Lady Aimee Montgomery, an curious English noblewoman with a thirst for history, stumbled upon her great-grandmother Amelie's aged diary. Within its delicate pages, she discovered a tale of star-crossed and heart-wrenching love affair between Amelie...
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CALAIS, 1916
Amelie's Point of View
I REPLIED to Gabriel's letter, and who knows if he even read it, let alone received it? The Battle of Verdun was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the entire Great War, and I was hearing the daily news that countless men were losing their lives, the sound of guns was everywhere, and the women's cries of desperation, including mine, were echoing across the land. I had gotten used to crying and sleep deprivation every night, my tears soaking my pillow, because I could not find solace. I did not know if Gabriel was still alive or if I was just waiting in vain.
Mourning wives were greeted by military authorities who brought the coffins of their dead husbands, and I felt sorry for them. I became more anxious when I did not receive any news about Gabriel—about where he was or how he was doing. I was lost in a labyrinth of thoughts: either he was still alive and fighting, or he was already dead, but unlike the other fallen men, his body was never found. Despite my desperation to find answers, there was nothing I could do because even the officers had no information. Still, I held onto the former thought and clung to the hope that he was alive and would return to me.
On December 18, 1916, the battle ended. Several French soldiers went home to be with their families again. I squeezed through the crowd, searching for Gabriel's face, but there was no sign of his return. I tried asking other soldiers, but they could not answer my question. My heart was sinking in agony, but I continued my desperate search for him until the next day, hoping that another train would arrive. The last train came at dawn, and there was no trace of him among the soldiers who returned.
It seemed like my mind and heart could not find peace. He should already be here by my side, but he was nowhere to be found. I could do nothing but weep for his unknown fate. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and still, I was waiting for a familiar man with broad shoulders and a gentle smile to knock on my door, but he never came. I was all alone, reliving our memories: our laughter, our dreams of building a future, raising children, and growing old together. We had promised each other we would never part, just like how the brightest star and the moon stay together even when morning arrives.
Too bad it would never happen.
With a heavy heart and tear-stained eyes, I made the painful decision to presume him dead. It was never an easy choice for me - it was a choice that shattered my soul into a thousand broken pieces, but because I lost all hope and realized I could not lament forever in darkness, I had to face the reality that he was never coming back. I could not even think of France without thinking of him and his disappearance, so I packed all of my things and left the home we once shared to move as a refugee to England.
I continued to carry here in England the weight of my feeling that I should have left in France. The United Kingdom was also involved in the Great War, and I did not know what to do. I was a twenty-year-old woman who lost her lover and was now stuck in a war-torn foreign land, struggling to make ends meet. I set aside my ego and resorted begging on the streets in order to survive. When I was able to gather a decent amount of money, I tried my luck in art once again and decided to sell my artwork here in this new land.
I caught the attention of a nobleman, Arthur Montgomery, the Earl of Lorendale. He was a regular client of mine who purchased several of my artworks. We became friends, and he provided me comfort and solace as a foreigner in his homeland. I shared many stories with him, but not my tragic one with Gabriel, as I was not yet ready to share it with others. Months later, he confessed his love for me and proposed marriage. He promised that if I were to marry him, I would gain English citizenship and never have to work again.
I never loved him back, but I needed to survive and escape the horrors of poverty and warfare. I accepted his proposal and agreed to marry him.
