Demure

Chapter 8

Elizabeth walked into the village the next day. She'd left George to his own devices and told him she was going to the dress-makers.
As she was walking through the village, she was approached by Mary, the one villager that she valued the most.

"Lady Brewer!" She said smiling

"Mary, I haven't seen you in awhile, how are you?"
Elizabeth beamed back and held her hand

"Well, thank you. My husband's really busy with work so I've been quite lonely."

"I've heard that the field work isn't actually thriving at the moment, what with the new technology?" Elizabeth asked looking sympathetically at Mary, who had suddenly averted her eyes to the ground

"He says its work, so it's work." Mary said "we have two kids, I need him to work, they won't let me."

"Oh Mary, I'll visit more often, I promise." Elizabeth gave a reassuring smile

The pair strolled and talked for hours, until they could see the sun setting below the crimson sky.
They had ended up in the Brewers' grounds, where they had met that once,  sat on the rough wooden bench.

"Mary, I thought Oliver's wife left him." Elizabeth said in a whisper

"Well, she left with another man, but they are still married. She won't give him a divorce."

Elizabeth's face turned, she wasn't sure why but she felt a fierce hatred toward the woman build up inside her. Why had she left Oliver? The kind Oliver?
If she'd had that opportunity, she would have never wasted it like her.
Elizabeth's eyes widened at her thought but she quickly looked back to Mary.

"Why won't she give him a divorce if she lives with another man?"

"Well Anna, thats her name, is technically still getting a portion of the money Oliver earns because they are still legally married." Mary said frowning "its sad really, he's got to provide for the woman that left him."

"Does he still love her?" Elizabeth asked quietly

"No, no. That was over five years ago and he knew of her acts before she left." She gazed at Elizabeth "Its getting late, my husband will expect me."

Elizabeth stayed silent, she didn't want Mary to go. She wanted to talk for hours on end, then maybe she could understand Oliver enough that he'd forgive her.
Mary stood up and walked a couple of steps before gazing back.
"Isn't your husband expecting you?" She said
"Oh, yes." Elizabeth replied standing up and waiting until Mary was out of her sight.

With a deep sigh, she headed toward her house. She walked. She thought. She contemplated.
Almost before she could process the idea, she had turned the other way, to the woods, to Oliver, to the house that felt like home.

Elizabeth's footsteps were becoming increasingly more eager as she neared  his cabin. She felt time stop around her, and now all that her senses could pick up  were the fast, erratic breaths she took and the feeling of the wind above her hair.

It was dark now and she could see the smooth, wooden door beckoning her to come closer. She was too far in now to turn back and although her passion had diminished slightly, she knew that she had to make things right, she knew she had to console him and be the one that she didn't have, that was what she needed to do.