Bandit Bride

It took a little bit of explaining before Elisa’s parents were fully comfortable with Felix there. Elisa did most of the talking, and Felix couldn’t help but turn bright red with the way she was painting him as some kind of savior. She had definitely chosen to leave out the part where Felix tried robbing her of everything she had and the multiple attempts he had made to ditch her at the start of the journey.

Eventually they let the two of them have some time alone, and Elisa took Felix’s hand, leading him out into the garden. They sat on a bench among the rose bushes, holding hands in silence for a few minutes. Both of them started to speak a few times, but found that no words were coming out. Eventually, Felix broke the silence.

“We don’t have to talk about what happened,” he said. “I think we both know the story already. And it was a bad story. For both of us.”

“It was,” she said softly.

“We can start again from where we are now,” he said.

“I can’t just leave like that again,” she sighed. “Not after everything that happened. Not with everything my family went through.”

“I never said anything about leaving,” Felix pointed out. “I, uh, got a job. And a house. Here. In Willsden.”

“What?”

“We talked about how I never felt right, taking Anthony’s place,” he said. “When I met you, I was sure of it. It’s just not what I was meant to do. So I handed over what I had to Allen and we came to find you.”

“We?”

“Jack came with me,” he explained. “He was writing letters from Venere and was trying to get some to you, and he decided that he wanted to go to school. I got a shack of a house and a job at the lumber mill, and he’ll be starting school next month. He’ll be in a class full of nine-year-olds, but he seems happy.”

“Venere,” she said slowly, then suddenly stood up. “I knew it! I knew I saw Jack there!”

“He was trying to get to you for weeks,” Felix said. “You didn’t think we were just going to let you go that easy, did you? Even if I was dead. Jack has too many unanswered questions to just let you off the hook like that.”

She finally laughed, sitting back down and suddenly kissing Felix, catching him off guard.

“I don’t ever want to be let off the hook,” she said. “I’m hooked for life.”

Felix cracked a smile, quiet for a few moments as he put his thoughts together.

“Listen,” he said. “I know you just broke off an engagement. Twice. You’re probably pretty damn tired of men, and I don’t blame you. And I’ll never be able to buy you rare silks, or fancy hats, or those tiny spoons you use for stirring.”

“Teaspoons.”

“Yeah, that,” he nodded. “I have one kind of spoon, and I only have four of them. And one of them has already gone missing.”

“Felix, get to the point,” she said with a soft laugh.

“My point is that I understand if you want to move on with your life,” he said. “But if you find that you still have room in your heart for me, I can promise you that what I can’t offer in money I can offer in giving you every bit of my love. And I’ll never stop doing everything in my power to make sure you feel that love.”

At that point it looked like Elisa was going to pass out again.

“Do you want me to bring you some water or something?” he said slowly.

“No, I’m okay,” she said. “I just-”

She cut herself off, throwing herself at him in a tight hug. He resisted the urge to wince when his injuries were squeezed. He hugged her back, glad that she seemed so eager to take her back.

“I’d give up a thousand teaspoons for you,” she laughed between happy tears.

It took a little bit more conversation, but Elisa’s parents were finally convinced that Felix was a good person to hand their daughter off to. He visited a couple more times, bringing Jack with him. Judith and Sampson took a shine to Jack almost right away, and he adored the attention. They were impressed with his motivation to put his life on a track to success, and it seemed that part of them might have always felt empty without so many daughters and no sons. Jack was young enough to fit that bill, and there was no time wasted in Elisa’s parents and sisters quickly turning him into a little dress up doll, smoothing out his hair and putting him in nice clothes.

Felix stuck to his promise to Elisa, and they waited a few months before they announced that they wanted to get married. It ended up making the gossip news about as quickly as what happened with Bramfield, but Elisa didn’t seem too concerned about the talk. Felix worked hard to buy her a ring, and while he wasn’t able to get a diamond as big as the one Thurston had gotten her, she seemed perfectly happy with the simple gold band and three pearls that he had picked out for her.

They never lived an extravagant life, but they were happy in the little home that they had made. And to them, that was all that would ever matter.