Chapter 1 #2
She couldn’t even say if they meant to do the same for her.
Likely, they did not. But Alison only ever wanted the best for those she cared about, and regardless of how they treated her, she intended to treat them as any sister would her siblings.
And maybe then they would accept her as one of their own.
It took fifteen minutes of searching before Alison finally came upon what she knew would be her first purchase.
She found it at a stall which was so small and non-descript that she very nearly walked right by without stopping.
But it caught her eye, she came to a sudden halt, pulled her coat tighter as the cool breeze struck her, and beamed because the second that she saw said future-purchase she just knew that it would be perfect for little Winnie.
And what was this perfect gift? It was a music box.
“Oh, this is…” Alison’s eyes lit up as she came closer. The music box was painted pure white and decorated with hand-crafted inlays of woodland animals. “… gorgeous. Excuse me!” She caught the eye of the seller, an old lady who wore so many coats and shawls that she was rounder than she was taller.
“Yes, dear?” the old lady shuffled toward her.
“How much is this music box?” Alison asked.
“Oh-ho!” The old lady’s eyes lit up. “You have quite the eye – that is the last one. A most popular item, I do say. I have sold five today already, and each sold is sure to find a place of worship and adoration in the eyes of the buyer. Yes, they are.”
Alison’s smile grew with a sense of accomplishment. “How much did you say?”
“For you, dear, because I like your smile…” The old lady considered. “One pound, and that is you robbing me.”
Alison sucked through her teeth, caught off guard by the cost. As the daughter of an Earl, money wasn’t exactly tight… but she did not usually spend without consideration. The music box was truly beautiful, however, and she just knew how much Winnie would love it.
“You have a deal!” Alison nodded to herself, and then she got about fingering through her purse as she counted out the money owed. “And here we are – oh!”
It was just as Alison looked up from her purse, coins in hand, that she spied a rogue gloved hand reaching around her and snatching up the music box which she was right now in the middle of purchasing.
“How much for the music box?” a deep voice asked.
“Oh!” Alison started. “Excuse me, but I am acquiring that.” She followed the hand up the arm and to the body that it sprung from.
And as she did, her eyes widened because the frame of the speaker was large and thick and towering so that she felt the sudden need to take a step back. “If you do not mind,” she added weakly.
“Is that so?”
Her neck craned up so that she found the speaker’s face, and that was when her mouth dropped open before she could help herself. And as it did, her heart began to race.
His face was like something one might see carved from stone, all sharp lines of perfect symmetry with a jutting jaw like an anvil.
A heavy brow. Full lips. Brown hair that was wild and tousled in the wind.
But it was his eyes that had her gaping, dark brown and serious like a storm in winter.
He held those eyes on her. There was no humor behind them, and Alison had to fight the urge to apologize and run for the hills.
“I – it is…” She stammered, shaking her mind clear because she found it hard to focus under the intensity of his stare. “I was just about to pay for it, in fact.”
“You were?”
“I was.” A firm nod to confirm the matter.
Alison figured that would be the end of it. She did, after all, have the coins in her hand, and the old lady had verified that she was its buyer. Surely, any man would see the situation and realize that by rights the proper thing to do was apologize and leave her be.
“But you have not purchased it yet,” the man said.
Alison blinked in surprise. “I… well, no. Not yet, but I was just about –”
“So, it is still for sale.” He raised a dismissive eyebrow at her and turned to the seller as he held out the music box clutched in a large pair of hands. “How much?”
“Ah…” The old lady looked between the two. “I was just saying… one pound is the asking price.”
“Seems fair.” The man put the music box down and reached for his own purse.
“Now, wait a moment!” Alison attempted to stand up to the would-be thief. “I have just told you that I was intent on purchasing this music box. Surely, you realize that it is mine by rights?”
“Rights?” The man frowned at her. “And what rights are those, exactly? The item is for sale, and I wish to buy it.”
“But I was going to buy it!”
“And yet here it sits, still unpurchased.” He turned from Alison, as if that solved the matter, and focused on the old lady. “I will give you two pounds to end the matter.”
“Ah…” The old lady glanced from one to the other. “I really do not –”
“I will give you two pounds also!” Alison hurriedly retrieved the extra coins from her purse. “And then, I expect to receive an apology from this gentleman.” She raised both eyebrows at the man, all the while trying to ignore the way her body trembled.
His frown deepened. “Apology? For what, exactly?”
“For trying to steal what I have rightfully bought.”
“But you haven’t bought it yet,” he responded coolly. “Hence, the argument. Now, if you do not mind…” He reached for the music box again.
“Wait!” Alison grabbed the man’s forearm. She felt his muscles stiffen in her grip and her eyes widened. Still holding onto him, she carefully looked up, certain he would be furious, but finding instead amusement in his eyes. Flustered by this, she dropped his arm.
“How about this? I might be willing to forgive your act of physicality against me, if you drop this nonsense and go on your merry way.”
“I most certainly will not,” she said. “I was here first.”
“And yet still the music box remains free of purchase. Perhaps if you were more committed to the endeavor, this entire thing would have been avoided.”
“I only arrived a second before you!”
“So hardly anytime at all,” he said. “Hardly enough to justify ownership.”
“That is not… you are being purposefully… I need it!” She tried, almost begged as if that would make a difference. “It is for my younger sister.”
“As I wish to buy it for my sister. Should she miss out because you were too slow?”
“Sister?” Alison scrunched her face into a scowl. “Are you sure it is not for you? It is a rather pretty music box. Perhaps you want it for yourself?”
He groaned and she could see his growing frustration as his dark eyes narrowed. “You are not going to give in, are you?”
“If you knew me at all, you would know that you will have to tie me up if you mean to stop me.”
“Alas, I left my rope at home.”
“A sad day for you then.” She glared ruefully at the man, refusing to back down even an inch.
It was a strange feeling that came upon Alison as she stood up to the random would-be buyer. On the one hand, she should have been furious that he was trying to take what was rightfully hers. He was arrogant. Condescending. And he looked at her as if she was a petulant child in need of discipline.
However, she could also not help but feel… it was hard to say exactly. When she met his eyes, her heart fluttered. When she saw his scowl, her pulse raced. And the way he stood over her, as if he was the arbiter of the storm which slowly descended upon the markets, made her knees tremble.
The market was forgotten. The old lady seemed to vanish. It was just she and him, staring one another down, a battle of wills and stubborn determination.
“Let us be honest here,” the man said with an annoyed sigh. “What is it going to take for me to see the back of you?”
“Not much at all,” she shot back sharply. “I will even forgo the need for you to apologize, so long as when you see the back of me, I have this music box in my hands.”
“You really are…” He pressed his lips together. “Unyielding.”
“And what does that make you?”
They stared at one another, unblinking and brimming with warning. A storm brewed in the skies above, but it was nothing compared to that which gathered between the pair.
Who is this man!
Alison refused to leave here without the box. And she could tell quite obviously that this man was of the same mind. Thus, she was forced to come up with an idea… a most wicked one that would undoubtedly anger him, but by the time he realized it she would be long gone.
“Oh!” Alison’s eyes widened and she pointed back into the markets. “A goose has gotten loose!”
What? Even I am not sure what that is supposed to mean.
Not that it mattered. The obstinate man frowned and turned around to see what she was pointing out and then, without so much as a moment of hesitation, Alison snatched the music box and threw down the two pounds for purchase.
“Thank you!” she cried at the old lady, tucking the box under her arm and ducking away, head down, darting into the crowd and scampering for all she was worth as she prayed the man would not follow her.
It wasn’t until she was on the other side of the markets that she dared to slow down. She did so by ducking behind a large tree, back pressed against the cold timber, breathing heavy and body running so warm that she could not feel the cold.
What was that? I had no choice! And I paid for it! Really, it was his fault! Yes… he is to blame, not me.
She repeated this mantra as she peeked around the tree and through the crowds, all but certain she would spy the man lumbering down the street and coming after her. Thank God he was nowhere to be seen, but that did not stop her from hiding for another five minutes. Just in case.
Alison loved the Christmastide Season, and she loved giving gifts and seeing those she cared for happy. But this little incident was enough to make her question just how far she was willing to go for such things, and if her family would do the same for her.
That, she knew, was highly unlikely.
It was thirty minutes later that Alison was sitting in the carriage with her family, staring out the window as their estate appeared in the distance.
She had the music box and the other gifts hidden away in a chest with the wares purchased by Mr. Burrows, and she was beyond satisfied with herself for a job well done.
They are sure to be thrilled when they see what I bought them. Oh, I cannot wait to see their faces!
The only mark against this feeling of relief was what she had gone through today… the incident with the music box which she could still not scrub from her mind. She had done nothing wrong, she knew it, but that didn’t make her feel any better.
“Get off me!” Felix cried as Winnie climbed about the carriage. “Winnie!”
“Perhaps you can walk the rest of the way,” Nerissa said dryly. “Good one, Winnie. Do not stop.”
“Please…” Their mother groaned, massaging her head. “I have a most terrible headache.”
Alison sat by the window, watching the estate and trying her best to ignore her family. The grounds were covered in snow, and with the clouds finally parting it glowed white and shone in a way that made Alison’s heart swell. Oh, how she loved this time of year.
It was then that she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye…
She frowned to herself as she peered further out the window, turning her head back and looking down the road from the direction they had just come. What she saw behind them stunned her so greatly that she stared at the spectacle and experienced both shock and fear.
Oh no…
It was a single rider on a horse, and the second that Alison saw him she recognized who it was. Her stomach dropped, her mouth turned dry, and she wondered what her mother would say if she started to scream for the carriage to move faster.
It was the man from the markets! The same who she had stolen the music box from – no! She did not steal it. She bought it and it was hers by right.
But then what was he doing here? She watched him through the window, her heart thumping faster as he pushed his horse quickly along the road. It looked as if he was chasing them down. Which he must have been doing.
Who is he? And why is he so darn determined to buy that music box?
Alison watched as the horse trotted up to the side of the carriage.
She found the man’s eyes, he saw her through the window, and a knowing smile reached his face because he seemed to take delight in her terror.
Alison wanted to look away, but she could not.
Instead, she fixed on the man as if to look away would see the end of her.
It was just he and her. Eyes locked. The world faded away as he continued to watch her knowingly, his smile growing, a sense of triumph exploding from him as if this was his plan all along.
And then, just as he reached the carriage… he pushed the horse onwards, tore his eyes away, and overtook them before continuing on his way.
Alison breathed a sigh of relief. But she continued to watch him as they reached the front of their estate, seeing now that he turned his horse down the road to approach the neighboring estate. And that was when she realized who he was.
He was her neighbor. He lived less than half a mile away.
And somehow, Alison just knew that the incident with the music box would not be the last time that she heard from him.
This notion terrified her… but it also excited her, even if she could not and would not admit to why such a thing might be.