42Chapter 3 : The Awakening
Tuesday 5.43p.m.
The setting sun splashed a spectrum of warm colours across the gardens of Aspen Manor. Anabella had been sitting for quite some time on the spectacular Victorian bench in the patio which overlooked the rows of aspens lining by the gentle stream. The scenery was all too familiar. She had spent many previous evenings sitting here, reminiscing, occasionally crying and all too often shuddering, as thoughts of the nightmares consume her inch by inch. She wrapped her cotton shawl tighter around her quivering shoulders before letting out an audible sigh.
Quiet footsteps snapped the fallen twigs to life and Anabella turned towards her approaching aunt. Corina gave her a knowing smile and signaled for a stroll down the river. Anabella gave a reluctant look but her legs stood up anyway and began a steady pace beside her aging aunt.
"Mon fille, William will be fine," said Corina suddenly.
Anabella gasped at the mention of his name.
"Oh, you silly girl. There is no need for secrets when you are with your Aunt Corina. Will talking about him make you feel any better Bella?" Corina asked subtly.
Anabella was lost for a response. William had been on their minds ever since he left but he was never a topic between them. Talking about him would make her think about him and allow all her emotions to swallow her again but then, she would be in self-denial if she said that there was anything else that could occupy her mind day and night more than William. Unsure of the right answer, she merely nodded.
Corina smiled as they continued their casual stroll, with the breeze blowing a few of her grey strands of hair astray.
"William was a great boy. He is a great man now of course. The manor never really had a master after Master Jeffrey died. William left us for nearly twenty years."
Anabella looked slightly surprised with that new knowledge. She knew William had attended a boarding school but presumed that he returned home regularly over the holidays.
Reading her thoughts, Corina continued, "I hadn't seen him for eleven years since he left for that boarding school. Then he came home for a month after his eighteenth birthday. Even that was simply a necessity for him to claim the sole possession to this beautiful piece of land and all the treasure his father left behind for him. However, William used little of his father's money, except for the allocated fund to pay for his studies and stay in the military school. William boarded there, so the Manor was of little use for him as well."
This topic began to raise Anabella's curiosity and she gave Corina the green light to carry on.
"Even after that one month visit, he seldom came home. Actually, it was only once every year. During Christmases. He would buy lots presents and gave some to me and the other maids. Then, he gave away the rest, like his father used to do. We could not fathom why William would keep all of us here for many more years when he barely used our services. The maids stayed because life was easy here. They got their usual pay and had little work to do with the absence of a Master. I stayed because I was indebted to Master Jeffrey. I felt obliged to constantly check if William was alright."
A cold breeze swept past them and Anabella gave a soft sneeze.
"Oh dear, it is getting late and cold out here. Come on chéri, lets go back in where the fire can warm us up," Corina said with a smile.
Anabella replied only with a weak grin. With that, they began their walk back to the manor. Anabella had been here for more than a year but she had asked little of William's past and her aunt had not find it necessary to tell her much of the past. The new load of information distracted her from her heartache and she began to wonder about William's odd decision to keep his servants in the manor when he had no use for them.
Summer 1917
If they thought that William's condition could not get any worse than it already was, they were clearly wrong. William still found peace in solitary and darkness but he no longer kept his silence. He began to overreact at the smallest matters and shouted abusive comments at his servants.
Anabella could remember the day he scolded her for apparently wrapping the bandages too tightly. He hardly threw her a second glance but he somehow found the ability to shout mean comments which insulted her abilities and waved her away. Only Corina seemed to be 'pardoned' from being victimized, until one evening during dinner time.
William had adamantly refused to come to the dining hall and shouted rude statements at the servant who invited him there. Corina, although immensely displeased with his impoliteness, had too much care and love in her heart to leave him without dinner for a night. She personally took his tray of dinner to his study in hopes of coaxing him to eat.
Corina's magic failed to work that night. He did not shout at Corina directly, but pushed the tray away, causing the plates to smash loudly on the parquet floor. Dismayed, Corina bent down to pick up the shards of broken glass, thinking how much they resembled the current state of her heart. Just then, William threw his drinking glass onto the floor and that action caught Corina by surprised. Disorientated by the outburst of anger, Corina pricked her fingers but quickly wiped the blood away, tainting her white apron with specks of evil red.
That incident stirred peculiar emotions from inside Anabella. She was generally a shy and timid girl who would never disobey orders or disrespect neither the elders nor the men. She had been nursing William and watching him for nearly three months. She patiently tended to his needs despite his reclusive and lately, impolite self but she had never breathed even the slightest whisper of complaint. To watch his lack of progression and witness his impudent attitude towards the servants were at times disheartening and more often than not, her stomach clenches itself in tight knots as she grippingly held herself back from jumping at him and shook him till he saw the light of civilization again.
Spurred by the intensity of her inner rage and frustration that her aunt was physically injured, she stormed up to his room the next morning. She barged in without so much of a knock and headed across the bedroom straight towards the maroon curtains veiled over the windows. With a violent and quick thug, she drew the curtains wide open and glorious morning rays flooded the vast room almost immediately.
William jumped out of bed with his palms shielding his eyes. He walked furiously over to the curtains and drew them close. Encouraged by a sudden spark of boldness, Anabella tugged them open again. William stared at her with his monstrous green eyes. Anabella could swear that she had never seen such fury and pain trapped within such pretty eyes. Anabella tip-toed to try to match his height and shot him an intrepid look. He raised his right arm and his palm looked ready to strike.
"Hit me if you are a man," Anabella challenged.
His hand froze in mid-air. His expression changed but he remained silent.
In one swift motion, she raised her right palm and swung it across his left cheek with all the might she could muster. The echo of the impact reverberated across the otherwise silent room.
Suddenly aware of what she had just done, she took a step back with her head bowed. If she had kept her head up, she would have seen the genuine surprise written all over his face. His eyes began to well up with tears, not from the pain of the loud, blatant slap, but of the climax for his outrageous expressions of pent-up emotions.
He looked away from her and reached up again to draw the curtains close but he froze. There he stood, a young and handsome but shrunken General, with tears in his eyes, looking out his window, as though for the very first time. A thought, a realization, struck him like a hard rock onto his head. He remained stoned for a few seconds. He stared in awe at the shimmering leaves of the Aspen trees, the flowing stream and the blue sky outside. He took a few moments to absorb the captivating scenery before his eyes.
How can I have not notice?
Finally, he asked in a choked whisper, "Is it summer already?"
Anabella looked up in amazement. Did he just ask her a question? Politely?
"Uhh…yes, Sir," was all she managed to say.
Her voice rang deep into William's mind. It sounded familiar, like I've been hearing it all this while… but it's… unrecognizable. She has a French accent.
William shifted his gaze and feasted his eyes upon her. He looked at her, as in really looked at her, for the first time since her arrival. He straightened his head as his jaw dropped in disbelief at the image of the stunning young lady standing timidly before him. He blinked to assure himself that this was not just a vision…not just some mirage fooling his eyes.
Such beauty could not have existed. Words caught themselves in his throat for a few more seconds.
When he finally regained his voice, he asked, "Mademoiselle, who are you?"
Author's note :
Sunkissed Stray :: Thank u! That was my very first review here in fictionpress. So yes, I do appreciate it a lot. Bout Corina and William, well, you'd have to read the wholestory (its not very long)and drop me another comment. I've read your profile and know that you're English. This is my first story set entirely in Britain during the 1910s so if you find any cultural or setting mistakes, do tell me. Thank you again and keep reviewing. I'll read your story immediately whenI wake up tomorrow!