❝𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐦𝐬❞

A Letter from the Earl of Essex

My Dearest Family,

I hope this letter finds you well and that the autumn days are as fair in Essex as they were when I last walked our fields. It is with a full heart that I write to share with you a most joyful announcement: I am soon to be married.

Yes, my dear ones, after years of solitude and quiet companionship with my books and lands, life has graced me with a bride—a young woman from France whose virtues surpass even the most wistful dreams of an old heart like mine.

Her name is Cécile, and though she is but a tender twenty years of age, she possesses a calm and steady nature that belies her youth. She carries herself with grace, not of haughtiness, but of gentleness, as though she were born to bring peace to those around her.

Her beauty is undeniable, yet it is not merely her appearance that captivates me—it is her presence. She has the quiet charm of a meadow at dawn, the serenity of soft sunlight on old stone. Her intelligence shines as brightly as her delicate features; she speaks with a thoughtfulness that reminds me of the finest minds I have encountered in my years.

And her love of books! Ah, this, I confess, delighted me most of all. To find a young woman who shares a passion for the written word, who speaks of the poets and philosophers with understanding and reverence—it was as though she had stepped from the pages of a treasured novel herself.

I know some may whisper about the disparity in our ages, but I tell you plainly, I feel no such divide. Her youth breathes new life into my days, yet she is no flighty child. Instead, she meets my every thought with quiet consideration, my every worry with a kindness that soothes even the deepest ache of my heart.

I look forward to bringing her to Essex, to showing her the lands that have been my solace for so many years. I imagine her laughter in the great hall, her delicate hands tending to the roses in the garden, her voice filling the library as we read together by the fire.

I hope you will welcome her with the same warmth she has already shown me. She has no airs of ambition, no hunger for wealth or status. She comes to me as she is—pure, earnest, and full of light.

Though I never thought I would find such happiness at this stage of life, here it is, unexpected and precious. I cannot wait for you to meet her, to see in her what I see, and to understand how deeply fortunate I am to call her my bride.

Yours ever faithfully,
Edward