On the fourth day of convalescence Nicholas finally reopened his eyes, the fever had broke and he appeared clear-minded, despite being weak. Charlize was relieved and she rushed to his bedside, "I have been so worried. I would have never forgiven myself if you haven't recovered!", she told him with teary eyes,
"I cannot remember what happened...",
"Pablo fought unfairly and shot you at your back",
"Where is he?", he asked with an altered eyes, "He is been arrested. All you need to care about now is recovering", she urged him,
"I wanted to defend your honor",
"But you did, in all many ways", Charlize said lying her head on his arm.
When Nicholas recovered enough strength to stand, he asked to converse with Charlize.
In the days he had spent lying in bed he had been thinking about his future with Charlize, "I have made a decision. I have been thinking about it for some time", he said to her, "After the wedding I intend to retire in private life", surprised Charlize asked him: "Why do you?",
"I have nothing more to do in Society. I have no living kin in Ireland. And I have few friends. I want to dedicate to the estate and to the family we'll be started",
"Do you want to do it because you fear I would embarrass you?",
"Not at all. I have never been inclined to Society events, not even in Dublin. I believe a discreet and quiet life is the best for all of us", he reassured her holding her hands.
Later Charlize expressed him a request: she demanded him to write to Lady Gilmore, "Let her know by me, that whatever she had wanted against me, I forgive her", Nicholas was impressed by her moral purity.
The Festivity period was through (as well as the period of fasting and abstinence) and Nicholas instructed Mrs. Martinez to resume the preparations for the wedding.
An evening, while conversing, Mrs. Martinez said to him: "Allow me to express my happiness for Your Lordship and Charlize. And my admiration, given the decision to marry her has required firmness and profound correctness",
"It needed more firmness for Charlize to keep me in distance. Only later I have realize I could not demand to renounce to her ethics, because it is given to it that I love her",
"I too had to understand it, Sir",
"Loving her requires me to respect her. And I would not respect her if she'd lower herself because of me. Therefore I am glad she did not do it", Nicholas stated.
He decided to give Charlize a wedding present, to take her to see those places she had always longed to visit: the land of Ireland.
Charlize was delighted to see with her own eyes the land and the customs that shaped her.
YOU ARE READING
Cheshire Park
Historical Fictionin the eighteen century, the young irish nobleman Nicholas Cheshire travels to Jamaica to take possess of his late father's properties; in the estate he meets the Creole maid Charlize, governess of the house, who have been raised in irish lifestyle...
