Felicity: An American Girl ROMANCE, Pt3, Ch30: Felicity's Revenge
Ben's mouth dropped open to express outrage, surprise, anger, something, but Reginald didn't care. He stood about ten feet away, which was still in adequate distance to put a bullet into Ben's chest if he shot. Ben didn't get the chance to say anything at first, for Reginald spoke first: "Do not make a sound, rebel, or it will be your last."
Ben shut his mouth, swallowed uneasily. Forsythe's hands were shaking, which meant if he shot he would likely miss Ben altogether. Ben considered making a rush at him, leaving to chance the possibility that if he did get shot, that it would not be fatal. No, he wouldn't risk that- yet. 'Twas all too clear why Forsythe was here: to get Felicity, in what the damned fop probably considered to be one way or the other.
"You are not supposed to be here, rebel," Reginald said shiveringly, through clenched teeth. What the hell was wrong with him? "You were supposed to believe Felicity unfaithful and continued on with your undeserving life. Felicity is mine!"
"You're wrong," Ben told him, his voice low, hoping that Felicity would not hear thier voices and come running out. He wanted to get Forsythe on his own and especially without any harm to his soon-to-be wife. Please, Lissie, stay inside! "Your vile tricks separated Felicity from me for awhile, but the truth came out, Forsythe. The truth always wins. It is over. You cannot possibly hope to gain anything by being here. A search party is being organized by Lord Covington at this very moment. What do you think they will do to you when they find you here?"
"Oh, but they won't," Reginald assured him chillingly. "And when they find you, it will be too late. Now put your hands up."
"You really think a shot from a flintlock will go unheard?" Ben's arms slowly went up, so as to not further agitate the already seemingly intensely agitated fop. "There are women just inside this kitchen here."
"I know that!" he snapped nervously.
"So why are you here, Forsythe?"
"Why do you think, idiot? I have come for my wife!"
Anger flamed raw and deep inside him, but Ben slammed it down, trying to think instead on how he was going to disarm the crazed lunatic before him. "No, Reginald, she is not your wife. 'Twas a forced marriage, unconsummated, not a marriage at all. Not if you had to pay the clergy to bribe them in a way that they were willing to find mutually beneficial."
"Shut up! What's done is done! Now, you are going to turn around and walk back into that kitchen and bring Felicity out to me! You will do it or I will shoot you like I've already a mind to!"
"No, Reginald, I will not do that. You will never lay a hand on Felicity again."
Inside the kitchen, listening to Maggie and the maids argue about woman's rights and man's follies, Felicity had a strange feeling come over her, like chills of some sort. Ben had stepped out, but she had not thought much of it since she'd been distracted by Maggie's chatter about someone's late husband being a cuckhold. But now she was getting the sense that something was wrong. Ben didn't like being away from her for more than a minute, especially now that they were back at Bel Hall. He'd acted like he was going to just step outside for a moment, then come right back, but he wasn't back.
Something was wrong.
She sat her cup of minty tea down and rose. pausing, listening. Voices...low and just outside. One of them was Ben's, the other...? Then a feeling like ice was cascading down her spine made her walk uncertainly to a window on the side of the kitchen and peep out curiously.
Oh dear God. It couldn't be!
She gasped, drew back as if she'd been stung by a wasp. Forsythe! He was here! Holding a gun on Ben! Good Lord, what to do! In the seconds that were passing almost as fast as her heart was racing, Felicity thought like mad. Her first instinct was to run and get someone, anyone! what could Maggie and two young, easily timid maids do? She didn't want them hurt any more than she wanted the mans he loved hurt. Of course Forsythe had come for her, but how had he known she was here? Oh, there wasn't time to think about that! She had to think of a way to keep Ben from being shot! Forsythe was no expert with a gun, but the lurching fear in Felicity's guts told her that he just might be insane enough to accomplish murder by a pistol.
I've got to help Ben! I've got to end this once and for all! Prison is too lenient for Reginald Forsythe, not that he'd survive for very long in a cell, weakling that he is. No, he must be stopped, the only way he can be stopped for certain. And then it hit her. She simply knew what to do. She looked around at the kitchen, half teary-eyed, half-frightened at what she was thinking, but at this moment, there was nothing else to do but carry out her instantaneous mad idea.
"Why, what is the matter, dear?" asked Maggie, just now noticing the panic and fearful thought process so obvious on Felicity's ashen pixie-face. "Are you taking ill?"
"Maggie, listen to me!" Felicity whispered shrilly, so she would not be heard outside the kitchen's open door. "And the both of you," she added, gesturing frantically to the maids. "Listen quickly and carefully. We're in danger in here!"
The two young maids gasped, hands flying up to their mouths. "Ssssh!" Felicity ordered, her spinning mind having never become so suddenly clear. "Maggie, please tell me there is a pistol in this kitchen somewhere!"
"Why, whatever do you mean? What is the danger-"
"Reginald Forsythe is here, and he is just outside, with a gun pointed at Ben! Now no one of us can get out of this kitchen without being seen, and the sun is beginning to go down. One of you needs to get into the house and get help. In order to do that, Forsythe must be distracted." She inhaled deeply, shakingly, terrified at what she was going to do. "Is there a pistol in this kitchen?"
Maggie swallowed uneasily and rose to her feet. "I-I do not think so, my dear, 'tis only a kitchen..."
Felicity gestured frantically. "Please Maggie, think! I know that when some of the groundskeepers have returned from hunting, they sometimes brought their birds in here to be plucked for cooking. Some of them even left their pistols in here because they were too tired to put them up. Are there any guns left in here by them?" Her terrified green eyes looked up and around at the kitchen equipment hanging from the ceiling or hung from nails on the walls. "I have to act fast!"
Outside, Ben was still standing his ground.
"I think you'd better do what I say, rebel, before I shoot you dead before I had originally planned to!" Forsythe stepped forward with his gun trembling in his weak hands. "I have a better idea! Call her!"
"Call her what?"
Reginald grimaced angrily. "Do not jest with me, Davidson! You know what I mean! Call Felicity out here! I want her, now. Get her out here!"
Ben did not move. "I cannot do that, Forsythe. I cannot allow you to hurt her ever again."
"What I do with my wife is none of your concern! No one leaves me! Do you understand, I forbid it! By law she is my wife and I shall have her now!"
His words riled the fiercest rage Ben had ever felt in his life, but still he did not do anything. He kept his voice low and calm, albeit irate. Kept his hands up, fighting the urge to grab for his gun just inside his cloak. He was trying to stall as long as possible. Someone had to come out of the manor any moment now, and see what was going on! Thank God Felicity was still inside the kitchen house, that way she couldn't-
"I said call to her! I shall give you five seconds, Davidson, and if you do not do as I order you to, I will-"
"I am here, Reginald." Felicity appeared around the corner of the kitchen house, her face pale but stoic, her cloak drawn completely together in front against the chill.
"My angel! You heard!" Forsythe's gun wavered a bit.
"Felicity, go back inside, don't come out here!" Ben said frantically, his composure slipping. "Please, go back!"
"Don't you dare, my sweet," Reginald warned. "Or I will shoot your father's fool apprentice right here and now. I really do not wish for you to see bloodshed before we return to Forsythe Manor."
"I am not going back to that hell-hole, Reginald," Felicity told him calmly, her whole air icy and distant.
"You are my wife, and you will do exactly as I say! I will not allow you to leave me!"
"Wrong. You are wrong about everything."
"Lissie! What are you doing?" Ben hissed in a frightened whisper as she advanced all the way to Ben's side.
She ignored Ben, slowly moved her arm to push his extended, protective one back down. "This is over, Reginald. It ends tonight. Now."
Ben immediately stepped in front of her, trying hard as hell to sheild her from Forsythe's gun. "Get behind me!"
"Move away from him, Felicity, do not make me shoot him in front of you!"
"You will not shoot him, Reginald," she said coolly, almost completely devoid of emotion.
"You are MY wife, damn you!" His hands were shaking quite uncontrollably.
"No, I'm not. Never have been, never will be. I am no one's property."
"Felicity, for the last time, if you do not move away from him I will kill him regardless-"
"No. He will not die. You will." And with that, Felicity's small woollen-gloved hand had slipped into Ben's cloak, grabbed his flintlock and whipped it out. She did it so fast that Ben didn't realize what she had done until she had yanked it out and shoved him aside with a hard push unlike anything he'd ever felt before.
"Felicity, no!" Ben yelled.
"If I cannot have you, then no man will!" Forsythe screamed. Both he and Felicity fired their guns at the same time; two loud bangs that echoed all around the estate of Bel Hall simultaneously. Both he and Felicity fell, Reginald to the side and Felicity after she'd cried out and staggered back. Ben whirled and cried out in horror as well, dropping to Felicity's side immediately.
"No! Felicity, no! Oh God, this cannot be happening! SOMEONE HELP US!" Ben screamed at the top of his lungs.
Maggie came running out of the kitchenhouse like her rump was on fire. She saw Forsythe on the ground, then Felicity, with a weeping Ben crouching over her, and gasped aloud. People were running from the house; Lazlo, the duke, Constable Poon, Elizabeth, Arthur, and several house servants. The two maids who had remained inside the kitchen with Maggie had come scrambling out after the roundy older woman and now stood sniffing and staring in fright at Felicity and the motionless Lord Forsythe both laying on the ground.
"What the devil has happened out here?" Lord Eric yelled loudly, taking in the sight of the two shooting victims, one of which he realized was Felicity, whom Ben was going to pieces over quite loudly.
"Felicity!" squealed Elizabeth, her face becoming frozen in shock. She made to throw herself at Felicity's other side, but Arthur grabbed her quickly, for Lord Eric was striding to Felicity's other side already, kneeling across from Ben, who was holding the unconscious young lady's face in his hands and crying.
"No, dearest, let them see how bad it is first," Arthur told Elizabeth quietly, a lump in his throat. If Felicity was dead...No, he mustn't think it, Arthur thought frightfully. Be strong for Elizabeth, for once!
Elizabeth had lapsed into helpless sobs as she and Arthur stood near. Maggie had a hand to her own heart and said to Lord Eric, " 'Twas that horrible Lord Forsythe, lad", she told him tearfully. "The young man here stepped outside to see what was making some kind of sound, but he did not return right away. Then our young Miss went to see what was going on, and she saw that-that-luatic out here with a gun aimed at her fellow, and she-she-she had this plan...oh this is dreadful, absolutely dreadful!" Unable to help herself, Maggie lapsed into tears, fumbling with a hankie.
"So the little bastard was able to access my property," Eric muttered darkly, glancing at the still unmoving Forsythe, then turned his attention back to the still unmoving Felicity Merriman. Nearly conking heads with Ben, he leaned down over the girl, frowning and searching. He moved the cloak aside. In the fading light of the oncoming evening, it was nearly impossible to tell...
"Ben! Benjamin Davidson!" the duke ordered, trying to be heard over Ben's, Elizabeth's, and Maggie's sobbing. He reached across Felicity and gripped the shaking shoulder of the distraught young cavalry captain. "Stop that blubbering and look!"
The duke was grinning. Ben gaped at him incredulously, then looked to the part of Felicity's person Lord Eric was nodding at. Her cloak was open, revealing a thick, heavy cast-iron baking pan hanging about her slender neck by the leather strap it hung from on a nail on the kitchen wall! There was a concave dent in the cast-iron where it had stopped the bullet now embedded in it. The baking pan covered Felicity's front, all the way down to her lower stomach. So...if this heavy iron pan had stopped the bullet, that meant...
Felicity groaned softly, trying to come to. Ben gasped and Maggie and Elizabeth immediately stopped crying to stare with wide eyes. "Lissie!" Ben breathed in joyful astonishment as she coughed spasmically. Ben and Eric promptly began to sit her up, which required both of their efforts since she had gone limp and had that heavy baking pan hanging from her neck. Ben held to her supportively until Eric lifted the pan off of her, got its strap over her head, then he hugged her to him hard, pulling her legs across his lap and rocking her back and forth as he whispered emotional words of utter devotion to her, words that only a man crazy in love knew to say.
Eric inspected the cast-iron pan where he knelt. Maggie joined him. "Clever girl!" he mused aloud, smiling and shaking his head.
Elizabeth and Arthur rushed forward to knelt at Felicity and Ben, to touch her, place hands of warmth and unmeasureable relief upon her shoulders and arm. She was blinking uncertainly, trying to process what had just happened. One of her hands instinctively went to her lower stomach and felt.
"Owww," she moaned groggily, frowning.
"Lissie, sweetheart, are you hurt?" Ben asked with a quiver of worry in his voice. "Where are you hurt?"
Her voice was grumbly. "Feel like I've been kicked in the gut...by a mule. Am-am I bleeding anywhere?"
Both Ben and Elizabeth were quick to look her over, neck to stomach. There was a powdery smudge on the blue fabric of her dess, but no blood, not even a rip in the material. "No, love," Ben sighed with more relief than he'd ever felt in his life thus far. "You are not wounded, praise God."
She smiled a little, slyly. "Then it worked."
Ben swallowed uneasily, "Felicity, what were you thinking-"
"Wait, Ben. Is he dead?"
He knew who she meant right away. All eyes turned toward Reginald Forsythe's body, over which stood Lazlo and Constable Poon, the two of which were feeling for a pulse in the young lord's neck. Laz raised his head and looked at them in turn. "He's still alive. Heartbeat is weak...breathing is fading, so he seems to be dying. He's lost a considerable amount of blood from the shot to his chest." Laz looked at Felicity and half-smiled. "You're quite a shot, Miss!"
"Indeed!" agreed the constable, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"Get me up," Felicity wheezed, beginning to move. "Hurry. I want to see him."
Elizabeth bit her bottom lip. "Really, Felicity, perhaps you shouldn't..."
"I'm fine, Beth. I need to do this. Ben, help me."
Ben wasn't about to argue. He could deny her nothing, never could. He was so thankful to God for Felicity's life that he wasn't about to protest anything she demanded. He helped her to her feet and held to her firmly as she walked unsteadily over to Forsythe's form. Laz and the constable had rolled him onto his back. Now that she and Ben were standing over the dying fop, they could see his chest heaving, the blotch of red getting bigger and bigger as it spread forth from the hole that Felicity's shot had made in the heart area. His face had turned grey, his eye lids fluttered uncontrollably.
One of his weakening hands had come up to his chest as if he were trying to grab at it.
"Reginald?" Felicity said, rather than just merely ask, as if she were addressing a child who's attention had wandered, "Reginald, I know you can hear me. Open you eyes, Reginald, and look at me."
He made a short, breathless grunting sound and fluttered his eyelashes convulsively. The beady hazel eyes managed to open and fixate on her.
"I want you to see me, Reginald. I am with Ben. In spite of all that you have done to me, to my family, and to my friends, I am still alive and I am going to marry Ben and have the happy life that you tried to destroy. Ben and I are going to be married and I am going to give birth to many of his children one day. His and mine. I want you to understand that nothing can stop love from overcoming all odds. I want you to see that all of this was useless, Reginald, because the love that Ben and I share is stronger than your vile insanity."
Felicity felt Ben's forehead pressed to the side of her temple, so all she had to do was turn her head ever so slightly to meet his lips in a tender kiss.
On the ground, Reginald Forsythe's beady eyes grew wide. He suddenly spasmed crazily then went completely still, rigid, then at last death took him and he went limp, the hand that had attempted in vain to clutch at his chest fell to the side, and his eyes remained wide open and staring up.
Lord Covington ambled over to the staring constable and inquired, " Well, my friend, is there any point in making a case out of this?"
Felicity looked up at the constable and held her breath.
"After all," Lord Eric said with a brilliant grin, "I am a duke: I can make life very difficult for you."
Constable Poon nodded, a half-smile upon his face. "Without a doubt, your grace. Quite actually, I see no crime having been commited here. In my opinion, justice was served." He nodded to Felicity, who was breathing a sigh of relief right along with Ben. "You're free, young Miss."
Elizabeth stepped back over to Felicity and hugged her confidently, then Arthur hugged her, then finally Ben, who did more than just squeeze her thin frame, but proceeded to sweep her feet off the ground as he kissed her cheek loudly. Eveyone seemed to breathe immense sighs of relief, as though a great weight had been lifted from the entire place, not just its inhabitants.
Lord Eric strolled back over to Ben and Felicity and beamed joyfully for them. "I am pleased to see that your nightmare is finally over, my dear! And you know what? I do believe a celebration of sorts is in order. The timeing is perfect- justice has been served, you will soon be going home to reunite with your family, then soon to be married if all goes well with the both of you, I would like to welcome my son home and celebrate your happiness by hosting a ball! What say you to that?"
"A ball!" exclaimed Elizabeth delightedly, clasping Arthur's arm. "How wonderful!"
Felicity was still in Ben's amorous clutches, for he refused to put her down on her feet. "That would be...well, splendid, your grace, but other than for your son's home-coming I feel that it would be a little too-"
"Oh nonsense!" Eric said, his words matching Maggie's expression. "We have all been in a state of melancholy for all sorts of reasons for quite some time! I grow weary of it. My son is coming home, and you, my young friends, have come to the end of quite a bit of suffering! If those two reasons alone are not reason enough for a party, I do not know what else is!"
But Lettie is still not found, Felicity thought forlornly, but she could not refuse the duke's enthusiasm and joy, for it was very contagious, and he had been most kind to her. "But my lord, we are not prepared for such a thing-none of us came here expecting a ball."
"Looking for a reason to hang on to your gloom, Miss Merriman?" Eric taunted playfully. "I'll wager you will not be successful in that endeavor, for there are gowns aplenty in the chests of my fair Evangeline!"
Felicity gasped. "Your Grace! Lady Evangeline's gowns? Oh, I am not worthy, they are too fine-!"
"Can you not shush?" Eric inquired, grinning broadly. "They are not doing anyone a bit of good lying in darkness where they are, unworn and sentenced to fade from beauty. I will hear no more protest. You and Miss Cole are free to chose from Evangeline's things as you see fit. I do believe the both of you sport as appealing a figure as my Eve did, if you'll pardon my saying so. Maggie will assist you in choosing whatever gowns fit your fancies."
Both Felicity and Elizabeth blushed crimson.
"And as for you two lads," the duke said to Ben and Arthur, "I do believe that between Laz and I, we have clothing to suit your tastes as well. There is no reason for anyone to shun this party!" He lifted his chin nobly, smiling victoriously over the matter. "Because I am the duke-"
"And you could make life very difficult for those who oppose you," finished Felicity, grinning irresistibly.
"Exactly."
"How novel!" declared Arthur Pratt, his blue eyes dancing. "I have been absolutely itching to try that maze, your grace-"
"The maze!" Eric turned toward the gardens, suddenly inspired. " What an excellent notion, Mr. Pratt! 'Tis been years since I've had a gala where the guests could attempt to get through the maze! Why, the last time there was such a thing, Evangeline posted a prize to be won for the first couple who made it through!"
"Er, would that not make you sad?" Felicity inquired uncertainly.
Eric chuckled softly, sentimentalism in his eyes. "Oh goodness no, my dear. The time for sadness is past. I know Eve would want me to be happy and look after our son, as well as my guests. She loved a good party more for the chance to provide happiness for her friends than for the primping and preening that goes into it. No, Felicity, this will be a happy occasion. I know she would approve."
When he said it, Felicity believed him and was glad of it, for she had long been feeling the opposite of herself as well. 'Twas draining to the soul to be down-hearted and angry all of the time. She was finally feeling a need to try at least to regain her former self. If she could not, or refused to even try, then Reginald Forsythe would truly have dominion over her once more, even from beyond the grave. She hadn't noticed that Lazlo and one of the groundskeepers had removed Forsythe's lifeless body until she happened to glance over at the spot where he had lain. And good riddance!
"No, your grace, I do not see how we could refuse," she admitted with a smile that made Ben Davidson's heart soar.
"Well then, 'tis settled!" Lord Eric clapped Constable Poon on the shoulder as everyone began to move indoors. "Now you and your wife will attend this ball of mine, won't you, Constable?"
"I am quite sure I can manage," replied with a laugh.
Eric looked back at Maggie. "Maggie, dear, will you please see to it that Miss Merriman is indeed well? That was quite a punch to her stomach there, and I would rest easier knowing she was completely sound."
"Of course!" Maggie made shooing gestures at Ben. "Just you take the young lady to her room, young man, and leave us be so that I can examine her."
"Oh Maggie, really, I'm fine!" Felicity protested.
"So you say. But you are in the clutches of your fellow here..."
"Ben is carrying me because I cannot stop him from doing so." She looked at Ben and couldn't help but smile.
"That's right, pretty Lissie. You cannot rid yourself of me. Consider my carrying you a favor to your tired feet."
"My feet are not tired!"
"Of course they are," Ben told her, winking. "You just do not know it yet."
"To her room, please, ," Maggie ordered, shaking her head at the silliness of young love. But she grinned because that silliness was a rare and divine feeling.
Ben carried her all the way inside, up the stairs and to her room-their room, as he thought of it- where he sat her down on their bed and stood back, looking down at her uncertainly. "I can stay if you want me to," he offered hopefully.
"No, Ben, I'm fine, truly. Maggie will look me over and then you can come back in."
"That is right," agreed Maggie, in her stern, motherly fashion. "Now shoo!"
Ben's mouth twisted in torn consideration. "Well...I will be just outside the door if you need me, Lissie. I won't be far away."
It would have been easy for her to scold him, to criticize him being overly-protective and worrying over nothing, but she didn't. His relentless attentions were actually satisfying. He was still drowning in guilt over the way he had treated her all those months ago, but how could she blame him for that? He knew he had done her wrong, he knew he was guilty; it would be unforgivable if he didn't. She found herself still wanting to hold on to her anger, just a little while longer, but every moment spent alone with him softened her heart more and more. He wanted to make things right between them, wanted to atone for his actions, which was good.
But Felicity wanted him to be uncertain of her just a wee bit longer.
She smiled at him tolerantly. "I know, Ben. It will not take long."
He gave her a longing look, glanced at Maggie, then shuffled out as slowly as he could, even closing the door behind him slowly as well. Hoping that she would call him back, no doubt. She chuckled to herself. Then she winced. Oh, her stomach did hurt like it had been punched! How did soldiers ever endure being shot? She had an extremely heavy cast-iron pan between her and a death-bullet, but that had still winced, putting a hand against her belly.
"Let me help you get that dress off, dearie, and we'll have a look at your stomach to make sure ye aint hurt too bad." Maggie reached behind her to start on her laces.
"I know I'm not bleeding, because there is not blood on my clothes, but it just feels like I've been kicked by a cow!"
Maggie paused. "Ye've been kicked by a cow before?"
"Oh no, I just meant-ow, it hurts to laugh! 'Twas an exaggeration."
"Ah, so I see. I was beginning to imagine what sort of situation a girl could be in to get herself kicked by a cow!"
Felicity snorted. She stood up to step out of her dress and petticoat, then Maggie pulled down the bed covers, so that Felicity could pull her shift up and use the bed sheets to cover her lower self with, leaving her stomach exposed. After a few minutes of staring up at the ceiling as Maggie felt gently around the sore area of her stomach, Felicity swallowed and asked, "So am I in need of a doctor?"
"As far as I can tell, no. Ye've got yourself a wholesome bruise started there, but there's no broken skin. I can make you up a salve for the bruise tonight. I would be more concerned with how bony ye've gotten! By rights, I ought to bake you a cake, sit you down in front of it, an' make you sit there until ye eat every crumb of it!" She pulled Felicity's shift back down over her stomach. "You can get up now, dear."
The two women heard a rather forced cough right outside the door. Ben apparently wanted them to remember that he was still out there, waiting. Maggie rolled her eyes. "That young man of yours hovers more than a bee!"
"I don't mind," Felicity said with a touch of smugness in her voice. "He has a lot of hovering to make up for."
"Puttin' him through his paces, eh?"
"Exactly."
"Good for you, dearie." She handed Felicity her dress and petticoats back. "Ye want some help getting laced back up?"
"No thank you, Maggie. Send Ben back in, he'll be glad to!"
"If'n he aint worn a hole in His Grace's oriental carpeting!" Maggie and Felicity laughed a little, only to hear Ben call through the door, "Is she all right?"
The two women guffawed. Felicity got up again and stepped back into her dress. "Please, send him back in before he does wear a hole in His Grace's fine oriental carpet!"
Just as soon as Maggie opened the door, Ben was there, ready to step inside. The older woman had to put a hand up to stop him from running right into her. "Just you calm yourself down, lad! The young miss is fine. She is going to have a nasty bruise on her belly for a while, but that in time will fade, as all good bruises do. You just behave and treat her gently!"
Ben blushed intensely and gulped. "But I'm not-that is, Felicity and I are not-I would never-"
"So see to it that you don't!" Maggie ordered, her pointy finger aimed at him threateningly. "The duke may be lenient when it comes to young lovers, but I am not! Don't ye be doing anything matrimonial while you're still un-wedded!"
"Yes ma'am. I mean, no ma'am, I won't."
Maggie favored him with a skeptical look, even though she sidled past him out into the hall. "Supper will be late, but it will still be. I expect to see you both downstairs shortly."
"Yes ma'am." Ben still looked like he'd been caught with his fingers in the pie, but when he heard felicity snicker wickedly, he grinned, shut the door behind him as he quickly came in, and all but leaped onto the bed beside her, his enthusiasm as uncontained as his relief that she was all right. He immediately reached for her, pulling her into a manic embrace so hard that Felicity could feel his heart beaitng against her chest.
"Ben, you're squishing me..."
"I know, I know!" He kissed her temple good and hard, then drew back to gaze at her. "What were you thinking, my Lissie, coming out of the kitchen like that?"
She shrugged indifferently. "That this had to end, and had to this hour. And I was thinking that I could not let him shoot you."
"Even if I deserved it?"
"Ben, I was not thinking that you 'deserved it.' "
"I was." Her sounded serious then, looking at her with emotional brown eyes.
Felicity sighed tolerantly and took his face into her hands. "If it will make you feel any better, I insist that no one has a right to discipline you but me."
He smiled, a little humbly. "Aye. That makes me feel loads better." He held her gloved hands to his chest. "But Lissie, how did you know that he would shoot you?"
"Because I know him. Knew him, rather. Reginald was in a situation where he no longer had anything to lose. He could be as reckless and insane as he dared to be. I just sensed that he wanted a final end to all of this just as much as I did, only his version of the end was much different than mine." She shrugged again. "He was desperate. As much as I hate to say it, I know what that feels like, to want a horrible situation to end so bad that you don't care how it ends just as long as it does." Her gaze fell to her still sore wrists. "That is how those cuts came to be."
"Oh Lissie, my beautiful girl," Ben murmured, drawing her to him again, this time alying the both of them down on their sides facing one another. He stroked her cheek with a firm, affectionate hand. "I could have lost you tonight! He could've killed you! Killed us. There would be no life for me without you!"
"I really wish you would stop saying things like that," she told him sleepily all of a sudden.
" 'Tis true!"
"I'll wager that ten years from the time we are married you will be thinking otherwise."
"So you will marry me?" Joyful hope made his heart start racing again.
Felicity rolled her eyes and grinned uncontrollably. "Guess I'll have to now, just to prove my point!"
"I can tell you right now that I could and will never tire of you, Felicity Davidson, not now, not ever! I've had my sights set on you even before I joined the Army, and now that both of our wars are over, I am going to fulfill my destiny and make you my wife!" When she did not reply right away, he studied her face, her gentle smile and weary eyes, then added, "Dont you see yet that we were mean to be man and wife, Lissie? We were bonded as youngsters so that our destinies would be made clear to us as we got older, as we were separated those five years. Our love has survived war, interference by those who prefer us torn apart, even survived my own stupidity! If we can survive all of that, then it is all too clear!"
"But Ben, what if you feel differently after we have been married for awhile? What if you realize that it was just in the heat of the moment? That despite loving me as a friend, all you felt otherwise was only lust? I fear that you will wish you had given yourself the chance to court other girls. To explore your options. And then you will grow to hate me for being the woman you ended up chained to for the rest of your life, because divorce is unacceptable."
"Lord God, Lissie, I would never think any of that!" He raised his head and looked at her with such worry and surprise that it made her bite her lip. "I know I have given you ample reason to not trust me, but time will show you that I mean what I say. I mean what I pledge to you! Nothing has ever been so clear to me in my life! Loing you and taking you for my wife is as clear to me as my own name. You can trust in me again, Lissie. You'll see." After a moment he asked worriedly, "Are you thinking that you will have made a mistake in marrying me?"
"No, Ben," she said softly, pulling him back down and close to her. "I know that I will love being your wife for always. I just fear fate. It has not been kind to us lately, you know. I fear that anything that seems to be too good to be true, well, is."
Feeling a little more reassured, he settled back down beside her, holding her close as if he dared the universe itself to try and take her away from him. "Time will ease your worries, pretty Lissie. You will find your way back to yourself again and see that our future will be wonderful, just as we had imagined it. It is all right that you do not have faith right now. I understand. I have faith for the both of us. Forsythe is dead and gone now. Our future belongs to us once again, and forever this time. You will see."
Laying so snug in his tight embrace made Felicity feel as if he just might be right. There would be no one to come between then ever again. But she still did not trust fate. She was certain that she would be unable to trust the future until the moment a preacher pronounced them husband-and-wife before God amidst all of their family and friends. She wanted to trust Ben's prophetic words so badly.
Ben was right about one thing, though: only time would tell.