Downshire
is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a
lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of
Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the
Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the
beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the
Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light
infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in
the north but our story begins in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland
from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green,
in the sprawling village of Denmead.
Owen
Carrington’s Uncle Glyn died on New Year’s Day and left him his Cottage and a
small cash sum, more than enough to keep him going for a few more years.
He left it
to him because he felt they were kindred spirits, he wanted to be a writer
himself but his father made him get a proper job, Owen really liked him and he
was a great story teller, and it was his Uncles colourful tales that helped him
when he was writing his novels.
His death
came as a great shock as it was sudden though not unsurprising given his
health.
So that was
how he found himself living in a lovely Victorian Cottage in the quaint
Downshire Village of Denmead.
It was a
very tranquil place though not without its distractions.
From his
study he could look out through the open French windows and across the expanse
of lawn to a stand of ancient woodland, there was no fence to separate garden
and wood the two just merged.
And on the
other side of the wood was the hub of the village, the Green Oak, everyone
seemed to go there at some point, either for a drink, the restaurant or the
coffee suite.
Owen’s star
was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel
“The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not
universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the
bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it
because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it
wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life
thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers
block to an end, but his muse was in her third year at the University of
Downshire where she studied English at Abbottsford.
On the last
weekend of the half term break when she was at home he met up with Juliana and
her parents outside the Church of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.
After the
service, they thanked the Vicar “for a marvelous sermon” and said their
goodbyes before they walked the short distance to the Green Oak and had a
marvelous Sunday lunch, which was so good that a constitutional was necessary
to walk it off.
It was a
pleasant enough afternoon for it, very sunny but with a chill wind, so they
opted for the west forest which would give them the benefit of the sun but
shield them from the worst of wind.
They walked
the woodland for over an hour and when they reached a cross roads, the route to
the Molesworth’s house lay straight ahead and the path to Owen’s house was to
the left so they said their goodbyes and Juliana and he made their way back to
Owens cottage where they would make love.
During the
periods in the afterglow when feelings and emotions were expressed, souls were
bared and hearts unburdened, and Owen pledged his love to her again, and then
they did some serious talking and one of the things they discussed was her work
load at University.
As a result
she said she wouldn’t be home again until Christmas as she needed to keep
focused, and he promised to support her anyway he could.
Owen
suggested she should stop the part time job at the Green Oak and as he had such
a great payday from the “Maiden Muse”, he said he would pay her rent for as
long as she wanted.
She didn’t
want to say yes but it would take so much pressure off her so she reluctantly
agreed.
They also
agreed on no more Skype video calls, because she said if she saw him she would
miss him even more, and it would be hard enough as it was and this time he was
the one that was reluctant to agree, but he did, and likewise with phone calls.
So it would
just be emails once a week, and texts for emergencies, and he said he would
drop everything if she needed him.
They felt
at the end of it that they had archived something and they both felt a weight
had been lifted of their shoulders.
Juliana
wanted to spend the night with him, as it would be the last one for a while,
but she still had to pack and such and she also needed to have the same conversation
with her parents.
So he took
her home and the next morning he drove her back to Abbottsford.
There were
tears at the Molesworth’s house and he thought there would be many more later.
But
eventually they set off and luckily the traffic was really light which meant
they had time to unload the car and carry the bags up to her room before he
dropped her off in time for her first lecture.
As
predicted there were more tears, after all they wouldn’t be seeing each other
for two months and when she was composed enough to get out the car she walked
straight into the building without looking back.
It was two
weeks later when Owen had set about catching up with emails and such like,
sorting through the mail and settling some bills.
When he
opened his bank statement he was surprised to see just how well he was doing
and the bank balance made very good reading.
The next
afternoon he was on his way to the Post Office when he spotted Gregory
Molesworth coming the other way.
“Hi Greg”
he called
“Hello Owen”
he said a little distracted
“Is
everything ok?” he asked but Owen could tell he was not, so he added
“Have you
got time for a coffee?”
They sat at
a table with their steaming mugs of coffee and he said
“I’m
worried about Juliana”
“Jules?” he
said surprised “Why?”
“She’s cut
herself off from us” he said with real concern
“Is it
drugs?” Greg asked and then he put his mug to his lip but without drinking he
continued
“Do you
think its drugs?”
Still he
didn’t drink
“I think
its drugs”
He took a
sip this time and pulled a face before lowering the cup and pushing it away
from him.
“Of course
she’s not on drugs” Owen assured him “she’s too sensible for that”
Owen looked
at him earnestly
“You and
Lavinia have raised her well” he said but he didn’t look reassured
“She just
needs to focus for the next few weeks and then she’s over the summit”
“We miss
her” Greg said “I miss her, and I caught Lavinia crying again this morning”
“I miss her
too” Owen said truthfully
Owen
thought Greg was in a slightly better frame of mind when he left him and so was
he as he finished in the Post Office but as he was leaving his phone bleated at
him informing him that he had a text so he fished it out of his pocket and he saw
it was from Juliana.
He selected
the text icon and read the message immediately and it said
“SOS I miss
you”
After a few
moments he replied
“I’m on my
way”
When he
reached Abbottsford he parked up outside Juliana’s digs and ran up to the front
door and rang the bell.
The door
was opened by one of the housemates, Jasmine, and he said
“Hi Jas”
“Hello
Owen” she replied “Go straight up, she’s in her room”
So he went
up the stairs and straight to Juliana’s door and knocked twice.
“Come in”
she called and he went in and she was wearing the lovely green summer dress she
had worn on that hot summer day when they first got together.
“Hello
gorgeous” he said and smiled
“Oh Owen”
she said and threw herself into his arms.
“I’m so
sorry Owen” she said and started to cry “but I missed you”
“Don’t cry
hon” he said, but it didn’t help, she was sobbing hard on his shoulder and he
could feel her tears soaking his shirt as he made encouraging noises until she
eventually calmed down enough so she could explain what was wrong.
“The work
is going really well” she said and forced a smile
“And I’m
really confident that I’m ahead of the curve”
But then
she started to cry again
“I’m sorry
Owen, but I just miss everyone so much, I miss talking to mum”
“Then why
didn’t you call her?” he said
“Because it
was my idea” she replied “and everyone is sticking to it without a problem”
“Everyone
else is missing you like crazy” he said and he told her about meeting her dad
only that day and about him catching her mum crying and she burst into tears
again.
Juliana had
been in turmoil, she had wanted to call but was afraid of breaking their
agreement, afraid of being a quitter when it was her idea, she wanted to be
strong and independent.
When he had
calmed her down he persuaded her to phone her mum and dad, persevering with the
isolation was just making her unhappy.
If keeping
focused on her studies was paramount she could still stay in Abbottsford until
Christmas but she needed to phone Greg and Lavinia regularly.
She dialled
the number and waited
“Hi mum
it’s Jules” and then the tears flowed unrestrained
After the
phone call Juliana looked across at him with a smile on her tear stained face.
“I love
you” she said and walked over to him and kissed him
“I love you
too” Owen responded and kissed her back.
“So why are
you wearing the summer dress in November?” he asked “why do you even have it
with you?”
She hugged
him tightly and hid her face from him.
“I have it
with me because it reminds me of that day” she said into his chest “and I wear
it when I’m lonely”
They stood
there holding each other for about five minutes after which he made love to her
like it was the first time and then they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
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