Rebel (Civil War Period)

Chapter 19..

7th May 1867

It had become much easier ever since the money is there again. I could finally pay the workers to repair the broken window, and to, speaking generally, help the house shine in new splendour.

It is amusing to see how predictable men are. Ever since word had spread that I was quite wealthy now, there were men of all ages flirting rather obviously with me. Years ago, I might have believed that they fancied me for my looks. Those I had lost now, however, and I was certain they courted me for the money a marriage with me would bring them.

Years ago, I had been a pretty young woman, her auburn waves swirling around her oval face. She had refused to either put it up or hide it underneath a bonnet. Her features were almost too sharp to be considered pretty.

It is the age of round-faced, blonde-haired and rosy-lipped beauty, and I had none of that. Yet there had been a glow about me that had kept me from being plain.

Today, all I see when I look into the mirror is an unglamorous widow, her lineaments hardened by the harshness of life. I do not keep my hair open anymore, but tie it back tightly in a chignon, which ages me by years. I could not let my hair lose, since it always reminded me of Jasper... I remember the day as clearly as if it had been just yesterday, and not four years ago, when he had brushed through my auburn mane and told me how my long curls were the first trait he had fallen in love with, followed by my bright eyes.

"They represent your determination, your freedom-loving spirit, your fiery temper." His eyes had twinkled amusedly as he spoke.... Oh, Jasper.

It has been two years since Jasper died, yet the wound is as fresh as ever.

Jonathan and Felicity are my only joy, but they are more than sufficient to make my life worth living. I live to keep Jasper's children alive, and only for that.

...§...

Georgiana's P.O.V.

I often wonder how my life had become so good and then so bad so quickly. I was only twenty-three. Yet I had known all the grief and sorrow, all the bliss and happiness of the world already. I had won everything and lost it again.

Life had taught me a tough lesson; if you win one thing, you will lose the other.

I had won my children and lost my husband. When I had been pregnant, I had been able to keep my honour and dignity both times, but both times it had cost a high price. I had to lose Marianne, and then I had to marry Charles Lacey, leading a horrid marriage. Everything in life came at a price.

Even my life with Felicity and Jonathan would cost me dearly, as I would soon find out.

"Robert! Would you get Caesar ready for me, please? I will ride to North Charleston today, I have to take care of some business there."

I hurried upstairs, kissed my children goodbye and changed into my riding habit. Years before, I would have let my hair fall loosely over my shoulders, eager for the wind to tousle it as I sped through the forest. Now I just looked forward to the moment I held my children in my arms again.

I mounted Caesar, riding astride as I had always done, and as I felt the horse galloping, I believed some of my old spirit returning.

No P.O.V.

She could not hold him back. He had believed her that his family was dead, and she had been sorry to see that he truly grieved for them. She feared for a while he would never get back to his old self - but then he had recovered well enough to take care of her business again.

Yet she could not make him love her.

He wanted to see their graves now - which brought her into a scrape. If he would find his family alive, then she would never have the slightest bit of influence on him ever again, just like her hopes of him ever loving her would be lost forever.

She could not let that happen.

"Suits me well." She thought grimly. "I want to see the woman Jasper Whitlock loves so passionately, and know whom he prefers to me, before I kill her."

Georgiana's P.O.V.

The path was deserted, and I enjoyed the solitude for once. The only sound audible were Caesar's hooves, the only sight the sunlight falling through the leaves, making patterns on the forest floor. But I was not the only presence.

Just as I had felt it years ago when Jasper's men had surrounded me, I now sensed an other presence somewhere near. I did not know what it was, neither could I explain why I was so certain of it. I just knew there was someone there.

Caesar fell into a trot, and I perceived how he was uncomfortable. He was feeling it, too. After another two yards, Caesar eventually stopped, and he reared as he buckled backwards. I searched the forest for the person whose presence we both sensed but could not see.

The last thing I remembered were a pair of red eyes.

Susan's P.O.V.

"Has Mrs Whitlock returned?" I asked Robert. It was already dusk, and she was not back yet. She was always home on time to put her children to bed herself, reading them a goodnight story every day. She was such a loving mother - but also a proud, determined woman. Nobody but her would have been able to go through with inheriting her husband's legacy. Any other woman would have faltered underneath the pressure of the Whitlock family. Yet, underneath her strong appearance, I knew that she was still grieving. I heard her silently crying herself to sleep at night.

If it would not be for her two children, I was sure that Mrs Whitlock would have given up living long ago. It did not seem like her to stay out longer and miss putting her two babies to bed at night.

"No." Robert shook his head. "I am afraid not."

"I hope nothing happened to her."

"Do not worry, Susan. Mrs Whitlock will be quite fine, I assure you."

Yet the evening passed without her returning. So did the next evening, and the one after that. Nobody had heard of her or seen her, and I was now starting to become scared. There were worse creatures than thieves out there...

Georgiana's P.O.V.

I groaned. I did not know how long it had been, I just knew that it felt like an eternity. An eternity of burning.

I opened my eyes, and was shocked to find my sight sharper than it had ever been. As if I were fifteen again, with no short-sightedness clouding my eyes. I did not feel any pain, and the place where I imagined to be a dehiscing wound was smooth and unharmed. As I looked onto my skin, I almost let out a shriek -the sunlight was breaking on it as if I had been dusted in diamond powder. Underneath all the brilliance I saw how pale my skin was, paler than I thought it was.

Everything felt so different. It even seemed as if I moved much faster than usual... From what I had been able to remember from the attack, I had been fatally wounded. So why was I alive? Why was I so thirsty? Why was it not water or wine I longed for, but something entirely else?

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