I Will Wait for You

Elizabeth could barely sleep that night and as she woke up the next day to help her mother their house work chores, her head was on the clouds as her mother pointed out.

“Nothing’s wrong Mother. I’m alright.” Elizabeth said as she placed the dishes inside the cabinet while her mother swept the floor and kept eyeing her suspiciously.

“You have been acting very strangely ever since Captain Nicholls was here. I saw him speaking to you. Did you tell you something?!” The woman said raising her tone, assuming barbarities as Elizabeth immediately turned to her.

“Oh no, no!” She said quickly “He’s been very proper, mother.” Elizabeth sighed as she glanced out of the window and saw nothing.

The older woman observed her daughter and smile as she rested a friendly hand on her shoulder.

“Something is different isn’t it Ellie?” She asked gently as she saw her daughter blush and then shrug off what she meant.

“No, mother. Everything is quite the same.” Elizabeth replied almost a bit too coldly.

She had never fallen in love with anyone and falling in love with a man she barely knew, who most certainly was going to war, was the dumbest idea she had ever thought of. But it was happening and she knew it. Deep down, in the bottom of her heart, there was something that drew her in towards James Nicholls but her rational side told her to stay away, to push him out but somehow he always managed to get in deeper and deeper.

“Are you sure? You haven’t stopped looking out of window all morning, darling.” Her mother pointed out as Elizabeth sighed. Her mother kept silent and Elizabeth knew that the woman was expecting an explication.

“I’m so confused, Mother.” She admitted as she looked down, feeling her mother approach her and stay silent “I… After I saw him and spoke with him for the first it was almost as if a decease took over me.”

“That’s called love, sweetheart.” Her mother chuckled as Elizabeth sighed again.

“I was afraid you would say that.” Elizabeth admitted “I have never loved someone before Mother and no one has ever loved me back. Young men around her are afraid of me because I speak my mind… maybe I’ll end up alone.” Elizabeth said sadly as she turned her back against the window and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Don’t be so rushed with words, sweetheart.” Her mother said as she glanced outside of the window. Elizabeth heart a soft trot and she turned around quickly to see James approaching on his horse.

“He won.” She whispered as she inhaled sharply and inspected her dress quickly and brushed her hair with her fingers to make sure that she was presentable.

Her mother watched with amusement. Normally, Elizabeth wouldn’t have a problem with the way how a man saw her but the Captain was different. The woman felt a sense of comfort fill her heart but she thought to herself that she shouldn’t get too excited without anything happening first.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Elizabeth froze.

“What are you doing? Open the door, Ellie.” Her mother whispered.

Elizabeth shook her head and stormed into the garden. Her mother watched with shock but she returned to reality when there was another knock, rougher this time. She opened the door and greeted the Captain. He brought some kind of medal or prize with him and he wished to see Elizabeth, of course, so her mother directed him to the garden.

James smiled politely at the woman, she was eyeing him differently but he couldn’t worry about that now as he found Elizabeth sitting by the grass on her own. He took his time to join her and cleared his throat once he was close enough.

“May I join you?” He asked as a smile grew in her face but she kept it hidden.

“Of course, Captain.” She replied as he smiled and sat beside her on the cool grass, the sun shining above them.

“I brought this for you.” He said as he handed her the small prize he won the day before.

“I do not need proof to know that you won. I never doubted it.” She chuckled as he smiled and insisted for her to have it.

“You were my key-motivation and I want you to have it. Please accept it.” He said as their blue eyes locked for a moment and she accepted the prize.

“Thank you. It’s very beautiful.” She pointed out as she brushed her fingers along the silver part of the small medal. She had never held something so precious or expensive in her life.

“Elizabeth,” James called as butterflies took over his stomach and he felt his palms begin to sweat so he rubbed them against his trousers before he cleared his throat “Could you, please, forgive me?” He said as he grabbed her hand gently, his touch softer than she had imagined “I never meant to say that you are inferior to me or to any man because you are a woman and I never meant to make you feel that way, either.”

She felt her cheeks color as she saw all the honesty in the world pour through his eyes. She looked down at their hands and grabbed a bit tighter to his smiling.

“I forgive you, James.” She said as he smiled brightly and looked up with relief, like if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She watched him relax and smiled softly as his thumb ran across her hand “What’s that?” She asked motioning for small notebook peeking from inside his coat.

“Oh,” He said getting a bit nervous again. Everything had been going smoothly but to him, Elizabeth was unpredictable so he needed to be careful with words now that he was having a second chance at getting closer to her “It’s my sketching book.”

“You can draw?” She asked with full interest as James smiled, immediately felt comforted for the fact that she showed interest and not mockery.

“I only sketch actually.” He said as he opened his book and showed her a sketch of his house he had done a week before going away.

He heard her gasp as she approached him and complimented his skills, confessing that she never thought that a Captain could dedicate himself to anything more than war.

“You think that I am my uniform and nothing else?” He asked as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“That depends. Do you think that I am nothing more than a woman?” She asked seriously as his jaw tensed up slightly. “Whose function is to stay home, marry, be a mother and never speak her mind?”

“You are not like any woman I have ever met.” James didn’t hesitate. As she described the normal women of their time, he knew that he didn’t want her to be like that or she’d lose herself and she was too good to be lost. “And that is why I… feel so drawn into you. You are so much more, Elizabeth.”

Her jaw dropped as he stared into her eyes like if he was staring into her soul and there she realized why she had feelings for him. He was different. He was not trying to seduce her, he actually challenged her and upon proven wrong, he admitted his mistakes and apologize. His speech was nothing like she had ever heard and he was definitely very different from every man she had ever met.

“You are so much more than your uniform, James.” She said with a soft tone as he widened his eyes slightly. There was no roughness from her, only softness and a kind of deep emotional side, that had been shut down for a long time. “You are so gentle and you don’t look at me like most young men. You actually seem to be able to ‘see’ me, almost as if you want to see the real Elizabeth. Unlike other who just focus on my bad temper or on my handsome face or body… You are slowly proving to me that not all men are ignorant and disgusting.”

He couldn’t help but to be drawn into her as she spoke. He felt flattered but most of all, somewhat happy with her discourse. His feelings were returned, he could feel it. He smiled and got closer to caress her face. His thumb brushed soft pale skin as he leaned in to kiss her, three male voices erupted from far: her father and brothers. Along with them came Percy Blue and as Elizabeth saw them on the road, she released James’s hand and stood up in a jiffy. He followed quickly as they remained physically apart from each other but both aware on what could have happened if they had just had a little bit more time.



Mr. Davis came by to drop Samuel and Percy Blue and take a small nap before he returned to the fields with Andrew but before anything, Mrs. Davis called him into the kitchen to tell him about the Captain’s visit. Mr. Davis could hardly believe as he looked outside and saw the Captain and Elizabeth talking and smiling towards each other.

“Do you think…?” He asked his wife as she nodded her head with a happy smile.

“I really hope so, love.” She said as both Samuel and Andrew approached the couple with Percy Blue.

“Ellie, Ellie!” Samuel said excitedly as he hugged his sister’s legs making her smile at him as she ran her hand through his short, brown hair “Andrew is going to teach me how to ride!”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow towards Andrew, who looked proud and confident while he talked to James. Elizabeth couldn’t help but to question Andrew’s motives for being so nice all of sudden but seeing the admiration he held for James, it became obvious: He wanted to impress.

Elizabeth remembered Samuel the rules of safety and the little boy promised to be good. She glanced at Andrew once more as he and Samuel advanced more to the center of the garden while Elizabeth and James sat again side by side on the grass.

James sneaked his hand through the grass to grab Elizabeth’s and watched a smile grow in her lips as she tickled his palm with her fingertips and ended up grabbing his hand softly while she watched her brother’s attentively.

“I did not know that Andrew had such an interest in the Army. He was just telling me.” James said to start up conversation as Elizabeth nodded her head.

“His dream is to be a Captain, like you. It’s his goal since he was a child.” She told him, a small hint of pride coming with her tone.

Andrew and Elizabeth had never been too close, he changed as often as the weather but if there was one thing that stuck to him, it was his dream of joining the Army someday and that was the feature that she respected the most about him.

“And what is your dream, Elizabeth?” James asked curiously as she tilted her head to the side.

“To be free.” She said simply as she turned her head to him and smiled “And yours?”

“To be happy, successful and a good man, above all things.” He replied as she squeezed his hand.

“With all your talent,” She said motioning towards his sketch book “You really try to sketch something more alive than a house or a landscape.”

“I am open to suggestions.” He chuckled as she glanced at Percy Blue while Samuel and Andrew fed him along with James’s horse. She had discovered that, when close, both horses were calm and Elizabeth liked to believe that James’s horse was Percy Blue’s old friend.

“Have you ever thought about drawing a horse?” She asked as James raised his eyebrow and glanced towards their horses.

“Actually, I haven’t.” He admitted.

“Well, since Percy Blue and Thunder get along so well together, you could come by tomorrow and sketch them. What do you think?” She asked.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea.” He replied quickly earning a smile from her that made his heart skip a beat.