Lillian

Chapter 2

The house was a majestic one washed with white and having a stately widow's walk and elegant French windows boasting chic lace curtains. The steep flaming terra cotta roof shone brilliantly in the sunlight, providing a beautiful striking contrast and the perfectly manicured lawn was like a soft  coverlet of deep green, reflecting numerous tiny droplets of dew shimmering like a sea of priceless pearls.

It was as if she had been in this place before; everything seemed vaguely familiar and barefooted Lillian walked across the lawn up to the gigantic mahogany door where she reached for the huge brass knocker. She didn't need to knock though, for the door suddenly swung wide and she put her hand back to her side staring transfixed at her reflection in the cheval mirror that faced the entrance way. A veritable stranger stared back at her and she gazed down at the modest but elegant white dress that adorned her slender frame. Her long thick hair, no longer  tamed and braided as was her custom, was pressed and coiled in a high chignon, a soft curly tendril falling in her face. She looked past the mirror and the mansion's well lit, even statelier parlor greeted her, the beauty of it eliciting a gasp from her lips. A massive crystal chandelier hung from the lofty, white ceiling and the tasteful antique furniture that decorated the colossal room clearly spoke volumes of the owner's opulence.

Instantly she recognized the great, high backed chair that was in the painting of Captain Hawthorne and she walked over to it, stroking the exact spot where his hand had been resting. Knowing that he had been in that very room, standing in that very spot gave Lillian a slight glow and eyes closed she tried to imagine what he would look like in the flesh.

"Can you not feel me my Lillian?" a strangely familiar voice spoke and she gasped, a seeping numbness overwhelming her senses. He was there in the room! The thought made her knees buckle and she held on to the chair for support. "Be not afraid of he who loved you more than life itself my dearest...face me." His gentle command spun her to face the figure of the man who had been haunting her thoughts ever since she beheld his portrait.

He looked striking, even more than he did in the gallery and her eyes drank in his fine masculine beauty, awestruck even as apprehension threatened to overwhelm her.

"This is not real." She sputtered wide eyed "You're...you're dead."

"The enemy's bullet did not kill me sweet Lillian." He answered softly "It only put an end to a meaningless existence for I died the moment you were plucked from me...now that I have found you I live once more."

She leaned against the massive chair and gave him an incredulous stare. "I  can't...I don't understand what you are saying...you died well over a century ago and...and I..."she paused in the heights of her confusion "Are you saying that you knew...we knew each other back in the mid nineteenth century?"

He smiled, stroking the side of his face in a gesture that she thought seemed familiar and looked piercingly into her unblinking eyes. When he answered her it was if he was using his words to caress her and she wondered at the spell that even now was befuddling her senses.

"I am saying more than that my angel. I am saying that we defied the evil dictates of man and became lovers. I opened my eyes on a hot summer's eve, beheld you and saw past all the reasons I could not love you as a man should love the woman he was born to love."

He approached her slowly and the weakness she felt was overpowering. "I have loved you since the very first day I laid eyes on you Lillian. It mattered not one whit that society placed you beneath me and deemed our love forbidden. You were my equal then and you are my equal still..." his hands reached for hers and she trembled as he touched her, closing her eyes as a surge of warmth filled her slowly, inexplicably.

"You were supposed to become my bride my angel."

Was this fantastic tale true?  Become his bride?  In an era that frowned upon inter racial relationships? It was impossible that they had once been lovers as he had claimed. In her well-ordered world there was simply no room for such a conjecture.  Besides how could they have existed together when she was still alive and well? A rush of thoughts assaulted her senses and she opened her eyes to see him studying her face with a look of such tenderness she flushed considerably.

"I can't ...I do not remember...how can this be true Richard?" She asked simply and his hand found her face; gentle, caressing.

"To hear you breathe my name again is heaven itself sweet Lillian." He murmured as he cupped her face. "I can only tell you now to open up your mind and believe the words I speak for I am etched in your soul as surely as you are etched in mine. I exist now only for the promise of your love...surely you can feel me inside you?"

His lips on hers took her to another plain of existence and she clung to him, her spirits soaring on clouds of euphoria as he held her possessively, molding her to him and kissing her fiercely but with sweetness that she had never known existed. It was as if she was parched earth tasting rain again after a long drought, enjoying every drop as it seeped and trickled way down into her.

The utter impossibility of their situation didn't matter anymore; the feel and taste of him was familiar, real. Somehow, somewhere she had been loved like this before; by this man who no longer existed but who had the power to kiss her and take her beyond reason, beyond the confines of reality itself. She held on to him and felt him somewhere inside her like some vital essence. She was his, he was hers. The truth of it swirled inside her head and made her go limp against him.

"We are one again angel, "he breathed hoarsely between tiny kisses to her face "At last we are one again." He paused and stared lovingly at her, she placed a hand to his cheek. The beauty and intimacy of the moment was so overwhelming that she had to fight to hold back the tears.

"I have so many questions Richard." She said anxiously while he continued to gaze at her. He trailed her lips with gentle fingers and brushed away a lone tear that had trickled down her cheek.

"Do not cry my sweet for I have wept for us both these heart wrenching years." He whispered his voice thickening. "Just know that now that I have found you I will never leave your side." He held her to him, whispering words of love and she closed her eyes; happy, contented, complete. "But you have to go back soon Lillian...you must not stay here with me for long...not just yet."

The thought of leaving him was so disheartening she gripped him and pleaded: "But I do not wish to leave you Richard . I need to know more... I cannot bear ..."

He kissed away the rest of her plea and pressed her slender body to his, filling her up with his love. "Go back angel," he urged gently and he pressed something small and metallic in her hand. It was a key: an old bronze key that looked as if it had seen better times. The initials R.T.H were crudely scratched into one side of the strange looking relic. It had probably been buried with his body! She thought quickly and the idea, far from repulsing her, made her plant a soft kiss to his lips while clutching it to her bosom, wondering at the miracle that had made him appear to her.

"Visit the house alone when you go back." He instructed holding her hand tightly with the key in her palm. "You will know where to find the answers you need. Just listen to your heart...and don't be afraid...I will be with you Lillian."

"Lillian, Hey Lillian!" 

A/N

Hey guys. I couldn't wait so I decided to update a little early! Hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave a comment and tell me what you think and don't forget to vote. Until next time!