Chapter 21 #2
“That is not how I would have phrased it, but you must understand that it is not the done thing for a woman to head up a house,” Verain said, and glanced at Cotovatre, as if abruptly realising where he was and who he was speaking to. “With one notable exception.”
“It’s absurd,” Hallie said, and then pressed her lips shut trying to contain her anger before giving up and continuing.
She’d spent most of her life trying to escape the restraints and control that her mother had over her as head of the family vine, and now here was Verain Abbott wanting her to walk into another form of control.
“No, really, totally absurd. And outrageous. I have a life and a job and a mind of my own. I will not surrender any of that to meet your old-fashioned and outdated ideas. Whatever future I may or may not have with Girard, and he with me, it’s up to us to decide. Not anyone else.”
“And I would never ask you to give up any of that,” Girard put in. He took her hand briefly, resting it against his heart. “You would not be you.”
“Well said. Both of you,” Cotovatre put in, her voice full of warmth.
And then, of all things, she laughed, her temper gone into genuine amusement, eyes bright as she looked at Verain Abbott.
“Oh, come on, Verain. You knew before you started this ridiculous conversation how it was going to turn out. Or you should have known. I am quite sure that Gaenor will have told you even if you hadn’t been able to work it out for yourself.
Our young people have very good minds of their own and a lifetime ahead of them to work things out for themselves. ”
Next to her husband, Gaenor gave a snort of laughter. She covered her mouth for a second, then shook her head, letting her hand fall and openly laughing. “You are very right, Cotovatre. Very right.”
To Hallie’s surprise, Verain flushed a little, suddenly seeming much younger and much less intimidating.
“Well, I had to try, didn’t I?” He turned to Hallie, an expression of something like bemusement crossing his face.
“I have come to realise that I do not understand you at all, Miss Talbot, which I shall have to remedy, as you seem so important to my son.”
“Perhaps try listening a bit more, my love,” Gaenor suggested, tucking her arm into her husband’s again. “But not right now. I think you have done quite enough for the moment, and I am sure I saw Royns when we came in. Let’s go and talk business with my brother for a while.”
Still with that expression of bemusement, Verain allowed himself to be led away by his gentle and kind wife, who sent a glance back over her shoulder with a mischievous wink as she led him out of the door.
“Goodness, I need a drink after all that,” Cotovatre said, then put her hand on Hallie’s cheek. “I am sorry you had to deal with that, and under my roof as well, but you were remarkable. As always.”
Hallie had to smile. “I think it is going to take a while for me to be able to have a civil conversation with Verain Abbott.” She looked across at Girard. “I am sorry, I know he’s your father.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s always right,” Girard told her. “I’m sorry, my lady, but I feel the need for some air. Would you excuse me?”
“Of course. The gardens are beautiful at night. Perhaps Hallie would like some air, too?” Cotovatre suggested, with more than a hint of mischief on her face.
Heat bloomed under her skin, but Hallie happily headed out of the house with Girard into the chill night air.
They walked in silence until they had left the lights and noise of the house behind, down a path made of coarse sand that wound its way in gentle curves through plants that scented the air with the promise of spring and brighter days ahead.
The path was marked by tiny, soft lights at ground level that provided just enough illumination to stay on the path.
As they turned a corner, Hallie saw that the path ended a short distance ahead at a small pond with a stream of water falling into it. There was a long, curving bench to one side of the pond.
Girard took her hand and led her forward, settling them on the bench. He kept hold of her hand and, turning, took the other one so they were knee-to-knee, facing each other in the night.
“I am sorry,” he began.
“Don’t be,” Hallie said at once.
“Not about my father. Well, not just about my father. But also because, well, I suppose I thought it was too soon to have any conversation about a future, and so we got caught unawares.” He was holding her hands in a firm grip, otherwise Hallie knew that he would be running his fingers through his hair, disturbing it from the neat style he’d managed to achieve for the evening.
“And I just feel it’s still too soon.” Then he shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, “I told you I’m not good at this kind of thing. ”
Hallie remembered the awkward, stumbling conversation they’d had when they had admitted they liked each other, and their equally awkward conversation in Minamaan, and couldn’t help smiling back at him.
“Well, as you know, I’m not very good at it, either,” she told him, returning the clasp on her hands.
“But I think that’s one of the many reasons why we’re good for each other. ”
He smiled back, then bent his head and kissed her. A gentle, soft brush that made her smile again, and lean a little closer towards him, then the smile faded and she became serious.
“I meant it, you know. I don’t want to give up my independence.”
“I know. And I meant it, too, that I would never ask you to. I’ve never wanted to be the head of a house.
I didn’t know what I wanted until I met you, and I realised that there could be something different.
Something more like, I don’t know, a partnership.
” There was raw honesty in his words and voice that made Hallie smile and lean closer to him.
“Something like what Cotovatre and Emmet have,” Hallie said, thinking aloud.
“It makes them both happy,” Girard agreed.
“It will take us a while to figure it out,” Hallie told him.
“That’s alright. We can take all the time we need,” Girard said, and kissed her again.
This time it wasn’t brief or gentle and Hallie let go of all the anger and instead returned the kiss, letting herself sink into the sensations and warmth and trust. This was Girard and for the first time in days she had the sense of belonging, of being exactly where she should be.
They would need to go back to the party eventually, back to the politics and the social games and other people.
But right now there was no one else and it was perfect.