"How long is forever?" he said, when he might have asked any number of things.
"For as long as we both shall live, but--" She swallowed, and Matthew could see the desperation in her eyes. "Oh, Matthew, I am ever so much older than you."
"It doesn't matter," he said, scooping her up into his arms to take her place on the sofa. She was still fragile, still smaller than other women, but she filled his arms as completely as she filled his heart, and he exalted in the feeling. "We shall be together just as long as we can."
"And you forgive me?"
"Of course. But how could you give up your magic, your very world, to be with me?"
"That's what Francis said, but I thought you would understand."
"I think I do." A barrier in his throat made it hard for him to speak. "I have been sitting here all night, wondering what kind of fool I was to let you go. But I would never have asked you to give up all those things you described, for I love you far too much."
He cradled her face tenderly in his hands. "Why did you, dearest? Why would you sacrifice the only life you've ever known?"
Her eyes bathed him with a gentle glow, and Matthew could see her new soul shining out from them. His heart skipped a beat.
"I couldn't live without you, Matthew," she said. "I didn't want to be an elf--my magic meant nothing--if I couldn't be with you."
A shuffling noise made them turn their heads towards the door. Ahmad appeared in the doorway, a blanket draped over one shoulder, a basin of water and strips of linen in his hands. He paused just inside the room to gaze back and forth from Matthew's face to Trudy's before permitting himself to smile.
"I have brought water for the mem'sahib," he said with a deep salaam. "And a blanket to wrap her in, for she will be cold."
"I was cold. Thank you, Ahmad--" Trudy struggled to straighten herself, but it was hard to sit with proper decorum in Matthew's lap--"but Matthew has warmed me up already."
"All the same--" Matthew took the bowl from Ahmad and gestured for him to wrap the blanket around her shoulders--"we can't have you freezing to death. Not on Christmas. What would Francis have to say?"
His joke made Trudy bluster. Matthew ignored her indignation and set about wiping her face and hands with a damp cloth. But when he reached her legs and feet, he had to ask, "What happened to you anyway to cause so many scrapes?"
"I fell out of my tree this morning."
He paused in the act of wringing out his rag. His eyes met hers with the purest joy she had ever seen. Yet, all he said was, "I think we'll be having rather more fascinating conversations round the dinner table than typical newly-weds."
The sight of his overwhelming happiness was too much for Trudy's conscience. She had to make him see what she truly was. "But are you completely sure that you want me, Matthew?" she asked with a quiver in her voice. "For I don't know how to perform the slightest task. I know absolutely nothing about work, and when I told you I was an indifferent housekeeper, I was speaking the truth. I am next to useless without my magic."
Matthew looked at her, still smiling. "You speak Arabic, do you not?"
"I--" Trudy paused, uncertain. But when she checked, she found she had not lost that ability at least.
"Yes," she said, pleased. "I'm still fluent in many languages."
"Well, I should say that your particular talents will be of greater use to me than a little cooking and cleaning ever would. We shall leave those chores to someone else. I had far rather you helped me with the books I'll be writing, and I can tell you right now, you will make the most perfect travel companion a man could ever have."
Trudy would have protested her inadequacy longer, but Matthew turned to Ahmad and said, "Do you know, I am surprised you never suggested this particular course to me. We both should have known that I could only be happy married to an elf."
"That is very true, saab." Ahmad took the soiled cloth from Matthew's hands. "I hope you will forgive my omission to let me congratulate you both on your engagement."
"Of course." Matthew smiled at his friend. "And now, if you will excuse us, my fiancée and I have some important business to discuss."
Ahmad made them another deep salaam. "You do not think it would be wiser, Matthew saab, to have me stay for the sake of the mem'saab's reputation?"
"I do not. Miss Meriwether and I are agreed that we shall not be ruled by intolerable conventions. Am I right, my darling?"
When Trudy saw the intensity of the desire burning in his gaze, she could do nothing but give up before she burst into flames herself. She smiled at him shyly and wound her arms about his neck. "Yes, that's true."
"So you see, Ahmad, that the matter is entirely out of your hands for the moment."
Ahmad grinned. "Yes, saab." He retreated to the door, then turned to wish them both a "Merry Christmas," before closing the door behind him without a sound.
So there ye have it--the terrible tragedy of what happened to me sister Trudy, and the biggest scandal to be heard in elfland for many a year. Though, to hear me sister Trudy tell it, ye wouldn't think it was all that big a tragedy at all.
Trudy says that being human ain't half bad, but I think she's forgotten all the fun we used to have out on the heath when we was young, 'cause she's been so busy like. What with all that travelin' she and Sir Matthew do with that great big friend of his. I don't call that Ahmad a heathen any more 'cause Trudy don't like it when I do, but he sure looks like a heathen to me, same as me brother-in-law.
But, ye know what? I've did a fair bit o' travelin' meself, now, I have. I had to do it, ye see, if I wanted to see me own nieces and nevvies. For the four of 'em, they're always gallivantin' about with their parents instead of stayin' at home like they should. But when I tried to tell Trudy that, she said she wanted to show them and Matthew all them places she'd been, only since humans do everything so slow, it takes 'em ever so long to get there, ye see.
So, I tries to bite me tongue where them kids are concerned, so Trudy'll let me see 'em when I want. Not that she could stop me or anything, but I likes to stay on the good side of me relatives, I guess. And Trudy didn't do so badly for herself, all things considered, though, as I've told her more than once, she could've had them kids in elfland, same as not, and if she had, they'd've had pointed ears like me.
But, then, as I've told ye before, our Trudy always did like to do things her own way.
Copyright © 1996 by Patricia Wynn Ricks
Originally published by Fawcett
Electronically published in 2003 by Belgrave House/Regency Reads
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228
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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.
The Christmas Spirit Page 17