Two Years Later

Aaron Masters tended to the horses of his estate, patting his brown horse while feeding it. It seemed that the horse was enjoying his new home, and that made Aaron happy.

It was then that it occurred to him; maybe it was time to give the horse a name. With its long black hair and crisp brown colour, he had held off on naming it in the past for two reasons. One: it had not been his horse. Two: he wasn’t one to get attached to things.

Matilda had changed all of that for him. After living two years together, his past reservations about everything from settling down to allowing himself to get close to people had vanished. He truly believed that she had made him a better person in every way.

Their life together had also proved to be everything that they had ever wanted, including bearing one child, a son named William. William had been the light of their life even on days where things proved tough. Matilda’s father had grown ill but recovered quickly. It was the toughest time in their marriage as Matilda had never felt pain as such. But with little William, he kept her going. Aaron was grateful for that.

Other than her father’s brief illness, Aaron had not been met with much strife. His family life was as close to perfect as it could get. He’d work during the day and having dinner with his family every night. The idea of seeing the entire world had grown less important. He had grown content in raising his family along with learning how to be a father and a husband. He had seen the same for Matilda. She still read heavily, but her passions had drastically shifted into being the best wife and mother she could be.

Aaron looked at the horse once more and knew the name that he would give him. Passion. The horse had been there when Aaron had felt the most passion in his life, and he was there when that passion shifted to other endeavours. Passion was the perfect name for a horse that had been through it all with him.

“Do you like that name?” He asked the horse, not expecting a response but still sensing a nod from the majestic beast. “I am glad you do. We have seen it all together, haven’t we? You knew me when I was just a man taking a new job. And now I am a father and a husband who can’t stay up long past when the moon arrives.” He laughed to himself for talking to a horse and hearing how different his life had become. Even he could not have predicted it all.

He had not been a perfectly straight arrow in his new life, though. Aaron would still find ways to break some rules. And that happened when it came to Earl, Matilda’s father.

Before and after he got sick, The Earl had used his time in showing Aaron how to run a house. Aaron was more than grateful for that because he soon learned that there was far more to do in order to keep a house running than just tending to a crying baby and running the stables.

The Earl was eager to show him how everything worked and what needed to get done daily.

“If you don’t manage the money properly, people will not get paid.” The Earl had said one day while going over the papers on his desk. “This daily task ensures that there will be no lapse in payments because a lapse in payments means trouble.”

Aaron stared at the papers with rattled nerves. He was not one for math. And he wasn’t sure how to confess that to a man who took math more seriously than most things. “Question, what do the men do who can’t keep track of all the numbers?”

The Earl laughed. “They sell apples, Aaron. They don’t lead this type of life and go to sell apples instead.” 

On that day, Aaron knew that his work was the farthest thing from a game. It needed a level of attention and devotion. 

But with that knowledge still, Aaron would find ways to sneak away from his work and to go be with Matilda and little William.

“How is he doing?” Aaron asked Matilda one day after sneaking away from the Earl.

She smiled. “Please tell me that you have not abandoned your work to comes see us once more, Aaron?”

Aaron gave her nothing but a look as she walked over to William’s crib. She made the gesture to Aaron to be quiet. “I have just gotten him to drift off to sleep. He has been nothing but a little baby of energy all day.”

Aaron ignored Matilda and picked William up. Once he woke up, he started crying. And then, when he cradled him in his arms, he stopped. 

“Aaron,” Matilda said. You are too attached to your son.” She smiled. 

“Always and forever. I feel the same way towards you.”

With little William comfortably on his shoulder, both Aaron and Matilda kissed.

***

Having a grandchild had changed Catherine in ways that she could not have fathomed. A majority of life no longer mattered to her, such as the trivial, getting older, and bearing witness to her Matilda to live her life her way. It all felt so small in comparison to seeing her grandchild William smile and laugh.

When Matilda needed a break from caring for her son, Catherine stepped in. The first time that she was left alone with William, she had to hold back her tears of joy. The little life before her was a miracle and would not have existed if not for the love shared between Matilda and Aaron. She had to admit, life for them was everything that she had dreamed for Matilda. Her daughter was happy. There was never a moment where Matilda was not smiling. The only time had been when her father fell ill.

The sickness and William had proved to bring Catherine closer to her husband. It was as though they were in their honeymoon phase all over again. There had no longer been a strangeness to their marriage. It was something that Catherine appreciated dearly from her husband.

“The man works hard when he puts his mind into the work.” The Earl said while sitting next to Catherine in his study. “But when he begins distracted, I can see why he and Matilda match so well.”

Catherine had grown fond of Aaron despite the past events. Seeing how happy he made Matilda, she could deny the genuine heart he had. “I know, but you must understand. Aaron does not come from a background as we do. He has a lot to learn about the nature of responsibility and true hard work. A family comes with a price, and that price is a hefty amount of his freedom. Isn’t that ironic? They had fallen in love and worshipped the idea of being free to see the world, yet when given the prospect, they choose the domestic life.”

The Earl laughed. “I suppose you are right. You know how that goes, my dear Catherine. The heart will desire what it wants while ricking you into wanting something else. We were once wide-eyed like that.”

“I’d like to think that we still are in many ways.”

He nodded. “Ever since being sick and becoming a grandfather, I have oddly felt like a young man once more.”

“I agree with you. I have never felt younger and happier to be alive. I guess that a new life will do that to you. I am eager to see William grow into a man. And that gives more an enormous amount of energy to live.”

The Earl smiled. “Catherine, you know how much I have always dreamed of having a boy, and now that dream in some ways has come to fruition.”

Catherine gave her husband a kiss. “I am glad you are happy. I am glad that we are happy once more.”

And so, the marriage of Catherine and The Earl remained happy and filled with growth. They had even likened some of that growth to observing the love of Aaron and Matilda. It was almost like a refresher for them both. Seeing young love once more could liven up any relationship.

***

“Have you heard from Matilda at all?” Thomas asked Ann as she folded laundry within the Hardon House.

“I presume she is still out with her family, Charles and his wife. They have been in touch a lot more now that things have really settled in. It seems that family is something that brings people together.”

Thomas nodded. “That is the truth. Do you have a family, Ann?”

Ann stood for a moment and analyzed his question. It had not been the first time that Thomas had asked her a personal question, and she had begun to suspect his intentions. She had hoped that her instinct was correct. “I have parents.” She replied, making sure to give him eye contact. “But other than that, I am an only child and do not have a husband.”

She almost shivered at the thought of what she had just added without need. Did it sound too forward to mention that she was not married? Would that push him away?

“I see. You know you carry yourself like you do have a husband.”

Ann was relieved that he had clung to that part of the sentence but was not offended by the added info. At the same time, she was curious as to what he meant. “Are you saying that I am stuck up or something?”

He laughed. “Not at all. Perhaps I should have explained it further. What I meant was that you are so confident in your ways, as if you do not seek anyone. You carry yourself like you already have it all. And so, I assumed that you did. It is quite intriguing.”

Ann tried her best not to blush but knew that it wasn’t working, so she changed the hope that he had just not noticed. “I had no idea that you observed me so closely.”

“Well, it is hard to not observe someone that you are interested in.”

She couldn’t believe how forthright he had been, but she enjoyed every second of it. Ann had desired Thomas for quite some time. But she had never known how to push things in the right direction.

“What are you hinting at, Thomas?” She smiled, hoping that he’d continue to say the words that she wanted to hear.

“You are a very smart woman, must I explain?”

“I am finished with my work in an hour.”

“I will see you then,” Thomas said before taking his leave.

Ann wanted to jump for joy but restrained herself.

***

“It is rather strange how life turns out,” Charles said while sitting across from Matilda at the dinner table.

Aaron had taken William to Catherine before heading down to the table. Charles’s wife had family business to attend to in a different town. That left Charles and Matilda to chat.

“I think that very sentiment every day. How our lives would be different if we had bent the knee to everyone else’s desires.” Matilda said while sipping a glass of water.

“Do you still read those stories of yours?”

“Yes, every day, either in the morning before starting my day or at night time before I go to sleep. Why do you ask?”

“Because I was going to say, your life really turned out like one of those stories.”

Matilda laughed. “Yes, Aaron and I often say that to one another. But the best part about my life now, I’d say, is how I get to read those stories to William before bed. I had never thought about that when becoming a mom, but now that is the part of my day that I look forward to most.”

Just then, Aaron had returned from dropping William off with Catherine.

“He is asleep, and your mother is happy,” Aaron said as he took his seat at the table. That was when one of the staff came out with the food. When the plates hit the table, there laid various meats from pork to chicken, plates filled with greens, and more potatoes than Matilda could handle. “I don’t think that I broke my fast today. Your father has worked me like a horse these past few days.”

Matilda laughed while choosing which meat to lay on her plate. Charles had already finished filling his with food. “He has said some great things about you, though. Perhaps soon, he will no longer need to guide you.”

“Which would you prefer Aaron,” Charles began. “If you could choose all over again, would you rather grow up learning how to run a house as I did, or would you choose to relive the life you’ve lived once before, learning how to run a house in adulthood?”

Aaron did not take long to answer. “I would relive my life all over again. There were just too many profound lessons that I have taken to heart in my lifetime that I don’t know if I would have gotten the same with a more formal upbringing.”

Charles nodded out of fascination.

Matilda understood what he meant in his answer a little bit better than Charles, though. She knew that he was referring to his time with Addison. And from time to time, Matilda had thought of that wretched woman as well.

But she had not seen Addison since Aaron had picked up his belongings on that final day. She had heard whispers of what the woman’s life looked like since, but they were only rumours. And they mostly all said the same thing, Addison had used men to get what she wanted. She had manipulated everyone in her path because that is what she was best at. But it did not work with Aaron or Matilda. They were the ones who, in essence, defeated her charade. They had proved that with a little imagination and love, anything was possible, and anything could triumph over evil.

“I would also like to add that if Aaron had grown up differently, he might not have met me,” Matilda said, and both Aaron and Charles laughed.

“I would not have met many people. But you, my dear, I would live the same life a thousand times just to meet you again.”

The three of them continued to eat, all reminiscing about the past and getting excited about what the future held. In many ways, Matilda felt that she had finished one story but was beginning another. And she loved that.

***

Addison watched her steward light the fire. And the second that the reddish-orange flames danced across her eyes, she wore a smirk.

“That should definitely be the last of them, Your Grace. There should not be one book left in this house.”

“That is good news. Very good news.” She headed towards the doorway as a few staff took over in, watching the flames. The steward followed her out of the room.

“May I ask just what your vendetta against the written word is?”

Addison did not respond right away. The sounds of her shoes clicking against the marble floor filled the hallway. “I have learned that books are for the eyes of fools. They remind me of a very sickening time that I hope to forget very soon.”

The steward did not reply. It seemed as though he was about to go on his way but lingered in following her. “Your Grace, people have brought it to my attention that you uh, don’t seem like yourself.”

Addison clenched her jaw. “Is that so? What would anyone know what myself is truly like to make such a stupid accusation?”

“We just noticed that ever since that Aaron fellow had his child—”

“Enough!” She spun around and gave the steward her eyes. “Get out of my sight and stay away for at least a day. You will not bring your gossip to me. In your time away from me, I want a list of everyone who is spreading rumours about me, you understand?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Good.” She smiled and headed towards her bedroom.

Hearing Aaron’s name made her sit in her bedroom chair with a stiff back. She clawed her fingernails into the sides of the chair so hard that she thought her nails might’ve broken. But before they did, she released them.

Every day she thought about Aaron. She thought about how she would get revenge on him, how she could make his life a living hell. But at the same time, she missed him. His company had always made her happy, even if she never showed it. He was the only man that could tolerate her dark sides, and for what? For him to up and leave and marry a woman who lived in a fantasy world. She did not even dress pretty. It was disgraceful for him to go from someone as elegant as Addison to someone like her. It made Addison sick.

And so, on that night, she vowed to somehow ruin his life, to make sure that his ending was not happy.

THE END

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