First order of business was to feed their guests. What an exciting thought for both of them. They worked hurriedly together to prepare something. They laughed together thinking that they were behaving like a husband and wife who were thrilled to have unexpected guests arrive at their home.
Talbot had earlier caught some fish and they fried them in a hot pan on the open fire. They enjoyed a hot meal together and laughed and told exciting stories about their island life and the lives of the three visitors.
The sun had set in a beautiful display. Sadness filled Talbot and Hannah equally and individually that this was the last sunset that they would see on this island and together. They stood side by side watching the sun slide into the sea one last time.
Talbot arranged sleeping quarters for the three guests as best he could and they all retired for the night.
In what seemed the middle of the night Talbot woke to see Hannah in the bright moonlight standing by the water. How beautiful and radiant she looked. He got up and as he quietly approached her he could see tears running down her cheeks. When she noticed him she jumped a little and looked away and wiped her tears.
"Are you all right.....Hannah?" He asked quietly and tenderly.
"Ohhhh yes.... sorry.... I am fine." She lied. "It is just that I miss my husband.... you see."
Talbot lied. "Yes, I understand." Words that stabbed like a sword into his heart. "You will soon be reunited."
Knowing that she did not tell the truth. She did not miss her husband. He knew why tears were falling.
"Perhaps he will not accept me back now that I have been away from him for so long." She added, 'and with another man' but did not speak the words.
Talbot remained quiet just letting her express herself.
"Perhaps society at large shall never accept me back but look upon me with contempt and shame." The tears started afresh. She laughed a cynical laugh and said, "Perhaps he has married another believing me to be dead." Then added, "I suppose for all intents and purposes I am dead, no matter how you look at it. It's over and finished for me."
Talbot had thought of all these ideas as well. What could he say in return? How could he help her?
How could he encourage her to go back to her husband, how could he not? He loved her with every cell in his body. Now he had to give her back. It was finished for them. How was he going to continue alone? He had come to love their time together on this island. He respected her and loved her, even for her loyalty to her husband. A loyalty that he envied.
The truth is Hannah was crying because she was already missing Talbot. She loved him. Her marriage with her husband was arranged. She did not love him. Only respected him. This was the first man that she ever really loved. This one standing beside her treating her again as though she is a passenger on his vessel - rather than the love of his heart. She cried because she would never see him again. They could not. She would not. How could she ever forget that he saved her from entering the door of death? How could she survive out there in that jungle of humanity without him? They survived the wilds of a tropical island but they would not survive the wilds of high society in Louisiana. That would be impossible for both of them. The wagging heads, the whispers, the gossip, the newspapers, the closed doors. Could she go back? Should she? Perhaps she should run away with him. But they would not be able to marry. She was married already? How horrible. She had to leave the man that she truly loved to be with another that she was a wife to in name only.
He wanted her to be his.
