Four in the Attic, One in the Kitchen

The Days We Pass

 I would be getting married on Saturday, June eleventh. That was it. Most of the planning would be taken care of by the families, naturally. All Lawrence and I had to do was show up at the altar, say some vows, sign some papers, and we were married. Since Christmas, two months had passed, and I was officially eighteen. I was an adult. I would be graduating soon. My roommates at school were overjoyed to hear the news, and, saving face, I made sure to invite them all. I even asked my bunkmate Myrtle to be my maid of honor, a title she graciously accepted. I asked two others, Mary and Judith to be my other bridesmaids. They were none the wiser that I did not want to walk down the aisle. They didn't even know I'd been "dating" anyone until I announced my engagement. I made up some nonsense story that I was just trying to be sure I found the "right one".

Regardless, preparations were being made, and they were being made fast. Venue: check, the church of course. My measurements were taken for my wedding dress to be created, chosen from a catalogue of designs. We had engagement rings, and our wedding bands would be brought in from Italy. The Saturday following my 18th birthday was spent trying out samples for dinner and our cake.

I hated saying our. It implied an equal footing, and we had none. Lawrence had quickly taken the reigns, directing my hand and leaving me with little choice. I suppose it was my destiny to be without choice. Life had become so monotonous with everything done for me. Most of me hated it, but it wasn't all bad - it gave me time to think. I had just over one hundred days until the wedding, plenty of time to figure out how I could get out of this, if there was a way. From what I gathered, there were three main routes: get out before the wedding, during, or just after. I had no desire to meet Lawrence on the marital bed to consummate anything. If it were beforehand or during, there would be a few additional steps to ensure my siblings were safe. I knew what my grandmother was capable of. Even if it were after, and all the paperwork had been completed, I'd have to be very, very crafty to make it seem that I didn't go on my own accord. I could fake my death, perhaps, or make it look like I was kidnapped. I'd read about people doing it in books from the library, the kind I'd poured through during rainy days and snowy evenings.

In any vein, I started helping Chris. I had two main stores of money - cash for myself, alongside what I put in my bank account, and cash for him. Most of the time, I would hide it in the daytime, usually around the time the moon was thin, each time in a new location, to be safe. He would retrieve it in the evenings, leaving a subtle sign he'd been there, like a misaligned painting or a scrap of colored thread. Other evenings, though, during the new moon, I would slip out of my room under cover of darkness, up the stairs to slip him money and news personally.

I still didn't let any of my escape plans out, yet, though. I didn't solidify anything, and didn't want to risk him getting the wrong idea. I just told him that he would be out soon, and I would try and find them. In the two months that we'd been meeting, I'd slipped him enough for two train tickets to the next state over.

Then, the will was read.

Naturally, Grandmother received the bulk of it, including Foxworth Hall itself, with promise that it would go to Corinne and Bart upon her death. It seemed as though their relationship had been repaired enough for that. My mother also received a large enough inheritance that, for the time, she was satiated. The family fortune, much to her luck, would fall into her hands soon enough. With no siblings to compete with, it would, in time, all be hers, and with no known heirs, she could do with it as she pleased. As she was told this, I recall, she smiled like a cat who'd gotten the cream. Various cousins, nieces, and nephews were also written in, in much smaller amounts.

I didn't expect to get much, if anything, but as Bart got to the bottom, he did, in fact, say my name, Lucille. I had been one of the later additions.