Isabelle
“Look at what we have already accomplished together.” Alfred walked her towards Agatha. “She is perfection in motion, like her mother. Together we have created life. You and I did this. I could not have done it alone. You see with your own eyes what our love is capable of, new beginnings, new life, new possibilities. Together. You and I.”
Alfred let loose of her hand and sat behind their daughter. “You can not desire to toss aside this wondrous gift. It has barely begun to bloom. Our love is still new and young, it has yet to bear fruit of any kind. Have you any doubt of what kind it will yield?” He stroked Agatha’s hair lightly, “It can only bring forth the purest, sweetest, and most desired of all harvests. Look at our daughter and deny my thoughts.”
Isabelle looked lovingly at their daughter and smiled.
“Tell me there is hope for us still, Isabelle. I will move the stars and the moon for you if it be your bidding. I give my life to you to do as you will. Decide my fate, the future of our love. I hand my free will to you. I beg only you hear my case first. Listen to my side of the story before you render your verdict.”
Alfred stood and reached out to Isabelle. He escorted her to a pile of cushions to recline and snack on small sugared wafers and drink sweetened wine.
“I know I am a man of means and can give you a life of leisure. For some that is a welcomed grace, for others it is an imprisonment. I regret I can not offer to you a life of treachery and deceit. I can not leave you for months at a time without notice while I am imprisoned for some petty thievery. I can not offer our daughter a life of shame, where her mother must lie to her night after night about where her father is. I will not force you to go out and beg in the streets, or find some other means of supporting yourselves as your stomachs churn with hunger and I lay in the bed of a warm stranger abroad. I am sorry I unable to offer you any of these things. They go against my very nature. They offend my very being.” Alfred paused.
“It is true, I live a very boring life. It is very plain and confined. There is never a day that is any variant from any other day. Everything with me is the same yesterday as it will be tomorrow. I can offer you only stability and security. You and our daughter will never want or worry for anything all of your life. My feelings for you will never waver, they will never fail you in any manner. They will not wane with time, or dissipate with sorrow. The love I feel for you only grows stronger with time. I know our family too would grow strong.”
Alfred took a step nearer to Isabelle. “Please. I can not offer you a life of excitement, I can only offer you what is mine to give. Forgive me that it is not enough for you, but I feel in time you could grow to love the palace we could build together.”