Prologue
17th June, 1789. Ravenwood.
The drops of precipitation pattered on the windowsill wetting the area with a new found liveliness, sound of lightning crackling in the sky every few moments bringing with them harsh speckles of light, turning the dark color to an indigo one for just those two seconds.
The trees swished left and right by the cause of the cold saturated winds blowing in every direction possible- also making the velvety red curtains at the window very wet and unstable thereby disturbing Eileen on her late night daily activity.
She sat by the window on her usual mahogany brown desk and cushioned chair surrounded by the yellowish-orange glow of a single lit candle; and kept scribbling and scratching off the words every few second. But tonight was not another night of a daily activity of writing and replying to her loved ones. Tonight was an exception, because tonight she was on a mission.
She huffed as she crossed out another sentence before crushing the thin piece of paper between her fingers and throwing it behind her; taking a fresh piece and starting over with the salutation again. She smiled bitterly when a memory grazed her mind with its presence-Damien said in the early days of their wedlock that she had every quality of a great penmanship. Oh how she would love to know what he thought about those words if he saw her struggling right now!
The curtain blew right by her face aggressively wetting her cheeks with fresh drops of water again, almost blowing out the flame. She stood up suddenly, now completely and utterly irked by the constant disturbance and snapped closed the window. Taking a new and dry ribbon out from the drawer of her desk, she tied the curtains close together and then away from the table. With a newfound inspiration and a possibly clear mind, she came back to her desk and began writing to him again.
Never in the last few months since she met her one true love did she think about this despicable way she will have to leave. Just by writing a letter. How can such few words scratched on a thin piece of paper with little drops of ink can do justice to the millions of emotions I am feeling while writing them- she thought. Her throat felt like it had a rock with the size of a fist stuck in it, logged in and hurting every damned second. She couldn't even cry her heart out. How could she when she all she felt was guilt and agony just by the thought of what happened? Of what happened at that ill-fated night. The night she made the biggest mistake of her life. A mistake of such contempt that she has to live with for the rest of her life.
Therefore, she is bidding her goodbye tonight. And never coming back. So she is writing this letter- as a symbol which holds together those millions of emotions which she felt right now- anger, sorrow, guilt, sadness, and most importantly love. She never meant to make that mistake and now she will pay for her wrongs in the only way she knows how.
Just when she is about to sign off the gruesome letter, a knock on her door stopped her. She had been living in a guest room for two days. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes and see hate for herself and he didn't want to look at her face which he had already made obvious after he looked away when he saw her packing. Both the reasons were marked reasonable and she had immediately made herself comfortable in another room to spend her last nights. He didn't know that obviously. How could he when he hadn't even been out of his room since that night? She had asked around after him of course. Although she tried to ignore her best, the judgemental faces of the maids couldn't pass out of her notice. So she stopped asking after last night.
Eileen took a breath and stood up. It's not likely he is going to come and meet her, then look right into her eyes and forgive her from his whole heart and mind taking her back as his. Obviously that is not supposed to happen. She was so sure that she had already prepared herself to meet the judgy eyes of Suzy-the maid on this floor.
With bated breath, she walked up to the door and opened it in one go meeting the eyes of the only person she didn't exactly expect to see tonight. Not just tonight but ever again.
But before she could help herself the worse happened...
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