Capítulo 24: Chapter 24
When Agnes arrived at Adela's chamber, she was stunned to see that they had bathed her. She was lying on the bed with the same empty look. Her hair shone clean, and her clothes were spouting a smell of cleanliness. Near her were her mother and Emily.
"Why didn't you call me to help you path her?" Agnes asked.
"We called you but you didn't answer. Where were you?"
"Out in the yard," she replied hesitantly. "How is Adela?"
"The same."
Agnes' gaze fell on a pile of clothes in a corner.
"What are these?" asked.
"The clothes that Adela wore. I will then take them to the oven to burn them later."
"Let me do it." Agnes said, and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the clothes and left the room.
When she got outside, she searched them and found the bottle with the magic potion. She took it and hid it in her skirt. She would hide it in Adela's room when she had the opportunity. She made them a tight tangle and went to find Sophie.
"Here are your clothes," she told her as soon as she found her. Agnes threw them at her with such force that Sophie tripped and fell.
Agnes left her helpless, lying on the floor left for Adela's room.
Behind her back, she heard Sophie swearing at her, but she ignored her. She continued walking, having the smirk of the winner on her face.
****
Stefan and Francesca hid behind a large wooden barrel in a random house's backyard. They were trying to catch their breath after the running and calm down their hearts were bounding in their chest.
"Do you think she saw us?" she asked breathlessly.
"Keep your voice down. I don't know, maybe".
"If I understood correctly this was Agnes, right?"
"I think the same too."
They heard the sound of running feet out on the street and stuck their bodies against the wall.
"Is it her?" Francesca asked in a whisper
"Probably. Don't talk. For any case, we will wait until whoever it is leaves."
It was a long time without hearing more tramping, and they were in a dilemma about what to do. Did Agnes leave so to get out of their hiding place?
"Do you think whoever it was left?" Francesca asked impatiently.
"I don't know. Stay here, I'll go to check."
"No, I am not staying alone here. I will come with you."
"Okay, come. But keep silence."
"Okay."
They came out of their hiding place and strolled, with silent steps towards the edge of the wall. They peeked into the street and saw no one. The yard gate of the house was not far away. In their haste, they had left it open. Fortunately for them, Agnes didn't suspect anything to check to enter the yard.
They reached the open door and checked out on the street. It was empty.
"Let's go now," Stefan suggested.
"What if she's somewhere around still looking for us?"
"We must take the risk. If it is necessary, we will run away from her again. We can no longer stay here. The residents of the house can return from time to time and if they find us here we will find our trouble worse than bumping into Agnes."
Francesca weighed up his words for a moment. "Okay. Let's go," she finally told him.
They came out of the yard gate and closed it as they had found it.
"We will set up our house on the other side of town," he told her.
"Why not leave entirely from the town?" Francesca pleaded. "There are so many beautiful places where we could start our life together," she told him, holding him tenderly by the arm.
"I know, I would like it too, but we will not have enough money left to build our lives. It is better to stay here until we keep enough money and we can leave then. I will work very hard for both of us," Stefan told her, gently stroking her hand on his arm.
"Okay, I accept, but on the condition that I will work too. That way we will raise the money we need faster."
"I didn't intend to ask you to work. I would prefer you to take care of our home instead. But since you put it that way, I can't forbid you to do something you want."
"Good! Yes, I want to contribute," she told him and smiled happily.
"Very well then. Let it be what you want."
It took them several hours to cross the city and get to where they had planned.
"I'm tired, Stefan. Let's sit somewhere to get some rest," she complained.
"Okay. We are lucky, look!" and he showed her a tree a little further. "Let us sit under the shade of this tree."
They reached the tree, put the bundles aside, and sat down to take a breath, wiping their foreheads from the flowing sweat.
"We have to find a place to stay," he uttered, looking at her tenderly and stroking her cheek.
Francesca looked at him thoughtfully. "No one is going to rent us a house if they perceive that we are not married," she commented in a sad voice and downcast eyes.
"This is not a problem. Let's get married today, now if it is possible," he told her, looking at her with adoration.
Francesca looked at him in surprise. "Really? You mean that?"
"Of course. Otherwise I wouldn't say it. So, do you want to be my wife, Francesca?"
"Yes, yes!" she shouted with a laugh. She rushed to his hug and gave him a touching kiss on his lips, intending to be just that, and tried to free herself from his arms.
"Wait. Where do you think you are going?" said Stefan, pulling her back into his arms, gluing her body to his. He put one hand back on her neck and kissed her as a man in love does. He stuck his lips to hers, longing for more than just a touch kiss.
At first, his kiss was tender, soft and Francesca sighed as his tongue slipped into her mouth, and their kiss became more demanding, wilder.
"Hey, insolents get out of my property immediately!" they suddenly heard someone growling behind them.
They hurriedly got up and looked to see who it was. An older man walked towards him, holding his crook waving over his head threateningly.
"Let's go," Stefan said and hurriedly picked up their bundles.
"Forgive us, sir," Stefan said to the old man and ran away from there laughing.
"In the first church we will find, we will go in and get married," he told her, and Francesca smiled broadly.
So it was! They entered the first church they met, and an hour later, they got out as husband and wife feeling on top of the world!
Now there was nothing to stop them from starting their lives in the town for as long as they needed to until they raised the money they needed to go somewhere far away.
They searched a lot. They had a hard time but finally found a little old house with its garden, which was available.
The house belonged to an elderly couple who had died. Their daughter was already married to her own home, so she didn't need it. So she decided to rent it to have an extra income every month. After making sure that they were married, the woman didn't think about giving them the house. She knew that probably there was an excellent housewife to take care of it.
Stefan paid her rent for the first month, and the deal closed in practice giving them the heavy iron key. She then left for her home, leaving the young couple to settle into their new home.
Stefan and Francesca opened the door and went in, closing the door behind them. The house had everything a home needs.
The first thing they saw was the fireplace on the left. Near the window, there was a square wooden table with two chairs and at the back was the bed.
They left the bundles in a corner, and Francesca went to open the windows.
"No, no yet." Stefan prevented her by closing her in his arms and then kissing her passionately, leading her simultaneously to the bed.
They undressed each other, and there in the narrow wooden bed, which creaked slightly, under sighs and groans, Stefan and Francesca became one in the flesh, set the seal on their marriage and the everyday life that awaited them.
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