Alannah's story excerpt 9

     A carriage arrived outside the cottage. Alannah turned to Mary. “What’s this?”

     “When I was at your parents’ mansion earlier, getting your dress, I told them you’d been found and you were preparing to be reunited with them. They told me they’d send a carriage for you.”

     A sudden longing to be home washed over Alannah, and she rushed out to the carriage. Mary quickly followed.

    

     At her home, Alannah and Mary were escorted immediately to the great hall where her parents were waiting. They rushed over to hug her when she entered the room. She told them the story about her disappearance that she and Mary had agreed on, and they accepted it. Sir Jeremy Moore was the obvious hero of the story, and her parents sent a messenger to his home with an invitation to dinner the next evening.

     He sent a message back that evening accepting the dinner invitation and formally asking Alannah's father for her hand in marriage. A very tired messenger returned to Jeremy's house to inform Jeremy that he had Lord Barry's blessing on the marriage.

     Alannah dropped into a bed for the first time in six weeks and slept late the next day after weeks of hunger, discomfort, and sleep-deprivation. When she woke up, Mary gave her a light breakfast and started preparing her for the upcoming dinner, which had turned into an engagement party.

     Outside her window, Alannah watched guests arriving, and realized her father had invited as many people as he could fit in the dining hall. Mary told her she would not be allowed to enter the dining hall until her father made a brief announcement to his guests about her kidnapping, rescue, and safe return by Sir Jeremy Moore.

     Jeremy was seated at a small table with her parents in the front of the room when she entered. All the guests stood up as she took her place next to Jeremy. Then everyone sat down, except for her father. He announced that Sir Jeremy Moore had asked him for Alannah's hand in marriage and that he had given Jeremy his permission and blessing.

     To honor her, Jeremy stood, walked around the table, and knelt in front of Alannah. "Alannah Barry, with your father's permission and blessing, I ask you for your hand in marriage. Will you be my wife?"

     "Sir Jeremy Moore, I give you my hand in marriage and would be honored to be your wife."

     The room erupted in cheers and applause as he took his seat. Servants carried food in on large platters. Her thoughts returned to the conversation she'd had with Mary when she had wondered if Jeremy cared for her. "All will turn out as it should, even if there are some rough patches along the way."

     She looked up to see a white dove land on a window ledge outside the dining room. Jeremy noticed it too, and they shared a moment of unspoken understanding as the world around them seemed to slip away for a moment.