Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and all that jazz.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait but I started writing the story over vacation and now work had begun again so I'm finding less and less time to write. *sad face* There are probably about 2 more chapters before it ends…sorry but it does have to end sometime. Unless I come up with an entire new turn to it…who knows? Thank you everyone for your support!
Dickon did not sleep that night. Everything seemed to be a mess and he couldn't calm his thoughts down. He had never thought something so terrible could have come from loving someone. It wasn't only ridiculous to the public eye that he loved Mary, now it was becoming dangerous for her. He looked down at his hands and a tear fell down his cheek. He had never wanted a glimpse of what he had done in the war to ever surface again, especially in front of Mary. He couldn't help himself, though. Not when he saw what that man was trying to do to her, instinct took over to defend and he attacked. He didn't want to look Mary in the eye after she had seen him react so viciously. Perhaps, he thought, it would be best to let her go.
Mary was nervous. She had not seen Dickon in three days. When she asked the other gardeners where he was, they only said he was busy with his work or had gone to town. Even Martha told her that he hadn't been home in a while.
What was going on?
He was never in the garden; he was avoiding her to the extreme. Mary didn't understand it. Didn't he love her anymore? Mary gasped as a thought entered her mind. Perhaps he thought she wasn't pure anymore after what the Duke had tried. Did he think her to be dirty? Mary's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Mary?" Colin's voice came.
"Come in." Mary stood up as he opened the door.
"Mary, how are you feeling today?" Ever since the incident he always asked it every morning to which her response never changed.
"Have you seen Dickon?" But Colin always answered by shaking his head and Mary's brow would furrow. The two would then go to the garden and tend to the flowers, always hoping their friend would walk through the ivy door and join them, but he never did.
It was around the sixth day of Dickon's absence that Mary had enough. She was not only afraid that he didn't love her anymore but now that he had been so non-existent she feared he was ill or hurt. Not that he had ever been sick in his life but what if something had happened to him and no one knew? She was determined to see Dickon. After Dinner she excused herself to the garden but she never went to the garden. She suited herself up for the long walk to Dickon's cottage. Only Martha knew her destination as Mary had to ask where it was.
She trudged through the moor's wet grass, if she wasn't in such a hurry she would have enjoyed the exercise and the fresh scent of the earth and wildflowers. The sky was growing darker as the clouds moved in quickly and the sun began to set. As if in one crash of thunder the rain began to pour down on Mary. She could see the cottage in sight and rushed to it. In the window she could make out the firelight inside which confirmed that he was home and she would see him.
She found her feet flying on the muddy earth below her and soon she was at his door. She hesitated for a moment. What if he shut the door in her face? What if he was in his nightclothes? Hundreds of thoughts began to enter her head and make her dizzy. She started to back up but tripped on her feet and as she caught herself her fist pounded on the door. It was too late to run now as she heard his feet walk towards the door. When he opened it he stood in shock.
"Miss Mary! What are tha doin' here at this 'our in the rain!" He immediately ushered her inside out of the drenching weather. Mary was elated that she gained entry into his cottage. He doesn't hate me that much, good. She thought. He had disappeared into another room leaving her to look around. The cottage was simple but it felt comforting. There wasn't much in the cottage though and she could tell he had been sitting by the small fireplace from the cushions on the floor.
He came back out holding a blanket and quickly wrapped Mary in it. She looked up to him but he still wasn't looking her in the eye.
"Are tha warm now, Miss Mary?" He asked politely but Mary didn't respond. "I'll go and make tha some tea." He turned but Mary grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
"Dickon!" She felt the name falling out of her mouth. "Where have you been? I've been so worried about you. Please, look at me!"
"I can't, Miss Mary." He looked to the floor.
"Why not? Dickon, what's wrong? Please talk to me." She dropped the blanket and hurried in front of him trying to force him to look at her. "Is it something I've done? Do you not want me anymore?" She asked quietly and let her head droop.
"No!" He quickly responded and finally looked to her. "It could ne'er be tha', Mary." He held her hands and warmed them. "When I said I loved tha I meant it, tha' will ne'er change." Mary looked up at him.
"Then what is it?"
"I-I don't deserve tha." He let go of her hands but Mary quickly grabbed them back staring into his eyes to plead him to explain. "I'm not good anymore, Mary. I've fought men, I've killed men. I hoped tha' when I came back to the moor tha' I ne'er would be like tha' again. I ne'er wanted tha to see me so violent." He looked down. Mary softly put her hand on his cheek. He looked into her eyes and she pulled him to kiss her gently. She then looked into his eyes and said quietly.
"Dickon, you're so stupid." She smiled. "What you did in the war was what you had to do. It does not make you a monster. And what you did to the Duke was heroic, not shameful. You saved me. You protected me. I cannot hate you for it, it only made me love you more. You are the sweetest angel, you are the best man I have ever known, even when we were children. There is nothing that will make me stop wanting and loving you."
"Mary." He said with a blissful smile upon his dimpled cheeks. As if all past wrongs had been forgotten they quickly embraced and held each other tightly with the firelight flickering behind them. Dickon pulled Mary to his own lips and it felt as though this was their first kiss at the beginning of their new start. He kissed her lips, her cheeks, her forehead and neck as they embraced and held each other in sweet happiness. They fell to the floor next to the fire and laid down upon the cushions. Dickon stroked his hand across Mary's blushing cheek as he gazed into her eyes, letting himself become completely encompassed by her sparkling soul. Mary moved herself to kiss him again and again and each time letting the kiss become deeper and deeper.
"Mary, we should not be doin' this now." He said and struggled to make his body move away from hers. "Wha' will people say if they saw tha here with me at this 'our?"
"Soon I should hope to always be with you at this hour." Mary smiled as he helped her up.
"In time. I will call on tha's uncle tomorrow." He kissed her softly again. Mary beamed with delight.
No matter what happened, things would be alright now. Mary had been elated when her uncle had approved of the match and she, Dickon and Colin celebrated together in the garden. The news quickly reached the ear of everyone in town and unfortunately it would also reach the ear of a less than happy acquaintance who was still nursing a black eye.