I cannot believe we are on Chapter 16!! If my judgement is right I would say we are roughly halfway through now :( But a positive thing is we still have so much to explore. Things are going to start getting tense now though. So buckle your seat belts and let's go on our journey to Moonacre!
An important announcement at the end!
The morning had arrived. Constance at some point had made her way back to her bed as the chill in the night's air embraced her skin too tightly. She felt that her mind was so overworked that she had begun to see things again due to that strange white horse outside. However, she could not escape to her world of dreams as tiredness never seemed to embrace her. thus leading her to have no sleep at all. Instead, she sat reading the story again with her candlelight burning until some cracks of sunlight started to peak through her shutters.
It had been a quiet night after Robin left and Constance's thoughts were speeding around her brain in fast circles. Her trance was broken as soon as she heard talking below her. Constance recognised one of the voices as her Uncle's as he seemed to be coming upstairs. The person which he was talking to was unfamiliar to her and she tensed slightly from nerves.
The rose which she had been gifted was still gently resting in her hand. The petals were beginning to look sad due to not being in water or just being left alone in their original place. Constance was lost in a trance as she looked down at it. Strangely she felt connected to the appearance of the rose. The wilting petals sank lower and lower as all of the life was being sucked out of it and it reminded her of the feeling she had felt during her strange incident. Hearing her Uncle, who was now much closer than when she last heard him speak, she quickly snapped herself out of her daydream and hid the flower underneath her pillow making sure to push it far enough so that no unfriendly thorn pricked her in the back.
Constance hurriedly placed the leather-bound book back into her dresser before sitting up in her bed and reaching for the book titled "Sense and Sensibility" written by someone who signs their name as "A Lady". The young girl loved this particular author's work. It was strange to see and read a book published by a woman in her time. Perhaps the 19th century was heralding change.
Not even ten seconds after finding her last page in order to mask her unusual dreaminess her Uncle carefully opened the door. His eyes widened not expecting to see his Niece sitting up with the colour back in her cheeks and her piercing blue eyes looking straight at him. It took him a few moments to compose himself but when he felt the presence of Marmaduke behind him, he shook his head and walked towards the girl leaving his steward in the hall. "I'm pleased to see you are awake my dear. How are you feeling?"
"I'm well Uncle. I feel much better." Benjamin sat down beside his niece carefully taking in her appearance. She looked much healthier but her eyes seemed sad. He was not used to taking care of people and he began to tense up, so he looked around the room to try and ease himself into the process but then he spotted the book. The same book he had placed on the dressing table yesterday was still there but had changed position. His head snapped back to his niece in panic. "Did you read it?" And Constance nodded in reply. Her Uncle was usually very good at masking his emotions to those who he did not wish to see them however, he could not hide from this. "I suppose you have lots of questions."
She should. But she did not. Somebody had answered them yesterday but Constance did not need her Uncle finding out about that. On the other hand, perhaps hearing it from his side would change things. At least she hoped they would. "Why have our families not made up? Can this argument that occurred centuries ago not be solved by us?" Sir Benjamin wanted things to resolve but he knew, or rather his pride was telling him, that it should not be him to be the first to piece everything together. "As you now know, the story is complicated. It is not as simple as just apologising."
Constance shook her head in disagreement. "I think you are wrong. Forgiveness is a powerful thing. Being humble is something that both our family and the De Noir's need. The only thing preventing us from moving on is both families wanting to maintain their egos. That will not get us anywhere. We might as well sign up to even more centuries worth of feuding right now." Sir Benjamin could not help the smile that appeared across his face. The girl before him surprised him continuously. "You are very wise indeed. Your desire for change is something we should all seek to implement in our lives." Constance sat forward in hope. "So will you?" Inside he wanted to, but he was unsure if he could, yet he could not outrightly tell her that. "I will try." Was all he said.
Constance was not satisfied with that answer but nevertheless continued to ask more questions. Each time her Uncle would confirm and build upon everything Robin had said which frightened her. Silence enveloped the room giving Constance the time to prepare her final questions. "Is it true?" She asked. Sir Benjamin was puzzled thinking she meant the entirety of the storyline hence he furrowed his brows. "Is it true that there really will be a sacrifice?" His heart sank. "It's difficult to say. But everything that the tale has predicted has happened so far. The manor has lost its original beauty. It's falling apart and the curse is part of that. As much as I do not wish for it to occur it seems like it is inevitable."
Again, silence fell around the room. "It's me, isn't it? I am the one the book is talking about. Misfortune. I've lost my Mother and Father. Sickness. I had that strange incident due to dizziness without a single reason. I'm constantly tired and I am sure I am seeing... Actually, it doesn't matter. Everything leads to me regardless. And if everything else is happening then so must that part..."
Sir Benjamin shakily sighed and buried his face in his hands in an attempt to hide his tears. He knew it was not working as he could hear his unsteady breathing which led him to stand up without warning causing Constance to be startled. "No! No. I made a promise to your Father that if anything were to happen to him that you and your sister would be safe in my care. I am not breaking that. Don't sit there content with the idea of this happening. It won't, I will find a way. There has to be another way around this!"
At that moment Constance was speechless for two reasons. Her Uncle was extremely distressed and she was unsure of how to assist him. The second was that a small man in a scruffy suit type outfit completed with a pointy white hat was standing in the doorway. Again, thinking she was seeing things, Constance rubbed her eyes and blinked several times but he was still there. "The names Marmaduke Scarlett little miss. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I brought you some milk and biscuits seeing as you have enjoyed them thus far. I'm the one who creates all those fine meals you enjoy if I do say so myself."
Marmaduke placed the milk on Constance's bedside table before handing her a plate of gingerbread biscuits. She gladly accepted them and placed the plate on her lap. Her eyes moved away from the delicious snack back to her Uncle who was still unable to face the girl. Marmaduke placed a hand on the girl's shoulder in an attempt to reassure her before walking towards the Lord of the Manor.
"Sir, if I may, you know what needs to be done in order to prevent this. Surely you can make an exception for her sake?" The steward spoke lowly trying to prevent the young girl from hearing. "Don't you think I want to? I would do it in a heartbeat however, things aren't that simple. You know how the De Noirs are, they will not care about the sake of my niece. In fact, they would purposefully do everything in their power to allow the curse to happen simply to hurt me. They have no attachment to her, they would know the heartache we Merryweathers would feel and gladly watch us suffer. No! Forgiveness on their part will never happen!"
Sir Benjamin was angry and that was evident to both his niece and cook. Marmaduke sympathised with the man before him. He had served the Merryweather household for many years and the thought of watching the head of it all crumble was heart-breaking. He knew that Sir Benjamin was right though. After hearing what he had just poured out the likelihood of finding common ground with the De Noir family was extremely low at best. Before he could try and help the man further, Marmaduke watched how he quickly said goodbye to his niece before retreating the room, most likely to his study in which he would stay for the rest of the day.
Both Constance and Marmaduke watched with sadness seeping through their eyes. "I hate seeing him this way." The chief of the kitchen turned to face the young girl who still sat upright in her bed. "He's not used to being there for others. He wants to protect you not only because he promised but because you are his family and he cares." Constance fiddled with the end of her braid in thought. "When is this curse meant to take place? Has anyone actually worked that out?" She asked timidly. "Why don't I call for your sister? I'm sure she would love to see you and I hear she is quite good with her mathematics." Constance smiled at the thought of seeing Maria. "Yes! That would be lovely. Thank you, Marmaduke!" he bowed before whizzing down the stairs in such a rush that Constance was puzzled as to how he moved so fast.
Knowing her sister, Constance decided to get out of bed and at least look a little more presentable. She decided to put on her wine-red dressing gown. It was heavy but served its purpose of keeping her warm. Seeing as she was already out of bed Constance decided to comb through her hair as the braid that had been keeping the fiery locks at bay was starting to fail in its role.
Constance sat down on the stool carefully and looked over the tablespace. Her eyes immediately fell on the book and she knew as soon as Maria arrived, she would want to get straight into the tale. She then moved over to the comb her Mother had once given as a gift. Her small fingers brushed against the cool metal. She then noticed a pearl that had been placed beside it. This saddened her. It must have broken off when I fell, she thought. However, she did not realise that this piece of jewellery had been created purposefully for the wearer. She was holding a timer without any comprehension. Little did she know that very timer was nearly out. There were now only 3 large pearls left.
She quickly placed it down and turned to face the door when she heard the loud clicking of heels and someone heaving for breath. She knew it was Maria and Constance began to giggle to herself. Maria nearly tripped as she dashed into the room right into Constance's arms who still sat on her stool. This force nearly led her to be a bundle on the floor. "It's lovely to see you too Maria". Constance said as she clutched Maria close. "You scared me, Constance!"
"I know, I'm sorry." The elder sister ran her hands through Maria's hair as she knew this always helped calm the younger girl. "Are you alright now?" she asked sniffling. "I am." Maria nestled her head into Constance not wanting to let her sister go. In an attempt to lighten the mood Constance tried telling a joke. "I hope that you are not wiping your snotty nose on my lovely dressing gown, I just put this on."
Maria took a step back putting her hands on her hips. "I was not! I was just giving you a cuddle." Maria attempted to keep a serious face but the slight twitch in the corner of her mouth told Constance that she was lying. "Maria! You did, didn't you? I only said it as a joke!" Constance grabbed a handkerchief from the drawer beside her a patted it across the dressing gown with a grimace. This sent Maria into a fit of laughter. "Oh Constance, I've missed you!"
Before the elder girl could say anything else, Maria noticed the book beside her. "Uncle said he had left it up here." Surprisingly Maria was hesitant which intrigued Constance. "Do you not want to finish it?" she asked. Maria shrugged. "Uncle told me parts of it and about you..." Constance sighed and looked down. "I'm fine Maria, please do not work yourself up over it." The younger of the Merryweather sisters furrowed her brows in annoyance. "You don't have to shield me from anything. I already know what is happening. He kept things simple and I decided to do some research myself." Now Constance was puzzled. "What do you mean research?"
"I spoke to Marmaduke and he was kind enough to go into a little more depth. Besides none of that matters now. Can I read it?" Constance nodded and reached for the leather-bound book. "Do you not want to read it together?" she asked. "I didn't think you would want to..."
Maria was right she did not particularly fancy reliving the story but she did not want her sister to worry over her either. "I would rather us read it together. I enjoy having my sister around." Maria sarcastically laughed. "When has that ever been true?" Constance faked being shocked and decided to start tickling Maria. "Take it back! Admit it I'm the most amazing sister you could ever have and I love spending time with you!"
Between laughs, Maria kept saying no but Constance carried on. Maria was getting so puffed out she decided to give in and the most gigantic smile was on her face. "Okay... Okay!! You are the best sister in the entire world!!" And with that Constance stopped and said "I know" before laughing along with Maria again.
Much like when they were in the city the two girls sat on the bed and dived straight back into the story of their heritage. This time knowing that it was true and not just a fable...
What a lovely few days it has been hearing from you all! Huge thank you to every single one of you that engaged with the new cover vote I've been keeping a tally to help monitor the favourite and we do have a favourite. It was looking quite close for a while but then one of the cover ideas just seemed to fly ahead.
The new cover will be up tomorrow as I don't want to ruin the surprise for everyone. I will also post the tally below so you all know it is fair and it can be traced back anyway.
Also, I apologise if you get spammed with updates from me tonight or over the weekend. I'm just going back through chapters to change any gifs or pictures with our new casting for Constance. So please don't think anything has changed!
Without further ado here is your new cover...............