A Knight in Shining Armour Read Free

problems—everyone had idiosyncracies—but it was Gloria that sent her screaming. When Gloria was with them, their life turned into a battleground. According to Robert, his daughter was perfection on earth, and because Dougless didn’t see her that way, Robert began to see Dougless as the enemy. When the three of them were together, it was Robert and Gloria on one team and Dougless on the other.
    Now, on this holiday in England, in the front seat Gloria offered her father a piece of candy from the box on her lap. Neither of them seemed to think of offering any to Dougless.
    Still looking out the window, Dougless gritted her teeth. Perhaps it was the combination of Gloria and money that was making her so angry, because, with this trip, Robert’s little “money quirk” as Dougless had always thought of it, had turned into something more.
    When Dougless had first met Robert, they had talked for hours about their dreams and they’d talked many times of taking a trip to England. As a child, she had often traveled to England with her family, but she hadn’t been back in years. When she and Robert had moved in together, in September of last year, Robert had said, “Let’s go to England one year from today. By then we’ll know.” He hadn’t elaborated on what they would “know,” but Dougless was sure that he meant that, in a year, they’d know whether or not they were compatible for marriage.
    For a whole year, Dougless had worked on planning the trip, which she’d come to think of as their honeymoon. A “pre-honeymoon,” she called it in her mind. “The decision maker,” she said to herself, then smiled. She made reservations at the most romantic, most exclusive country house hotels England had to offer. When she had asked Robert’s opinion of a hotel, he’d winked at her and said, “Spare no expense for this trip.” She had ordered brochures, bought travel books, read and researched until she knew the names of half the villages in England. Robert’s only stipulation had been that he wanted an educational trip as well as fun, so she’d compiled a list of many things to do that were close to their lovely hotels—which was easy to do, since Great Britain is like a Disneyland for history lovers.
    Then, three months before they were to leave, Robert said that he had a surprise for her on this trip, a very, very special surprise that was going to fill her with joy. His words had made Dougless work even harder on the plans, and she found their little game of secrecy exciting. As Dougless planned, she thought, Will he propose here? Or maybe here. This place would be nice.
    Three weeks before they left, she was balancing Robert’s household-accounts checkbook when she saw a canceled check for five thousand dollars made out to a jewelry store.
    As she held the check, tears of happiness came to her eyes. “An engagement ring,” she’d whispered. That Robert had spent so much was proof that even though he was a tad stingy on small things, when something really counted, he was generous.
    For the next few weeks Dougless had walked on clouds. She cooked wonderful meals for Robert and had been especially energetic in the bedroom, doing everything she could think of to please him.
    Two days before they were to leave, Robert punctured her bubble a bit—not enough to burst it, but it had certainly been deflated. He had asked to see the bills for the trip, plane tickets, advance reservations, whatever she had. He had then added the amounts and handed her the calculator tape.
    “This is your half of the cost,” he’d said.
    “Mine?” she’d asked stupidly, not understanding what he was saying.
    “I know how important it is to you women today to pay your own way, so I don’t want to be accused of being a male chauvinist pig,” he’d said with a smile. “You don’t want to be a burden to a man, do you? You don’t want to add to all my responsibilities at the hospital and to my ex-wife, do you?”
    “No, no,