Midnight Roses

❀Chapter Two: Unraveled❀

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2012 by Amber Hanscom

❀Chapter Two:Unraveling❀

I didn't see Gaston for weeks, my time was consumed with reading books, spending time with my sisters and considering what I was to do next. Gaston's passionate words had consumed my thoughts for the last two weeks, causing me to go without sleep and have no apatite. My sisters continued to encourage me to accept his proposal as soon as I saw him. I merely smiled when they said this, shrugging my shoulders in a helpless way.

Father was gone on business, seeing to some ships that had docked from India. My sisters and I were left to our own devices under the careful guidance of our nurse and caretaker, Nancy Grey, who was a foreigner from England. That week was uneventful, rather too uneventful. It was the calm, eerie quiet before the storm.

On the seventh day, Desiree, Marion and I had gathered in Papa's library, huddling around the fire. It was late summer then, and all around us autumn was making its presence known with the frigid winds, the changing leaves, and the shorter days.

Nancy arrived in the library, her face wan and severely aged. We ceased our animated chatter, all of our attention focusing on our governess.

"What is the matter Nancy?" Desiree asked rising to her feet.

"A messenger just arrived, with word from your father," she said her voice thick with tears. "It is terrible! Simply terrible! Oh, my poor dears!"

Fear struck my heart. In the next moment all three of us were standing, surrounding Nancy each of us wearing matching expressions of anxious worry.

"What has happened to Papa, Nancy?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"No, no, your father is in perfect health. It is the ships-they were savaged in a storm! All of the cargo is gone! There was nothing spared. Your father fears that he is a ruined man."

The foundation beneath my feet seemed to shift. I looked over to my elder sisters, measuring their reactions.

Desiree looked deathly pale, her eyes seeming to just about pop out of their sockets. Marion gripped the back of Papa's chair, her knuckles turning red and white.

I knew exactly what they were thinking as well-with everything gone, Papa would need to scrounge whatever money he could-including our dowries. I knew Julian and Donatien loved my sisters, but it was unlikely that their families would allow their heirs to wed to dower-less girls.

And neither would someone as vain and prideful as Gaston de Heroux.

"We are ruined!" Marion cried as tears riveted down her cheeks.

I was taken aback by the out burst of emotion. Calm, sensible, level headed Marion was gone. In her place was a vulnerable young woman who looked as if she'd had her heart ripped away.

"Non, cher petit," Desiree said as she took our hysteric sister into her arms. "All will be well, Papa will figure something out."

I nodded, visibly agreeing with her statement, while on the inside, I wondered what would become of us.

❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀~❀

Papa returned a week later, his appearance shockingly altered. There was more grey in his hair, and deep, burrowing wrinkles lined his once flawless skin. He hardly said a word to any of us, not even sparing a glance to heart broken Marion or optimistic Desiree. His eyes lingered on me for a single brief moment, pain flashing in his eyes.