Heart's Content

Part Twenty-Three

{'Winter Landscape' by Akseli Gallen-Kallela from Wikimedia Commons}

Even though the season brought with it a distinct chill, there had been no notable sign of winter's first snow so there was much surprise among the residents of the Sembroline estate and their guests when they awoke one morning to find a thick layer of freshly fallen snow upon the estate grounds leaving virtually spotless blankets of white over the previously brown fields around the manor.

The following day Genevieve intentionally woke early so she could enjoy the solitude of the morning hours before everyone else was up and moving around and distracting her from her thoughts. She was bundled up in a fluffy cream-colored wool housecoat with a hood and had claimed a place on one of the plush floral cushions of a window seat in the sunroom with a cup of hot cocoa just as the sky had truly begun to lighten. Time became meaningless as she comfortably lounged with her slippered feet hidden beneath the thick fabric of her brown winter gown as she stared out at the endless white that stopped only once it reached the forest. True, she could think before she went to sleep at night, but she found that if she thought before she slept, her sleep didn't come quickly enough and when it did arrive, it was rather fitful; thinking in the morning was best.

She had been so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't heard Lisette's approach as she came to the doorway but no further, instead she just stood in the large open frame and watched Genevieve as she stared thoughtfully out the window. It had become quite evident over the time they had spent together that Genevieve had a slow approach to life. She enjoyed its simplicities where Lisette was eager for its experiences, though she had to admit that being around Genevieve had taught her to enjoy the simple things and to not always look for the more complex. Lisette remained as she was, just watching Genevieve's profile as she held her cup in both hands even though she had long since emptied its contents, and wondered as she often did if Genevieve consciously sat always with her left side facing doorways or if it just happened to be coincidence. Slowly she began her approach and took a seat at the window just in front of Genevieve and smiled as she touched the toe of her slippered foot where it peeked out from beneath her gown, "are you visualizing us pummeling Sabien with snowballs?"

Lisette teasingly posed the question even though she supposed there would be a more amused expression on Genevieve's face rather than a thoughtful one if she were. Genevieve was so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't immediately realized that Lisette was there and was startled by the sound of her voice at first before she laughed slightly and shook her head, looking down at her empty cup, "no... I was thinking about the snow itself."

"Oh?" Lisette looked at Genevieve curiously as she leaned back against the dark green curtains that covered the window panes and were embroidered with decorative vines of a lighter shade of green, "what could you have to think about snow?"

"Well... have you ever looked at it closely?"

"Mmmm... no, I cannot say that I have?"

"Well, 'tis truly a remarkable thing... they say that none are the same but no one could ever really know that could they?"

"Likely not... there are too many to count."

"Yes, so how would anyone ever know if none are the same?"

"Perhaps 'tis only a guess based on what they have seen?"

"Which is still such a small fraction, like saying that there are no two people alike but then there are twins."

"Well that is a highly different circumstance, is it not? That is all based on parental lineage, not God."

"But are we not based on God as well? So if there are people that are identical, would there not be snowflakes that are identical as well?"