to his mother on the phone in the upstairs hall.

"What can I say except...congratulations!" said Carolina's ecstatic voice. "Here you are, about to become a married man! My own son! I can hardly believe it!"

"Yes, I know, mother," nodded Lombard. "I can hardly believe it myself. I never would've thought that the woman whom I had a friendly chat with in the cab to the docks would eventually become my fiancée."

"I can picture it already," sighed Carolina. "You and Vera taking your vows, throwing the bouquet, marching down the aisle, sending me pictures of your children—"

"Our children?!?" coughed Lombard. He cleared his throat. "Ah, mother, I think it's just a bit early to be thinking about that. And about the children...I'm not sure if I really want children, after..."

"Oh, nonsense," scoffed Carolina. "In time, you'll be surrounded by at least four or five children asking you to read them a bedtime story, and you won't even have time to think about what happened. Now, I don't want to cost Fleta any money with this call much longer, so hopefully we'll see each other again."

"Good night, mother."

While lying in their respective beds, Lombard and Vera turned to face each other.

"This doesn't feel real, does it?" asked Lombard.

"No," said Vera breathlessly. "Not at all. Though I'm pretty sure my father hopes it isn't real."

"Oh," said Lombard. "He still doesn't like me?"

"No," said Vera, shaking her head. "He's convinced you lack nobility. Apparently, you told him of what you did to those natives. Now what in the world possessed you to tell him?"

"Well, I thought that if these were to be my future in-laws, then I should be as honest with them as possible," shrugged Lombard. "They're not going to get some perfect son-in-law; they're going to get Philip Lombard. And Philip Lombard has made a few, serious errors in his life, but he's not going to keep them bottled up inside. I myself think he'd be even more upset if I lied about it and found out later."

"You didn't tell them about me, did you?" asked Vera, suddenly worried. "About Hugo and Cyril?"

"No," said Lombard, turning out his light. "You need to do that."

And with that, he turned over on his side and closed his eyes. Vera also turned on her side and closed her eyes, but couldn't fall asleep for another ten minutes, her mind racing from the excitement of being engaged and from what Philip had just said.