One Glance

Chapter 4

"Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to." Julianne Moore

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Chapter Four

Luke opened his eyes. Why he bothered, he did not know. It was not as though he could see anything once his eyes were opened.

But he consistently felt a pang of disappointment whenever he did open his eyes. After nine and twenty years of waking up to the day, he was not used to seeing nothing. Every morning, for only a few seconds, he forgot that he was blind.

He wondered what time it was. He knew that there was a small clock on the mantle but that would not do him any good. He could always ring the bell for a servant, but how humiliating it would be to just ask them for the time. What if it was the middle of the night? There would be no one downstairs.

Luke did feel rested. It had to be morning, or thereabouts.

Instinctively, and perhaps hopefully, Luke felt across the width of the bed for another person. He was not surprised to find that he was alone. Well, not entirely alone. His hands did come across the tin soldier that he had found on the settee.

Luke sighed and encased the soldier in his hand.

Isabella had not joined him during the night. Luke did not blame her after the way he had spoken to her. He really did need to apologise. Would she come to see him today? Luke's breath caught in his throat. Would she bring Jamie?

Luke pushed back the duvet and swung his legs over the side of the bed. It took a moment for him to focus. He had paced the bedroom the day before. The basin was nine paces in front of him.

Luke took a deep breath and tried to balance as he put one foot in front of the other. He counted in his head as he took careful steps towards the basin. He was going to have to learn to do this every day for the rest of his life. He had to be able to walk in a straight line.

"I can do this," Luke said to himself. He could not spend the rest of his life as a miserable lump.

With his arms outstretched in front of him, Luke smiled when he felt the basin and the bench before him. This was his first success for the day. He felt along the bench for the jug of water that he knew would be there. Sure enough, to the right of the bowl was the jug filled with cool water. Carefully, Luke secured his hands on the handle and lifted the jug towards the basin.

As Luke poured the water, the liquid hit the rim of the basin, and splashed him directly on his nightshirt. Luke swore loudly. Whatever confidence he had built up quickly plummeted. He cried in frustration as he placed the jug back down on the bench. Just as soon as he released the jug, he heard it fall to the ground and smash. Water splashed his feet and began to soak the rug that he was standing on.

Luke smacked his hands against his forehead and swore again. He cried out and huffed. He all but threw a tantrum.

"Now, now," called Mary, just as he heard her close the door. "It was an accident!" Before he knew it, he could feel the fabric of Mary's dress against his leg as she began to gather the pieces of the jug.

"I broke the bloody jug!" he shouted.

"Then we will get another one!" Mary retorted. "You know you can wait for me to come to you in the mornings, Captain."

"I cannot always depend on my nurse! I should be able to wash my face in the morning without having a nanny tend to me!" snapped Luke. He knew he was being very rude and short with Mary, but he was not in the mood for morning pleasantries.