Loving You

Chapter 25 | Let it go with a kiss

Gretta did keep her promise. She had arranged for a carriage back to her home in Cambridgeshire. The whole ride, William had been quietly rubbing her arm, just to calm her.
She did not sleep soundly the previous night. She still couldn't fathom all that information.

"Oh Cathy! You returned early!" His uncle looked a little paler than she had remembered him to be.
"Yes uncle. I am back. I didn't get any answers. So, I didn't want to waste much time there." She decided not to tell him the truth. It would make him worry more than he could handle. She put up a smile on her face. "Rather, I wanted to come as early as possible because I wanted to celebrate New year with you all...with what I have left."
In the meantime Henrietta ran outside and pulled her into a hug. "Oh Cathy, you have no idea how dreadful I have been, without you. Please, never go away."

She brushed her fingers through her sister's hair. "Henrietta, I am back. No one can be the cause of your dread now. I will shoo them away for you. Nothing can harm you."

~

The Dudleys had been preparing for the new year very eagerly. Cathy still had a hard time adjusting to the truth about her parents. But the work kept her busy from her thoughts puddling her mind. Jack had gone back to Camerhal to visit his parents. It had been a long time since he had been back to his hometown. Cathy did feel his absence. He would usually help her around with her chores. But his decision was right. She was happy with it.

Mrs Dudley on the other hand was handing out invitations of her daughter's wedding. It was the talk of the neighborhood... Henrietta's marriage. As the date neared, she would grow more and more anxious. The idea which she was loving for a long time was becoming the cause of her frequent anxiety. What if she did something wrong on such an auspicious day?
Cathy would frequently calm her on her sudden breakouts.

It had been a long time since she had been to the woods. She did think of going there, but it had been snowing heavily for the past few days. Her journey was limited to her lawn only. She would spend most of her time, shoveling the snow or writing something or the other. Charles had been occupied with his new obssession- drawing. Usually he was the type to play with toys. But untill recently, he had been occupied with drawing anything that came to his mind. Henrietta explained it to be the influence of his friends. Their mother would usually engage their children with sensory activities. Seeing his friends do so, made the little boy do the same things as them. Cathy would sometimes want Mrs Dudley to take care of him like a loving mother instead of keeping the poor kid away from her.
Charles was still a child and he needed a true mother's affection. She was afraid that he might grow up to be repulsive towards her if that continued happening.

She looked outside to see that it had stopped snowing. She immediately grabbed her shawl, out on her mittens and boots and went towards the woods. She was not disappointed to see the snow covered woods. She cleared the snow from the log before sitting on it. The view of the valley down below never failed to fill her with awe and delight. It has never failed to lift her mood whenever she was down.
At the back of her mind, she was thinking about William. The two had got really close in the past few days. She has visited his library, where he supposedly did not allow anyone else. It was like a treasure to him. He even allowed her to borrow a book. They even spent the afternoons talking about literature and politics. He would even pay visits to her uncle and ask about his well being.

But his friendly gestures always planted a seed of doubt in her. She has surely taken a liking for him. She would not deny it. She wouldn't deny how her skin would crawl when his hands touched hers, how she would become hot when he would stand close to her, how she craved for him to touch her waist again, how he wanted to be in his arms, how she wanted his fingers to touch her lips like he did before she went to Galaw, how she wanted to close the distance between them whenever they stood that close...