Chapter 3

Alessandra

spent the next two weeks relishing what she knew would possibly be the last time she'd be

home. Although her family lived simply, it was the house and

township that she'd grown up in. It was somewhere she had a deep

sentimental appreciation for. She'd known for a long time that one

day she might have to leave. Knowing that didn't make it any easier

for her as she packed up her few belongings into trunks, ready for

the journey she would soon make with her parents.

During the final days in

her home, Alessandra leaned on her mother. She appreciated that her

mother was talking to her as a wife, sharing with Alessandra the

last information that Isabella felt her daughter would need to

know. Of the intimacy between husband and wife, all she would say

was that it was a wife's duty to do as her husband wished for. She

should do it without argument, regardless of how uneasy she may

feel about it.

Alessandra

pondered her mother's wording. The choice of words made it sound

like the marriage act was, for some, a completely unenjoyable thing

to experience. And yet, when she watched her mother and father

together, she'd only ever seen affection between them. They'd never

been overly intimate in front of her, but she remembered seeing

small moments when they would look at each other in such a way that

would make her mother blush. She could also remember moments when her father would touch

her mother. Sometimes he'd straighten up a small area of hair that

was determined to not stay tidy. Sometimes he'd take her hand in

his, and hold it in his while looking into her eyes. It was

difficult for Alessandra to align their level of affection to

something horrible being done to her mother night after

night.

She knew that thinking

about that aspect of marriage was something she shouldn't be

focusing on. It was wicked to think such thoughts so often but,

until she met the young man who would be her husband, she found she

couldn't think of any other aspect of it. Her role would be, after

all, to have children. It would be her responsibility to provide an

heir for the family she was possibly going to be a part

of.

~~~~~

Finally, the time came when

Alessandra and her parents were on their way to the estate of her

possible betrothal. Alessandra could see tension on both of her

parents' faces. They each appeared to be in their own thoughts

about it all.

Looking at her father as

they travelled, she wondered what he was thinking. He'd said

nothing. He wasn't a man who was cold toward his children, but he

was less inclined to speak to her than her mother was. The days of

Alessandra being able to enchant him with a hug, or a smile,

appeared to have ended many years earlier. She'd noticed her father

grow increasingly withdrawn from her in recent years, as she'd

evolved into a young woman.

Having never left her

home town before, Alessandra became excited as she saw the

landscape change. She saw views she'd never visualised even in her

dreams and imagination. For one night, mid-journey, they stayed in

an inn. It was something else that was also new to her. The inn

owners were a married couple who appreciated the custom. They also

enjoyed viewing the excitement Alessandra exhibited in being able

to eat and stay overnight in the establishment. To Alessandra, it

all was starting to feel like such an adventure - so much so that

she almost forgot where they were heading, and why.