Isabelle
Seven Years Later
Isabelle watched young Jack play on the nursery carpet at the Aswold Estate. He laughed as he pushed a wooden cart full of soldiers across the floor.
Jack was just now four years old. His chubby cheeks were filled with healthy color as was his laugh. A laugh he was so generous with it took on a life of it own and would possess anyone nearby. His soft dark brown hair cascaded down in rich curls. Margaret often remarked how sinful it would be to cut it.
Jack looked up at his “Auntie Izzie”, his rich brown eyes sparkled with innocence. This child knew nothing but happiness and love. Everyday he awoke to Nanny’s smiling face, every face that greeted him throughout the day was happy to see him. Jack was adored.
Isabelle smiled at the child and laughed as the cart fell over and the soldiers spilt on to the floor.
A sharp shriek of delight came from the crib in the corner of the room.
A two year girl watched the action from behind her caged and protected world. Her smile showed almost all of her teeth were grown out. Chastity was an unusual child, since the day she was born she never cried. She would shriek out in excitement, laugh in amusement, and even grunt in disapproval. However, it would seem that being sad and upset were two things she was not the least bit interested in. Maybe her brother was a good role model, or maybe Margaret had been doubly blessed. Who was to say.
Isabelle enjoyed coming here and playing with Margaret’s children in absence of her own. Often she would see Charles, whom she almost married, in town with his new wife. They however had no children. She was barren, Margaret had confided that bit of knowledge one day over tea. It saddened Isabelle and troubled her, what might have been.
All these years later, what might have been was a place she resided daily. For all she knew Thomas was dead on some foreign shore, and had been for years. Just an unclaimed corpse in some city morgue that got buried in a pauper’s way. She had thrown her life away for a ghost.
Margaret stood in the doorway of the nursery and looked in at the scene and smiled. She did all she could for her dearest friend in the world, even to the point of allowing her to be a second mother to her children. Her heart ached for the treachery of the thief that stole so much from her and her friend as well. He only stole a necklace from her, it was indeed a kindness. For from her friend, he stole her entire life.