The
Twelve Stories of Christmas - Day 8 James Rumble
“So are you
going to propose to that girl or what?” I nearly choked on a piece of pie. I
turned to see my uncle staring at me. I looked up and swallowed, while his eyes
drifted to Laura, who was speaking to my aunt in the corner. It was nearing the
end of the evening and I knew that we would have to leave soon.
“Uncle, what are
you doing?”
“Reminding you
of your priorities. I mean, Laura is a very attractive young lady and she will
not wait forever. If you do not move someone will try to steal her.” He nodded
to a corner where some of the younger men in the village were partaking in
their favorite past time, girl watching. It was one of mine too, though I had
only been watching one girl for the last few years. There were quite a few
beautiful girls here this evening and even the plain ones were dressed in their
best tonight and aglow with a natural blush. I smiled, thinking that my uncle
was over reacting, when I saw that one or two of them were watching Laura as
she moved over to her mother.
Jealousy flared
and I had to take a deep breath to keep myself from walking over to her. I was
normally not a jealous person and I was not one of those men that would not
allow my woman to have other male friends, but still something tonight made me
angry. Laura and I had been together for so long now that they should have
known better.
“I hardly think
that this is an appropriate conversation to have here.”
“Fine, but we
will have this conversation at another time and soon. You are causing the young
bucks some confusion and soon that confusion will cause boldness. One of them,
I’m thinking the baker’s son, will try and grab her attention.”
“Well, she won’t
give it to him.”
“Probably not,
but is that fair to her, my bonny boy?” With that he walked away and I was left
to watch her smile and brighten up the room. My uncle was right, I needed to
just find my courage and ask her. I had wanted to ask for a year and a half
now, but every time the right moment came around, I could never scrap up enough
courage and every time I had enough courage, it was never the right time. It
was like there was something in this universe that didn’t want me to propose.
I didn’t even
have a ring to contend with. Most commoners did not have the money to pay for
an engagement ring, glass slippers, and a wedding ring, so we tended to forgo
the ring and give the intended bride our word and a simple necklace made out of
red cord. Of course, I didn’t even have to do that. In my world, if you said
you were engaged then you were engaged. No fancy ring was needed, at least not
for an engagement. Laura would accept my proposal completely empty handed and I
felt that perhaps that that was the way things should be. The nobles tended to
turn this whole idea of marriage and love into something it’s not supposed to
be. It’s not about money and showy bliss, but contentment and respect. Oh sure,
some of them understood it, experienced it and cherished true love and I truly
hoped that the few nobles I liked, namely Ella and Rose got that chance, but
they could afford their noble status traditions. I could not, and did not want
to try.
I sighed and
decided that before my uncle, and the young men of the town got any more ideas,
I should go sit with her. So that was how I spent the rest of my evening. I sat
with Laura and she was more content than I had seen her in a long time. It
would seem that Christmas had worked its magic on her again and I was happy to
see her so happy. I was finally able to coax her to leave the party and on our
way back to the estate, I could feel it.
Now, as we road
through the snow and under the winter stars, was the perfect moment. I had both
courage, spurred on by the unwanted attentions of the town boys, and the
perfect setting. I should ask her now. It would make this night even more memorable.
We could be married in the spring and I could move her into my small house near
the stables. It wasn’t much I’ll grant you, but it would still be ours. She
would make it cozy with her womanly touch and I would finally have a reason to
repair the front steps and the gardens would always be kept.
Yes, I was ready
to be married. I had never really been sure, but now I was. I turned to her,
ready to ask the question that would change everything when a loud laugh from
the back interrupted me. I had completely forgotten that we had everyone with
us.
“They seem happy do they not?” Laura asked
with a brilliant smile.
“Oh yes, happy
indeed. I only wish that they were not so loud.” I turned away, shattered that
my perfect moment had been ruined. I knew that these moments presented
themselves so few times that to be forced to miss this one was almost
unforgivable. I could not blame the others however, I had only myself to blame,
and I knew that. Still, I was more than a little miffed.
“James,” Rupert
called, “slow down or you will pass our house.” I brought the horses up shortly
and they snorted at the rough handling.
“Sorry, lost in
thought.”
“Yes, it would
seem so,” Mrs. Trodbottle laughed from the back. I stopped just long enough to
drop them all off and then we were off again. It was starting to become unbearably
cold and if I were feeling it then I knew that Laura and her mother were
feeling it.
“I’ll have you
ladies home soon, don’t you worry.” I encouraged the horses to pick up their
pace and we were off once more. Now that we were at a nice click I had to put
all of my concentration on steering, so proposing was out of the question.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the estate house came into view. It
was a rather impressive sight no matter how many times you saw it and tonight,
with the snow draped across the roofs and candles shining in the windows, it
was truly a beautiful thing.
“Here you are
ladies,” I said bringing them right to the kitchen doors. “I’ll be in in a bit
if one of you won’t mind making me a hot cup of tea.”
“Of course
James,” Laura called from the door, her chattering teeth breaking off her words
in an uneven staccato. “I’ll have a piping hot mug waiting for you with your
gift.”
I smiled and
nodded. I drove the horses to the barn and quickly unhitched the wagon. No one
else was around and so I had to leave the wagon where it stood and lead the
horses into the barn. Though no fire burned except for a lantern near the
doors, it was much warmer than the outside. Some snorts were heard as the
horses poked their heads out to see what was going on. Most went back to sleep
once they saw me or felt the chilled nightly air. I quickly un-tacked the two
draft horses and then brushed them down. They had been given their nightly
ration of grain at uncle’s barn, so now I just needed to check on their water
buckets, which were filled, and drape a blanket over their steaming backs. They
nickered in pleasure when they were placed inside their stalls and they seemed
asleep even before I left.
I pushed the
wagon back to where it belonged, to the best of my ability, but it was usually
a job for two or three, not one. So I got it headed in the right direction, but
when I lost feeling in my hands, I decided that I would finish the chore in the
morning. I turned to the house and practically skipped to the house. I had
realized in the barn that Laura would still be in a very good mood and since I
still had my courage, a proposal was more than possible. I had already given
her my gift this morning, but she had claimed that I could not get mine until
tonight. So, I just decided that I would add a second gift to the first.
“Laura?” I saw
her sitting at the kitchen table and I stepped forward when I saw Ella seated
next to her. They were both smiling like fools and holding out a handsome vest.
It looked professionally tailored and I could only guess that they both had
chipped in to buy it for me. I smiled and accepted it gratefully, sitting down
and enjoying my tea, but inside I was disappointed. I felt as though I had
truly missed my best chance of giving Laura a proposal to remember and now I
got a sense that nothing this perfect would ever present itself again. But, the
warmth of the tea calmed me and their conversation soothed me, so that when I
stood to leave I gave Laura a kiss. This was not unusual, but in that kiss I
poured all my feelings and promises. When I pulled away I could see that Laura
understood it perfectly and I smiled, knowing that when I finally did propose
that it would be the perfect time no matter what.
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