O'Connor

Chapter Five; A Welcomed Guest

                                                                                O'Connor- Chapter Five

O'Connor

My work with Rothschild began as early as was possible for us both, considering the late night that we had shared, jesting over old war stories. It seemed to me that Rothschild was still in mostly good spirits. After a few weeks working for him, I realized that there was rarely a day where he was too tired to perform any tests that I asked of him, and he was almost never too ill to crack a seemingly unwise number of jokes. All this being said, however, Rothschild was painfully weak, had a horrible cough, and rarely if ever maintained coloration in his face.

It wasn't long before the house staff became accustomed to my being there. Oswald and I spent a rather large amount of time discussing Rothschild's sicknesses, and Oswald proved to be a valuable asset in the process of diagnosis, considering that he had more experience with Rothschild's illness than anyone else. The kitchen staff quickly learned my preferences, and prepared meals in accordance with them, and somehow, Oswald was able to persuade the construction company to continue the building of my house through the winter despite their reservations.

Life on the Rothschild property seemed to be paradise, so much so that the passage of time quickened to a phenomenal rate. Before what seemed like long, the winter came to an end, and the beautiful forests grew softly into green. Rothschild's mood and physical endurance increased slightly with the changing of the season, which was a welcome change to the otherwise stagnant state of his wellbeing. It was sometime near the beginning of May when Rothschild's health made a dramatic increase due to some new visitor that we were to receive.

"Jack, I've just received the most wonderful news!" At this point, I was seated with my legs crossed in one of the living rooms, drinking a small glass of tea and reading an old medical textbook. Looking up, I could see a very evident improvement in his eyes, and with a letter in his hand, Rothschild advanced forward with a large, genuine smile across his face. He was fully dressed, now, which was a somewhat rare occurrence, and other than his paleness and somewhat lethargic movement, Rothschild seemed healthy.

"What is it?" I asked simply, my eyes darting toward the letter in his hand.

"Oh, you must read it yourself, friend. Like I said, the most wonderful news!" As he said this, Rothschild seated himself on the arm of my chair and excitedly handed me the note, which seemed to have been written on the same paper that Rothschild wrote on himself. I began to read aloud, and with each word, the look of pure glee upon Rothschild's face seemed to increase in severity.

"My dearest O," I began to recite, "You must know that it was an exceptionally cold winter, otherwise I certainly would have made the venture. Now that the weather has improved, however, I am happy to report that my visit is close at hand." I stopped for a moment, and visually acknowledged the incoming visitor to Rothschild. "As I am writing this, Ron is helping load up the carriage. We'll spend two days in London, as per the business agreement that father made with Holly, and then I'll be right on my way to seeing you." Once again, I stopped to acknowledge the re-pronounced news of yet another visitor. "With love, Sarah Rothschild." The final bit stunned me. I had no clue that Rothschild had a sister, however the prospect of another member of the household was more than welcome news. The large empty halls seemed too lonely from time to time.

"What do you think, Jack?" I stood up and put my arm around Rothschild, in a sort of brotherly fashion.

"Like you said, it's wonderful news!" We began to walk towards the window, and upon seeing outside, could see that the weather was lovely. The sky was a clear, deep blue, and the somewhat sparse leaves upon the forest trees which had grown swayed lazily in the pleasant wind.