Parade's End Epilogue

Montgomery

Christopher blinked a few times, not believing what he was seeing. Sylvia met his gaze as a man approached her and asked her to dance with him. He stared at Christopher for a few seconds and then said yes to the man with her eyes still on Christopher.

"Christopher?" Valentine caught him staring at his ex-wife.

"What is she doing here..." Christopher said sounding a bit annoyed or hurt.

"Someone must have invited her. Well you can invite anybody you want to this party."

"Yes. Indeed. But who could've invited her?" Christopher's eyes are still locked to the woman dancing with a man he didn't .even know.

"Ah! Sylvia!" Another man called out.

"Oh, Brownlie!"

So it was Brownlie who invited her. I should have known. Christopher thought to himself

"I'm really glad you came." Brownlie walked closer to her and offered his arm which she gladly accepted.

They started walking towards Christopher and Valentine but the smile on Sylvia's lips had gone when she saw miss Wannop standing beside him.

"Well, Tietjens. I'm not sure if you still remember but this here is miss Sylvia Satterthwaite, the most beautiful woman you'll ever see in London." Brownlie said, clearly making fun of Tietjens.

But Sylvia did not smile a bit on Brownlie's compliment. She just stared at Christopher's face for a long time, long enough for Christopher to feel guilty about leaving her. Though she was the one who left, he made her leave and didn't come after her. Again. When she ran off with Potty Perowne, he didn't come after her. She wanted him to. He did nothing.

"Yes. I'm very sure I remember." Christopher finally said. "How could I forget?"

Valentine was shocked by what he said though she couldn't tell if he was angry or sad.

"Can we dance please, Brownlie?" Sylvia suggested. But before they walked away, she added, "Nice seeing you again" and looked at Christopher and Valentine.

Christopher thought she meant him and Valentine, but what she meant was, she's glad to see him again. Only him. She didn't care about Valentine. In fact, she didn't care if she was with him as long as he was happy.

After a few dances with Brownlie, Sylvia walked over to an empty table and tried to avoid everyone as much as she could. After a few sips of whiskey, Christopher approached her.

"Why did you come here?" He questioned her.

"Brownlie invited me." She replied, looking down on the glass of whiskey on her hand. She looked up and saw his eyes full of doubt, obviously not believing her. "Brownlie invited me so I came. I didn't want to be too rude... And in case you're wondering, I didn't know that you and your wife would be here. If I knew, I wouldn't have come, save myself from all the embarrassment." She rolled her eyes and looked away from him.

"She's not my wife." Christopher confessed. Sylvia looked at him with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly opened. "We're never married. It does not matter to her and I don't mind."

"So, if you're not married, then you can leave her anytime you want for another woman." Christopher squinted his eyes quizzically. "No! I'm not implying anything, just stating." She looked down again, ashamed by what she just said.

"I'm not going to leave her side and I will remain loyal to her like she is to me because that is how men should treat their women and vice versa." Christopher declared and looked at her in the eyes for a while before walking away.