Sometimes she felt that her heart would ssurely break. But she knew that hearts did not literally break because their owners were unhappy - and foolish. How dreadfully foolish she had been. Yet she clung to the memories as to a lifeline.
"You are planning to marry Miss Law?" his brother asked.
"I am." Rannulf looked at him warily.
"She is," Wulfric said, "despite the plainness of her dress and severity of her hair, quiet extraordinarily beautiful. You have always had an eye for such women."
"There is no one to compare to Judith Law," Rannulf said. "But if you think I see nothing but her physical beauty, Wulf, you are wrong."
"She has been something of a damsel in distress," Wufric said, "in more ways than one. The gallant urge to ride to the rescue can sometimes be mistaken for love, I believe."
"She has never behaved like a victim," Rannulf assured him. "And I am not mistaken. If you are about to recite all the ways in which she is not an eligible bride for me, Wulf, you may save your breath. I know them all and they make no difference whatsoever to my feelings for her. I have position, money, and prospects enough that I do not need a wealthy bride."
His brother did not comment.
"I take it, then," Rannulf said after some moments of silence, "that I will not have your blessing, Wulf?"
"Is it important to you?"
Rannulf thought for a moment. "Yes," he said at last, "It is. You frequently infuriate me, Wulf, and I will never allow myself to be dominated by you, but I respect you perhaps more than I respect anyone else I know. You have always done your duty, and sometimes you go the extra mile for one of us even when it must be distasteful or tedious for you to do it. Like the time a month or two ago, when you went to Oxfordshire to help Eve and Aidan regain custody of her foster children - the orphans of a lowly shopkeeper. And like what you have done for me today. Yes your blessing is important to me. But I will marry Judith with or without it."
"You have it," Wulf said softly.
But parents, she supposed, were not the pinnacle of perfection their children thought or expected them to be. They were humans who usually did the best they could but often made the wrong choices.
"You are planning to marry Miss Law?" his brother asked.
"I am." Rannulf looked at him warily.
"She is," Wulfric said, "despite the plainness of her dress and severity of her hair, quiet extraordinarily beautiful. You have always had an eye for such women."
"There is no one to compare to Judith Law," Rannulf said. "But if you think I see nothing but her physical beauty, Wulf, you are wrong."
"She has been something of a damsel in distress," Wufric said, "in more ways than one. The gallant urge to ride to the rescue can sometimes be mistaken for love, I believe."
"She has never behaved like a victim," Rannulf assured him. "And I am not mistaken. If you are about to recite all the ways in which she is not an eligible bride for me, Wulf, you may save your breath. I know them all and they make no difference whatsoever to my feelings for her. I have position, money, and prospects enough that I do not need a wealthy bride."
His brother did not comment.
"I take it, then," Rannulf said after some moments of silence, "that I will not have your blessing, Wulf?"
"Is it important to you?"
Rannulf thought for a moment. "Yes," he said at last, "It is. You frequently infuriate me, Wulf, and I will never allow myself to be dominated by you, but I respect you perhaps more than I respect anyone else I know. You have always done your duty, and sometimes you go the extra mile for one of us even when it must be distasteful or tedious for you to do it. Like the time a month or two ago, when you went to Oxfordshire to help Eve and Aidan regain custody of her foster children - the orphans of a lowly shopkeeper. And like what you have done for me today. Yes your blessing is important to me. But I will marry Judith with or without it."
"You have it," Wulf said softly.
But parents, she supposed, were not the pinnacle of perfection their children thought or expected them to be. They were humans who usually did the best they could but often made the wrong choices.
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