Four Years Later

The previous year had been a remarkably mild winter, and it seemed as if Nature was hurrying to make up for that now.

“We’re going to be snowed in for a while,” Dominic remarked to nobody in particular. Their youngest child, Dorothy, was barely two years old, and currently was asleep in his arms. Behind him was an idyllic scene of domestic bliss.

Idyllic, that is, if a person did not look too closely at the details. For example, if one ignored the fact that Maria was trying to bite her brother James’ head, while a ferocious Daniella attempted to separate them. Steven, rather sensibly, had taken his book and retreated to the window seat to read it. Ava was lounging on the sofa, watching her children squabble with a mixture of resignation and amusement.

Dominic turned back from the snow falling thickly past the window and lifted his eyebrows.

“Should we separate them?” he asked, nodding at Maria and James. At three years old, James was already as large as his older sister and more than capable of holding his ground.

“I think they’ll sort it out themselves,” Ava said, yawning and sitting up. “Come, have some champagne. It’s delicious. It’s from Beverley, since she, Jason, and Frederick can’t make it for Christmastide this year.”

Dominic carefully set down the still-sleeping Dorothy on another sofa and took his place beside his wife. Ava curled up beside him, pouring two generous glasses of champagne. As had been their usual custom for the past few years, most of the servants were given time off at Christmas, aside from just the day itself. They rarely bothered with a big celebration, and it made it easier to pull back and enjoy some family time. With Steven at school, Maria just beginning her lessons, and Daniella deep in her studies, it often felt as though the family were not often together.

Ava shifted around, resting her cheek on Dominic’s shoulder, and closed her eyes.

“I don’t mind that we’re snowed in,” she said sleepily. “I like it, actually. There’s no pressure to pay calls, no worries about being asked to dine out constantly. We can spend time together, with our children. I like this.”

Dominic wound an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer still, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Doesn’t it seem strange,” he said, in a low voice so that the children wouldn’t hear, “That our marriage started as a business arrangement?”

They hadn’t, of course, told the children that their parents had married out of mercenary motivations. Half of Society had guessed, and as the children got older, it was likely that they would hear it from somebody else. Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, it wasn’t a subject Dominic or Ava wanted to start on.

She chuckled, taking a sip of her champagne.

“I can’t believe it myself at times,” she admitted. “Tell me truthfully – did you fall in love with me before or after our wedding?”

He winced. “That’s a difficult question, because I was determined not to be in love with you beforehand. We’d agreed, hadn’t we, that ours would be a rational and well-thought-out marriage. We prided ourselves on being remarkably sensible. I felt a great deal towards you, but I did a good job of convincing myself it was all friendship. And that was not, strictly speaking, a lie. We were friends first.”

“Which is not to be sniffed at.”

“Which is not to be sniffed at,” he agreed. “It’s easier than you’d think to not allow yourself to feel something specific. If I had allowed myself, I would have been madly in love with you before the wedding. But as things stand, I think my falling in love with you was a gradual thing. What about you?”

Ava considered, sipping her champagne. Dominic waited patiently for her to finish. It was pleasant not to feel their conversations rushed or listened to. It was good to simply be themselves.

“I think so, too,” Ava said at last. “A gradual business. It felt… it felt natural. I didn’t want you to feel that you’d been trapped into something, or even tricked into marriage. That happens too often in our world.”

He sighed. “I know, and it’s a pity. I hope that when our girls come to look about them for husbands, they won’t feel obliged to trick anybody, or catch a husband. The world is changing, and I hope that we are changing with it.”

On cue, Daniella got up, dusting off her knees with the newfound grace which signalled her trudge towards womanhood. Already, it was hard to see the sullen, anxious child she had been in her face. The changes were for the better.

She approached Ava and Dominic with a faint, nervous smile.

“Papa, Ava, I wonder if I might have a sip of champagne?”

Dominic choked on his own champagne.

“I think not, dear,” Ava said levelly. “Not for a few years, at least. You are rather young, and this champagne is very strong.”

“But I’m sure I could just have a little.”

“I think not,” Dominic choked. “Besides, you wouldn’t like it.”

She pouted. “But how am I to know if I don’t try it?”

They all laughed at that and the atmosphere was filled with love and laughter.  Ava and Dominic looked at each other silently relishing the life that they trod together and willing to embrace what would follow.

The End