Chapter 5
Three weeks later, Kate was getting anxious. Rick had not written her another letter or met her in the gardens. In fact, she had not seen or heard from him at all!
She wrote him many times and had Roy deliver them, but he never returned with a letter, only short messages.
Kate was starting to wonder if Rick loved her at all. Her eighteenth birthday was creeping closer and her father was pressuring her to choose from among her princely suitors. She gave half-answers and non-committal noises, but eventually, she would have to choose.
She was pondering which of the princes would be the least horrible husband when something tinged against her window.
Kate turned and looked, but nothing was there. Then, there was another ting.
She went and opened the window and looked down. There was Rick, standing beneath her window, throwing pebbles.
"Rick!" she breathed.
"My dearest lady," he began with his usual flair, "I haven't much time, but meet me in the gardens at a quarter past nine."
He turned to go, but Kate stopped him. "Please wait, Rick! Don't go! What's going on?"
"I'm sorry, m'lady. That's all I can spare. A quarter past nine, I'll see you there."
He disappeared among the garden paths and Kate felt emptier than before he had come, but his rhymes had made her smile. The curse of being a bard, he had said. And she had tonight to which to look forward.
Kate spent the rest of the day restless, waiting for the clock to strike a quarter past nine, so she could meet Rick. Finally, night fell and the clock struck the ninth hour. Kate dressed in her plainest gown and slipped out to the gardens.
The moon was full, so she didn't need her candle tonight. Her feet crunched along the gravel to the grotto where had Rick had taken her. As she got closer, she saw flickering candlelight. She stepped inside and gasped.
The whole grotto was full of snapping candlelight and Rick stood in the middle, holding a rose.
Kate fairly flew into his arms and he caught her around her waist. He kissed her before she could speak.
"Oh, Rick!" she cried. "I've been so lonely! You haven't written in so long and… my father wants me to choose one of the princes to marry, but I just want you! What are we going to do?"
Rick stepped back, their hands laced between them. He withdrew his left hand, leaving Kate holding the rose in her right hand. She feared she had driven him away, but then, holding her left hand in his, he knelt to the ground on one knee and pulled out a ring.
"Kate," he said. "I'm a writer and I spent hours trying to find the perfect words to tell you how much I love you, but I couldn't do it. But I do love you with everything I have and I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy. Will you marry me?"
Kate's hand was pressed to her mouth and her eyes brimmed with tears. "Oh, Rick! Yes, yes, I will marry you!"
He stood up and slid the ring on her left hand and then drew her in and kissed her.
When they had to break apart for air, Kate asked, "But what will my father think?"
"I think he'll be alright with it. After all, he gave me his blessing."
"He did? He's okay with it?" Kate was happily shocked.
"That's why I didn't write for so long," Rick explained. "I was trying to convince your father to let me ask you, but I knew if I wrote to you, I couldn't keep it a secret and I wanted to surprise you."
"It's the best surprise in the world," Kate said, crying tears of joy. She pulled her fiance in for another kiss.
