→ ❝ you'll love me at once the way you did once upon a dream! ❞
Ever since he appeared in her village, crying his eyes out on one sunny day in 1909, Henry Johnson and Carol Goodwin have been inseparable.
[COMPLETED]
peaky blinders / seaso...
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from: Mr Michael Gray
Blossom Manor
Sutton Coldfield
Birmingham
Mrs Carol Gray
7 St Mary's Lane
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
[envelope marked: RETURN TO SENDER]
To my Dearest Sweetheart,
I have a strong suspicion that your mother will never give you this letter. You won't remember, but she has tried that trick before and it managed to work for two years straight. She is an indescribably vile woman, and I am so sorry to have left you in her care.
She arrived here, in Birmingham, this morning and within a few hours she had secured her protection over you and organised for you to be placed in a hospital closer to the village. I'm not entirely sure how she did it, but she took you from me again, my darling. She'll pay for it, I promise you that she'll pay for everything that she has put you through.
I hope you can forgive me for what has happened. It was never my intention for you to get mixed up in the shit that my family rolls around in, it was never my intention to harm you. It's not in my nature, Carol, I could never lay an unkind finger on you. I love you.
My cousins say hello. They all miss you, Tommy, Arthur, and Finn. Arthur never shuts up about you and could never say enough good about you to anyone, but I think you leaving has hit Tommy the most. I'm not sure if he saw you as more of a daughter or a friend, but he cared for you, my love, more than anyone ever thought. Charlie misses you too, always asking where you are. Nobody had the heart to bring him or Karl to the hospital to see you, so they just think you've gone away for a while. They ask me what my wedding ring is for, and I say it's to keep a little bit of their Auntie Carol with me always.
Oh, the hospital! Before the witch came and stole you away, there was rarely a moment where our hospital room was just ours. I'll have to say, I think I'm jealous of how many visitors you got, and the amount of flowers that they gifted you. Someone (I think it was Mr Solomons, I don't think you ever met him but Tommy must have told him a lot about you) brought you some lemon sherbets, and I'm afraid to say I ate almost all of them. Well, I left you four, just in case you decided to wake up.
God, Carol, please remember. They said you'll have lost some of your memory, and I'm begging you: please remember me. I don't care if you've forgotten our engagement, or the nights that we spent together, or even our wedding¸ I just need you to remember me. Even if you just remember Henry Johnson and can see that we share a face, that would be more than enough for me. I can work with that, my love, I can't do anything if you don't remember me at all.
Your name is Carol Mary Gray. You were born in Sheffield in 1905. Your favourite cake is lemon, your cousin James is your best friend, and you take honey in your tea. You accepted my engagement proposal in 1920, under the apple tree with my mother watching over us from the kitchen window. You love to dance when nobody's looking, because you're not very good. You hate whiskey but can quite happily get drunk off champagne and gin. You married me on Christmas Eve 1924 in a split second decision, and wore a white dress with flowers from the bedroom vase in your hair. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever set my eyes on, and put the summer sun to shame with just how radiant you can be. You're Carol Gray and you're my wife.
If, by some miracle, your mother gives you this letter to read, I hope it finds you in good spirits. I hope you're enjoying your life in Sheffield but will come back to live with me, where you belong. You're home for me, darling, you're my safe haven and I'm not sure what I'll do if I have to let go of you forever.
