The Villager

4

THE VILLAGER
ʚɞ Timothy ʚɞ

"She will be down any moment, Lord Hampton." One of the guards speaks, bowing to me as I await for the Princess of Lockwood on my toes.

I could not sleep a wink last night knowing I saw Ruth and it was not in my dream. The woman whom I loved the most in this world stood in front of me and I let her go. What was I supposed to do? Run away with her and never return to Lockwood and disappear?

I could tell she wished to get away from me, just by her reaction in the ballroom when she first caught eyes with me. How in the world did Serena know of Ruth? It seems like the two are close.

Footsteps approach me slowly, and I lift my head to see the Princess of Lockwood meeting me at the bottom of the staircase.

She smiles gently, but her eyes hold some confusion as to why I am here this early. One being that I did not wish to be late in meeting with my mother and Tiffany, and two; I needed some answers.

"Timothy, I did not expect you here so early. How can I help you?"

"Did you know?" I got straight to the point.

She watches me pace back and forth in front of her with a now concerning expression that has her tilting her head. "Did I know what?" Blowing out a breath, she still watches me and shakes her head. "I am sorry, be more specific, Tim."

"You know the lady in my story? From my past?" I breathe out. For some reason I could no longer breathe, sipping for air like it is my last moment on earth.

She nods. "The lady you are in love with? Has she come forth knowing you are to be wedded?" I give her one look that has her questioning her own self, and then suddenly the light goes off in her eyes and she looks up to me as if she cannot believe what she has calculated. "No."

She knows.

She knows Ruth is the lady.

"No." With the shake of her head, she starts to pace with me. "Tim, I had no idea about that situation. She has not spoken a word of you before."

"You were merely trying to guide a friendship."

"What are you going to do?" She paces again, biting on her thumb nail. "You are to be wedded to Miss Lumpkin. Why did you propose? Are you mad? What must you do?"

"Ruth is married, there is nothing I can do." Lifting my shoulders, throwing them back down in a shrug.

She belonged to someone else.

Serena eyed me like she knew something. "You know that lady I helped in the village last season?"

"The lady you divorced from her husband?"

She nods, hesitantly. She wishes to share the truth. "I noticed how angry her husband was towards her, and I could not allow her to go home with him. I would have forever worried for the poor lady. That lady, Tim, was Ruth."

My whole world stops in the blink of an eye, drowning out any noise that may bring me back to reality. Serena stands in front of me, on her toes- awaiting for my reaction. But I am calm, collected, and almost at the edge of losing my sanity.

"Of course, it was." Laughing out was all I could do without bursting into flames. How could I be so stupid? All this time Ruth was right under my nose and I laid awake at night knowing how badly I hurt her, wishing I could have that second chance to make everything right.

She knows my engagement with Miss Lumpkin and all I could do was stand in my embarrassment and shame as she looks at me as she always did in the past. Disappointment. Miss Lumpkin was a nice lady, a lady who deserves someone whole and their heart to not belong to someone else.