The Lady Justice

Chapter II: I Feel, I Feel Not

Lady Therese De Beauharnais of Roche

29 September, Year 32 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Eden Gardens, Roche

Monrique

"I am in love with you, my Lady."

Lord Andre Weygand, Earl of Baden, was on his knees before me. His brown eyes were glinting with fanatic adoration, as he kept them fixed on me. He proceeded to take my gloved hands in his own, and lifted them up to his lips.

I tried not to shudder with disgust.

The Manor staff and some of my mother's closest friends were watching us from the Manor windows above and below, with no respect whatsoever for our privacy. They released soft sighs of emotion at that moment, very much in awe of the touching performance that Lord Andre was putting up for them.

The quiet, peaceful gardens. The brilliant, orange glow that the sun was simply blazing with, as it slowly disappeared beneath the horizon. The cool, gentle breeze playing with our hair. The faint, sweet sounds of a few songbirds chirping. A very infatuated suitor kneeling before me.

A typical setting for a fairy-tale romance.

It was no wonder why I hated these very gardens I grew up in.

In the meanwhile, Lord Andre was still reciting his proposal speech. "...before I met you, I never wanted to get married," he confessed, "I used to believe that marriage and all its trappings were a complete waste of my time, and that they were nothing but trouble. However, you single-handedly changed all that..."

I raised an eyebrow wryly. Did I now?

"...truly, you are the most beautiful woman I have had the fortune to set my eyes upon," he rambled on, "your hair is the blinding hue of the sun at sunrise, and your eyes are a deep ocean I could spend all eternity drowning in. Indeed, nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you..."

I remained still, impatient and unimpressed.

"...will you do me the honour and marry me, my Lady?" his voice dropped an octave.

A good number of our unwelcome audience swooned at that, as I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. His smile was adoring. His stance was eager. His words sounded genuine.

But his gaze gave him away.

I observed him in silence. The burning desire to take control of my beauty and wealth for himself by marriage, and the certainty that I would yield unknowingly and readily to him and his supposed charms and fulfil that desire, were blatantly clear in his eyes.

It did not surprise me. I had seen the same in so many other suitors before him. Still, judging by his confidence, I gathered that he viewed himself different from the rest.

At that thought, I almost burst out laughing. These men, they were all the same. Lord, they were even the same in thinking that they were each different from the other.

In any case, what was he expecting when he decided to ask for my hand in marriage today? For me to simper and accept his proposal like the other Ladies of the Society merely because of a few flattering words? Did he think me that desperate for a marriage?

Certainly, he was the Earl of Baden. Certainly, he had a sizeable inheritance with which, combined with my staggering own, he could support me for life. Certainly, he had a good position at the royal court. Certainly, he was a virile young man who could easily sire a battalion of my children, if the rumours flying around the country were to be believed.