Jennifer Horseman by GnomeWonderland Read Free Book Online Page B

exactly like the famous painting of the boy in blue. He had a head of blonde curls and skin, she often teased him, as smooth as hers. His mouth was thin and perfectly formed, his nose small, so handsomely curved. While not large, his eyes were pale grey, the paleness revealing the profound gentleness of his soul. His thin brows were set together with concern, and yet she thought to stall before telling him.
    She eased the worried lines of his brow and forced a smile. " Tis but a mishap. 1*11 speak of it later. First tell me of the university. Are you doing well?"
    "Yes. I pulled myself up from the bottom rung of the class, not very far but far enough to please Father. He didn't say anything, but that's how I knew. All thanks to the treatise you wrote for me. I told you how the headmaster set it in the library and made an example of it?" Tbmas laughed, brushing her nose with his fingertip, "I confessed to David and Perkins that you wrote it for me but I don't think they believed me. Perkins said, 'A young woman wrote on Descartes' philosophy? A paper that won a place in the library? Why I don't believe I do believe that!'"
    She laughed at his imitation of Perkins's stuffy voice, feeling a burst of happy pride that the paper was well received. "Well, what else? Has it been easier for you?"
    "No, not really," he sighed. "I try so hard but all the Latin and Greek, all the ideas and facts, make only a great jumble in my mind. I'm not cut out for the life of a scholar, I'm afraid, but Juliet, Juliet, I haven't told you yet, but—" He stopped, afraid to tell her and yet knowing he must.
    Apprehension flashed across her face. "What, Tomas?"
    "Well, Father is still resisting the idea of me going into his bank."
    Juliet's eyes danced over his face. "But you said ... oh, Tomas, you promised he'd take you at the end of this term."
    Tomas hated himself for not owning the courage to tell her before, and he hesitated before finally confessing: "No, I had thought he would, but—" He saw the quick change in her expression. "No, don't look so alarmed. Mother says she will try to help me talk him into it. Juliet, Juliet, my love, 'twill only be a short setback until I really finish, a year, maybe—"
    "I can't wait another year!"
    The words were out before she knew it and she took a step back as her small hand flew to her mouth to stop her panic. He knew then, and the pain of it filled his eyes as he slowly shook his head. "No, don't tell me .... Oh, Juliet, did he-"
    She nodded and held perfectly still as Tomas's thin fingers came to her cloak to remove the clasp. The worn coat dropped to the earth. He stepped to her backside, and as he stared his eyes filled with tears. Just above the edge of her dress a thin red line appeared. The silence filled with the sound of the rushing stream nearby, the wind rustling through the branches of the willow trees, her own small breaths, and the next thing she knew, she was in his arms as he lowered her to the ground on top of himself.
    She saw the tears in his eyes, for he would cry when she could not. "Tbmas, Tbmas," she whispered, "please take me from here. I'm so ... frightened all the time. I know your father is a hard man, but, but couldn't we explain it to him? Oh, wouldn't he understand that you love me, the necessity of it when my guardian treats me so brutally?"
    He closed his eyes, loving her so much. A tear fell on his lashes and she reached a gentle finger to wipe it. "My dear, sweet Juliet. I can't, you know I can't. . . . I'm forbidden to bring the subject up until I'm through at the university-"
    "Oh, Tomas, then marry me without his permission!"
    "We would lose my inheritance! How would we live? We would be poor. ... I love you ... I love you," he held her slender frame tightly in his arms, forgetting the pain this would cause. He did love her, but he could not think of how to save her. She would not want him to risk his father's wrath and lose his inheritance! How would they live? A young