My Shadow

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Lizzy found Shadow waiting at her stall when she reached it the next morning. She found the letter on her collar and unfolded it to read it.

Dear Lizzy,

I do not know why you want me to stay at the castle. I would much rather spend my time with you. Unless, of course, you had a sweetheart in the village that you have not told me about but I would still rather spend my time with you.

I have named my greyhound Shadow like you suggested. It is a good name. I am trying to find a way out of my wedding to Anne that does not include running away or pretending to marry her. If you have any ideas you may let me know.

Much love,

Eddy

There was a little bit of space below the letter so she found her quill from the pouch that she hung around her waist and quickly wrote a reply before any customers came.

Dear Eddy,

How could you think that I had a sweetheart in the village? I do not know a soul unless they have introduced themselves to me. I apparently had quite a few friends but I do not know any of them. Life here is lonely but that is by no means an invitation to come to the village to live. I do not have any ideas as of the moment as to what you can do but please, do not run away, you will make things worse for yourself if you are caught.

Love,

Lizzy

Lizzy fed Shadow a little piece of her meat before sending her back with her note. As soon as the dog left customers began to turn up and Lizzy found herself busy again.

~*~

Over the course of the next few months Lizzy and Eddy exchanged letters on a daily basis. Shadow had found out where Lizzy lived and it was almost expected to stay overnight. So far, Lizzy had not heard anymore on Eddy’s wedding and she so hoped that something had happened to stop the wedding. But then came a letter from Eddy.

Dear Lizzy,

The wedding has been put on hold. Anne has become ill. She has also been sneaking around to see Thomas who I believe is the one she loves. I am gladdened by this news but I hope Anne gets better soon and by then I hope the wedding will be called off.

Your ever loving man,

Edward.

Lizzy had kept all his letters in her chest and she added this one to the pile. It had almost been a year since she had arrived and she had remembered no more. She had grown to know everyone in the village but she still felt like she didn’t fit in. It wasn’t because she had grown use to life at the castle and it wasn’t because she thought she was too good for life in the village.

She worked every day and gave almost all of her money to her parents. They needed the money more than she did and she earned quite a lot with her meat and flowers. She had also just started a job at the stables with William.

It was pretty easy work and she only had to work a few days a week and then it wasn’t all day so she still had plenty of time for the stall and her flowers and hunting.

People called almost every day as she found that since she had returned her parents had become quite popular. There was something different about them now, though, but Lizzy couldn’t figure out what it was that was wrong with them.

She didn’t really have time for her to make friends and so there was no one she could really spend time with, not that she had much spare time. That time she did have, she wrote letters to Matilda and Eddy and Louis. The person she heard from the most was, of course, Eddy with his daily replies. They had decided that Eddy would send on more parchment for Lizzy when she was running low so they weren’t wasting money on buying it.