The Beauty of Coincidence | manxman | (Historical Fiction)

XXXVI - Truer Connections

The last person Reynold thought would be standing before him today was Norman Ramsey. Given he hadn't been at the Upton Estate upon the older man's arrival, he was at least glad to see there were no signs of anger in the faint blue eyes looking back at him. In a way, Reynold thought Norman looked lost, a bit more dejected than usual. He'd certainly grown used to viewing the other man as a towering definition of strength and resolve, and from what looked like nights that spoke for lack of sleep, there was a shade of weariness in him. He hadn't seen his son in well over a month, and Reynold wondered if the distance was beginning to catch up with him.

Reynold couldn't say for certain just how close the father and son duo were back in their home of Childermass, but he wouldn't put it past Norman for being the type of father who had a hard time dealing with being separated from his children. Not to say the man wasn't as connected to the two children he'd fathered with his second wife, but Reynold could see clear as ever Victor's own distance was what brought about this change in Norman's stature. It was as if the older man had a constant prophetic disaster whispering in his ear... no matter their falsehoods.

Watching Norman close the white double doors of the library behind them, Reynold tucked his hands into the pockets of his trousers and turned away. His palms had grown quite clammy, and the longer the other man remained silent, the far more tense the air all around was becoming.

Given Norman had surely grown to accept the building of the relationship he'd solidified with Victor over these months, Reynold still held to a bit of anxiousness that someday Norman would snatch his approval away in the blink of an eye. After all, what father so readily accepted that his son and rightful heir choose a path that differed from all those that'd previously been placed before him? If Victor's life had been anything like his father's, grandfather's, great-grandfather's, etc. he'd certainly be married to a woman right now with one or perhaps more children. It wasn't uncommon, Reynold presumed, for men such as them to perform their duties even with their secrets. There were assumptions that kings and princes and lordships of the past had done such.

So... why... Reynold knew why, but why ignore the customs of today just for the sake of Victor's happiness?

Reynold was grateful as ever to be able to walk alongside Victor without the fear of Norman tearing them apart, that deadly repercussions laid around the corner in regards to what they had, but wasn't this risking far too much? Reynold hated to think it, but this dream they were existing in together was going too right for it to end very well. He absolutely despised tragedies; however, Reynold suddenly felt as though he was walking a pathway leading directly to such an end, especially with the manner in which Norman stood before him.

There was a bit of news sitting on the tip of Lord Ramsey's tongue, and while he'd yet to speak it, Reynold got the feeling there was nothing auspicious waiting to greet his ears. Speak it already, he almost wanted to command Norman, but Reynold waited to be graced with it. There was no need to rush the company of misery, it was something no one in their right mind wanted standing beside them.

"A thought crossed my mind when Victor was but ten years old," Norman finally began, and Reynold at last sensed the air around him lighten, though only slightly. "After he was born, before any others ever laid eyes on him outside of Gabriel and I, I wish this thought would have crossed my mind; to raise him far differently than I have these days. If I'd known he would grow to become the man he is now, look the way he does now, I would have raised him under the guise of a girl. He is beautiful, don't you think?" Norman asked, but it wasn't a question meant to be answered.

Without waiting for a response, he carried on. "Victor looks an awful lot like his mother. Anyone who'd ever seen Louise back then would say they are proper reflections of one another. Even his voice, it is as light as hers and I see her in him every moment I lay my own eyes on our son. If I'd known of the future that spoke to our son, I would have prepared far more feverishly for this. Perhaps even we would have crossed you still in such a life. If that'd been the case, I would readily give blessing for you to take Victor's hand in marriage. Under the guise of a woman with the inability to carry children, you two would have made quite a handsome couple. There would be understanding as to why you are always at his side, everything tucked beneath the Ramsey name would have gone toward my son Leon, and I could leave Victor to live the life he pleases. He would be without duty, without shame, without the stresses that have met him in this life. Though, I have come to see not all the stresses would have escaped him."