‘I mean, challenge him to a duel,’ Edmund replied calmly. ‘To the death.’
She took an involuntary step towards him. Or maybe it was voluntary. You could never tell with these love-struck people
‘Edmund, you must not jest about such things,’ she whispered, her hands clasping the iron poles of the fence tightly. ‘You must not.’
‘Who says that I am jesting?’
‘Please, Edmund, stop. You worry me sick.’
‘I am sorry for that. But it cannot be helped. You say you will not refuse Sir Philip, nor stand up to your aunt, so I have no choice.’
‘No choice but to contemplate violence?’ Letting go of the poles, she threw her hands up in the air. ‘What mad demon possesses you, Edmund? I beg you, relinquish this mad scheme!’
‘It is not mad. Indeed it is highly logical. You will not rid yourself of Sir Philip, very well, then I shall do it for you. I shall acquire a pistol, go to his house and challenge him. Do you think I should explain the situation to him? How things stand between us?’
Ella almost fainted right then and there. Only Edmund’s quick hands, which shot through the gaps in the fence and caught her around the waist, prevented her from falling.
Wait just a minute!
I was on the point of charging in. Now he definitely was touching areas he wasn’t supposed to be touching on a lady, and I had to look after my little sister, after all. But then, he had only prevented her from falling. I decided to not kill him for his insolence just this once.
‘Tell him?’ Ella whispered, obviously in no hurry to get out of his arms. ‘Are you mad?’
He smiled at her. It was a boyish, excited kind of smile that looked new on his face, which I had seen so often anxious and sad, yet it suited him well. He looked like a different person, and for the first time I began to understand what Ella saw in him, just a little.
‘That’s the second time you’ve accused me of insanity tonight, my love. Don’t let it become a habit.’
‘Be serious, Edmund!’
‘I’m absolutely serious. I don't want you to suspect me of a mental disorder.’
‘You know what I mean!’
‘Yes, I do. And I’m serious about that, too.’
‘But telling Sir Philip? After all the hundreds and hundreds of times I have begged you to keep our love a secret?’
Edmund’s smile became a trifle wistful.
‘Ah, but what is there to keep secret anymore? If I go to him tomorrow and vanquish him, then it will not matter whether or not I have told him, will it? I need to explain it to him, Ella. I cannot simply march up to him and insult him to make him fight me. I would smudge the honour of my family, which, as you so diligently pointed out, is a bad thing to do. No, I need to go to him and say: “Sir Philip, I love the girl you have set your sights on, and she loves me. I will fight for her with my last breath.” He is a gentleman. He will understand and allow me the opportunity to fight for you. Once I have put a bullet through his heart, the way will once again be free. So you see, Ella, I am not mad. I have thought this through very carefully.’
I nodded approvingly. For once, it seemed, somebody had been using their brains instead of their heart. The plan was indeed highly logical - except for one point. With unusual quickness, Ella realized it too.
‘And what,’ she whispered, trembling in Edmund’s arms, ‘if it is he who kills you?’
There were a few moments of silence. Well, almost-silence, anyway. In the distance, a dog barked with total disregard for the romantic drama unfolding in front of me.
‘I wouldn’t worry about that, love,’ he said, dismissively.
‘Not worry?’ she exclaimed, and suddenly it wasn’t just his arms around her - she was clasping him now, too. That was more like it! Finally, she was taking some action of her own.
‘Edmund, he is a gentleman! You’re a tradesman’s son. He’s been raised to shoot with guns, hunts every year and knows what he’s doing. Have you ever handled a pistol before in your life?’
‘I’m a quick learner.’
‘Edmund, tell me! Have you ever handled a pistol?’
‘Not actually, no,’ he admitted. ‘But I’ve seen other people do it,’ he added as an afterthought.
The groan that originated from Ella indicated that she thought about as much of this excuse as I did.
‘Edmund, please don't, I’m begging you!’
He shook his head.
‘I would give you almost anything you want, love, but in this I must deny you.’
‘But why?’ Reaching up, she clutched his shirt and, through a gap in the fence, buried her face in his chest. ‘Do you want to die? Are you truly mad?’
Encircling her with his arms, he drew her even closer towards himself. I was debating again whether or not to intervene - but somehow I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt them. And there was still an iron fence between them, so things couldn’t really get very intimate. ‘I have no wish to die, Ella.’
‘Then why? Tell me, for heaven’s sake!’
‘Don’t you see?’ Pushing her away a bit, he raised her chin and forced her to look into his face. ‘I have to free you. I have to believe that you and I can be together. If that cannot be, life would not be worth living anymore. Not for me, anyway.’
Atta boy! I had to admit, part of me really liked this plan. If it worked, Ella would be rid of Sir Philip. If it didn’t, she’d be rid of this silly fellow. A win-win situation.
‘Isn’t it enough to know I love you?’ She asked, her voice thick. ‘To know that I will never, ever love anybody else, no matter what I shall be forced to do?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m afraid I’m not that noble, my dear. I need to feel your love, to feel you in my arms, safe and warm. I need to know that you can say to me “I love you” without blushing in shame. I need to know that I am yours and you are mine, now and forever.’
‘That can never be!’
‘It must and it shall be.’
Slowly, he began to untangle himself from her and from the fence. The latter took longer than one might have thought. In order to passionately embrace her, he’d had to squeeze his arms through some pretty tight spots. Apparently, he still hadn’t thought of using the ladder that still rested peacefully against the Conways’ garden shed.
‘What are you doing?’ Ella cried as he slipped from her grasp.
‘Going,’ he returned. ‘The time for talk has passed. Now it is time for action.’ His face took on a grim expression. ‘I am going to have to be fit and alert tomorrow. I had better call it a night.’
‘Edmund, you don't… you don't seriously mean you’ll go through with this?’
‘I have never been more serious about anything in my life. Except maybe once - when I first told you I loved you. And what I shall now do is practically the same - the only difference is that I shall translate the words into deeds.’
‘Edmund, no!’ She tried to stop him as he stepped away from the fence and turned, but he was too strong for her. He set out across the lawn, and I felt a lump in my throat. From the back he looked nothing like the cheerful tradesman’s son I had known him as throughout the time we had lived in this street. He looked like a tragic hero going towards his final end.
‘Please, Edmund! You can’t go! You can’t challenge Sir Philip. Please don't! Please!’
Halfway down the garden, he stopped and turned his head to look back at her wistfully.
‘I have to,’ was his only reply.
‘But what if he kills you?’ she wailed.
He smiled sadly.
‘Then I will die in the knowledge that I have done everything in my power to keep us together. It will be a comforting knowledge when the darkness closes in.’
Turning away again, he continued through the garden, towards his parents’ house.
‘Edmund, wait!’ Ella reached through the fence, as if she could grab him and drag him back to her side. But there were yards of distance between them. ‘Edmund, please! Don’t go!’
This time, he did not stop.