The Restless Viscountess

Chapter 16

"Well you work to earn a living, but on weekends comes the time, you can do what ever turns you on, get out and clear your mind. Me, I like football, and there's a lot of things around, but when you line 'em up together, the footy wins hands down.

Up there cazaly, in there and fight, out there and at 'em, show 'em your might
Up there cazaly, don't let 'em in, fly like an angel, you're out there to win. " Mike Brady, Up there Cazaly

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Alexandra's POV. You asked and you shall receive <3

Chapter Sixteen

Alexandra woke with a large smile on her face. It seemed that she was waking up in this sort of mood every day now that Joaquín was in her life again.

She could not explain the passion and excitement she felt when she was with him. She did not understand it herself. Love was not supposed to be like this. Not the love that she had seen anyway. From what she had seen and witnessed, marriage was an agreement, a formal agreement between a man and a woman that included a dowry, the sum of money that enticed a man to take a woman as his wife.

Of course, the marriage of her parents, and her aunts and uncles were not where she was taking this understanding from. They were happy, and she was glad, but their unions had occurred years before. Now, everything was different.

All of the friends that Alexandra had made during her season in London had since married, the marriages organised by their parents to gentlemen they deemed suitable. Occasionally she received letters, but they never detailed the feelings that Alexandra felt whenever she was with Joaquín.

Marriage, from what Alexandra had seen among the women her own age, was something a woman settled into.

Alexandra did not feel as though she would ever settle into a marriage with Joaquín. She would dive into it, head first, blindfolded, completely trusting this dark eyed man who had captured her heart the first moment she had laid eyes on him.

How could she have been so lucky? What had she done to deserve such a blessing? Alexandra had led an ordinary life. She led the life of an aristocrat, a fortunate aristocrat. And yet, this man, this wonderful, all consuming man, had found her in and amongst the rolling hills of Derbyshire, and he had made her life everything she could have ever wished it to be.

Today would be a trying day, she assumed. Today, she and her sister would be going on a ride with their suitors. Today, Joaquín would show her his scars, the scars that he believed would make her stomach churn. Alexandra was determined to keep her face neutral. She could not prepare for the shock, though she would never refuse him based on the appearance of his back. She was not so shallow.

Joaquín had never shown her weakness before. Today, she was sure, would be the first time she saw him vulnerable. She wanted to see this side of him. It would be the final piece in the jigsaw. Once she saw him fully, she would treasure his whole self for as long as she lived.

Alexandra threw back the duvet and climbed out of bed. She collected the silk robe that lay on her trunk at the foot of her bed and slipped it on. She flitted over to her dressing table and picked up her hairbrush, pulling it through her tangled brown locks rather roughly.

When she had finished brushing her hair, Alexandra stared at herself in the mirror, paying close attention to the reflection of her surroundings. At some point, every day, she would find herself feeling quite sad, as she knew her days in those places were numbered. How many more mornings would she wake up in her father’s house and brush her hair at the dressing table she had had since she was a child?