~26~
What is hope? A breeding awareness clinging to some invisible ledge garnering strength for desires unattainable and yet so blessedly possible? Or perhaps a debilitating disease gone undiagnosed that claws at the dents and cracks of one's subconscious, threatening to taint the unspoiled remains of unerring predictability?
For many, it is the latter.
For others, well... the former proves a more sophisticated surplus and onto this Aleksandr Garin held as he wandered along the footpath leading to the grandfather oak. The distant pond, flickering like a guiding glass light, reflected the uncertain rays of sunshine that seemed to mirror doctor's thoughts. He replayed the conversation back at the house for the fifth time since he'd set out, and Wade's baffled face with the unruly lock of hair in his eye came back to him.
"Idrie?!"
Wade turned from Lisabeth to the doctor with a look of sincere surprise. Garin convinced himself that if the young man's head suddenly fell from his shoulders, it would still swivel this way and that to observe its targets from the carpeted floor.
Lisabeth sighed, casting a gaze at her propped foot, before letting it wander about the room. Her eyes settled on the window seat where Lori had perched before her mother and father shooed her or the room.
"Yes, Wade, and can you really blame us for thinking it? "
"But I'm affianced to you, Lizzy."
The young woman snickered, drawing a smile from her betrothed. She flicked him in the nose.
"Not until two hours ago, silly."
"Really? I'd be willing to wager we were practically engaged from the day your discombobulated form rendered itself upon my father's sofa—"
They both snapped their gazes towards the doctor, who let out a light chuckle. Lisabeth narrowed an eye at the man.
"Something you find amusing, sir?"
He shook his head despite his growing smile.
"You two will never fail to amuse me, I think." He shook his dark head once more and moved towards the window. "How did I miss this?"
"Daddy would say you were too preoccupied with what was expected and obvious."
She wrinkled her nose.
"Funny, now that I think of it. Idrie would have said the same thing."
Idrie.
"I'm lucky to have gotten her for a sister," said Wade, his voice sounding distant as the doctor tried to grasp his words. "Although I get the feeling, I'll be on the receiving end of her scolding." He winced at the thought (and well he should, he discovered several years later when he and Garin got in a carriage accident because of his recklessness and Lori's fat bellied pig!)
But that's for another story.
The rolling ripples across the lake as the breeze floated with tender abandon pulled the doctor from his momentary reverie. He glimpsed the soft tendrils of blue satin floating in the wind and could hear Wade as he reflected once more.
"You should take a walk, Garin. You always adored windy days and the weather couldn't be any chipper, wouldn't you agree?"
Garin thought he heard a taunt somewhere in this information but was distracted by Lisabeth's soft voice as she threw a stern look at her betrothed before turning to the doctor.
"And bring me some wild flowers, could you? Today I imagine they'll sing more sweetly than ever. You shall be a brother to me, after all, since Wade considers you one. It is my sincere hope you appreciate the thought as much as I."
YOU ARE READING
Bride of Choice
Historical Fiction[Cover Design by Angel S.] Wade Lambert was known throughout the enchanting countryside of Harwickshire by friends and relatives alike to be the perfect epitome of trouble. And his handsome features and air of sophistication did not help matters as...
