For the last time (for a long time), Hello to my lovely readers! Finally we reach the end of Rachel's Story. I'll save the speech for the last, OK?
CHAPTER 26: EPILOGUE
“…and that was how your dear Papa proposed to your Mama, beloved Bells of mine,” Rachel said tenderly to two wide-eyed girls as she ended their favourite bedtime story. Isabel Juliana and Annabel Rose were at the significant age of eight and four years respectively, when Isabel deemed herself to be too mature for bedtime stories and Annabel steadfastly followed her sister in everything she did – and yet they demanded one each night without fail because, in Isabel’s own words, “Alex can’t ask for a goodnight story himself, you see, so we do it for him.”
Alexander Paul Fairfax indeed could not ask for a story by himself, since he lacked certain essentials for the function of asking – like teeth, and familiarity with the English language. His solemn elder sisters claimed that he would feel scared if he had to listen to ‘thrilling’ tales by himself, and proffered their company daily for the ritual of story hour. They never missed listening to Mama’s enthralling account of ‘How Papa met and married Mama’ despite all professions of maturity, and Annabel had confided in her Papa a week ago that they loved it because it was not only romantic and exciting but, most importantly, it included people they both knew.
“And Mama, tell Alex ‘bout how Papa an’ you got married in the little church here at Langton which was full of flowers ‘cos it was springtime, and how Uncle Neil lost the ring and the cerem’ny was d’layed, and then Papa found the ring stuck in the bookwet and eb’rything went on again, and how he was such a brave…warrier that the King hisself asked for my papa to fight for him, but then he missed us and gave up his shiny uniform to live with us for ever and ever…” Annabel rattled on serenely the moment Mama paused in her story.
Isabel turned to her little brother and solemnly informed him in a whisper, “Remember not to learn to speak from Anna, OK? It is wrong to say ‘hisself’, and ‘bookwet’ is…pronounced…as bouquet,” she wagged her finger in Alex’s serious face. He was more interested in following the trajectory of that finger than listening to what his sister was saying, but he was a broadminded young man and so long as he had a moving finger to watch, he was ready to let his sister prattle on about correct enunciation to a six-month old baby.
Rachel looked at her children fondly, before turning towards her voluble younger daughter and putting on a mock-frown for her benefit. “Yes, yes, my little songbird, I was about to tell him all that slowly and with all the details, before someone decided that they can tell the story better and in a single sentence!” Saying this, she lunged at Annabel and tickled her mercilessly. Isabel clapped from the sidelines and loudly cheered her mother on, and Alex bounced delightedly in his crib at the sight of his mother systematically attacking his giggling sister.
Indeed, the years had been very benevolent to Andrew and Rachel, though life had not been peaches and roses at all times. Their marriage took place within a year of their engagement on the night of Miranda’s ball, giving Rachel ample time to prepare her students for losing her and letting Andrew arrange his affairs to provide for a new wife. The period of estrangement might have been difficult to endure, but it prepared Rachel for what was expected of a soldier’s wife.
The marriage was an exclusive affair and took place in the same church where Andrew had been baptized as a child, with both of their loving families in attendance. As Annabel had indicated in her convoluted narrative, everything went off smoothly after the bride’s wedding ring had been rescued from the wedding bouquet; how it found its way there remained an inexplicable mystery till date.
The bliss of newly wedded life was naturally overshadowed by the clouds of Andrew’s profession, which was a source of constant trepidation and stress for those who cared for him. He had to go back to his regiment only weeks after his wedding, and the critical conditions called for him to fight in the thick of the war raging in Portugal. At Miranda’s insistence and professions of loneliness, Rachel stayed with her at Richmond Acres rather than set up home all by herself while waiting for her husband to return. They kept each other company during trying times and helped to stave off secret worries about a man both loved dearly.
When Lord Allencourt finally managed to ask Miranda the question dearest to his heart and gained her consent to a union with him, Rachel decided to give them some privacy and stated her firm intention to move out. Before she could look around for accommodations in earnest, she was claimed by the Misses Trevelyan and got to return to the society of Headley Down once more. It was doubtful who was the happiest at Rachel’s return and new marital status – Miss Maud, Miss Millicent, Miss Agnes, or old Mrs. Hayter across the street who declaimed triumphantly to anyone who would care to hear, “I told ye that it was a young man who bugged the gel back then!”
Miss Millicent Trevelyan finally informed her sisters with a complacent smile that this was what she had been implying when she had said that they were sure to meet Rachel again within the year – though she added a trifle morosely that she had underestimated the lovers’ capacity to stay away from each other and had banked upon Andrew immediately swooping Rachel off, rather than delaying his declaration of love for so long. Miss Maud and Miss Agnes were too pleased with the situation to be annoyed with their self-satisfied sister for long, though they did mumble something about ‘smug know-it-alls’ once in her hearing.
Rachel lived there for a few weeks before going to stay with her in-laws who expressed a wish to know the new addition to their family, and invited her over to live with them indefinitely. If she saw through their attempts at distracting the lonely new bride, she never gave any indication. Rachel wove her quiet magic around their hearts instantly and soon every inhabitant of the house, from the bed-ridden Sir Anthony to the maids in the kitchen, was reluctant to relinquish her to a lonesome life while she waited for her husband’s safe return. Cecily, Clara and Stephen’s wife Mathilda became her constant companions, while Master Tony was like a ray of bouncing sunshine that lighted up every dark cranny he touched.
Arranging Cecily’s marriage, riding in the Hertfordshire landscape with Clara, scolding Gavin for his escapades at university, looking after the household and Tony with Mathilda, helping Mrs. Fairfax in her gardens and talking with Sir Anthony kept her busy enough to only worry about Andrew in the solitude of night. There she resided in joy and sorrow, until her knight could come back to her after slaying all the dragons in his path. And they were many indeed.
Andrew fought bravely for two more years in the service of his country, until a serious shrapnel wound to his leg incapacitated him from further action on the battlefield and forced him to retire from active service – though not before he fulfilled his father’s dream and had become the second Brigadier of the family. The overseas journey from Portugal to England exacerbated his condition, and when his ship touched land his life was despaired of. By dint of sheer determination, familiar surroundings, a loving family and his wife’s diligent nursing, Andrew managed to recuperate and get his life back on track, both physically and emotionally; but his injury had frightened Rachel so much that when he was offered the relatively safe job of training new recruits, he gave it up to be with his wife unreservedly. Too long had they been separated, after all – and almost losing his life made him realize how he had been neglecting his blessings.
The reunited couple took a house in Brighton for a year or so to tend to his injuries, and Rachel gave birth to their first child there. It was an easy confinement, and soon she was hearty enough to tease her disgruntled spouse about their past associations with the city through mentions of a desire to hide away from the neighbors “for some strange reason”. Rachel finally got to bathe in the sea to her heart’s content and explore the parks that she could not see during their last ‘visit’; with her baby daughter in her arms, no less. She re-established her friendship with Juliana Coleslaw after convincing her that she was mistaken in her notions of having met Rachel before. The unsuspecting older woman, who had only met Miss de Manley for one afternoon years ago, dismissed her vague feelings of déjà-vu and accepted Brigadier (now a simple Mr.) Fairfax’s wife at face value, providing her with much-needed companionship in a new place. She was the godmother for Andrew and Rachel’s first child, and the camaraderie between the two families only grew stronger with time.
Brighton proved to be lucky for the Fairfaxes, as there Andrew was able to receive the attentions of Dr. Neale, one of the most reputed doctors in the land who happened to be in the sea-side city for his annual holiday and got intrigued by the erstwhile Brigadier’s case. His leg benefited a lot from the radical treatment offered by the good doctor, and he was able to hobble around with the help of a stick by the end of the year. Though his leg would never be as it was before his injury, Dr. Neale’s cure enabled Andrew to lead a relatively normal life instead of being crippled, with only a limp to show for his past sufferings. That was miracle enough for the Fairfax family, considering the condition Andrew had been in a few months ago. They were a sensible lot which thanked God for His blessings and make the most of them, rather than desiring what was out of reach.
Xxxxx
“Mama, can we go to meet Tony and Cathy tomorrow? I promise we will be back in time for me to do my homework,” Isabel put in beguilingly as Rachel caught her breath and finally gave up tickling Annabel for changing Alex’s clothes. Their house was relatively new, and was situated close enough to Silvermead Hall to enable the children to go over there and meet their cousins on a regular basis. Andrew was a prudent man and had taken steps to ensure that his family was not left destitute by the sudden cessation of his military revenue, and Stephen was ever ready to provide his family with a roof over their heads. Even then, Andrew Reginald Fairfax – lately Brigadier in His Majesty’s cavalry – was too vigorous a person to lie around doing nothing once his wounds healed and he was able to lead a fairly normal life. He had just started talking about starting some kind of business to provide for his family’s future when a wonderful event occurred, one of those coincidences which seem to be nothing short of a boon from the gods.
He was left an unforeseen legacy from a distant great-uncle, who had taken a fancy to him in his childhood. Andrew might have forgotten all about old Uncle Matthew who made him recite Biblical verses on Sundays as a child, but the octogenarian remembered the well-mannered second son of Anthony while making his will on his deathbed. The portion was not extensive in itself but, coupled with his previous investments, it provided Rachel and Andrew with enough money to buy property of their own and lead the lives of gentry, albeit in a small way.
After some debate, they purchased an estate situated just five miles from Silvermead Hall called Laburnum Park. It was the perfect place for housing a family in Rachel and Andrew’s opinion – an ochre-hued modern bungalow complete with flower and kitchen gardens, an immense yard for children to play in and an apple orchard. It was not too large and yet of comfortable dimensions, near enough to enable easy communication with his family yet detached sufficiently to ensure their privacy on a day-to-day basis. It was even a comfortable distance from London, and only a couple of days’ journey from Little Hanstead and Grace’s family. Laburnum Park was the young couple’s dream home. A month after moving in, Andrew started breeding horses on his estate as a hobby to pass his time. Before he could absorb the fact fully, he had a lucrative establishment literally at his doorstep – one that was not only profitable, but which both he and his wife loved to manage in the bargain.
They were blessed with another healthy baby girl within a year of finding their permanent home in Langton and, with the arrival of Alex as the much awaited son, their family was finally complete. Their connection with the family seat remained as strong as ever, and Stephen’s five-year old daughter Catherine was Annabel’s bosom friend by now. Cecily did not go out as a nurse after all (much to the relief of her husband and parents), and her children Noelle, Adam and Elizabeth completed the ever-increasing clique of the Fairfax cousins in the Langton society.
When Clara stated her decision of marrying Lord Harbury – whom she had apparently loved in the past and had been separated from due to some misunderstanding – it was Rachel who stood by her side and managed to sway the men of the family who seemed to harbor some kind of unstated grievance against the gentleman who had befriended her on the night of the ball. The sisters-in-law prevailed at last and, after a lot of dramatic situations, Clara married her Adrian and they both moved to live in Derbyshire. Though their meetings were now curtailed due to the great distance between the Harbury and Fairfax family estates, Rachel and Andrew occasionally made it a point to go and visit the happy couple. Needless to say, Andrew’s jealousy of Lord Harbury decreased to a remarkable extent after his marriage and he had been one of his wife’s staunchest supporters while forwarding the match.
Sir Anthony moved on to the other Realm within four years of Andrew and Rachel’s marriage; but he was able to see his children settle down into happy lives and thus, his departure from the mortal world was a contented one. Lady Fairfax proved to be sturdier than her family feared and, instead of snapping under this blow from Fate, she was still managing to hold on tenaciously to her love of life and flowers.
She also got on famously with Mrs. Warren. As soon as they had settled in properly, Rachel got her mother to live with them at Laburnum Park so as to reduce the burden on the Morelands. The boys remained at London at the insistence of their nieces Minnie and Dolly, who had got very fond of ‘Unc’l Neil and Unc’l Shtan’ in the meantime and would not dream of being parted from them. Neil and Stanley kept up a steady correspondence with their favourite sister even when they were all grown up and attending boarding school – and later, university. Looking after her little grand-children, taking care of the servants’ problems and conversing with her new friend Lady Fairfax kept Mrs. Warren busy and happy all day long, and she was almost back to her old active incarnation as she waited to be reunited with her husband.
Xxxxx
“No darling, tomorrow Aunty Mira is coming to visit you, and she is also going to bring Michael and Peter. You would not want to miss their visit, would you?” Rachel slyly questioned. “Oh no, not at all, not for the world,” Isabel flushed as she realized that she was stuttering in her excitement. Her mother smirked to herself. It was an open secret that serious Miss Isabel had a crush on Miranda’s eldest son Michael. The Allencourts was regular visitors at Laburnum Park, and Aunty Mira and her sons Michael and Peter were constantly sought after by her two favourite nieces. She always claimed that while naming her boys, she had thought that the first one was an angel, and after staying with him for two years she had hoped that her second child would be a saint. Both hopes were naturally dashed and Lady Allencourt could not be happier about the results, even though she would never let such a damning admission pass through her lips.
She was Annabel Rose’s godmother, and was always tickled by the fact that the chatterbox of a girl resembled her to such an extent and yet, her middle name commemorated Mira’s Rosie disguise during those secretive months of silent hiding. Miranda’s brothers had never shown their faces again in England, and Andrew’s elder brother Stephen ferreted out the news that they had cut their losses and permanently settled in the comparatively inexpensive environs of Spanish civilization where the monumental debts they had left behind in England could not reach them. Miranda hoped that their evil shadows would never touch her or her family again.
Xxxxx
“Mama, I have finished the picture I was coloring yesterday. Will you post it to Aunt Aly so that she can cri-ty-critically look at it?” Isabel asked from the corner of the room where she was currently fiddling with some brushes and painting supplies, keeping them away carefully for use on another occasion. Rachel looked towards her and replied with a smile, “Certainly Isa, I will make sure that it goes with my letter tomorrow to Denbries.” Annabel piped up, “Me too, I be writin’ to Aunty now. Take my letter Mama,” she ordered imperiously, pointing to a great sheet of paper on which she had painstakingly written the alphabet with her sister’s lump of charcoal.
Diana and Alicia had bemoaned the loss of their wonderful Miss Warren for a long time, and always felt that the governess who followed her could not compete with Rachel for the ease with which she guided them in all aspects of their lives. But they were rational enough to wish for her happiness above everything, and young enough to be thrilled by the romance of all that had happened under their noses. Rachel had sworn them to secrecy and confided everything after gaining Miranda’s permission, reluctant about the separation that would have been essential if they were not to learn about the identity of Rachel’s husband. She was certain that they would keep the story to themselves; and in any case, the truth was so fantastic that no one would have believed the girls even if they had tried to narrate it anywhere.
Alicia and Diana proved Rachel and Miranda’s trust to be well-placed, and never told another soul about the romance their former governess, maid and coachman had been party to. This led to a long and fond correspondence between them and Mrs. Andrew Fairfax, until they came of age and could visit the Fairfax house without fearing that their parents would get to hear of it.
Diana and Justin Ashton continued to interact and meet till the last day of his stay in Denbries. Justin confessed his love for Diana the day before he had to leave, even though she had taken Rachel’s words to heart and never let matters escalate to an irredeemable point with Mr. Ashton. She tried to remain detached; she really tried. She did not give up her resolve even when the first love of her life spoke words of passion and persuaded her to run away with him, and instead forbade Justin from writing to her as it would be unseemly until she had become an adult and he could pay her his addresses formally. It was tough, and she remained in fear of losing him altogether if he misunderstood her scruples; but in the end she managed to convince him that those years of separation would test their love and prove the strength of their feelings for each other, which people might jeer at now as a sign of their temperamental youth.
The years that followed were dark for Diana, as she had no way of ensuring that her spring beau would remain faithful to her memory or not; she did not even have the consolation of Miss Warren at her side to ease the pain. But the spark that existed between her and Justin was too fierce to die down so easily. He sought her out the day after her eighteenth birthday, and got her parents’ permission to call on her in the role of a suitor. He had completed his studies in the last two-and-half years and was at that point of time an apprentice in his father’s law firm with the prospect of a junior membership on the horizon, even though he was still continuing his forage into the world of music. Their joy on finding the other as unwavering in their affections as themselves can be imagined by every person who has ever loved another and been in trepidation about that emotion’s reception by the one on whom it was bestowed.
The course of true love never did run smooth, though, as the Bard had demonstrated so intelligently. Mr. Herringford refused to let them marry without a long engagement so that they could know each other thoroughly before taking such an important step, and circumstances beyond anyone’s control provided several upheavals. At one point they even considered separating and searching consolation in other people. But their love proved true and, at the age of twenty-one, Diana Herringford became Mrs. Justin Ashton to the joy of perhaps everyone around them. Today she and her husband continued to create music for each other and their little daughter Vanessa, even though his profession and her gender never let them follow their inclinations professionally. Over the years she had been an occasional visitor at Laburnum Park, though her second confinement had recently stopped all such interactions and reduced her and Mrs. Fairfax to keeping in touch through long letters.
Alicia took the difficult path of remaining unmarried out of choice despite social censure, and divided her time between living at Carillon Hall and with Diana – not to mention the month-long visits she often made to Hertfordshire to be with the Fairfax family. Rachel had her own suspicions about the reason behind the young woman’s single status, though Alicia’s natural reticence forbade Rachel from prompting her to disclose anything before she was ready to do so. Her habit of expressing herself in images did not dim with years, and Rachel’s silhouette on the window-seat was now joined by two others in the couple’s bedroom – one depicting Andrew and Rachel as they held hands in the rose gardens of Silvermead Hall a week after their marriage, and the other of Isabel sleeping peacefully in the nursery with her arms around a baby Anna.
Aunt Aly was a great favourite at Laburnum Park, and her artistic tendencies had branched out into spinning marvelous yarns which kept the Fairfax kids wonderstruck for hours. Now she had become the guide for little Isa who was showing interest in art, critiquing the child’s output honestly and giving her tips on improving her technique. Rachel hoped that Alicia’s spinster status was only temporary and when the time came, she would be as lucky in marriage as Diana. Mrs. Rachel Fairfax was still a romantic at heart, after all.
Brian was put in boarding school three years after Rachel’s marriage, leaving many smiling faces behind him at home. He tried to lord it at the school as he had done at home all his life, but discovered that it was not appreciated by either the teachers or the other students. To his dismay, pretty soon he had to learn the necessary lesson that without the protection of an indulgent mother he was really not as invulnerable as he had been led to believe. After a case of near drowning in the school pond for answering insolently to a bunch of seniors, being stranded outside in the cold for hours by a caretaker whom incidentally he had been ridiculing lately, a series of canings from the professors for not submitting schoolwork on time and a week of being sent to Coventry for his supercilious attitude by his classmates, Brian had to perforce incorporate more pliancy of temper and sweetness of temperament into his nature.
The tough message was instilled in him so firmly that he did not change his behavior even when he returned home for his break. Needless to say, the domestics of Carillon Hall and his sisters wept tears of joy on beholding him. They had sent off a monster, and they got back a near-human boy. Though his innate nature could not change completely and he would always remain a young man of vicious mentality – anything else was too much to hope for apparently – Brian Herringford grew up the landmark year he was sent to public school.
The serving members of Carillon Hall kept on receiving punctual letters from their Miss Warren even after she married some colonel she met at a grand party, incidentally sharing a last name with the missing coachman all those months ago. They also wrote back whenever possible, giving her news of their world. Sally married her Edward a few years later and they both set up a tiny hosiery shop of their own in Denbries, which was flourishing today at a modest rate. Mr. Garner, Mrs. Talcott and Mrs. Hutchens retired a couple of years ago, but everyone else was still serving at the Hall.
Life had changed a bit after Ashley Herringford’s marriage and the arrival of a new mistress a year ago, but young Mrs. Herringford was a nice lady who treated her domestic staff affably and handled her parents- and siblings-in-law diplomatically. Master Ashley had also changed in the interim from a shy youth into a quiet young man with a commanding presence, whose belief in himself was always encouraged by his affectionate wife. Good times had come for the people serving at Carillon Hall, and Rachel was privy to all the gossip thanks to the deep impression she had left behind her in only a year or so.
The three Trevelyan sisters were still well and active in their little village, though age was starting to dim some of their earlier vigor. Headley Down was always the Fairfax children’s preferred holiday spot during the balmy autumn months since they knew that they would be prodigiously spoilt by the doting women, and Andrew and Rachel always made it a point to go there at least once a year since they never knew if they would get another chance to be with the gallant ladies or not. Rachel managed every time to cover their expanses in some way or the other while never letting their hostesses feel slighted by their lack of ready funds. Tact came naturally to our heroine, after all.
Xxxxx
Rachel remained sitting by her children’s beds until they had fallen asleep, musing on everything that had happened within the last few years to her and the people important to her. Telling the story of one’s life every night often does that to people, her ever-present inner voice smirked at her. Yes indeed, she shot back at that sniggering voice with feigned asperity – she still talked to herself in her mind even after becoming a staid matron – Did I ever claim it was because my life was unusually interesting or something? I know that I am an ordinary person, with a perfectly ordinary family however much I might feel to the contrary. There have been ups as well as downs in my life, as happens with practically everyone. And yet, I must admit that it has been the best life which a benevolent Power could have chalked out for me. Right now things are going perfectly, and I have my own fairy-tale life which I would not change for the world. I just hope it continues to be so for as long as my heart continues to beat.
And amen to that, replied her inner voice with unusual gravity.
She was in a dreamy state when a warm hand fell on her shoulder. Rachel smiled. She could not stop smiling whenever she was around him, it seemed; but really, even after eleven years of marriage, her husband’s touch still managed to make her shiver in response. Turning around, she only paused a second to drink in the sight of his beautiful eyes crinkling down adoringly at her in the moonlight before enfolding him in a passionate embrace. Rachel had not seen Andrew for the whole day as he had gone to another town to sell some horses, and she was unrepentant about her response to his presence. She was married to him, after all! (the realization sent her mind into dizzying heights of delight even now) He, on his part, seemed to agree with her entirely.
“Shall we return to our room then, Mrs. Fairfax?” he whispered into her ear. Without waiting for a reply, he swept her up in his arms like he had done all those years ago on a gilded evening when neither of them were sure of the other’s feelings, and again when he had carried her over the threshold of their very own house. His limp hardly noticeable now, Mr. Fairfax carried his beloved wife into their bedroom with a flourish and amidst tender kisses, gently deposited her on the bed. As he leaned down to kiss her lips once again with all the thoroughness of his ardent nature, Rachel gave a sigh of pure pleasure.
Yes, dreams and fairy-tales do come true sometimes, after all.
THE END
--xx--xx--
AN: And there we have it. I hope that the ending satisfied you all? I had to injure Andrew because like Austen said in 'Persuasion', marrying someone in the armed forces was tantamount to living in dread for all your life; and I wanted to take Andrew out of that situation pronto. He was too noble to get out without a push from me, though!
I am hoping to write a new story sometime soon but, as I have already told a couple of you out there, it will be a long time in coming to Wattpad since I only post after the story is completely ready so as to reduce my readers' agony. It will not be a sequel, but it will be a spin-off of either Justin-Diana, Adrian-Clara, Alicia-unspecified, or something else altogether. I need to think it out.
Bye to you all. You guys made me feel like a real, published author whose story is appreciated by readers from all over the world. You gave more love to my first ever story than I could have visualized in dreams. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. For the last time, I would love it if all of you left a message to see me through the forthcoming months of solitary writing.
Bye, Happy New Year, and God Bless You!