52. I'll Follow You

"Well young lady, I can tell you that you're going to be very, very rich someday," our family attorney sat down in his desk opposite Anthony and I. He was an older, heavy-set man who always wore a grey suit and light pale purple tie. I'd only met him a couple of times before; Anthony handled all our family dealings with him thus far. My eldest brother and I sat side-by-side on the other side of Mr. Lawyer's- no, I didn't remember his name- desk. Simon and Benedict were also in the room, waiting patiently in the wings to hear the verdict. I held my breath a bit as Mr. Lawyer shuffled through the Bridgerton file, pausing occasionally to study a page. When enough time had passed, I felt brave enough to interrupt the silence and ask.

"But the will…..?" Mr. Lawyer blinked up at me curiously. "Hmmmm? Oh, I'm sorry; there's nothing I can do. Your father had three attorneys look it over before he passed away. It's iron clad. Your funding for PhD will be available to you on your thirtieth birthday or at the time of your marriage- whichever comes first." I gazed downward and Anthony's hand reached over to take mine. "I'm sorry, Daphne," he gave me a sympathetic expression. I returned this with a meek smile. Well he tried at least; that's all I ever wanted him to do… And he did it for me. He's already proven his brotherly love for me over and over again. It's my turn to love him wholly in return, though I never stopped if I'm being completely honest. Simon and Benny also looked dismayed, although I knew that was only for my sake; made me love them all the more too, mind you.

Mr. Lawyer set the open folder down onto his desktop and glanced over to Simon. "And this is your fiancée, I take it?" He motioned to the duke with his pen. No one had said a word as to why Simon had accompanied us to the meeting, nor had the subject of marriage come up since that incident in the park yesterday. I suppose Mr. Lawyer simply assumed that Simon and I were engaged due to his presence in the room- and he wasn't wrong. I looked back at Simon from over my shoulder and smiled; a deep, very sincere smile. "Yes," I replied while looking at my future husband.

Simon's eyes grew, as did my brothers'. "Daphne…." The duke whispered more to himself than anyone else I'm sure. Then, without skipping a beat, he crossed the room over to behind my chair where he stuck his hand out. I immediately took it in mine, giving it a loving squeeze. His fingers wrapped around mine so warmly, so perfectly….. We stared at each other for another second, and not letting go of his hand I turned back to the puzzled-looking lawyer. He tapped his pen against the wood of the desk a few times.

"Oh, ok then. So you're going to marry the Duke of Hastings? Do you have a date for the wedding set yet?" "Erm, no; it just happened. We… just got engaged." "That's fine. It'll take a couple of months for your funding to be processed. You should sign all the legal paperwork as soon as possible; I can draft up the marriage contract if you'd like. But it'll take a few days…." "That's fine," I looked to Simon, who nodded in agreement, then to Anthony, who also nodded. Mr. Lawyer began scribbling down something, speaking as he did so. "Alright. Once that's all drawn up and dealt with, you can have the ceremony at your leisure." "Oh, I don't want a big ceremony," I meekly countered. This made him gaze up at me again surprised, but my face stayed firm. "I don't need a wedding or anything. I just wanna be with Simon- that's enough for me," I went on to explain myself. "Awe," Benny sighed from his corner of the room. After another minute of gawking at me in mild disbelief, Mr. Lawyer finished writing down whatever it was he was writing. "Ok; no formal wedding it is. Should be very straight forward, then. You'll each need witnesses- non-familial, of course- and I'll need your banking information."

My hand released Simon's to raise up a little like a child in the classroom; not sure why I did that. Just wanted to get Mr. Lawyer's attention again, which I did. "Um, actually that's the other thing I wanted to talk about. I would like to discuss setting up some reoccurring monetary transfer to the duke." But Simon shook his head sternly. "There's nothing to discuss. I will not except it," he stated with finality. I glanced up to him again. "But Simon…." "I do not need to be paid to marry you. This is the twenty-first century and the frankly insulting custom of dowries has gone out of fashion." "It's not a dowry, but there'll be some shared expenses and we may live apart for some time and…." "It does not matter; I do not need compensation for looking after my wife's needs, whatever they may be," Simon took my hand once more before continuing. He smiled gently down at me. "I will support you wholeheartedly from this day going forward. Your well-being is my responsibility now and I take that duty with the upmost seriousness. I don't need anything in return, especially your money."

No one made a sound for a moment, but there was a lot of noise happening inside me. I felt like my heart was exploding and melting all at the same time. When he says stuff like that…. I didn't know it was possible to be this happy. I mean, sure I was over the moon when I got my PhD offer, but this was an entirely different kind of joy- and I'm hesitant to call it inferior. How lucky am I….

To experience so much happiness of a variety of kinds?

We finished up with the lawyer, concluding that he'd draw us up a marriage contract ready to sign by the end of the week. We thanked him and exited Mr. Lawyer's office together. Once outside the door and into the hall, we collectively paused- more like froze. I think the four of us were still processing what just happened. None of us said anything immediately. Instead, Benny looked at Anthony, and smiled. Anthony looked at Simon, and smiled. Simon then looked at me, and smiled. I looked back at him, then over at my two brothers, flashing them each a progressively widening grin. This massive smile spread across my face by the time I turned back to Simon.

Anthony pulled this bottom of his blazer straight and cleared his throat. "Well then…." "So…." Benny replied. "So," Simon said back. "That went well," I added. They all gazed back my way, quiet for a second. Then Anthony grinned in this organic, pleased fashion. "Yes, that went surprisingly well."

"What should we do now?" Benny asked no one in particular. "We should head home. Daphne and I have to start sifting through family documents and locate the form to access her PhD funding," was our brother's response. "Want me to come help?" Simon offered, earning an immediate grin from me and Benny. Even Anthony couldn't stop smiling at his soon-to-be brother-in-law. He nodded his head. "Certainly, if you don't mind going through mountains of papers. Dad wasn't the most organized person on earth, and I haven't made much process in compiling it myself." "Heh, you can say that again," Benny chuckled, only to receive a swift glare from Anthony. Simon and I also chuckled, and then the duke casually shrugged. "I don't mind. It'll go faster if we're all there." "Yes, and besides, you're part of the family now, which means you don't get out of work," Benny joked. He said this, and I peered back over at Simon who was not looking at me this time. Part of the family…. My eyes lowered a tad. I like the sound of that…. So nice, and natural.

Anthony rolled his eyes, then spun his heels around ready to leave. "Come on. We only have so much time to find those documents, and we have three wall-high file-cabinets to sort through." "Alright, let's go home. Come on you two love birds," Benny motioned with his hand for us to follow them. That's when Simon glanced my way again, and I his. Neither of us moved an inch, but the mood felt calm and peaceful. Eventually Simon's lips parted softly.

"Daphne….." "Simon." "Are you sure this is what you want? Will you be happy….. married to me?" Oh Simon, I felt my eyes nearly start to tear up with the purest pleasure known to humankind. This smile blossomed across my lips so subtly and profoundly…. "How could I not be happy… when I'm marrying the best of the best? I'm the one who won the marriage lottery here, Simon; I've won…. Yes, I'm absolutely sure; there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever. None….." All it takes is one look at you, and it all suddenly disappears.

Simon merely watched me for a moment- a long moment. Without words, he held out his hand for me, which I took right away. His eyes finally lowered in the most passionate, most absorbing, adoring way imaginable. "I meant what I said yesterday…." "Huh?" I perked up confused. He simply held my hand tighter, looking me right in the eye. "About loving you more… most. I've known what it's like to hate a person, but for the first time in my life… I'm beginning to understand what it's like to love too. I used to think it would be impossible for me to love anyone, because it would be too much like hate…. It's so hard to constantly hold onto hate. I thought that love would also be difficult…. like endless hard work. But you… You've shown me it's nothing like that- nothing like that at all," he chuckled very, very softly.

"If falling in love is the easy part of a relationship, then I must fall in love with you each time I look at you. Again and again….."

My jaw dropped a little. "S-Simon…." His hand gripped mine tighter. "Come with me, Daphne. Come….." God, I love him. How did I grow…. to love him this much? My foot slid toward him a little. "I'll come…. Wherever you'll go, I'll go too." And he shook his head in a gentle manner. "No, it is you who is going to lead. Go to Amsterdam or Brussels- it does not matter. I'll follow you anywhere….. From now on, it is I who'll follow you.

You're the one who's going to spread those lovely wings of yours and fly."