The Threat

"What was your conversation?" Without asking I know, but still voice the question. Étienne asked me to marry him this afternoon. He is respectful enough to ask father's blessing beforehand. Now I will find out father's opinion of the matter of my heart.

"He asked to marry you." Father stares at me, analyzing my every move to divine my thoughts on the subject.

"What did you tell him?" Will he have given his blessing? It is hard for me to imagine that Étienne would have asked without my father's blessing.

"I made it clear that it is your decision. How could I say no to a Marquis?" He responds.

"Then you are against us marrying?" I inquire. My father's face contorts.

"I am against you being forced into a marriage." I try to bite back my remarks about what happened the last time I was proposed to. Where was this protective side? At the time we knew that the highest tittle my fiancé could have was Baron. Why is he going against a Marquis now?

I sigh trying to know how to phrase my questions without offending my father. "What if I have no objection to him?"

My Father chuckles a little, before turning serious to saying "I don't want you to be flattered or forced into a marriage. Don't say yes just because he offers you a dress, nor a horse, nor even a castle."

"You think Elene was to bribe me?" I struggle to keep my mouth from dropping in surprise. He has misread my feelings, and Étienne's, to such a startling degree.

"The timing is suspicious." Father confirms.

"Father, do you know how we `met?" Maybe he will understand if I explain.

"After the Baron's death. You are emotionally needy right now, and he is paying attention to you, but you know nothing of his character." He adds his last sentence as an explanation for my feelings. It irks me that he thinks he knows my state of mind. Yes, he is my Father, but he doesn't know the whole story.

"We met before that. He stayed here, at the inn, the day I got the proposal. I was hurt and felt like I couldn't talk to anyone about my feelings on the subject. We snuck out of the inn and discussed his fear of returning home, and my fear of the wedding."

"Then you knew who he was?" Father asks.

"No, we spoke like friends, yet strangers." I try to convey the feeling of strange intimacy of that night, into words, but fall short.

"Why didn't he stop it?" He pointedly asks.

"He didn't realize I was marrying his father and thought I would choose to protect my family over myself." Why is he so wary, and critical towards Étienne?

"He could have said something later."

"Would you have been willing to defy your father so publicly?"

"No" He concedes.

"He assumed my feelings, and there have been consequences because of that. You are doing the same thing now."

"What?" He asks, affronted.

"You assume I need to be coerced into a relationship with Étienne. I don't. I fell in love…" I become more animated, gesturing with my hands to emphasis words.

"You love him?" Father interrupts me.

"Yes, and I was willing to run away with him if he had waited the morning after the proposal." I try to calm down, folding my hands into my lap.

"You would have run away?" The shock and horror on his face surprise me.

"With you and mother as well. He offered it as a solution to the proposal. I wasn't sure last we had talked, and he was sure I would protect you."

"Were you going to leave with him?"

"Yes, and no. He had said he could protect my family without giving specifics. I would have had to trust him, so I had chosen a few questions. His responses would have decided the outcome, including what would have happened if we are better friends then lovers."

"Is there still a way for you to break off your ties with him without retribution?"

"Of course. I have expressed my concern about how confused I was after what happened with the Baron. He doesn't push me, but tries to make me feel better, to laugh. He doesn't force our relationship, letting me take the lead. I want to marry him, but I am not ready."

"He already asked?"

"We talked about it this afternoon, and if I would even want to marry him. I said I do, but I am not ready to be a Marquess. He suggested Charlotte teach me, and she has agreed to."

"Is that your only qualm with the match?"

"Yes, he is perfect for me in every other way. He is considerate, and doting, without being smothering. He lifts me up to be better without making me feel like less. I want that for the rest of my life."

"Will there be problems as you are his father's widow?"

"That marriage holds nothing in the eyes of the law."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we had looked into it back in Torcy."

"If you are certain of your choice, I have nothing against the Marquis."

"You were singing his praises the other day." I stand and walk around the desk to stand next to Father.

"That was before I realized his intentions towards you." He grumbles. I giggle at his sullenness.

"All is well, Father." I kiss his cheek before I head to the door.

"If he ever hurts you…" He leaves the threat unsaid, but I know that Father wants to protect me, and this time he feels that he can.