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“Brother, shall you return?”
“I am unsure.”
“So, now you are wandering?” Jane said playfully.
“You have always known me to be a wandered, Jane. The job in Cornwall was to make ends meet, and now that I have sufficient savings, I choose to explore what the world has to offer me.”
At this, Margaret seemed to perk up, leaving a warm feeling in John’s chest. “You intend to travel?” Margaret asked.
“Indeed. It has always been my desire.”
“And where shall you go?”
John shrugged. “Wherever the roads will take me. I have simple tastes, and I hope to find a town that I might call home.”
“You surprise me, Brother,” Jane went on. “The job at the dock was most secure.”
John grinned. “I do believe that security is overrated. What’s more, I wish to be tied to nothing.”
This was not entirely the truth. John wanted to be tied to a wife, a family, and a small town where he could lay down his roots. But such things would need to be found, for he had not encountered them yet. Then again, upon another glance, John concluded that Margaret could serve as a sort of fantasy, helping him visualize this future life.
“We are all tied to something,” Margaret went on, “Whether we know it or not. Some things hold us down.”
“Not unless we break free from said things. It is possible to do so.”
“I might protest. Some ties bind irrevocably.”
Yes, already, there was much that he wished he could impart to Margaret. Did she not know that she was free, no matter what was troubling her? John could prove it to her if he had the chance.
“Brother, where shall you stay?”
John scratched his head. “That’s a rather good question. I don’t suppose you have a spare room,” he added humorously.
“My father is a very… particular man,” Margaret offered. “I hope that you shan’t be offended if he declines.”
“No, no. There was an inn that I spotted in town. I imagine that it could be a fine location to rest my head.”
There was disappointment written on both Margaret’s and Jane’s faces. Yes, it was quite clear that there was something peculiar going on in their estate, and John wished to get to the bottom of it because if nothing else, he was a problem solver, and he didn’t care for the trepidation in Margaret’s eyes.
“Shall we go for a stroll?” John offered. “I fear that my horse is rather exhausted and could use a stretch of the legs.”
“Yes, let us carry on.” Jane began to walk, and Margaret followed behind.
There were several things that he was observing about Margaret during this walk. For one thing, she came across as meek, but John knew this to not to be true from the look in her eyes. There was a fire in those green orbs, but her demeanor spoke of something troubling her.
Oh, why was he analyzing her so much when it was his sister that he’d come to visit? It seemed impossibly odd that Margaret was usurping all of his attention, but her quiet grace demanded it.
“The grounds have changed,” John noted.
“You would be correct.” Margaret turned her head towards him. “We have had to let several of the staff members go. I fear that it was necessary. Jane and I tend to the grounds when we can, but there’s only so much that we can do.”
John looked all around, remembering when the hedges were trimmed, and the lawn was clean. Perhaps he could undertake the labor of it, but seeing as the father let everyone go and would perhaps not allow John to stay at the estate, this was to be an impossibility, as well.
Margaret sighed deeply. “I still love it out here, though. These daily walks are fortifying in many ways. Sometimes, I lie in bed at night, dreaming of the next morning when I shall go for a walk!”
John smiled, delighting in Margaret’s enthusiasm. “I’m keen on the fresh air, as well. That was perhaps the only thing that I enjoyed about working the dock. The air was fresh, and when the season was right, the sun shone down brightly. Some days, a tad too brightly.”
“Brother, did you let your little cottage go? I know how you cherished it,” Jane asked.
