An Earnest Favour

VI

"Toxic people attach themselves like cinder blocks tied to your ankles, and then invite you for a swim in their poisoned waters." John Mark Green

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VI.

Jack was successful at procuring a license from the archbishop. How he had managed it, Claire hadn't known, but she was glad of it. A license meant that their impending marriage was not subject to the traditional three Sundays of banns. She could not afford to wait three weeks.

That success, however, did not mean that their engagement was not announced to the parish. The announcement was made just as soon as the license was procured, and the news spread like wildfire, as often swift marriages did. Theirs was even more astounding given their dramatic differences in situation.

Just how had another one of those Denham girls done it? Such was the question on every curious villager's lips.

It was the Wednesday after Perrie's second birthday, and the wedding was scheduled for Sunday. There was to be no grand affair, with only a wedding breakfast provided for their immediate family. Claire couldn't stomach the idea of onlookers watching her every move and suspecting something was wrong. What was bad enough was Grace already knew something was wrong, and Claire had not yet confessed it.

She never could. Claire sat at the small dressing table in her bedroom, the tired mirror resting on the tabletop. She had stopped brushing her hair to stare at herself, almost astonished that she barely recognised the face staring back at her.

Had there been a day in the last three years when she was not smiling? The muscles in her face seemed to have forgotten how. Smiling seemed like the hardest thing in the world, and yet she knew an even more troubling feat lie ahead on Sunday.

Bless Jack Beresford. She would pray that God blessed him for his decency. But never could she have predicted she would be marrying a man she did not love, or even know.

Her eyes, which had always been bright and wide, were startlingly icy and hollow, the shadows underneath indicative of the trouble she was having sleeping. Despite the fact she was growing, or would be, her face looked thinner, as though in the days since Arthur had revealed himself, she had lost weight. Claire realised that she had barely eaten anything, food having since lost its lustre.

Claire was startled by a knock at the door, and her mother appeared soon after. She struggled into the room on her cane, and Claire leapt to her feet to assist her.

"I'm alright," Mrs Denham assured her, holding up a hand to stop her. "Jack Beresford is here," she revealed. "Downstairs. He has come to ask you to walk with him. I have given him permission." But as she looked upon Claire's face, she frowned with concern. "Oh, Claire, what is it? You look tired. Is it nerves?"

Mrs Denham had not disapproved of the match at all. Nor had she questioned it. Perhaps she believed Claire romantic enough to not ever accept a man without love, and so she believed the tale of their secret correspondence. Claire hated how much she had lied to her mother. Not only with regards to Jack. Really, Mrs Denham had not known what was in Claire's heart for a long time.

"Yes, Mama," confirmed Claire breathlessly. "Just nerves."

Mrs Denham smiled. "Everyone is a little nervous before their wedding," she assured her. "Even those who have been concealing their attachments," she chided teasingly, bending over to kiss Claire on the cheek. "Come now, let me help you to ready yourself as the poor man does not want to wait forever."

***

"I thought I ought to call," Jack said quietly as he and Claire walked together down the main street of the village. He kept his voice low as everyone they passed looked upon them inquisitively. "I know our engagement was only announced yesterday, but how would it look if I did not call between then and our wedding?"