The People of Dewbrook

Chapter Two

She laughed merrily, her laughter sounding like a birdsong. "Harold, are you certain you do not wish to stay in the house? There must be something on this Earth I could do with you."

Harold placed two fingers on his chin. "I prefer my solitude, but I am not willing to appear unkind. I like newspapers and golf and even tolerate hunting. However, I have a hunch that these are not your favourite things in the world, so the sole area of interest that we share is walking. If you have a topic you would enjoy conversing about, we could go on a walk together. Rosemary is not going with us since she would rather not be disturbed while thinking her profound thoughts if you were wondering about that."

She beamed at him. "That is a marvellous idea. In fact, we could commence our walk right now."

And so they did. The servants were notified of everything, and they did not need to prepare because it was supposed to be a simple walk that would last from noon to two in the afternoon, which it was. They knew that the whole day was going to be full of high temperatures, so both of them were dressed lightly, not sweating much during the stroll. The tall grass and treetops covered with ripe fruits shone with a golden gleam, the bright blue sky had barely any clouds on it, and those that were there were small and not that heavy, and there were many birds and butterflies, dancing in the air with ease, the butterflies flying in circles and the birds singing their enchanting melody with unbelievable tranquillity. It resembled a painting, and she sighed dreamily upon observing it. After several minutes of losing herself in her thoughts, she returned to reality, starting the conversation.

"Have you heard of Stephen Rochester and what he intends to do?" she inquired, her face and voice visibly not having a trace of happiness in them.

He scowled. "Everyone has heard of him, Madam Proust. Of course they are going to know about a bloke who earned himself a fortune through gambling and be aware of how foolish an idea that was, slowly opening a void of addiction that will swallow him and his earnings in the end. That does not mean that all of us can judge him, as some people who are willing to despise and mock him are no better themselves, too focused on getting words out of their constantly open mouth because they are so in love with their voice that they often fail to notice the moronic meaning of what they are saying, and if they were as profound in all aspects of life as they were when it comes to literature, they would know better than to talk all the time and oftentimes appreciate their silence way more than their words, designed to affect people either positively or negatively, believing foul attention to be better than none. They, as well as other such persons, have themselves opened voids of addiction they would not crawl out of even if they could, enamoured with false mirth and sensual affection and gold and jewels, their hearts coated with thick ice that no one could ever dream to pierce through, and whose wickedness will catch up to them someday, letting them die alone and unloved, the same way plenty of wretches with lesser fortunes and bigger hearts did, only in a better grave, which will mean nothing in the afterlife, where they will forever repent over what they have done."

Her face paled a little due to what he said to her, even after all the years she spent getting insulted by self-righteous individuals all the time, and his words scorched through her skin with such an impact that her veins could not help but boil inside her as she bit her lip in an attempt to stifle her emotions. The birds and the butterflies have already gone away by then, which meant that everything became silent, and that silence engulfed everything around her, which caused her head to fill itself with nervous thoughts, wondering what to say as to seem unaffected, especially thanks to the shame she felt from being affected at all. To help herself, she stared blankly at a tree for several minutes, emptying her mind until Harold called her name since she had not moved at all during that time, which made her smile at him with a smile that was convincing enough to fool him. 

"Do not worry yourself with what I thought during that time," she said plainly. "Although I admit that it was a bit duplicitous, what I meant to say was that my friends and I were not too glad to hear that he is planning to buy the mansion across me for him and his family to live in."

Harold shrugged. "Perhaps something can be drawn from that reaction. People do not particularly love to face their mistakes most of the time, and every person knows to deride a gambler, no matter how worthy they are of doing it."

Caroline nodded. 

"How is that going, if I may ask?" she said a few seconds later.

"You may," he replied with a smile that was not forced at all. "He is supposed to arrive in your neighbourhood the following day if the preparations go well, which means that, if you are willing to welcome him, you will be able to do so soon."

"And where do you know that from?"

"Stephen is a friend of mine, although we have drifted away ever since he began to gamble. I am certain that you want to know why he took interest in it, which is why I will tell you about it without you asking. As you may have expected, he was not in debt of any sort. He simply saw that the affluent love engaging in that activity and that gambling could make him affluent himself, as he had had no ties to high society beforehand, except for talking to me from time to time. He would never dream of allowing me to borrow him money, which prompted him to invest a small fraction of his budget, and thus after several attempts, he got what he wanted. I do hope that I can free him from his shackles. Last week, I saw him at a club once more, and this time, he invested more than before. I know that I said that it never ends well, but it would make me an enemy of his to not even try to do anything about it while he is losing himself to his addiction. He is quite the gentleman, and it would devastate me to witness not only his downfall but also the downfall of his wife and two little children. The door of redemption is open to everyone at every point in their lives, and I am certain that one day, Stephen will be more than willing to walk through it."

"It pains me to hear what you are going through. Not every person can survive in the harsh world of addiction."

"I know that you might consider me weak for feeling this way, but my heart is filled with envy at your vivacity and perseverance amidst all the evils you surround yourself with."

"I do not. I myself wonder how I have come this far in life and how I am still alive at forty-five. I apologise if the mention of this event hurts you, but I heard your mother died of tuberculosis at the height of her youth, leaving you and your father and sister all alone. I heard that she was kind and loving and that all who knew her had at least some respect for her. May she rest in peace."

Harold's face went red as he took his handkerchief, bending his head towards the ground, burying it in the fabric, which slightly muffled his loud sobs. She had heard that his mother passed away when he was little and when Rosemary had not even been born, but although she had never felt that pain herself, she was able to partially imagine it. A few minutes later, his tears went away, and he returned his handkerchief into a pocket of his suit, he let out several deep sighs to calm himself, which worked since he looked at her with a blank facial expression.

"Allow me to ask you how you are planning on welcoming Stephen."

Caroline shrugged. "I had not planned much of anything, except for the fact that I will restrain myself from judging him."

"I admire your kindness, madam," he said dryly.

She giggled. "Thank you, good sir. What are we going to talk about now that we said everything we could about Stephen?"

Silence was the answer, and she did not mind it. She had to admit to herself that her mouth was a bit dry and her head a bit exhausted from all the talking she did, which happened to her from time to time. She allowed herself to wander through her thoughts for the rest of the walk, stopping only to admire the beauty of nature, just like him. When they returned to the manor after those two hours that looked more like two minutes, they ate quickly and went to bed, not knowing what to do next and yearning for nothing more than rest.