Marguerite - A Thomas Shelby story

Chapter 3

Monday again and Marguerite was in a carriage on her way back to the University. On the contrary to the Weekend, the weather was not warm, but I daresay it was not unpleasant either. There was a mist settling after a night of gentle rain, and the trees dripped quietly and serenely. Marguerite sat silently and observed a drop of rain gliding down the window of the horse coach as they passed horse lanes and cottages. She had to refrain from opening the window because the burly carriage driver would get cold and angry. His face was serious but not unkind, he wore a green flat cap and blue overalls over a white shirt that had some homemade jam stains on it. Her eyes drifted from him to the landscape passing them rapidly again, as her mind drifted too. Loneliness had always been something she experienced, away from her father and having never met her mother, but also being such a timid woman. She had a voice, but she never used it, and hoped that one day she would have enough spirit to put herself forward, but she'd never managed to do so. She'd always seen friends spending time together, sharing and making memories that would stay with them in the long run. Her memories were, to say the least, insignificant. Her heart was troubled, but not to the extent of major emotional damage. Or at least, that is what she thought. The things she would remember were everyday things; tasks, like returning books that she had borrowed from the School Library, in which she spent most of her long, uneventful days. But subsequently, in time, she would forget the small details of her life.

What was to come was unsure, but she recognized that things were not as they seemed. Aunt Emmeline had been troubled during the entire weekend, seemingly reflecting on what Marguerite's History teacher had told her, but the young woman had, in time, learnt that it was best not to question her Aunt's emotions. Nonetheless, letting it die down did not seem like an option, for whatever was troubling Aunt Emmeline seemed to concern Marguerite herself, and if it were in connection with School, she would surely have to face it during the week to come.

"We've arrived, Miss," exclaimed the man, pulling Marguerite from her deep train of thought.

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