The Ring

Part 4

The splendour of the manor house slowly receded as Frederick galloped his horse off down the path leading towards the coast, this time with some determination. It had been a week now, and all the while his mind seemed to keep coming back to that chance encounter with Dominique and her exquisite green eyes. So he had set out for the cottage without thinking about how he would handle the encounter nor for the potential consequences of his actions. He simply thought that as master of the estate, he should have the freedom to do as he wished.

As Frederick approached the small cottage, he felt his heart beating faster. However, there was no sign of Dominique, nor any one for that matter. He supposed that her father would be out tending to the cows, but he really had no idea about what Dominique would be doing. He stopped for a minute and thought about this and started to think of the folly of his actions. Their lives really were very different. In fact he admitted to himself that he had very little knowledge of the lives of the people who worked the lands of the estate. Frederick contained his disappointment and dismissed the folly of his actions and resigned to just continue his ride towards the coast to breathe in the sea air and calm his mind.

Sitting high upon his horse, Frederick surveyed the beautiful rugged coastline. Much of the coast was rocky, as the land fell steeply to the sea below, usually ending abruptly in a cliff face, where the sea was fighting with and actually consuming the land. Frederick saw it as some form of battle between the raging sea and the stubborn land, which the land was ultimately doomed to lose. There were a number of beaches dotted along the coastline, but most were entirely inaccessible, encaged by steep precipitous hills, surely just a haven for wild goats and other nimble footed animals. However as he surveyed the coastline he noticed a figure busy down on the rocks far below. It was a woman, and once more his heart fluttered a little as he supposed it could be none other than Dominique, as her cottage wasn't so far away.

Frederick dismounted from his horse and proceeded to make his way down the rugged winding path, which he supposed was just a goat track, towards the little beach below. The weather had been quite wild recently and the beach was littered with sea foam and seaweed. Feeling playful, Frederick scooped up some of the foam and put it to his face to fashion a crazy white beard. He walked towards the girl on the rocks, who he could now see was Dominique. She was busy, crouched down and prying what looked like oysters from under the water. Frederick thought that this looked dangerous, because some freak wave could easily catch her and take her out to sea. Nevertheless he continued towards her with a cheeky smile under the white sea foam beard, feeling somewhat like a naughty child. He was quite close, when Dominique finally heard him. She turned and screamed. Frederick ran and grabbed her as she nearly fell backwards into the waves crashing on the rocks. He wiped the foam off his face and apologized profusely. Dominique didn't know what to think. Here was the young master of the estate, seemingly acting like a crazy man, but she didn't feel threatened, just not sure why he was there. Once he saw that she had regained her composure, he laughed out loud, so much so that he almost fell down himself. This laughter disarmed Dominique and brought a smile to her face. For an instant she forgot her place in the world and reached into her bucket and threw a wet oyster at Frederick, which hit him on the waistcoat. Frederick froze, his face changed to a more solemn look. Then a moment later he reached down and scooped up some of the sea foam and pushed it into Dominique's face, offering her a beard and erupting into laughter once more. Frederick said that she looked quite like Neptune, the god of the sea, and they both laughed.

Frederick spent some time with Dominique down on the little beach. He helped her collect rock oysters and they talked. Frederick couldn't help but wish that had she been born into different circumstances. For a brief time he was lost in his fantasy, but he had no doubt that the real world awaited. Frederick escorted Dominique back to the cottage and bade her farewell, although he knew he would see her again.