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“If ever I heard an offer of marriage from you, I would laugh before the words finished leaving your mouth.” “And I’d hope Uncle would send for the doctor because surely I would be suffering from an episode of madness.”
Marigold was stubborn and impossible—yet somehow, the tiniest root of begrudging admiration had taken hold inside me.
I tried to throw my hands over my head to protect myself, but—he was there. Tristan. I could feel his body above mine. Shielding me.
blew out a breath. Now I knew why Uncle had avoided remarrying for so long. I could not think of any compelling reason a man would willingly enter into the entrapment of marriage.
That scar meant I had survived. That I had people who loved me enough to dig through the night to reach me. I decided right then that every time I noticed my scar, I would say a prayer of gratitude for each and every blessing that I had.
How I wished we could be like Mama and Papa. They did not always agree on everything, of course. But it was how they disagreed that made the difference. They sought to understand one another’s perspective from a point of love, and from there compromise inevitably came.
“You are determined,” I said softly, my voice just barely audible above the strains of the violins. “You are talented. You love more fully and deeply than I can ever imagine. It terrifies me, in fact. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone the way you love.”
“You said you take our engagement seriously, Tristan. I want to as well. Perhaps it is time to stop assuming the worst and instead try to see each other for who we are, rather than who we think the other is.”
“It is certainly not the life I dreamed of,” I said, laughing softly. “But I am beginning to think it is the one I should have wanted all along.”
“Marigold,” he said fiercely, “I am to be your husband. I will stand by your side, no matter the battles you face. You will never be alone. Not now. Not ever.”
“I know I was not your first choice, or even your hundredth. But you are mine, Marigold. My first and only choice. And I’ll choose you every day, without pause, for the rest of my life.”
