Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Final Act Part Two
October 22nd, 1879
London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
Marie accepted Louis's hand out of the carriage as it rattled to a stop. Looking up, she realized that Albert was waiting outside. He looked upset. She could tell in the tightness around his eyes and mouth as well as the furrowed brow. To everyone else, he would look calm and collected, but she knew he was angry about something.
Likely at her, Louis, and Fred.
"Let me handle this." She whispered to Louis and Fred, who both nodded. She approached Albert and waved Louis and Fred passed them. Coming to a stop, she looked up at him and waited for him to react.
Scream.
Get angry.
Something
Anything.
Anything but look at her with that disappointed look in his eyes.
Marie had to refrain from fidgeting with her gloves. So instead, she brushed some of her gray hair out of her eyes and waited. Eventually, Albert sighed and gestured for them to both go inside.
"Let us talk this matter out in my chambers." He said before leading the way up the stairs and down the hall, past Marie's room to the last door on the left.
Albert's room was much like hers in both layout and color scheme. Marie shook her head at the idea of sitting down when Albert offered, opting to stand instead and face him as he paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, hands clasped behind his back. The glow from the flames illuminated those eyes she loved so much but were filled with an emotion that scared her.
He looked… angry.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" He asked, and she shrugged as she hid all emotion on her face, schooling it into a calm facade.
"What I did was the right thing." She said, and Albert paused and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You are trying to ruin the final plan. Everything we've worked so hard for could be ruined by you going to Sherlock Holmes." He said, and she shook her head,
"On the contrary, I don't think this will ruin the plan at all." Was all Marie said, twiddling her fingers behind her back as she watched Albert stew in his anger.
He resumed his pacing, muttering to himself as he tried to come up with the words to say.
"Louis, Fred, and I are just trying to save William." She said softly, gently like trying to calm a spooked animal. At this, Albert stopped completely, looking at Marie with something akin to astonishment.
"I thought you hated William." He replied, and Marie paused before responding.
"I don't hate William. Dislike him, yes. I find him arrogant and bombastic. But hate him? He's done so much for me that I can't do so. All of you have." She said, and it was true.
They had given her a home and clothes to wear despite her and William's butting heads and trusted her with their plans to try and change the country. Albert cared for her enough to want to court her. How could she hate them for that? She said as much to Albert, whose shoulders slumped, and he sighed.
"You don't make it easy to argue, you know?" He said and stepped forward to wrap her in a hug. She accepted the affection readily, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into him.
After a moment, Albert spoke again.
"Marie?"
"Hmm?" She hummed, all too happy to soak up Albert's warmth and the heat from the fire.
"Let's get married." Her brain stalled, and she pulled back to look at Albert to make sure he wasn't joking. He had to be kidding, right? They had only been courting for eighteen days!
"Huh?" She said dumbly, but Albert looked completely serious.
"Let's get married." He repeated, and Marie blinked once, then twice, as the words processed in her brain.
"No, no, I heard you the first time. I just want to know why? We haven't been courting for very long." She said, and Albert interlocked his fingers at the small of her back as he leaned back to look her in the face.
"Because I intend to turn myself in after all this is over to atone for what I've done, and I want you to be taken care of." He said, and for the second time that day, Marie's brain stalled.
Turn himself in?
That meant…
"No!" Marie exclaimed, pulling away from Albert and taking a few steps back, nearly tripping over the hem of her dress and jabbing a finger at Albert. He had a hand out towards her in case she actually tripped, and she resisted the urge to smack it away. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Albert with rage bubbling in her stomach.
She felt betrayed, deceived, let down.
Had he been planning this all along?
She wouldn't be surprised if he had.
Albert withdrew his hand, eyes sad and lips twisted in a frown.
"By marrying me, you'll get access to a special fund I had set up for this purpose. It'll be enough to give you a good life." He said, and she shook her head vehemently.
"I won't marry you just to have you thrown in prison!" She tried, and Albert just watched, determination evident on his face,
"Marie, I love you." He said and crossed the space between them, clasping her hands in his gently so as not to hurt her fingers. Her heart stuttered, and she felt her cheeks begin to burn.
"I love you."
It had taken Matthew over a year to say those words. And when he had, his face had been lit up like fireworks, his blush burning to his ears. In stark contrast, Albert said those words freely, a determined edge to his voice. He meant them.
She felt elated and had to hold back from kissing him right then and there. It wouldn't be proper. Plus, she was still angry.
Albert continued speaking.
"I love you, so I want you to live healthy and happy. I want you to have a good life. I promised." He said, eyes kind and gentle. The last part of his sentence made Marie frown.
"Promised who?"
"Matthew." He ignored Marie's gasp and kept speaking, "I went and spoke to him before asking you to court me. I asked for his blessing seeing as your father has since passed, and I couldn't visit the cemetery where he was buried. He gave me his approval on the condition that I look after you." He said, leaning down and pressing his forehead to hers, "Do that for me. Marry me and have a good life. That's all, have a fantastic life." He whispered, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. He raised a hand to wipe the tears gently from her cheeks. She nodded,
"Okay, let's do it. Let's get married."
…
It was nighttime by the time they got to the courthouse. So they had about an hour before Albert was to put his part of the plan into action.
The courthouse was empty save for the five of them. There was Albert, Marie, Nessie, the judge—a short, portly man with rather an impressive mustache—and Mycroft Holmes—who was apparently an acquaintance of Albert's. Nessie and Mycroft were to serve as witnesses, and Mycroft had managed to find a friend of his who was a judge. Everyone had been sworn to secrecy regarding Marie's proper name. Neither Albert nor Marie was comfortable telling that information to the world just yet. So to the newspapers, noblewoman Alice St. Clair would be marrying Albert James Moriarty.
Marie wore an old white dress with a blue ribbon tying her hair back in a simple updo with a hair piece she had borrowed from Nessie. She wore the necklace Albert had given her for her birthday to tie her haphazard wedding look together. Hell, she didn't even have a veil. And, of course, she had a sixpence in the bottom of her left shoe. She wasn't one for tradition, but Nessie was and insisted on the whole "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a lucky sixpence in her shoe." Marie initially protested but eventually gave in when she realized they didn't have a whole lot of time left before William put the rest of the final plan into action.
Albert wore a nice suit with a pair of William's cufflinks. He stood across from her, a small smile on his face. The judge cleared his throat and opened his book,
"Shall we get started?" He asked, and everyone nodded, taking their places as he began to speak.
Marie held her small bouquet of red and white roses from Fred tightly. The instant he learned about her agreeing to marry Albert, he had grinned and told her to wait as he had a present for her. The gift being the flowers. He had stood on the porch of the Moriarty estate and waved as the couple drove towards the courthouse.
"You may say your vows now." The judge said, finishing his little speech and gesturing for Albert to step forward. Marie handed her bouquet off to Nessie and grasped Albert's hands in hers. Her thin white gloves hid her sweaty palms, and she prayed he couldn't feel them through the fabric as he began to recite his vows.
"I, Albert James Moriarty, take you, Marie Henriette Louise Dubois, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish. I promise to be faithful to you until death do us part." He said smoothly, without so much as a hitch to his voice.
The judge nodded and gestured to Marie, who swallowed and began to speak,
"I, Marie Henriette Louise Dubois, take you, Albert James Moriarty, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish. I promise to be faithful to you until death do us part." She finished, a large smile on her lips. Albert returned the smile before looking at the judge.
The judge flipped a page in his book and looked at the couple,
"And now: Albert, do you take Marie to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her forevermore?"
"I do." The judge nodded at Albert's declaration and turned to Marie.
"And Maire, do you take Albert to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him forevermore?" Marie almost had to let go of Albert's hands to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"I do." She whispered.
The judge gave another nod and looked to Mycroft, who looked vaguely uncomfortable.
"May I have the rings please?" He asked, and the much taller man nodded, reaching into his inner jacket pocket to pull out two simple bands. One had a plain diamond with two emeralds on either side, and the other was a modest gold band. The judge accepted the rings and handed one to Albert and the other to Marie.
"Now Albert, repeat after me. With this ring, I wed you and pledge you, my love, now and forever.
"With this ring, I wed you and pledge you, my love, now and forever." He said as he gently took her left hand and placed the ring with the diamond and emeralds on her finger over her gloves.
"Now, Marie, repeat the same."
"With this ring, I wed you and pledge you, my love, now and forever." She slid the gold band onto his finger.
The judge finally smiled under his mustache,
"And now, by the power vested in me by the city of London, it is my honor and delight to declare you married. You may seal this declaration with a kiss!"
Albert leaned down and brushed his lips against Marie's in a featherlight kiss, his hands going to grip her waist, and her hands came up to clutch the lapel of his suitcoat. Her eyes fluttered shut, as she heard the judge clap his book shut and Nessie began clapping as he said one last thing,
"I am so pleased to present the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Moriarty!"
