The Ornaments of Love

Chapter Fifteen

As the carriage pulled away from the house, Dídac raised his arm to wave goodbye. He smiled, regarding Veronica through the window, and she returned the gesture shyly.

It was like a dream, she thought, all of this is some grand dream I will not wake from.

The carriage pulled out from the gates of the estate wall and Veronica pulled her hands to cover her face to scream, the ecstatic sound coming up through her throat in a sharp blast.

Marcelina could only smile at her niece, her composure having been startled by the sudden burst from the young girl. She waited a moment for Veronica to stop and say something, make some intelligible sound through all of her delirious screaming.

"What is it, dear? What happened? Hush! Tell me!" Marcelina smiled.

"Tia, it was wonderful! It was all so wonderful! Heis wonderful!"

"Is that what you're fussing over?" she teased. "Really, I could have told you that before we arrived."

"He talked to me so sweetly, he promised he would write me every day. Here, see, he has already given me a letter!" She pulled the sealed papers from her dress shoulder and waved them in the woman's face.

"He wrote this before you arrived?" Marcelina frowned.

"No, it's even better than that! He is a writer of stories, as I am, though he's never let anyone read them before. His family doesn't even know he writes them."

"You're babbling, dear, speak more slowly," Marcelina said calmly.

Veronica frowned in spite of herself.

"I mentioned to him the letters I write to friends back home, and he asked me if I would write to him, as well. I told him that it would not be proper for a lady to take up correspondence with a gentleman in secret."

Marcelina frowned, "Dear, that was not necessary, you know it would be perfectly fine with me."

Veronica continued as if she had not heard her.

"And so, he went to his room and gathered something that he had been writing on his own and gave it to me with a cover letter requesting my correspondence." She fidgeted with the envelope and then realized she hadn't even opened the letter yet. The girl exhaled in self-frustration and tore the seal open, unfolding the parchment.

The cover letter was written in a fine black ink with a handsome and carefully printed script:

Señorita Veronica Elena de Fernández y Motas,

I am herewith requesting the honor of your correspondence, as was previously discussed during our meeting in my family's house. Enclosed here is the letter that I promised you.

I pray you will honor me with your reply.

Sincerest regards,

Dídac Adriá Ferrero i Martell

Veronica read the cover letter aloud by the heavy moonlight, which beamed into the carriage. She handed the letter to the Marquesa, who accepted it from the girl casually, as if it were of little importance to anyone. At least, that's how Veronica felt about the Marquesa's sluggish movements.

Marcelina glanced over the letter and eventually produced a whisper of a smile.

"That's a clever thing to have done, enslaving him with such an intimate communication. Men will tell you things in letters they might never tell you to your face after fifty years of marriage. Yes, so wise of you to think of this. And the rest? Read it to me, please, if you would."