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 Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:28 am
"I think his principles overrode his shock," answered Marcus gloomily. "Are you quite sure that we can't run away? Just for a little while? Seeing as, after all, Serina is away..."
The Duchess touched her fingertips to her lips in apology, but she was still miffed. "And really, they're probably not even discussing it right now like the mature adults that they really ought to be..."
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:32 am
"Run away..." The idea seemed nice on the outside, a new life, a breath of fresh air, an escape. "It would be a lovely idea, really. I just do not know if it will help our case in the end. What would happen when we returned? We would most likely be worse off than we are now."
"They may be, you never know." The tone of the earl's voice, however, seemed to indicate that he was trying to convince himself, not the duchess.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:37 am
"They would know that we're not the infants that they treat us as. They would be reminded of the fact that we are perfectly capable of doing what we see fit," Marcus said, having subconsciously adopted his most convincing voice.
The duchess looked at her friend almost sympathetically. "You don't suppose we should go check on them? Assert our..." But really, what did they have anymore? It was Terryn and Marcus's decision after all, and Marcus was no longer as easy to control as he was when he was a child.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:41 am
"Or they would think us juvenile, just trying to avoid the problem instead of confronting it head on." Terryn sat up, looking utterly distressed. "I almost wish that this were still just a plot. Why must emotions always complicate things?"
"Assert our what? Indignation? Send them to their rooms and never let them look at each other again?" The earl stood and paced the floor. "It does not matter what we think anymore. They are not children. We have no say or sway on them. Terryn has always been ironwilled and free spirited. We can seperate them, but what good will it do? It will just make them want each other more and resent us to no end." He sunk back into his chair and sighed. "Punishing them as though they were children will not help us anymore."
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:49 am
Marcus sighed. "Perhaps, then, we should go along with thier punishment. They can't keep us away forever, after all, and if we are trying to prove our maturity, this seems like the best way to do it."
"Then what? Give in to their ludicrous idea? Allow them to make a spectacle of themselves? Swiftly do away with our family's name and honor?" snapped the Duchess, raising her eyes to the door of Terryn's bedroom.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:53 am
Terryn pushed away from hm a little so she could get a good look at him. "It will be dismal trying to be alone again. When I choose to do so, I have no problem, but knowing that it is forced upon me is unbearable." She sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor. "But if it is the only way to show them..."
"Calm down." His voice sounded tired, but still firm. He rubbed at his temples as if waiting to be suddenly struck by brilliance. "My only concern is that Terryn will become depressed and allow something to happen to the poor child."
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:00 pm
"It is only temporary," Marcus told her, leaning forward and kissing her deeply. "If they remain stubborn, I'm perfectly willing to be arrogant and juvenile."
"I should not have suggested that we pretend to fall ill," came the Duchess's very morose reply.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:06 pm
Terryn couldn't help but smile at that. "Well they are being that way themselves. So it is only fit that we throw it right back at them." She leaned in and kissed him again, letting it linger as if she were trying to suspend the progression of time with it.
The earl sighed and came to sit next to the duchess, rubbing her back slowly. "Come now, we had no idea. And honestly, this must have happened sometime before, because how could they know automatically the morning after?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:16 pm
He returned her kiss, smiling. "Won't your father be shell-shocked." He moved in once more to kiss her, not at all eager to go back downstairs.
"This is true." But the Duchess had heard midwives gossipping, and it did not seem outrageous to think that perhaps the child had been conceived last night. "I have heard of early symptoms with virgins."
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:19 pm
The earl shook his head. He did not like the idea of his daughter being in such a state. Not one bit. "Well, Terryn did seem rather unhappy with the whole thing. Kept mentioning how it might not even survive..." He put his head in his hands and sighed. "What if they refuse to wed after all this? How are we to explain what happened? We can not exactly pass it off as not being aware of the circumstances. They are right in front of us after all, and even people who have never met Terryn will know in a few months just from looking at her."
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:23 pm
"That is exactly what is troubling me. They are being so flippant, so obviously unashamed." She took a deep breath. "If only there was some way to have them marry on their own, and they were under the pretense that we were uninvolved."
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:28 pm
The earl lifted his head and raised an eyebrow. She was plotting again, he could sense it. "Yes...that would solve things." He leaned back into the seat coushions and stroked his chin for a while. "But how could we do that?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:34 pm
The Duchess still didn't quite have an answer, but she was working on it. "If, perhaps, we showed them what the alternative was...how unhappy they would be..." she mused aloud.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:45 pm
The earl blinked, a sly smile crossing his face. "That would not be a horrible idea at all. Have you anyone in mind?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:48 pm
"For Terryn?" She thought for a moment. "Well, there is the DuBois boy. He's a dreadful pig." The more she thought about it, the better it sounded. "Have you anyone in mind for Marcus?"
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