Chapter 50
Jenny turned back with a sick look on her face and said, "I would vomit!"
The other patrons around her didn't react well to hearing that, and Joe could only turn away so he couldn't see her pain.
When she'd left Jacob's study Mary had wondered where she should go. She hoped that he would follow her to propose as she prayed he would, but where did she want that to happen? The quilting chamber was a place she felt comfortable and at peace, but it was a public chamber and therefore anyone could wander in at anytime. This, though, should be a private moment between them if or when it happened. That thought made the choice for her and Mary headed to her own chamber.
Only about twenty minutes had gone by from the time she left the study until there was a polite clearing of a throat at the entrance to her chamber followed by Father's voice asking, "Mary, may I come in?"
"You may," she answered from her rocking chair near the end of her bed. As Jacob entered she placed her knitting in her lap and indicating the chair across from her asked, "Would you like to sit down?"
He came up next to her chair and said, "Mary, my dear sweet Mary, I do not know how you can be so kind to a bumbling old fool like myself. I do so apologize for making the assumption that you would marry me in front of Vincent like that. You are correct in your assertion that I should have asked you." At that point, he stopped speaking and very slowly began to lower himself to one knee with the help of his cane.
"Jacob, you do not need to kneel, I know how painful that would be for you. Sitting in a chair is fine with me."
When he was down on one knee, he told her, "The pain this will cause is minor when compared to what I must have caused you by my inconsiderate faux pas earlier. Will you please forgive me for that?"
"Yes Jacob, I will," she said softly.
"Now please keep that answer in mind as I finally put forth the question that I should have before telling Vincent what I did." After taking a pause he continued, "Mary will you do me the very great honor of marrying this cantankerous old man?"
She answered him just as she had a moment before, with a gentle and loving smile, "Yes Jacob, I will."
"Thank you Mary, I will strive to become the husband that you deserve," he told her as he struggled to his feet.
"Jacob, I fell in love with the man that you are, I don't want you to change."
He smiled at her and nodded even though he was privately making a vow to himself to be less stodgy in the future. "Maybe we should return to the hospital chamber now?" he suggested.
"That might be a good idea," she agreed, getting to her feet to follow him.
When they entered the chamber, Peter turned and gleefully asked, "Well, what did she say?!"
Catherine and Vincent could tell by the light pink coloring Mary's cheeks what the outcome had been, but Devin was demanding, "What did who say about what?!"
"I believe your Pop, as you call him, finally got around to popping a certain question," Peter replied.
"Huh?!" Devin inquired, really no closer to a clue than he had been.
"What Peter is so ambiguously referring to is that I have proposed to Mary and she has said yes," Father replied.
"Proposed what?!" Devin wanted to know.
Rebecca leaned over and not so quietly informed him, "Marriage Devin! Marriage!"
Everyone but Father and Mary laughed at the shocked look on Devin's face. The other two were much too worried about how he would take the news to share in the enjoyment.
When Devin could finally speak, he blurted out, "You have to be kidding?! At your age? What's the point?!"
Before he could go any farther with his comments, Rebecca reached out and covered his mouth with her hand. "Devin! When will you ever learn to curb your tongue?!"
To be continued…..