As Vincent sat at the Chamber of the Falls with Brigit, he listened to her, and he genuinely enjoyed his time with her, as they both spoke from their hearts.
However, he still could not help but wonder how Catherine was. He could still feel such sadness emanating from her and it was most overpowering, but somehow he sensed a change...something else...
And so privately he thought tonight, he would go back to Catherine's balcony once more to check on her. Yes...he found it to be impossible to stay away.
Upon noticing Vincent's faraway look, Brigit asked, "Thinkin' aboot yer Lady?"
Admittedly Vincent nodded, and said, "Yes Brigit, there is so much I do not understand, I wish I knew what it was hurting Catherine so..."
As Brigit patted Vincent's hand, she at the same time, sat there feeling a bit guilty, because she knew some of the answers to Vincent's questions. And she knew Catherine loved him still.
However, she had affection for Vincent too! Even though her feelings may be more of infatuation, than that of love perhaps...but nevertheless, with Catherine's letter out of the way, at least Brigit might have a chance to explore their relationship...shall we say, more thoroughly!
So as they seemingly were enjoying their day together, as just friends, Vincent was relaxed and able to put aside the uncomfortable feelings of last night, when Brigit tried to bed him.
However...the platonic feel of the day was short lived, and suddenly changed as Brigit broached the subject again!
And so coyly, Brigit thoughtfully shared, "I can't help but to wonder, what if ye had met me before ye met Catherine..."
But before Vincent could reply, she then flirtatiously stated, "And Vincent, I wasn't teasin' last night! I want ye to think aboot cozyin' up!"
Taken aback by Brigit's change of demeanor, Vincent looked downward, and lamented, "The amorous activities you had suggested last night, have plagued me on and off all day. Brigit...I can offer you friendship, and nothing more."
Upon hearing Vincent still resisting her, Brigit moved in closer, as she said, "Plagued was not how I hoped ye'd be feelin' aboot my suggestion...I am only suggestin' a friend givin' comfort to a friend! One wee kiss, Vincent what could it hurt?"
But because he loved Catherine so completely, Vincent knew it would not be fair to lead Brigit on in any way...
So as Vincent began to say this to her, Brigit thought to herself, "Brigit OLE girl, it looks like it may be up to ye to take the bull by the horns...so to speak, and decidedly went in for the kill, pleading, "Vincent, give me a smooch, if ye don't, I'll steal it! Come on Vincent...ye must learn to have more fun!"
In reply, Vincent did his best to dodge her lips, as he informatively argued, "I DO know how to have fun Brigit...for instance, a good game of chess never fails to elate me."
Upon hearing there is a playful side in there somewhere, Brigit teasingly pleaded, "Then show me a bit of fun Vincent...I dinny care if ye love me or not!"
With a firm resolve, Vincent looked astonished, as he said, "You can't mean that!"
To which Brigit replied, "Oh yes I do!"
And so with a sorrowful bending of his head, Brigit finally saw how devastated Vincent was, and realized "It Ain't gonna happen, not this time anyway", and so she conceded, by disappointingly saying, "Aye relax Vincent...I'm not goin' to attack ye again!"
With relief, Vincent straightened his tunic, and then politely suggested, "Perhaps we can re-group, and re-access our relationship Brigit. As I said before, I can offer friendship to you...a platonic friendship ONLY...can you accept that?"
To which Brigit reluctantly answered him, "Aye, friendship it is...at least fer now Vincent."
Brigit then smiled, as she confessed, "I jist can't help myself! Ye are irresistible to me! Ye not mad at me fer that are ye?"
To which Vincent adamantly replied, "No Brigit, I am not mad at you, however, we must keep our friendship on a less passionate level."
As she swayed back and forth, Brigit conceded, "I'll try Vincent, I may not be successful...but I'll try!"
Well remarkably, Brigit did calm down, and they were able to talk of other things for a time, and enjoy a camaraderie for a bit, before Vincent regretfully said, "It is time to go back now..."
To which Brigit took in a deep breath as she looked around once more, and with appreciation said, "Ahhh, thank you fer bringin' me here Vincent...it is truly a beautiful place."
Just then, a breathless Mary and Rebecca appeared, both hoping they were not too late in their efforts to impede any romantic notions Brigit may have had!
So as they stood catching their breath...Mary tried to sound lighthearted, as she said, "Vincent and Brigit! Fancy meeting you here! We were just out for a stroll, performing our daily exercise regimen!"
To which Rebecca nervously added, "Yes we DO love walking to see the Falls, don't we Mary?"
Upon hearing Rebecca declare her love for walking to the Falls, Vincent knew something was amiss! Oh yes something was amiss all right, since Vincent was privy to the fact that Rebecca was afraid of heights...and would very rarely go to the falls for a walk!
Giving the two women, a questioning look, a smug Vincent then said, "Well unfortunately for us...we will miss sharing your lovely company...we were just heading back..."
And as he and Brigit turned to leave, Vincent deviously added, "Oh and Rebecca..."
As she held onto the side of the chamber wall, Rebecca nervously answered, "Yes Vincent?"
Raising a brow, he said, "You really should walk out onto the crag further...you get a much better view there."
Vincent's comment caused Mary and Rebecca to look at each other, both wondering if Vincent may be on to them.
And so in trying to sound full of fun, Mary then side-stepped any suspicions, as she shouted, "See you this afternoon Brigit! Don't forget we are going to the Hot Springs Chamber!"
To which Brigit called back in reply, "Aye...see ye then."
As soon as Vincent and Brigit were out of earshot, Rebecca nervously asked Mary, "Do you think Vincent knew we were spying?"
To which Mary replied, "Possibly...possibly, he did give us a funny look didn't he?"
Taking a nervous gulp of air, Rebecca clinging to the rock said, "I thought so too Mary...gulp...can leave now?"
To which Mary said, "Yes...Dear...I think we waited long enough."
Thrilled to be moving on, Rebecca grabbed hold of Mary's arm, and said, "Now walk slow till we get to the tunnels."
As the two hiked along, Mary then took stock, and calculatingly said to Rebecca, "Let's see, we have Brigit's late afternoon tied up going to the Hot Springs Chamber, and Pascal will be keeping her busy when he takes her on a tour of The Chamber of the Winds."
To which Rebecca guiltily said, "Oh my Mary, I do feel badly about suggesting the Chamber of the Winds to Pascal...I really don't think Brigit will enjoy going there very much."
In reply, Mary kindly justified, "Well Pascal told us he wanted to take Brigit somewhere she had not been to yet...so since Vincent had taken her to the Chamber of the Falls, what's wrong with merely mentioning the fact, that Brigit hasn't toured the fascinating Chamber of the Winds yet? Now you have to admit, that will be quite a tour!"
With a guilty sigh, Rebecca admitted, "That it will be Mary..."
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As Brigit and Vincent walked back to the main tunnels, they come upon Pascal, to which he excitedly brooded, "Hey, Mary and Rebecca told me you two went to the Chamber of the Falls!"
And so in a pouting manner, Pascal continued, "I wanted to take Brigit there!"
In an apologetic tone, Vincent said, "I am sorry Pascal...had I known...
To which Pascal replied, "Well, that's all right, Mary and Rebecca suggested another cool place I can show Brigit."
Pleased his friend is stepping up to help entertain Brigit, Vincent addressed Pascal, saying, "I am indebted to you for entertaining Brigit, while I attend to Father's usual daily duties.
Saying it was his pleasure, Pascal then gallantly put out his escorting arm, and said, "Ready Brigit? We are off to see another wonder of the tunnels!"
Trying to be a gracious guest, Brigit had no choice but to hook her arm with Pascal's, and fatefully answered, "Lead the way PISCAL!"
So as Pascal and Brigit turned to begin their tour, Vincent couldn't help but smile as Pascal corrected her for the umpteenth time, saying, "That's Pascal!"
And so as Vincent solemnly walked alone, he entered his Father's chamber. At the threshold he stood for a moment, sensing the emptiness, and taking in the quiet, realizing he missed his Father very much.
So descending the stairs, he then sat in his Father's chair, and in solitude, read over a few of the notes Jacob had left him.
When just then Mary and Rebecca entered Father's chamber too, talking freely away, thinking they were in there alone!
Upon hearing their conversation, Vincent then stood, and raised a brow, as he heard Mary deviously say, "Now Rebecca, what we must do next is make sure Brigit does not have a chance to..."
As Rebecca noticed Vincent, she cleared her throat, and pointed toward him, causing Mary to stop in mid-sentence, and after looking his way too, she tried to cover up her tone. And so she lifted her voice to a more cheerful manner and concluded, "...get bored! Yes that's it... We must be sure Brigit does not have a chance to GET BORED!"
Mary then smiled smugly, thinking she covered up quite nicely.
With a questioning look, Vincent sized up the two, and though he knew they had something up their sleeves, he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Feeling lucky to have a reprieve for now, Mary changed the subject before Vincent could ask them any questions, by inquiring, "Any word yet from Father?"
Allowing the transition of subjects, Vincent cleared his throat and answered, "Not as yet."
To which Rebecca then lamentably chimed in, "Gosh I miss him."
As they all agreed that The Patriarch of the community was missed very, very much indeed, they then talked about a few of the chores, and duties which Vincent needed to execute. Wanting to help, the two ladies agreed to assist, and so they together headed to the Dining Hall to gather William's provision request.
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Meanwhile, as Pascal led Brigit into the "Chamber of the Winds", he tried to prepare her, as he said, "Now Brigit this will be like nowhere you have ever been. Mary and Rebecca thought you would love to see this fascinating chamber. So stay close behind me, and let's go!"
And so, as they entered the chamber, the wind did not disappoint, and was in full force, whipping all around them, as they made their descent down the long, winding stairs of stone.
As Brigit tried to desperately keep her hair-do in place, the turbulent wind made it impossible to do so! And so as she smoothed, and re-smoothed her hair, the sand, which was also getting kicked up by the wind, made it impossible to see where she was going!
And so as she followed Pascal, she then unfortunately stepped on a pebble, which painfully turned her ankle!
Yes...it would appear Brigit could take no more, and so she pleadingly yelled, "Piscal, get me the &^%$ out of here!"
In disbelief, Pascal said, "But Brigit, we haven't arrived at the chamber yet! Look, it is way down there! Now you just wait, when we are at the bottom, the wind is really strong! Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet!"
To which Brigit vehemently, yelled, "Believe me Piscal! I've seen ENOOF!"
Disappointedly, Pascal escorted Brigit back up the stony stairs. And on their way back through the tunnels, they passed Vincent, Mary, and Rebecca...and the three of them were shocked at the sight!
Brigit's hair was all windblown, and they could see she was gingerly limping as she was wiping the sand from her eyes!
Upon seeing the end result of their suggested tour, Mary guiltily asked, "Did you enjoy your visit to the Chamber of the Winds Brigit?"
As she squinted through the grains of sand, Brigit shot Mary and Rebecca both a look of disdain, and through her one good eye, she replied, "I understand this gusty tour was yer idea?"
With a shrug of her shoulders, Mary turned to a mummified Rebecca, and said, "Well we may have mentioned it..."
With Mary's admission, Brigit grabbed hold of Vincent's arm, and said, "Rest...I need some rest!"
To which Vincent replied, "Of course...as you wish Brigit."
And then for Mary and Rebecca's benefit, Vincent sternly noted, "Perhaps The Chamber of the Winds, was one chamber that could have been by-passed."
Dejectedly, Pascal then insistently explained, "But Brigit didn't even see the best part! We never made it down to the actual chamber!"
In an effort to sooth a disappointed Pascal, Vincent kindly said, "I understand, however the excitement of the Chamber of the Winds is not for everyone Pascal..."
In reply, Pascal sadly said, "I guess...sorry you didn't like it there Brigit."
Kindly Pascal turned to Mary and Rebecca to say, "Well thanks for the suggestion any way."
As Vincent looked over at a very guilty looking duo, he sternly requested, "Mary and Rebecca, meet me in my chamber in a few minutes, will you?"
Rebecca and Mary looked at each other like little children, who were about to get into trouble, and innocently answered, "Of Course Vincent."
Mary then cleared her throat, and summoned the nerve to ask, "Shall we call upon you later for the Hot Springs Chamber Brigit?"
To which Brigit glared back, to say, "I dinny think so ladies...I best stay clear of any water, as ye may be plannin' a drownin' fer me next!"
With a nervous laugh, Mary looked around at the group, and said, "Oh Brigit...what a funny thing to say!"
With a knowing look, Vincent glanced at Mary and Rebecca, before he took Brigit by the arm, to lead her to the Guest Chamber. As they walked, he sympathetically said, "You have had quite a time this afternoon Brigit."
Brigit tried to smooth her hair into place, and in trying to gain some ground, she sweetly answered, "Aye that I have...firstly ye resisted my affections, and then Piscal lead me into the eye of a twister! But I am a sturdy Irish lass...who can tolerate and survive much..."
Vincent stifled a smile, and then said, "Well, please accept my apologies for what you have endured today. I will come for you at the dinner hour."
Breathing a sigh of relief to be back safe and sound, Brigit replied, "Aye, I will see ye then Vincent."
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Upon entering his chamber, Vincent looked at the two partners in crime, and asked them to please sit down.
Once everyone was in place, Vincent softly asked, "Who would like to disclose the reason for what has transpired here today?"
As Mary tried to look innocent of any wrong doing, she in an astonished voice inquired, "Reason? Transpired? Whatever do you mean Vincent?"
In an effort to contribute to their cause, Rebecca also innocently asked, "Yes, what do you mean?"
Vincent then rose to stand before them, and with a knowing look, said, "I believe I have an idea..."