Yes you are seeing this correctly - three updates in one day. I have neglected all studies for this pair, they just won't leave me alone!
"Elizabeth Mae Hughes, every moment I spend with you, you make me happier than I ever thought possible. I would like to spend the rest of my life cherishing and loving you to the best of my ability. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
Elsie couldn't believe the sight before her. So much had happened in the past 24 hours, her mind was reeling. She felt the tears streaming down her face and brought her hands to her cheeks to try to contain them.
"Charles, before I answer there's something I want you to see." She made to step away from the bed, but immediately thought better of it as an uncomfortable twinge came to her ankle. "Can you please bring me my bag? The one against the wall over there."
Ring still in hand, Charles did as she asked, bringing the bag to her as his stomach twisted in knots, her delay in answering filled him with trepidation.
Taking the bag from him, she began to dig through its contents. Her worry began to grow and she started to think that the gift had fallen out sometime during yesterday's struggle.
Charles watched her work, his anxiety increasing as an unhappy expression crossed her face.
As she was just about to lose hope in her search, her finger brushed the small object and she cried out her triumph, "There it is!" She grabbed her prize, hiding it in her clenched fist. She quickly set the bag aside and turned to face the lovely man standing there in confusion.
She grabbed his hand with her free one and pulled, "come sit here," the excitement in her voice becoming more evident.
He did as instructed, ready for an explanation for her actions.
"Charles, the reason I went to the village yesterday was to find you a birthday present."
His face fell as he heard what she said, the possibility that he in some way contributed to her attack striking a terrible blow.
Instantly reading his mind she shook her head, "Now none of that, not now that we've come this far. Neither of us could have predicted what happened, and that's not why I'm telling you this, okay?" She watched him nod his acceptance, before she continued.
"The reason it took me all day, is that I wanted to find something special for you, something that you would love, something that would express my feelings and maybe hurry you on your way to expressing yours, or what I hoped your feelings were." She took a deep breath and kept on with her tale.
"I had almost given up, I thought I would have to find my way into Ripon, though it wouldn't likely happen before your birthday. In a last effort I went into Widow Parker's shop. I knew I was unlikely to find anything for you there, with all of her silly trinkets, foolish woman that she is, but then, there it was."
Charles watched her eyes close as if she was reliving the moment; he was hanging on her every word.
"Now I'm not a woman who much believes in destiny, you choose your own path, and make of it what you will, but this was such a coincidence Charles, that it was there right when I needed it, right when I wanted to reveal my heart."
When she didn't continue on right away, Charles voiced his burning curiosity.
"What love? What was it?"
She opened her hand to reveal… a coin.
His brow furrowed in confusion, and she laughed at the expression on his face. As she raised the coin towards him, he plucked it from her hand for a closer inspection. He only had to look for a moment before he knew the significance.
As he held it aloft, the silver caught the light and revealed the initials engraved on one side, "EMH." It was a love token.
She began to explain, "There we are darling, the both of us." She lifted her hand in the air, palm facing him. His hand rose to meet hers, their fingers entwining with the token pressed between them. "There I am, etched into a symbol of the monarch's power. The foreign entity, never to be parted from you, the somewhat traditional royalist." Both had tears on their cheeks now, and he smiled at her ability to tease him at such a moment.
"Widow Parker had no idea what to do with it, it ended up there in in a shipment of something or other she received this week. It made its way to us Charles, at just the right moment."
Overcome with affection for the woman before him, he carefully extracted his hand from hers, placing the token in his pocket for safekeeping, and pulled her into an embrace. His lips touched hers, gently at first, but he needed to taste her. Teeth nipped her bottom lip, immediately followed by his soothing tongue. Her lips parted for him and he groaned at the first taste of her, she was intoxicating. They broke apart as the need for air became too great.
Breathless, they rested cheek to cheek, her arms around his neck, his hand buried in her hair, the other slung around her waist.
"Yes." He felt her speak the word against cheek.
Seeming incapable of forming words in that moment, he mumbled his question instead, "Hmm?"
"Yes, of course I'll marry you."
His heart had never soared so high.
He kissed her cheek and pulled her tight to him. As the softness of her breasts pressed against his chest he was suddenly aware that he was in bed. With his betrothed. Who was still in a state of undress.
The gift has been revealed! Did you like it, or were your expectations not met? Please review if you have the time.
Thanks for reading.