In want of a wife (A Dr. Who fanfiction)

Chapter 4

For a young lady, to walk unchaperoned, alongside a man; any man that is not her husband, the conduct is of questionable decency. Walking in the middle of the night, was strange and possibly dangerous. Walking in the middle of the night, unchaperoned, alongside an unattached man, was something absolutely not done.

Miss Tyler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tyler of Powell Estate would have never dreamed of venturing on such an adventure of impudence, had she not met and befriended an exceptional man, who called himself the Doctor.

His hands were presently occupied with holding, in the one: a basket, covered with a small, but lovely quilt, and in the other a peculiar tool, which she first mistook for a lantern. It did however share its function of producing light. Under that same arm he held a device, of which Rose was sure, had to be some kind of telescope. Having his hands thus full, there was no room for hers and feeling more than a little nervous, she rather wished there was.

After the first shock on hearing his stated request outside her bedroom window, Rose had acted on pure heartfelt excitement and desire, instead of sense. She had taken little time in getting dressed, doing no more than pulling a simple dress over her nightgown, and downstairs; putting on a warm coat and picking up high shoes without heels.

Shoes in hand, she had moved stealthily through the house, until she had reached the front door, where she next let herself out. The Doctor had been waiting for her there, visible excitement in his eyes as well. That, and utter glee that she had agreed to come with him, knowing full well the impropriety of his invitation.

So there they were, pitch black shadows and shapes of trees around them, the air filled with noise and whispers of the night. A half full moon somewhere discernible between the treetops along with a million stars, if not more.

Taking a moment to look up, Rose suddenly felt the splendour of the sky above and stopped to marvel at its richness. She could do nothing more than simply stand quite still and stare. Everything around her vanished, all dangers and turmoil fading into nothingness, as she took in the brilliance of the seeming smallness, yet so unimaginable immensity of the stars.

They were arrived at a small clearing in the woods, a patch of moss and grass, just enough to have a little more sight of where to place one's feet. It was here, that Rose stood gazing upwards and it was here the Doctor set down his things and came to stand next to her. Aware of her awe, he gently took her hand, moved in a little closer and pointed upwards.

"Do you see there: the stars that form the letter W? That is the constellation of Cassiopeia. She was the mother of a beautiful daughter and her pride was abhorrent to the gods. They punished her for her idleness and offensive professions and hung her forever, upside down in the sky. Her skirt draped over her head, to be ridiculed and laughed at for all time."

Rose whispered startled: "That is horrible."

"Off course, this story only exists here on earth. The Cassiopeians are simply named after Cassius, their primary planet. There is none left alive nowadays, since there was a star that became supernova in your year 1681. Real tragedy, sad loss."

It took the Doctor a short while, before noticing the change in his companion's demeanour. Miss Tyler was no longer watching the night sky, she was observing him with a most unsettled eye. Her distinct move away from him, was probably the clearest sign of there being something wrong. The Doctor, recollecting his previous spoken words, understood immediately the reason for her bewilderment.

He took a firmer grasp on her hand as if to make sure she would not run off, before he had a chance to give a thorough explanation.

"My dear Rose, please do not be alarmed. You may well just believe me to be an eccentric, mad man and forget everything I have spoken in a moment of absent-mindedness. However, I must give you more credit than that and dare raise a suspicion in your mind, that not all is what it might seem."