Two days later:
"His name is Barkis Bittern. He's new to the village, he's a Lord and he's a bachelor!" Emily explained to her parents, as they sat by the fireplace that evening.
"But does he want to marry for love, Emily?"
"I don't know mother. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't."
"And if he doesn't? What if he only wants to marry to show off the beauty on his arm?" her father asked.
"He didn't seem to want to marry for money."
"What do you know about this man, Emily dearest? Other than what you've already told us?" her mother questioned.
"Well…nothing much…really…I only know what I've told you."
"You need to know this man before you marry him, dear."
"I know I do…but I can't be a bachelorette forever. I want to be married! I want a loving husband, a family of my own and a house to live it all in!" Emily practically squealed, picturing the sight of her and Lord Barkis in a large mansion, surrounded by beautiful children, the sun shining and everything being so perfect.
"You can have that all, my dearest, but have it with the correct and ideal man" her father noted.
"And what is not ideal about Lord Barkis?" she asked.
"You've only just met him dear. He seemed charming and a true gentleman in public, but you don't know what he's like behind closed doors. He could be an absolute brute of a man!"
"But he could be…" Emily began, before her father interrupted.
"Enough! All of this debating is giving me a headache. Final words Emily, you are not marrying this man until I know he is of a suitable kind."
"Meaning?!" Emily cried.
"Meaning we approve of him."
"Ugh!" Emily groaned in disappointment.
"Don't disobey your father's orders, Emily dear. You never know, just as you think this Lord Barkis is the one, another might grab your attention?"
"Another one? Like who? There is no one else in this village worthy of marrying me! No one that is too young, too old, too ugly, or reeks of fish!"
"And what makes Lord Barkis different from them?" her father asked, curious to hear his daughters answer. "How old is he Emily?"
"I…I don't know. He doesn't look old."
"Looks can be deceiving" her mother sighed.
"Yes…he may appear as the unlikely lover, but turns out to be the one who gets away! This is ridiculous! Why are you being so judgmental?"
"Because you are our only daughter and we want what's best for you – whether it takes us five days or five decades, we will find you the perfect man to be your husband."
"But I can't wait five decades! I can't even wait for one week! I want to be married, mother."
"And you will be darling. Just don't do jumping to conclusions before you get to know someone."
"This is so outrageous!"
Emily stormed upstairs, leaving her parents behind to watch her sulk away to her room. The inky night sky had enveloped the world and shadowed the corridors that Emily walked down, listening to her footsteps echo on the floor as she found her bedroom door, slamming it firmly behind to make sure her parents knew she was annoyed.
"Just outrageous!" she yelled to herself as the door slammed shut. She stared at the door, expecting her mother to walk in and say she was lying the whole time and that she could marry the Lord. But no. She didn't walk in. Only silence and hushed whispers were heard from downstairs as Emily stood still as a statue, listening to her gentle breathing, her heart beating loudly in her chest from all of the arguing and shouting.
She was left alone in her room, with only the fireplace and candles burning dimly, adding a warm glow to the chilly night. Emily rubbed her arms as she looked deeply in to one candle, watching the flame flicker like a single dragons tongue, trying to warm herself with the little heat it resonated. Nope, didn't work.
Why didn't they understand? Why they didn't realise that she was falling in love? Were they too pompous or arrogant to see that their only daughter was happy? Maybe. Emily wished, at that moment, that she had parents that understood her. She sat herself down at her dressing table, her head in one hand, sighing deeply.
"They never listen. Never understand" she said to her reflection in the mirror. Her face, the image of disappointment, unhappiness, wishful thinking and desires stared back at her.
"What are you looking at?" she felt like saying, teasing herself and listening to the sounds of her room. Her room was filled with the distant sound of her parents chatter and the crackle of the dying fireplace. And some sort of tapping noise close to the window. Emily looked over to see small stones, no bigger than her little fingernail, slowly appearing at the window and peppering it with their tap, tap tapping rhythm.
"What on Earth?" she whispered to herself, rising from her dressing table stool and wandering over to her balcony window, where she opened the doors and looked out, out in to the evening darkness and down below to see…Lord Barkis. Standing below her balcony with a little heap of stones in his hand, looking up and smiling at the sight of her.
"Emily!" he called out.
"Lord Barkis? What are you doing here?" she called back, silencing her cry to a hushed whisper.
"I had to see you" he responded.
"Well, here I am" Emily returned.
"I need to give you something."
"Give me something? Like a present?"
"No, sadly. But something worthwhile and meaningful. This" he said, retrieving a square piece of paper from his jacket pocket, and holding it up to her.
"I can't reach it you know" Emily rolled her eyes.
"Then come down to me." Barkis suggested.
"Or come up to me?" Emily teased, turning her flirtatious charm on.
"I cannot risk being seen by your parents."
"Neither can I, they'll get suspicious."
"So what do I do?"
Emily looked over her shoulder to her bedroom door, listening to the faint and distant sound of her parents going to bed. If she left her room now, they'd see her and suspect her. And she couldn't wait until they were asleep and keep Lord Barkis waiting outside for hours, doing nothing. And then…she turned back to Lord Barkis who fumbled with the letter in his hands.
"Leave it at the back door. I'll come down when my parents are asleep." She told him, watching him listen to every word she said.
"And you'll read it?"
"Of course."
"And follow its instructions?"
"If I agree to them, yes" Emily answered, beginning to suspect what inky, informative words lay upon this piece of paper.
"Good. Good" Barkis replied. He looked around the village, seeing how deserted it was before looking up back at Emily, and smiling. He then slipped away in to the night, round the corner of Emily's house, and was never seen again.
Emily knew he had disappeared in to the night and that she wouldn't see him until…well, whatever his instructions in the letter said. What did he write? What did it say? Was it some sort of confession? A poem? In a few hours, she would know.
Three hours later:
Darkness and silence had enveloped the Hunter mansion. Lord and Lady were asleep, the servants silent in their dorms and Emily sat upright in her bed, dressed in her nightclothes, counting the seconds in her head as she held a small pocket watch in her hands, watching the hands by go round – tick tick tick tock tock tock.
Until the minute hand struck twelve, and it became two o clock in the morning. Without a moment's hesitation, Emily leapt from her bed, throwing aside the bed covers and feeling her nightgown trail behind her as she crossed her room to her bedroom door. Pressing her ear to the door, she heard only silence and the low hum of her father snoring, stealing a quick smirk at the satisfaction, knowing she was safe to make her move.
Creep…creep…tip-toe…tip-toe…pitter patter…pitter patter…down the stairs she went step by step, her bare feet pressing against the cool stone of the floor. Just feet…inches…centimetres away from reaching that letter, opening it and reading what words he had written, for her eyes only.
There it was! Sitting by the back door, having been shoved under the door in the thin gap there was. Sealed with red wax and with her name written smoothly and elegantly in jet black ink, Emily knelt down grasped the letter in both hands, admiring the handwriting and symbol imprinted. She didn't waste any more time and risk, so with the letter in her hands, she sprinted back upstairs, taking care that her footsteps were nothing more than tap-tap-taps against the stone staircase.
She sat on the edge of her bed, warmly illuminated by the candlelight, her hair flowing over her shoulders, holding the letter in her hands like it was a fragile, thin piece of glass that would snap at any sign of movement.
"Open it! Open it! Open it Emily!"
What would he write to me?
"You have to open it to find out!"
So she did. Tearing off the seal and forcing the letter out of its envelope, Emily snapped open the letter and started reading that elegant handwriting. It said:
My dearest Emily,
Since our meeting, I have not stopped thinking about you. Your dazzling smile echoes across my mind every day, as does your laughter and your radiant beauty. Words cannot describe how enamoured I have become over you, but hopefully these few words should begin to describe it.
I love you. Marry me.
The first few days since we said goodbye have been torture for me, and I want you to be with me for the rest of our lives. I want to spend every waking moment next to you, and I long to hear you say yes to my proposal. If you agree and want to be my wife, and spend the rest of eternity with me as much as I do with you, then meet me by the village fountain tomorrow at noon. If you refuse, I shall take this to the heart and move on. Life without you is not life at all.
I hope to see you there tomorrow, my darling.
My heart is yours,
Lord Barkis Bittern
"Marriage? Oh my goodness! He proposed…OK, maybe not the most romantic of ways, but still! He wants to marry me! Breathe Emily, breathe! You still have to tell him yes!"