The House of Beardsley

Chapter Forty-three

"To my dearest sons,

"If you are reading this, then God must have taken me. I hope with my passing, you do not mourn too much and were able to settle affairs as quick and efficient as possible. With Silas and Tobias there, I believe there would be no problems.

"However, before I bless one of you with the title, I want to make it clear that I love every one of you and consider you my own blood and flesh.

"To Silas: my eldest son, I've always seen my Father in you. A stern, wise, yet unhappy man. You strive to meet the expectations required of you and in return, forgo your own feelings and likes. While raising you, with my own Father peering over my shoulder, I questioned and doubted myself many times if you would be happy as an adult. Now that you are one and I'm not by your side, I want you to focus on the things that you truly want, not those easily labeled by society as success or happiness.

"To Tobias: my second son, I've always seen myself in you. If Silas accepted Father's teachings, you were like me—you feared it. We grew up somewhere on the line of society and on the line of being men who only concentrated on wealth and status. We were confused, and I felt sorry when I saw you. I always wondered if I could've changed the way you grew up and helped you live the life I unconsciously desired.

"To Eugene: my third son, my nephew, you have no idea how much of a joy it was to raise you. With the tragedy of Daniel's passing, I felt like I was alone once more, but you were a godsend. You were a blessing not only to me, but to my sons—you showed them a beautiful part of the world, a part even I couldn't teach. You made sure they knew the importance of life, from small ones to bigs ones, the beauty in common things, and the transience of every day. With the breaking of your legs, my heart also broke, because you had changed too. You became a Beardsley that day—instead of seeing hope when I looked at you, all I saw was despair, and how much being in this house has changed you.

"To Augustin: my fourth son, I have always thought of you as my true son. You were the only son I brought up without Father's influence, as I brought you up after his passing, and unlike Eugene, you were raised here by me. You turned out different from them all, cheerful and charismatic with an open mind. Although you were restrained, you found a door to the outside world through books, and by reading constantly, you never gave up hope.

"To Valentin: my fifth son, I knew that you disliked people and in a way, resembled Tobias and I. While you always hated socializing and hid from society's eyes, you have your own great points that I wished you knew about. For example, although you might not know, but there were times your older brother relied on you, and the honesty you showed reminded me of Eugene before the accident.

"For Elias: my sixth son, you were the last son I expected. I always pitied you for never allowing your Mother to see you, and you to see your Mother and sister, but I was determined I would not let you become the fall of the house of Beardsley, not let you become the next person who they would point at and blame, call sinful and damned to hell. I was determined that I could give you a better future, but I did not know whether by breaking a family I achieved my purpose.

"For Olive: my seventh and surprise son, I knew I must take you in once I saw you talking to Elias despite the adults around you warning you of Elias and the other Beardsleys. You didn't care for such rumors: you were untainted and would bring to Beardsley a whole new light. I thought of you as a replacement for Elias's absent sister, too, as your smile reminded me greatly of hers that one time I saw her at her christening."

By the end of this, Beth was crying into her hands, and Elias and teared up.

Adam Beardsley was not the monster whom we thought he was. He was also a victim, but most of all, a father too.