"But you suffered as much or more for my mistakes," Juliet said sorrowfully. "How can I ever make that up to you?"
He smiled a little. "That's easy. The way to make amends is by being my wife, not by condemning me to a lifetime of loneliness."
Her fingers curled around his. A little desperately, she said, "I don't understand how you can still want me."
For a baffled moment he wondered what more he could do, for he had already said as clearly as possible that he loved and wanted her. Then he thought of the storytellers he had heard through the East, who knew how to multiply the power of words. It was worth a try. "Let me tell you a fairy tale."
She gave him a puzzled glance, so he tugged on her hand. After momentary resistance she allowed herself to be extricated from her corner.
When she was seated on the cushions beside him, he began, "Long ago, in a far green country, there was a young man called Ross. Although he was reliable, serious, intelligent, and honorable, he was not very interesting." Ross thought a moment. "Probably all of those boring virtues are the reasons he was dull."
Juliet opened her mouth to protest, but he said firmly, "Silence. This is my fairy tale and I get to tell it my way."
In a lilting voice he continued, "The fellow had romantic dreams about visiting distant lands and having adventures, but being sober, more of an observer than a doer, and, as I said, more than a little dull, he might never have tried to make his dreams come true.
"He wasn't a prince, not even a lord except by courtesy title, but one day he did meet a princess named Juliet. Not only was she the most beautiful girl in the world, but she actually had lived in foreign lands and had had adventures, not just dreamed about them.
"When he was with her, everything seemed possible, the sun shone more brightly, and she made him laugh. With her he was immersed in life, not just an observer, for she brought out a passionate side of his nature that he had not known he possessed. Not just passion of the body, but of the spirit."
Ross raised her hand and kissed the palm, pressing his lips against the heart line. "He hadn't known what he was missing until he met her. Being no fool and quite madly in love, our hero persuaded his very young princess to marry him before she had time to have second thoughts. At first he was sure that, as in all fairy tales, they would live happily ever after.
"But any story worth telling needs conflict, and this conflict began when a dragon of dubious nature carried off the princess. Or perhaps she ran away with the dragon voluntarily—that part of the story is a little unclear and not really important. What mattered is that when she left, she took away the sunshine and all the laughter died."
Ross could feel Juliet shrinking away from him, so he put his arm around her shoulders to keep her near. "Don't worry, the story isn't over. For the next dozen years, our hero did proper heroic things. He visited exotic lands, had adventures, saw wonderful sights, and met fascinating people. Sometimes he went home and wrote books and gave a few lectures and was told what a fine, brave fellow he was.
"Sometimes—not very often—he met another lady he liked, but he never found one who could make him forget his lost princess, or who could touch his deepest emotions. It was quite a decent life, for he achieved many of his dreams, and somewhere along the way he became much more interesting. But he never achieved the deepest, most secret dream of all, which was to find his long-lost princess.
"Then, just before his traveling days were done, he went on one last quest. And when he did, he found Juliet again and learned that she was not just the most beautiful woman in the world, but also the bravest. Occasionally he wanted to turn her over his knee and paddle her lovely derriere. More often he wanted to make love to her. When he finally did, he realized that he loved her as much as he had when he was twenty-one."
Ross turned on the divan so that he was facing Juliet. Her body was less taut now, and when he pulled her closer, she slid her arm around his waist and let her head rest against his shoulder.
Softly he continued, "His princess felt that she had betrayed him, but he knew that he could trust her with his life, and he did. Together they were able to achieve the impossible. She even saved his life by slaying a very ugly monster, which was not a very ladylike thing to do, but vastly useful."
He began stroking her hair, letting the bright spun-silk strands drift between his fingers. "By the time the quest had ended, our hero loved his princess more than ever. He knew that if he couldn't persuade her to come home, he would never have sunshine, or laughter, or passion again."
No longer a storyteller, Ross whispered, "Believe that I love you, Juliet. Then let us begin a life together again."