The Last Rose of Summer

6 - White Flag

Through the cold and ice

Winter’s cruel vice

Alone and discarded

How eternal slumber does entice!

The high afternoon sun shone brightly through the open window, illuminating the three women in the blue-wallpapered bedchamber. The sound of songbirds and the fresh scent of spring air wafted in from outside. Alice’s spun herself around for the third time in the last fifteen minutes, causing the maid, who was already edgy, to drop the pin she had been painstakingly trying to place for quite some time. Of course, Alice did not even take notice of her wasted effort—she was much too captivated by her new cerulean dress and the way it made her blue eyes sparkle when she moved. Elaine, sitting on the bed behind her, laughed light-heartedly at the maid’s scowl and Alice’s total obliviousness to it.

“Oh Elaine, is it not the most exquisite, marvellous dress you have ever seen?” She sighed completely taken by the image she beheld in the mirror. For good measure, she took another spin in the opposite direction. Fortunately the maid had not yet resumed her attempts to take in the fabric.

Elaine giggled again as she replied, “If I complement you any more than I have, I fear your head may burst Alice!” Embarrassed at Elaine’s insinuation that she was being vain, Alice bit her lip in shame. Regardless, she could not keep the same radiant grin that had been ever-present that day from lighting up her blushing face. As Elaine chuckled again, she rose from the bed to hug her sister from behind. “Don’t worry, you look beautiful Alice, Thomas won’t be able to keep his eyes off of you.”

Alice turned around to Elaine, eyes shining with hope. “Do you really think so Elaine? Do you think he will like it?” Elaine threw back her head and laughed at her sister for the umpteenth time that day. She could not help the joy she felt at seeing Alice so happy. She was the kindest, most loving sister Elaine could ever hope for and all who experienced her company were inevitably affected by the cheerful contagion she exuded. Even the maid had relented and stood smiling at Alice with affection. Elaine hoped that Thomas would not let Alice down and that he would be everything she had always dreamed of. Not even the noblest of men could be good enough for an angel like her sister, Elaine found herself thinking.

She smiled at Alice mischievously. “Not unless you let Beatrice finish trimming it!” she teased. Alice’s blush returned again and she laughed good-naturedly as she compliantly turned to let the maid finish her work. Elaine watched the beaming Alice, buzzing with anticipation and using every ounce of her will-power to keep still, while Beatrice worked with a new determination to place the wayward pin once and for all. She turned her eyes from the scene and walked over to the window that overlooked the sunny garden.

Someday, she dreamed, she would find her own Thomas, who took her out on carriage rides and danced with her at balls; someone who made her laugh for no reason at all, and gave her inexplicable bliss. Someday, she dreamed, she would be in love.

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The scene played itself over and again in Elaine’s mind. Some days, her fondest wish was for the ability to erase it entirely from her memory. But on days like today, she needed the image of Alice’s smile to keep her innards from shrivelling up in misery. If only she had known. She would have sacrificed the tremendous happiness she had felt that day in her sister’s company, had she known what was to come of it. If only she had not been so naive. If only she had realized how inane her dreams were; how far from the truth her expectations had been.

She could never erase the past no matter how much she wished otherwise. Now she had only the future to look to, and she would not repeat the same mistake twice. Never would she let silly notions of love and family sway her judgement again.