Post by Charlie Dudox on Jan 9, 2005 16:56:21 GMT -5
By the time Charlie returned to her apartment, she felt more dead than alive inside. She had showered, letting the scalding hot water turn her olive skin pink as she scrubbed the grime from her body. There was a numbness to her that could not be explained by potions or days of riding, nor could the dirtiness that seemed to lie directly below the surface of her skin. She stood beneath the running water long after her fingers pruned, and until the water ran ice cold and she found herself shivering for warmth. Only then did she wrap herself in her terry cloth robe and move to her seat, surrounded in a sea of papers. There was no one to dress for here. The apartment was her own when her parents were not in town. No one visited unexpectedly and, unlike Daniel, no one had even noticed her absence. By the dimming light of the sun, she worked until she was simply squinting in the dark. Only then did she begin to light candles, reading over the hand scrawled notes by the flicker of golden light. It was only when the sun beams filtered once more through her window that she hesitated in her work to extinguish the lights once more.
It was no longer the drive to learn or to help her parents that set her to her task like a rabid dog. She wanted to finish. When the papers were proof read and prepared, she would be free of her duties, free to leave Ulster without any ties. News had traveled quickly that Amariette had returned and that the handsome young duke had pushed his way to her bed side. That's all she needed to know. He still loved her, and why shouldn't he? Amariette had proved fair and kind, even if she was not Charlie's kind of girl. She was Daniel's type of woman, and that had to be enough. Slowly she stacked the finished papers, carefully cross checking to make sure that the page numbers were correct and nothing had been left out. Her parent's months of labor, was her weeks of work. And now it was time to leave. She wrapped it in brown paper and tied it in twine. Before she left, she would pay a messenger boy to have it delivered to the University.
Then came the hard part, Charlie sat with a slightly purple piece of stationary before her. The pad had been a gift from her mother, lavender paper for her Charlotte Lavender Dudox. Usually the thought of her mother and her obsession with buying her purple gifts brought a smile to Charlie's lips, but today there was only solemnity. It would not be fair to leave without an explanation, without some sort of goodbye, though she would not force him to face her in person.
Daniel,
I'm writing to let you know that I will be leaving Ulster for a while. It was never my wish to stay here through the long winter. The damp and the snow always leave me sick in bed through these dark months. I find them absolutely miserable. I have a cousin who lives with her husband south of here and owns the family vineyard. While their wine is wonderful, their finances are a wreck. I volunteered to help them in return for room and board.
I cannot truthfully say that you are not one of the main reasons I am leaving. While you may have forgiven me, I cannot help but fear what I have done to you and your relationship with Amariette is unforgivable. For this I am immensely sorry. If it will make things better, you can tell Amariette to blame me for all that happened. It would be better that one of us is miserable instead of both. Either way, I am certain you will be grateful not to have to face me or feign friendliness that you may not feel.
I have yet to decide when I will return. Perhaps I will take you up on your offer for the spring semester of classes, perhaps when the weather grows warmer. I can promise you that, by summer's come, I will return to Ulster. I hope that, when time has passed, we will be friends once more. I hope I have not ruined everything.
Yours Always,
Charlotte
She was careful as she wrote not to let the stray tears fall upon the paper, nor her handwriting waiver. Outside her door, she hailed down a messenger and handed him the two precious items. "The package is to be sent to the University, care of the anthropology department. The letter is to be brought to the Duke of Invernis, Daniel Carter. She over paid the young man to ensure promptness and prepared for her journey. There was a reason why Charlie never fully unpacked. She always assumed that where she was in life was only temporary and that fate, good or bad, would always move her on to the next location. Once more she had come to such a time. It would be almost a week traveling out to the vineyard area of Ulster. Despite the cold, she would walk most of the way, occasionally catching rides on the back of carts or in carriages by those who worried about a woman traveling all by her lonesome. It was the same way that she had come to Emain Macha and Charlie was still a girl who never really needed the protection. She could handle a knife, a gun, and had wrestled more than one "savage" bear handed, and bear bodied in some cases. Perhaps, in this case she had found something that she could not handle. It was a man she could not have. A situation she did not understand. This time her mistakes had been grave but not so much to break her. There was a doctorate to earn, an Aon dig that she had not forgotten, and even if she traveled all the paths in her future alone. There was nothing to be gained by moping on the side of the road.
It was no longer the drive to learn or to help her parents that set her to her task like a rabid dog. She wanted to finish. When the papers were proof read and prepared, she would be free of her duties, free to leave Ulster without any ties. News had traveled quickly that Amariette had returned and that the handsome young duke had pushed his way to her bed side. That's all she needed to know. He still loved her, and why shouldn't he? Amariette had proved fair and kind, even if she was not Charlie's kind of girl. She was Daniel's type of woman, and that had to be enough. Slowly she stacked the finished papers, carefully cross checking to make sure that the page numbers were correct and nothing had been left out. Her parent's months of labor, was her weeks of work. And now it was time to leave. She wrapped it in brown paper and tied it in twine. Before she left, she would pay a messenger boy to have it delivered to the University.
Then came the hard part, Charlie sat with a slightly purple piece of stationary before her. The pad had been a gift from her mother, lavender paper for her Charlotte Lavender Dudox. Usually the thought of her mother and her obsession with buying her purple gifts brought a smile to Charlie's lips, but today there was only solemnity. It would not be fair to leave without an explanation, without some sort of goodbye, though she would not force him to face her in person.
Daniel,
I'm writing to let you know that I will be leaving Ulster for a while. It was never my wish to stay here through the long winter. The damp and the snow always leave me sick in bed through these dark months. I find them absolutely miserable. I have a cousin who lives with her husband south of here and owns the family vineyard. While their wine is wonderful, their finances are a wreck. I volunteered to help them in return for room and board.
I cannot truthfully say that you are not one of the main reasons I am leaving. While you may have forgiven me, I cannot help but fear what I have done to you and your relationship with Amariette is unforgivable. For this I am immensely sorry. If it will make things better, you can tell Amariette to blame me for all that happened. It would be better that one of us is miserable instead of both. Either way, I am certain you will be grateful not to have to face me or feign friendliness that you may not feel.
I have yet to decide when I will return. Perhaps I will take you up on your offer for the spring semester of classes, perhaps when the weather grows warmer. I can promise you that, by summer's come, I will return to Ulster. I hope that, when time has passed, we will be friends once more. I hope I have not ruined everything.
Yours Always,
Charlotte
She was careful as she wrote not to let the stray tears fall upon the paper, nor her handwriting waiver. Outside her door, she hailed down a messenger and handed him the two precious items. "The package is to be sent to the University, care of the anthropology department. The letter is to be brought to the Duke of Invernis, Daniel Carter. She over paid the young man to ensure promptness and prepared for her journey. There was a reason why Charlie never fully unpacked. She always assumed that where she was in life was only temporary and that fate, good or bad, would always move her on to the next location. Once more she had come to such a time. It would be almost a week traveling out to the vineyard area of Ulster. Despite the cold, she would walk most of the way, occasionally catching rides on the back of carts or in carriages by those who worried about a woman traveling all by her lonesome. It was the same way that she had come to Emain Macha and Charlie was still a girl who never really needed the protection. She could handle a knife, a gun, and had wrestled more than one "savage" bear handed, and bear bodied in some cases. Perhaps, in this case she had found something that she could not handle. It was a man she could not have. A situation she did not understand. This time her mistakes had been grave but not so much to break her. There was a doctorate to earn, an Aon dig that she had not forgotten, and even if she traveled all the paths in her future alone. There was nothing to be gained by moping on the side of the road.