The Iron in Blood

Rebecca sat up front in the passenger seat and stared out of the window. After a while Angus reached out and put his hand over hers. She turned to him and smiled, but she still said nothing. I got fed up with all this silence after about an hour, and I asked Angus to put the radio on, which he did. I leaned back, closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Rebecca

When Marcus told us that we had to get married in eleven days time, and Angus made no objections, I was speechless. I felt an enormous guilt settle on my shoulders, that he should be forced to get married to save me from Jack's evil intentions. But I was also secretly thrilled at the idea, and then I felt even more guilty for being so pleased about it. I was afraid to speak to him in case he told me that he'd changed his mind about it, and that he'd thought of an alternative plan to foil Jack. How dumb can you be.

When Angus put his big, warm hand over mine, I wanted to cry, but I smiled at him instead, grateful for the support. I had such a lot to be grateful to this beautiful man for.

When Mark finally fell asleep, Angus turned the radio down slightly so the snores from the back could be more clearly heard. Then he spoke without taking his eyes off the road.

"We don't have to get married if you don't want to."

Oh, God, I thought. This is it. This is where he backs out of it. I was terrified and furious at the same time, mostly at myself for being such a coward. I kept quiet, and felt a tear stealing its way from the corner of one of my eyes.

He spoke again. "I don't want you to be forced into doing something you don't want to do." He glanced at me. I tried to stare out of the window so he wouldn't see me crying, but somehow he knew anyway, and he reached out and wiped the tear from my cheek.

"I didn't object when Marcus suggested it," his voice was husky now, "because there is nothing I want more than to be your husband, but if you…" His voice trailed off. It took me a few seconds to comprehend exactly what he was telling me.

"Really?" I looked at him, and he was smiling at me again, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, as if he was expecting me to back out.

"No," I said, tears running down my cheeks in earnest now. So this was what it was like to cry with relief and happiness. Bizarre.