Chapter 17
On the carriage ride back to the Summers’ House
“I still can’t believe he asked me to marry him,” Aimée said as she gazed dreamily at the ring that Angel had placed on her hand a little while ago.
“Me either, my dear, this was quite a surprise. I’m very happy for you, darling. I’m curious though, did Angel tell you about his intentions before tonight?”
Aimée had convinced Angel that for the sake of appearances, they shouldn’t tell anyone that they had become engaged in Boston. She’d told him that it would be easier that way, because she’d just die if anyone thought that she had purposely interfered in the relationship that supposedly existed between him and Elizabeth. Angel, not wanting to do anything that could upset his fiancée, readily agreed and had acted his part of an impetuous suitor wonderfully, and Aimée, of course, had told her mother that she’d been flabbergasted when he asked her to marry him and so adamant in telling Joyce as soon as they had gone back into the house from their stroll on the garden.
“No, of course not, this was as much of a surprise for me as it was for you, mother. You know I met him in Boston, I told you that, but I knew he was my sister’s fiancé and he never said anything to me before tonight,” she said lowering her eyelashes demurely.
“All right, but please, Aimée, for the love of God, don’t say a word about this to your sister yet.”
"Why not? Wasn’t she the one that called off the engagement because she wanted to join the convent?” Aimée asked.
“Well, yes, but—”
“But nothing, mother, this is nonsense and you know it. Angel and I already had to agree to your request that the marriage take place in three months, instead of the one month we’d decided upon!” she said in a decisively aggressive tone, exasperated by her mother’s refusal to see things her way. Why couldn’t her mother support her for once? It was always Elizabeth this, Elizabeth that, and she was truly tired of it. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, before deciding to try something else. “Elizabeth cannot presume that Angel would stay a bachelor forever, now could she?”
“Well, no, but it will be quite a surprise for her and I’m not sure how she’s going to react,” Joyce replied. “You know I still hope that she will not take her final vows as a nun.”
“I know, but if you loved me as much as you claim you do, you would support me on this,” Aimée said with a sad look on her face that wasn’t as faked as she’d like it to be. “Being the youngest daughter and without a dowry, you know this might be my only chance for a good marriage; can’t you be there for me now that I need you so much?”
“Of course, darling,” Joyce responded, moving to embrace her daughter, feeling somewhat guilty that she had distressed Aimée, but still thinking that Elizabeth didn’t deserve to find out this way what she suspected was the real reason for Angel wanting to call off the engagement.
* ~ * ~ *
Aimée’s bedroom
Aimée entered her room dancing and with a bright smile on her face. Things were going exactly as they should and soon she’d have all she ever wanted. She stopped in mid-dance and her smile waned when she noticed that her sister was waiting for her inside the room.
“Good evening, Elizabeth. Were you waiting for me?” she asked, starting to take off all the pins that held up her hair.
“I want to know what you have to do with a ruffian call William the Bloody,” Buffy replied, not answering her sister’s question.
“William was here?” Aimée said, cursing him and wondering why he had to make things so difficult for her; now she’d have to invent something or else her sister would suspect.
“Yes, he came into your room through the garden doors, calling you by your name.”
“He’s just a fisherman I met at the market; I think he’s not in full use of his mental faculties, if you know what I mean.”
“I’ve been living in this town longer than you, Aimée, and William the Bloody is not a fisherman and he didn’t seem crazy at all. What are you doing getting involved with that type of people? They say he’s a pirate, a smuggler, and maybe even a killer!”
“Really?” Aimée widened her eyes innocently, trying to make it seem as if all that Buffy was telling her was new to her.
“Like you didn’t know.” Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister. Aimée had never been able to fool her, not even when they were little girls and that hadn’t changed with the years they’d spent apart, even if now it was a bit harder for Buffy.
“Listen, sister,” Aimée practically spat the word. “I’m not about to tolerate your suspicions. I met that man at the beach and I exchanged two or three words with him. Or what? Now I can’t even talk to people?”
“Do you think I’m a fool? You had to have crossed much more than two words if that insolent dared enter your bedchambers at night and leave you a message: ‘Tell Aimée I came by,’” she mimicked.
“What did I tell you? He’s crazy!”
“Crazy or not, I warn you, Aimée, maybe in Boston you used to flirt with anything that moved, but that isn’t allowed here. Listen to me, sister, I’m not going to let you give our mother something else to worry about or sully the good name of our family!” Buffy exclaimed angrily, before leaving her sister’s room.
“Sully the good name of our family! Hypocrite! Good for nothing...” Aimée said between her teeth furiously. Oh, she simply couldn’t wait to tell Elizabeth that she would be the one marrying Angel and of course, now she’d have to let her sister know that she was the reason Angel refused to marry her. Oh, how sweet her revenge was going to be.
All her life she’d been second to Elizabeth; her sister had been the firstborn, the favorite for her parents and she hadn’t really resented the lack of attention while they were still children; it wasn’t until after their father died and her mother decided to send her to Boston, that she’d begun to truly feel antipathy toward her sister. She still couldn’t believe that her mother would send her away so easily, that she hadn’t cared that she was suffering the pain of losing her father and she’d packed her off to Boston. And then there was all she had gone through in Boston, she’d been treated almost as if she were another daughter by her Aunt Francesca and by her cousin Willow, but she’d always been painfully aware that for the rest of their social circle, she was someone that should be pitied or looked down on.
But that wouldn’t happen anymore, with any luck after her sister found out about her impending nuptials to Angel, she’d take her vows immediately and they would never have to see her again. She would be the favorite daughter then, the wife of Angel De Alcazar, and mistress of Campo Real and her sister would be out of the picture for good. Everyone would realize then she was the more worthy of the two sisters.
Calmer now, she began getting ready for bed when she remembered the message that William had left for her with her sister. Thinking that he’d probably come to her house to beg for her forgiveness, she decided that she’d have to take a convenient stroll on the beach on the morning so he could do it.
* ~ * ~ *
The next day on the beach, near William’s cottage
“Good morning, Aimée,” William said before sitting behind her on the sand.
“What are you doing here?” Aimée asked arrogantly, a frown marring her features.
“My ship sails in a few hours, I just wanted to say good bye before I left. I’ll be back in about a week.”
“And I care about that why exactly? I hope you and your ship wreck and end up on the bottom of the sea!”
“Are you jealous because of Faith?” William sighed. He hated having to give explanations of his actions, but if he wanted to marry this woman someday, he knew he’d have to start now.
Aimée got up from the sand as quickly as she could. “Me, jealous?” She laughed derisively. He really was crazy if he thought she would admit to being jealous of a girl that was obviously below her level. She began to walk away, but William grabbed her by her arm, turning her toward him and holding her close to his body by the waist.
While on the outside she protested his actions, inwardly she reveled in his possessive behavior; she loved it when he acted like this with her. But she couldn’t give into him yet, that’d be too easy, so instead she told him, “If you don’t release me now, I will scream.”
He lifted his other hand and touched her face with his fingers, lingering on her lips. “Scream all you want, but you’re going to listen to me. I don’t have anything to do with Faith or any other woman and I want to explain to you why she was at my cottage, but—Bloody hell!” he cursed when he noticed that there were some fishermen nearby. Curious about his reaction, Aimée followed the direction of his gaze and gasped, hiding her face on William’s chest as she prayed that no one recognized her. While she hadn’t been exactly discreet during her dalliance with William, if people began talking it could reach Angel’s ears and that would ruin all her plans. Mistaking her reaction for shyness at being discovered in the situation they were in, Spike said, “I don’t think this is the right place for this. Want to go to my cottage? Just to talk,” he added when she raised her eyebrow at him.
She nodded and throwing a cautious glance around she pulled the shawl she had around her shoulders over her head and hurried toward his house.
* ~ * ~ *
A bit later, William’s cottage
Aimée and William sat at the table while he explained to her how he’d met Faith and that she was like a little sister for him. Aimée, meanwhile, was getting restless, they’d been at the cottage for a little over an hour and he had made no attempt to make any amorous advance toward her, even with the heated glances she’d thrown his way.
“Yes, I understand all that,” Aimée said, almost rolling her eyes at him; why couldn’t he shut up about that damn Faith already? “But you know you shouldn’t have gone to my house.”
“Why not?”
She threw him a pointed glare. “Why not? You can’t imagine the problems you’ve brought me now that my sister saw you!”
“Your sister?” William smirked. So the little nun had talked to Aimée about him?
“Yes, she was furious.”
William chuckled. Good, at least he’d made an impression on Santa Elizabeth. With any luck she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head as he had not been able to forget her. He was surprised at the depth of the feelings a woman like her had incited in him, to the point that he’d felt that he was cheating on her by just thinking of Aimée; which was precisely why he hadn’t responded to her more than obvious advances since they’d entered his cottage. Hopefully the trips he was planning on making would help him take her out of his mind, and focus instead on the woman he had decided would be his wife. After all, the chances were slim to none that Santa Elizabeth would decide to give up her vows for him and it wouldn’t do him any good to keep fantasizing she would.
“I had to invent that you were a crazy fisherman with whom I talked every once in a while.”
“And did she believe you?” William asked, unable to contain the laughter that erupted from him. Only Aimée could invent such an unbelievable story. A fisherman? Like anyone could believe that. He shook his head as he continued laughing.
“I don’t know,” she said, getting angrier by the minute by his reaction. During the time they’ve been at the cottage, he’d hardly answered or reacted to anything she said or did until she’d mentioned her sister. “But you shouldn’t have gone to my house. My sister can be our worst enemy.”
“And what is she going to do? Does she have influences upstairs?” he said, directing a glance to the ceiling of his house, with a smug smile on his face. “Or is she going to pray so the sea will swallow my ship?”
“Laugh it up all you want; but when my sister begins creating problems for us, you’ll wish you hadn’t laughed!” she replied angrily, getting up from the chair and walking out of his cottage.
Spike rolled his eyes at her childish behavior, but decided to follow her anyway. “Aimée, wait! I’ll walk you to your house!” he called after her. She made as if she hadn’t heard him, but slowed her steps so he could catch up with her.
* ~ * ~ *
In the garden, just outside Aimée’s room
“All right, we’re here. Now go!” Aimée pleaded, as she glanced around nervously. She hadn’t been able to convince him not to accompany her up to her house and now she was truly scared that someone might see them. If he kept this up she might have to end things with him, it was not what she wanted but her marriage to Angel and her revenge on her sister were more important than anything else, even the love she felt for William.
“All right, then. I’ll see you in a week, Aimée.” He lowered his head to kiss her cheek. He’d noticed her discomfort and wasn’t too happy that she seemed to be ashamed of being seen with him. “Oh, and one more thing, tell Santa Elizabeth I said hello,” Spike said before leaving.
“You’re crazy!” Aimée exclaimed angrily, turning around and running into her room. She was so flustered that she didn’t notice that Elizabeth had seen the exchange from her window.
tbc
Hope to have another chapter maybe this week, depending on my workload.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Many thanks to Devin, Amelia-Jane, jt, DaniD, Vette, SarahandJamesFanatic and Klai for your reviews. Your kind comments are truly the best inspiration a girl could ask for!I know I promised some Spike/Buffy on this chapter, but Aimée decided otherwise. On better news, there’s only 2 to 4 more chapters until we really begin the real Spuffyness.Thank you, Jen and MarzBar, for betaing this chapter for me.