Danford Abbey- Vol. 3 and 4: Rowella and Lucasta (Éireann)

VOL. 3: ROWELLA (CHAP. 1)

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                                                                       1 (PART I)

"His eyes [my beloved's] are like doves by streams of water. [...] His lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh; his mouth is sweetness"- The Song of Songs.

The summer of 1920 had been particularly mild in Galway.

At that time Gwyneth was still expecting her first child and Mr. Everdene had just clarified with her, which had brought joy to Everdene's home.

Although there were still news of riots with the British Army in Dublin and Cork areas, now it seemed the conflict was about to end and there were rumors about an agreement with the British Government for the Independence.

Mr. Everdene had alway tried to keep peaceful relations with the members of the British Army present in Galway, as it was in his temper.

By that time Fiona and Nathan had decided to move at Danford Abbey

Fiona immediately noticed changes in her sisters: Lucasta had more suitors, but she still could not choose one! And Rowella used to spend most afternoons out of home.

To the sisters's questions she replied that she used to go and see the landscapes to draw and paint them for her books.

Painting and writing were her passions since she was child, they were her way to express herself, which she could not do with words. In particular, Rowella had begun to write illustrated stories with "talking" animal as characters.

The sisters insisted on reading a pair of her books and they thought the stories were suitable for publication for a children's audience, so they advised her to send some of her books to publishers in town, an advice she followed.

Rowella had always been eccentric and introverted, she had been giving many worries to Mr. and Mrs. Everdene; nobody knew exactly why she had stopped talking as a child and none of the doctors consulted could give an explanation.

But her mutism was not the only Rowella's odd behaviors: she often had mood swings and she did not open to people, aside the company of her sisters she preferred to be alone.

Moreover, in the previous years she had neglected herself, which had dulled that prettyness she had when she was a pre-adolescent girl. She didn't take care of her appearance and she didn't arrange her hair, the only thing she used to care was her clothing, but she preferred eccentric and "unfeminine" clothes, not disliking the male clothes either.

In past the doctors tried to help her by using some obsolete "cures", they used to say she had "negative humors".

But the Everdenes no longer let her be subjected of those.However, despite her temper and despite being the least attractive of the Everdene sisters, she still attracted young gentlemen, even not wanting, thanks to her "veil of mystery" that made her captivating.

She usually did not fancy anyone. But what her relatives ignored was the reason hidden behind her afternoon "hikes": indeed for some time Rowella had found that a young man used to go to the pond near their property to bath when he was hunting.

Ever since she had first seen him, she had been impressed to see him quite totally undressed. The young man had not noticed her and from that time on she used to go there every day hoping to find him there; indeed the young man used to go there often during his hunting trips, about at the same time and refresh himself in the pond.