A/N:
Here's the last part of this story. These two have come a long way since they were 16 and 19 years old, standing in the back garden and kissing for the first time. I think they will be spending more and more time kissing each other, which is a good thing, since they are each other's lobsters! ;)
Thanks to everyone who has come along on this angsty, at times, heart-wrenching journey for them. I think they are on their way (no pun intended) to happier times together. Also, thanks for all the lovely reviews and your kind comments. Enjoy!
Part 6. William and Eliza: Touch Has A Memory
Eliza gave him a startled look, as if she wasn't certain that she should be following William up to his bedroom, even if they had just declared their love for each other.
He saw her hesitate. He lifted her chin, so that he could peer into her eyes. "Do you trust me, Eliza?"
She nodded her head and replied, "Yes, I trust you, William, but I am not ready for that next step with you."
"Eliza, I know, and I am not asking you to take that step with me right now. Someday we will take that next step together, I hope, and be as intimate with each other as a man and a woman who deeply love one another can be, but not tonight, my love. Come with me?" He kissed her on her temple, then waited for her answer.
"Yes," she replied, and they made their way up the stairs to William's bedroom, hand in hand. When she entered his room, she noticed that everything was in its place, his bed made, his clothes hanging in his wardrobe. She saw that he now had a bookcase, rather than a lone book shelf, and in it were his beloved Dickens novels and his poetry collections of Browning and Keats. As she moved closer to the bookcase, she noticed a framed photograph of herself on one of the shelves. It was from when she was around 16 years old. She turned to see William gazing at her, a smile playing on his lips.
"How did you get this photograph of me? And how long have you had it?"
"Your father gave it to me. In the week following our kiss, at one of our meetings, he gave me his old police procedures book for when I would become a police officer. When I opened the book, this photograph of you fell out from between the pages. Later, I told him that I had found your photograph in the book and asked whether I should return it to him. He told me to keep it. 'Just in case', he said."
"Have you always had it framed and on your shelf?"
"For a time, it was tucked in between the pages of my book of Keats' poems and letters. After Henry's funeral, I pulled it out again and had it framed. So not too long," William replied. "I hope you don't mind, Eliza. It's just with the loss of your father, I wanted to feel you closer to me." He stood behind her, his arms reaching around her waist and pulling her to him. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
"Did you ever mention to my father that we kissed in the back garden the day Skip was killed?"
"No, I did not. I was concerned that he would be disappointed in me with regard to my behavior that day when he had asked me to look after you. I had already lost you; I did not want to lose your father as well. I suspect that he knew though, Eliza, and I think he knew that I was in love with you, which is why I think he left the photograph of you in the book for me to find. I'd like to think that he hoped we would find our way back to each other eventually."
"I read what Father inscribed on the front flap in the book - about how you've always been worthy and had everything you would ever need to succeed within yourself already. All of that is true, William. Both Father and I knew that to be so."
"It means a great deal to me to hear you say that, Eliza." He pulled her closer to him and kissed the side of her neck, her hand coming up to rest on his cheek for a moment, her fingers gently stroking his beard.
As they stood close to the bookcase, she noticed another frame, this one on the wall just next to his bed. In the frame was mounted a piece of thick cream colored note paper.
"William, is this the poem from that day in your boarding house? The one I noticed you were transcribing?"
"Yes, Eliza, it is. I was transcribing the sonnet, "Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art" when you came to see me - for you. I had wanted to give it to you as a way of apologizing for my having kissed you without your permission and as a token of my love for you. I hoped you would accept it and that maybe it would bring us back together."
"You saved it all these years?"
"Yes, and eventually I finished transcribing it. I still think of it as our poem, and it has never been far from my heart."
"It hasn't been far from mine either. William, why is there a tear in the top edge of it?"
"Because when you told me that we were done that day at the boarding house, I was so racked with pain I didn't want to keep the poem. When I tried to tear it up though, I found that my heart would not let me do it. So I kept it and framed it, and not a day goes by without me seeing it, and it always makes me think of you." He took a step toward the framed poem and lifted it off the wall. "This belongs to you, Eliza. It was always meant for you, and now I think you should have it."
As she took it in her hands, she touched the glass, running her fingers over the written lines lightly. "Thank you, William. I'm so very touched that you made this as a gift for me. In truth though, it belongs to us. It is not just mine; it is ours, and I want it to stay here with you, if you'll keep it safe for us. Would you do that for us?" she asked.
"I would, but if it stays with me, then how will you ever see...it? Eliza, are you implying that you would repeatedly make visits to my bedroom to see this poem?"
As she carefully replaced the framed poem on the wall, she gave him a coquettish smile and replied, "William, that is exactly what I am implying, if you will allow me to do so." She gave an amused laugh, as she watched William quirk his eyebrows. She turned and slipped her arms around his neck, gazing into his eyes, which held all of the old impish twinkle in them.
"Oh, how you love to tease me. What a little vixen you've become, Eliza," he said playfully.
"You have that effect on me," she teased him in return, smiling coyly at him.
He kissed her lips, slowly at first, and then with increasing intensity, their kiss deepening. His hands started moving along her sides and across her back, as he felt her pull herself closer to him, her arms hugging him to her more tightly. She whispered, "I love you, William. I never want to be apart from you again. Promise me that we will always work out our differences when we fight and argue. Promise me, William."
He heard the plea in her voice and stopped kissing her neck to look into her eyes, which had grown moist. He cupped her face gently with his hand, then kissed her forehead. "I promise you, my love, but I want you to promise me something too. Well, maybe more than one thing. First, that you will always at least try to meet me halfway so we can come to a compromise. We both can be stubborn, so we will have to work at it, but for me, it is not worth losing you ever again. I never want to be apart from you again either. Second, that when we do marry, whenever we disagree, we do not go to sleep at night angry with each other. We work it out together, even if things get heated between us. I have no plans to ever sleep in my office at Scotland Yard because you and I have not seen eye to eye on somethin'."
"I promise you on both counts. But William, when we marry? Are you asking me to marry you this evening?"
"Not tonight, my love. I am waiting for a time when I know that almost certainly you are ready and will say yes to my proposal."
"You assume I'll say yes?"
"Well, I can be very persuasive, and as I've said before, Eliza, I am an eternal optimist. Plus you are currently standing in the bedroom of an unmarried man whom you've said has the reputation of a rogue; it would be quite scandalous if you did not marry me and let me make an honest woman of you."
"William Welllington, you are a ..."
"Do not say it, Eliza."
"A gentleman. Do not deny it, William," she replied, her eyes looking up into his adoringly. "One whom I love very much, I might add." She touched her fingertips to his lips and gently traced their outline before she raised her lips to them. Touch has a memory, she thought, and she always wanted to remember what William felt like beneath her touch on the day they declared their love for each other. She kissed him softly, slowly and deeply until they were both breathless.
William pulled her closer to him to whisper in her ear, "Come, my love, I think it's time we get you home so that nothing scandalous does occur between us tonight...in my bedroom. There may come a time when you might want me to be a litle less gentlemanly, but there'll be time for that in the future." Kissing her gently on her lips, he took her hand in his and led her out of his bedroom and down the stairs.
"William, I've decided that I will postpone going to Oxford for one day, so that Moses can make the trip with me."
"Good. I'm glad to hear you say that. Thank you, Eliza," he said, a smile forming on his lips, as he gazed into her clear blue eyes. He could see there was a retort coming, but he didn't expect anything less from his beloved Eliza.
"You may have gotten your way this time, William, but the next time, I will get mine."
"Yes, Eliza, whatever you say." He grinned at her, then drew her back into his arms and kissed her passionately, their hearts now entwined as one.
THE END
Typically, when I write a story, there is a song that plays repeatedly in my head. I didn't have one while I was writing this story, but I'd been trying to think of a song that suits it to add to the end, and it finally came to me. This song by Tom Grennan makes me think of these two when they were young and then of finding their way back to each other.
Little Bit of Love
I've been holding onto pieces, swimming in the deep end
Tryna find my way back to you
'Cause I'm needing a little bit of love
A little bit of love, a little bit of love
Lately I've been counting stars
And I'm sorry that I broke your heart
It's something that I didn't want for you
But I'm stepping on broken glass
And I know this is my final chance
All I'm tryna do is find my path to you
I've got voices in my head and there's a deafening silence
I've got voices in my head and I can't lie
I've been holding onto pieces, swimming in the deep end
Tryna find my way back to you
'Cause I'm needing a little bit of love
A little bit of love, I need a little love
Just like the air I'm breathing
These awful wounds ain't healing
Tryna find my way back to you
'Cause I'm needing a little bit of love
A little bit of love, a little bit of love
A little bit of love
Lately I've been wakin' up
In that dream you stay calling your name
Stayed up too late just thinking of you
Now I'm knocking on every door
'Cause I heard you moved from twenty-two
Has it been that long?
I guess time just flew
I tried to fly but I used my wings too soon
Now everything got me thinking of you
I tried a million times to cut you loose