Alexandra

Chapter Twenty Two

Allie's head began swimming with thoughts, mostly of Richard. She was overcome by the odd urge to seek him out and speak to him, although she knew she was not likely to have the courage to mention to him what Cassie said. Judging by the knowing look in her sister's eyes, Cassie knew exactly what Allie was thinking of.

"Go." She urged, laughing shortly, "Speak to him. It is rather obvious that you wish to." Cassandra teased and, not for the first time, Alexandra wished her sister didn't know her as well as she did.

After quickly kissing the children, Allie hunted about the house for Richard who, she was surprised to find, had taken refuge in the library, a large, rather uninteresting looking tome open on the table in front of him, open only on the first page. He clearly found it as boring as it appeared.

"What exactly are you reading?" Alexandra asked, amused. She knew him not to be one for long, detailed treatises on dry subjects, and that was exactly what the book appeared to be.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, for she had crept quietly into the room, hardly loud enough for him to have heard even if he had not been lost in thought. With a short smile that was soon followed by a grimace as her question registered, he shut the book so that she might see the name on the heavy leather cover.

"Brandon's Essays on Morality and A Principled Living?" She demanded disbelievingly as she read the title out loud. "Why would you read such a thing?" She said in distaste, for the book was at least a thousand pages long and the writing was so awfully small and the subject so awfully boring that she could not imagine anyone, let alone Richard, willingly putting themselves through the ordeal of reading it.

"My father enjoyed it, for some reason." Richard explained, thoughtfully running a finger along the gold, indented letters of the title, carefully tracing each one as he spoke. "He marked some of the essays that he enjoyed and he wanted me to read them, but I never actually did for the sight of the jacket was enough to put me off. I thought that I might get some satisfaction if I finally did as he asked."

"That does make sense." Allie agreed, but found that she still could not align herself with the idea of reading a volume of considerable size that, presumably, preached about good conduct. "But, since you evidently are not able to read it at the moment, how about we read something much lighter?"

"Like what?" Richard scoffed, but he set aside Brandon's book immediately, making her smile. "Shakespeare?" His tone was derogatory, but she was suddenly inspired.

"And why not?" She challenged, hands on her hips. "What's wrong with Shakespeare? I happen to enjoy his work."

"Of course you'd enjoy reading about star-crossed lovers. Shakespeare is far too sentimental for me." Richard teased, and she made a face at him before informing him that she would now endeavour to find something by the Bard that might change his opinion.

It took her a few minutes, but she was eventually able to locate a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets, and the book immediately brought a smile to her face, for it was exactly like the copy she had at home. She adored Shakespeare's poetry, and she even knew her favourites by heart. If she hadn't know that he'd tease her to no end, she might even have recited them to Richard.

"Are you seriously going to read poetry to me?" He questioned when she returned and took a seat across from him, and she could tell he was highly entertained at the prospect. However, all she had to do was give him a dirty look for him to stop talking.

She cleared her throat, and opened the book to a familiar page, the poem bringing a smile to her face as she read the title in her mind before beginning.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

"What did you think of that?" She asked, a little proudly for she was sure she had changed his mind.

To her astonishment, however, he only shook his head, unconvinced, as he spoke, "Sentimental drivel. That's what I think it is. Is there really nothing else?"

"Well," Alexandra said reluctantly, as she turned the page to her favourite sonnet, unsure if she wished to share something so personal with him. But she did love him, and the poem was not just one of love but one of hope, too, and she wanted to share that with him. "This one is my favourite, so you are not allowed to laugh at it."

"When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur’d like him, like him with friends possess’d,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

She read it not as she had read the previous poem. With that one, she had emphasised where she was supposed to emphasise, had enunciated, and had forced passion into her tone, just as she had been taught. With this one, however, she read it how she felt, and subtle emotion entered her voice, adding a heaviness to the moment that she had not expected. She sighed softly when she was finished, and closed the book without even realising.

When she looked up, Richard was gazing at her intensely, with something in his eyes that she could not identify. Whatever it was, she knew her own gaze held it too. She looked into his eyes for a long moment, shivering as he reached his hand out across the table and placed it over hers.

"You just might have changed my opinion." He murmured softly, and his words fell upon her ears like a caress.

"Did I really?" She asked, not even aware of the words leaving her lips because all she was focused on was him. His eyes, his gaze, his lips. The rest of the world did not exist, and all that was there was the two of them.

"Alexandra," he began, lost in the moment exactly as she was, "Can I kiss you?"

"Yes." She breathed out, before her mind had even had time to register the question. Her heart had answered for her.

And, before she knew it, he was leaning across the table and she was doing the same, both of them clutching at each other's arms for support as their lips met. For a moment, she was not sure what she was supposed to do, but then she was kissing him back just as fiercely as he was kissing her, lips insistent and almost hungry.

It certainly wasn't perfect. The table between them dug into her ribs painfully and she could barely keep herself upright without his support and the kiss itself, lovely as it was, was still a little awkward. But it was theirs, and she loved it as much as she loved him. And, when he pulled away, she found herself leaning forward and kissing him again.

Suddenly, the library door banged open, and they separated, a flush rising to Allie's cheeks as she realised what she was doing. A blushing and stammering maid was standing in the doorway, an apology on her lips at having intruded.

Allie, however, caught herself before she embarrassed herself any further and quickly rose to her feet, hurrying from the room, her mind racing and lips tingling, leaving Richard to handle the situation.

All she knew was that she wanted to do it again.