After an hour, James still couldn't believe what his eyes had seen. He followed Margaret around with his stare. He saw her talking and laughing, dancing gracefully. The girl he had lost was a woman. James couldn't see it, but Helen looked at him concerned. She knew he wouldn't leave her, but the sudden appearance of Margaret, and idealized figure after those years of absence, would take its toll in the newlyweds relation.
Before James and Helen left the party, Margaret took them aside.
-Come tomorrow for tea.- she said- I guess you will have questions.
With a knowing smile she kissed them goodnight and let the butler lead them outside.
That night neither Helen nor James slept. They didn't talk, each of them lost in their own thoughts. At the other house Margaret and Hand were having a glass of champagne in their, then empty, living room.
-I thought he was taller.- Hans commented.
-Dear, everyone seems short to you.- Margaret teased him.
-What are you going to tell him tomorrow?
-The truth, he deserves to know. He was an important part of my life. Also, I deserve to know why didn't he come.
-You still love him.- his accent made it to know whether it was an statement or a question.
-No, I don't. Or at least not in a romantic way. The girl in me loves the memory of him. But I have lived too much to still love him. And I love you now.
She sat on his lap playfully, and they started kissing. Margaret whispered something into his ear, and he took her in his arms and upstairs to their bedroom, as she laughed. They didn't sleep much, either, that night.
James and Helen arrived on time for tea, the following day. Margaret had had a table set under the porch in front of the garden. There was cake and tea, for Hans there was coffee, as he thought tea was barbaric. Margaret was wearing a long white dress, very appropriate for the heat of the summer. Helen complimented her for it.
-Thank you, after having suffered the Swedish winter, it is nice to have some heat. Please, sit down.
They all sat down while the maid served the cake and the tea. Margaret was very friendly to her.
-So?- she asked James as soon as the girl left. It was the library all over for him.
-Why did you leave?
-It was the only way. I gave it a lot of thought, believe me. But there was no way we could have worked out if we stayed. The high society would have never accepted our marriage. They would have ostracized us, and you would have ended regretting marrying me. No, the only way was to go away and start from scratch where no one knew us. Maybe I was naive, and I thought you would be willing to sacrifice the life you knew for the love you had. Or maybe you were just too coward. The end was the same, you never came and I ended up tired of waiting.
Margaret stopped, leaving James the opportunity to intervene.
-I know that, whatever I say now, it won't change the fact that I let you down. But you need to know what happened before judging, I owe you an explanation. I have to admit that I spent more time that I should have thinking about what to do. After all, you had disappeared leaving only that note behind. Heart and reason battled for a long time, and, finally, I made the decision to join you. I thought my happiness was at stake. However, as I was making to the door, my lady mother arrived, and with her the weight of my responsibilities. I couldn't leave because there was people who would be affected by my departure, I couldn't disappear and leave them stranded. If I didn't come it wasn't because I didn't love you. I loved you.
Although he never said the words, both Helen and Margaret could hear how he wanted to add "And I still do". The feeling hung in the silence that had fallen after James' last words.
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