When Elise woke Willow the next morning the smile was still on her face and nothing seemed to be able to faze it, even though she was still tired from her nightly adventure. Last night really had been an adventure. Thinking back at it now, so many things could have gone wrong. Marcus had been furious when he had her pressed against that wall. But even though he had been really mad, he was still listening to her and giving her a chance to explain things.
He was definitely different than her brother in that matter. Because when Philip got mad at her, there was nothing she could say or do to calm him down and explain her point of view to him. He was just blinded by rage in those situations. It was scary really.
Willow wondered what Philip would do if he were to find out about her nightly trips and her meetings with Marcus. She probably didn't even want to know. There was quite a high chance that he would just lock her in her room for the rest of her life. Or at least till he had chosen someone for her to marry. Willow knew that she probably wouldn't have a say in that matter. She wondered if Philip would make her and Marcus get married if he found out that it was him she was meeting at night. It was definitely a possibility, but then again Marcus was the son of a Grand Duke and Philip was "just" a Duke, so he probably wouldn't be able to make that decision.
But what if he did? Would Willow hate that so very much? There wasn't really any romance going on between her and Marcus. They just got along quite well and enjoyed each other's company. But if Willow would have to decide if she was to marry him or some stranger that her brother picked out for her, she would most definitely choose Marcus. She felt like they would get along well enough to spend the rest of their lives together. That of course didn't guarantee love, but it could still be a happy future.
Willow knew that Marcus would never lock her in, like her brother did. He wouldn't think it necessary to keep her from going on adventures to keep her safe. Instead he would just go on those adventures with her and make sure she's safe. And Willow could see herself really enjoying that.
She wondered if there could be something developing between them. Something more than just friendship. Now that he knew she was a girl... The way he looked at her at the lake last night... She could have sworn that there was at least the tiniest spark between them. But he might just have wanted to finally take a closer look at her, after finding out she was a girl.
Willow sighed. Had there really been something there or was it just her imagining things, because he was literally the first guy to ever pay her the slightest bit of attention, apart from male servants and her brother?
But even if she wasn't imagining things. Even if there was something there or there even just could be something there, he was still betrothed to another. And Willow wasn't too sure whatsoever if their brief encounters meant enough to him to back out of that arranged marriage. She knew that he could run away from it and to some point he probably wanted to, but there were consequences to every action. Her brother had taught her that and it would be something that she surely wouldn't forget.
After breakfast with Philip that was as silent as usual, Willow went out into the gardens, thinking that some fresh air might clear her head. As she reached the back of the gardens, she took a seat at the bench she had also sat on yesterday reading. At that moment another thought appeared in her mind. The visitor yesterday. It must have been Marcus.
But why would he visit her brother? And why would he be so troubled about a letter from him? Of course it was possible that they had been friends for ages and that they just met to catch up as Marcus had been travelling for so long, but that wouldn't have distraught her brother like that, now would it? Or did she read the expression on his face ever so wrong?
No, it must have been something else. It couldn't have been just a catching up meeting between two good friends. If that had been the case, Philip wouldn't have told her to keep well away from any place that she could get in the way of their conversation. They must have been talking about something really important. Maybe business related? Was Marcus in charge of any business things? If so he must have picked that up only a few days ago after his return.
Ugh, this was highly frustrating! And Willow couldn't even ask her brother about it or she would have to explain how she knew Marcus. Also her brother would probably get mad at her for being noisy. Willow knew very well that he didn't like it when she asked about business related things.
Maybe she could ask Marcus about it. But they weren't going to be able to meet up tonight. He had mentioned last night that he would go out hunting with friends and would probably be too exhausted to stay up that late again and Willow could also use a full night's sleep again.
But she wanted to know now! She couldn't wait till tomorrow night. Till then she would have died of curiosity. Willow also wondered if Marcus had seen her yesterday during his visit on the Cornwall Estate. He and her brother had probably been to the stables where the whole stable boy thing had come up so they must have walked down the path from the back porch to the stables and theoretically you could see all the way to the bench she was sitting on again right now. But the way she knew her brother he had probably made sure to keep Marcus too caught up in the conversation to even look around himself. Willow still didn't know why, but for some reason her brother was very eager to keep her from any men's sight. So the chances of Marcus actually seeing her for who she really was were rather slim.
But what if he did? What would he have thought of her? If he and Philip were to be talking about her for some unknown und highly unlikely reason, what would Philip have told Marcus about her? What would Marcus have asked?
Instead of clearing her mind, being outside seemed to make her thoughts go even wilder. How was she to last another 38 hours without getting any answers whatsoever to her questions? Willow then and there made the decision that it was probably best if she went ahead and distracted herself with a book. Reading mostly made the time pass somewhat fast and that was all she needed right now.
Meanwhile Marcus was just getting ready for the hunting trip with his friends. They had arranged this trip when they met up in the pub the other night. The night he bumped into Willow - or, as he thought at that time, Will. No matter what Marcus did, his mind always seemed to wander back to her. What was it about her that kept his thoughts captive like that?
She had that enchanting personality to her. It drew him in and he couldn't help but wanted to find out more about her. He admired her yearning for freedom, her cheeky comments that just bubbled out of her when she felt comfortable. And that smile...
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the clatter of hooves on the bouldering that announced his friends' arrival. After a short greeting they headed off towards the woods. The exact same woods, that abutted to the Cornwall Estate. The exact same woods, where he met Willow last night.
And there his thoughts went again. Back to Willow. If he didn't know better he would have thought he was falling for her. But if one was to look at the situation at hand rationally, like he preferred to, they had really only met 3 times and Marcus didn't know himself as someone to fall in love so easily.
Without even realizing it he had slowed to a stop as they came by the brick wall that led to the Cornwall Estate. His gaze seemily captured by that piece of brick, his mind drifted off to last night's events.
How enraged he had been in the beginning and how hard it had been to patiently wait for her to arrive to confront her with his accusations, that he would find out were oh so wrong.
How he had her pressed to that very wall in a way too harsh grip. How she had pulled the cap off of her head and the way her hair fell down around her, framing her face so nicely.
How dumb struck he had been standing there, not being able to believe his eyes.
"Hey, Marcus!" a voice snapped him out of his daydreaming. "You coming?" It was one of his friends, Gerald, that was calling out for him.
"Yes, yes of course!" Marcus replied back, shaking his head to get those thoughts out of there. Why was every thought, everything he did, leading him back to her? Maybe there was something between them. Maybe he had been wrong about himself. Maybe he was quick to fall in love if it was the right person. The fact that she had been present in his thoughts all this time should be proof enough that there was something developing between them.
"Whatever is the matter with you today?" Gerald wanted to know as Marcus and him were riding side by side. Marcus' mind was so clearly anywhere else but with the rest of them.
"It's nothing." Marcus replied with a sigh, letting his hand run through his hair in another attempt to get his head back to the hunting trip. "I just got a lot going on at the moment."
Gerald knew his friend better than that though. "A lot going on, huh?" He questioned, throwing a glance at him. "With a girl perhaps?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, which made Marcus laugh out loud.
"It's not like you think." He made an effort to put the topic off, but of course Gerald's curiosity had been awoken by now and he was not going to let his friend off the hook so easily.
"No no no! If you think I'm just going to let you off the hook like that, you are wrong, my friend." Gerald laughed, looking back at his friend, demanding a proper explanation.
"Alright, alright." Marcus gave in and started to tell about the arranged marriage and about Willow. About their nightly meetings and how his thoughts just wouldn't stop going back to her.
"Seems like you've fallen head over heels for that girl, huh?" Gerald stated after Marcus had finished his story.
"I barely even know her." Marcus argued back, but was not really convinced by that himself.
"Oh come now, Marcus. Don't you deny that there are at least the tiniest bit of feelings for her. You have never talked about a girl like that before." Gerald countered with a victorious grin on his face.
"So what do you suggest? For me to just run off with Willow and not give a damn about what that could mean for all the other parties involved in that arranged marriage?" Marcus couldn't just do that.
His decision was not going to just affect him, but multiple people. People that might lose everything if he decided to just walk away. And who was to say that he wouldn't be happy with Antonia? They hadn't even had a chance to talk yet, so how was he to know that he wouldn't end up being happier with her than he would be with Willow?
"That's not what I'm saying." Gerald tried to explain what he had meant to say. "So far you only met one of your possibly future wives. I think you should definitely have talked to both of them, before you make any decision whatsoever."
Marcus nodded, silently agreeing with his friend, the thoughts in his head already running wild again. But even when he had met Antonia, how was he going to make a decision?
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