Romance Comes Full Circle

Liesl was reading a book she didn't want to finish, and having settled herself into a chair on the terrace, she was relishing the romantic dilemmas nestling between the pages of her novel. Almost seventeen and teetering on the cusp of adulthood, the new world opening up to her became more fascinating with each chapter that she read.

"Good book, Liesl?" She looked up at the sound of her father's voice as he approached her.

"Yes, wonderful!" she said, marking her place in the book with a finger, keen not to lose a moment reading. The military man stopped a moment, gesturing towards the novel:

"Tell me, what's it about?"

"It's the story of a young woman called Jane Eyre who goes to teach the daughter of a man called Mr Rochester. Strange things happen at the house where they live, and she doesn't know whether he has something to do with them… or even whether he is aware of them."

"Aha, so it's a mystery?"

"No…"

"Then what?"

"Well, it's really a romance. Mr Rochester is engaged to a wealthy but cold woman called Blanche Ingram, but when he tells the governess he will miss her when he is married to Blanche, then Jane realises that really, deep down, she loves him… do you know the story?"

"Can't say I do", said the Captain slowly, inspecting the book." 'Jane Eyre'. Hmm." And, handing it back asked, "That's not out of our library; where did you get it?"

"Fraulein Maria gave it to me. She says it's a wonderful book, one which I would enjoy." He turned away abruptly.

"Never come across that one." His terse words rattled her; she watched him walk alone across the terrace and down the steps to the garden, stopping at the edge of the lake. Her book remained closed as he stared out to the mountains beyond. 'How strange', she thought, watching his hands in his jacket pockets, something he never normally did. Was he thinking about his recent engagement to Baroness Schraeder, something which had dismayed all the children? Their hostile reaction had clearly taken him aback; but for now she could only guess at what was going through his mind.

When eventually she began reading again, she became so engrossed in her book that she failed to hear his footsteps as he rose up the steps at the side of the terrace.

"So tell me Liesl, what you think will happen to this Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester?"

She thought for a moment. "I'm not sure… Jane has also had a proposal from someone else, but he doesn't really love her like I can tell Mr Rochester does." She watched her father lean on the balustrade, listening. "But I know what I wantto happen, though!" she added with a winning smile.

"And what might that be?" He eyed her; she knew then that he was taking it all in, and so took a deep breath.

"Jane and Mr Rochester ought to get to know each other better. Then I think he would come to his senses and end his engagement to Blanche Ingram before proposing to the one he really loves." Her father chuckled, not without some irony, and folded his arms as he looked at her with a wry smile.

"If only life were so simple, Liesl !" The sardonic tone disappointed her.

"Yes, but you can tell they are made for each other!" she insisted. He tipped his head on one side momentarily as if in consideration, then got up and shook his head.

"Read on, I hope it all works out fine for Miss Eyre and Mr Rochester." And with the bitterness in his voice ringing in her ears, he left her and returned to the house.

Two days later, Liesl lay on her bed and read the last few pages of the book. Brimming with the romance between the main characters, she put the novel aside and went to the window to lean on the sill. She was thinking about that grown-up thing they called passion, and what it meant; Rolf the telegram boy and his boyish smile had delivered to her the headiness of love earlier in the spring, and she had spent many an hour dreaming of their next encounters… if and when a telegram arrived for her father or his guests. But she had become curious about more than this frothy infatuation - not just the falling in and out of love, but also by what happens later, when a couple lay next to each other in the darkness heart to heart, skin to skin. For growing up in a motherless household, no-one had thought to inform Liesl about such things, so they had remained, for her, largely unfathomed. And yet, she knew deep down, there were such earthy things to be discovered, and her own questions to be answered.

Yet there had been someone whom she thought she might be able to ask: Fraulein Maria, her new governess who had arrived at the house that spring and had soon won over everyone in the family -Liesl had even caught her autocratic father's eyes trailing her on several occasions as she left the room. The girl had resolved to find a private moment with the engaging young woman in the hope that she might talk to her about the world of love…that was, until she remembered later that Fraulein Maria was a nun from the convent, and as such, might well be as uninitiated as she. So for that reason, she had hesitated…

Her thoughts turned instead back to Rolf, the boy who had so charmed her earlier in the summer, but whose ardour she sensed had cooled - not something she had anticipated. How painful it felt! She contemplated the end of their relationship, and what she would say if she ever saw him again. After some time spent leaning out of her window, smelling the fragrance of the night stocks planted below, she decided to revisit the place where they had last shared something so magical, at the gazebo in the garden.

It was quiet but for the call of a nightjar as Liesl neared the glass octagon, moonlight reflecting from the windows. Her feet silent in the grass, the girl felt herself beginning to dance as she had done with Rolf that night in the spring, waltzing music playing in her mind to accompany them both. Stepping lightly nearing the gazebo, she could see the door was ajar; probably left that way, she thought, by the children playing in there before bed. She felt heartened at the excuse to look inside and relive her dreams before finally closing the door, perhaps forever, on that chapter of her life.

A soft laugh stopped her in her tracks. Unable to see in for the glinting of the moon, she moved softly until she was at the door, peering in, eyes unseeing in the dark. Then with gradual adjustment, she began to make out the figure of a man with his back to her, his neck encircled by two pale arms. She heard him talking, laughing…seducing someone. Standing there on the threshold of the gazebo, she realised with a shock she was looking in on the very adult world she had wished to glimpse, and watching with alarm the scene she had stumbled upon, she could see that the figure was none other than her father with Baroness Schraeder. It was as though Liesl was standing on the threshold of something far too sophisticated for her. Half-wanting to turn and run, she still couldn't help looking on in disbelief at the familiar outline of the Captain with those slender arms around him. But something jarred, was disconnected: a piece of the jigsaw was wrong.

She had met Elsa in the villa that evening after dinner, wandering round the house looking distracted. Asking Liesl whether she had seen her father, Liesl had replied, and watched the Baroness disappear in the direction of the balcony, her red, shimmering dress and jacket the epitome of elegance with a colour just matching the flush in her cheeks.

Now, at the gazebo, Liesl peered through the silvery half-light just at the moment that her father's head lowered into what she knew must be a deeply passionate kiss…she was shocked to see her disciplined father succumbing to such an animal emotion, but still couldn't help staring a little harder into the dark. For look as she did, something was wrong with those slender arms: yes, those shimmering red sleeves were missing. With a shock, she realised that the baroness may have felt the situation called for a little more décolletage – it seemed the seduction was well under way. Her colour rising, the girl couldn't take her eyes off those bare arms with their fingers weaving through his black hair; then she remembered her book and the conversation with her father on the terrace a few days before. As Liesl recalled what she had said, she felt herself utter a gasp. His head stopped still. Her hand flew up to her mouth, casting a long shadow in the moonlight, a shadow which danced over the floor of the gazebo just as she had done with Rolf all those weeks ago. It flitted past him: he flinched. As his head turned, Liesl's heart sank at the sight of that familiar, handsome profile. Slowly her father turned towards her, drawing another, slighter figure round with him. But there was no red sequinned dress shimmering in the ghostly light. Instead, she glimpsed only the palest of blue dresses. Liesl scrutinised its owner and her face beside that of her father, both of them entwined as they turned to see who had intruded into their private world. The gentle face was that of none other than Fraulein Maria: her father and her governess were in a passionate embrace, a veritable Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester. She took a step back, finding herself incredulous, embarrassed, overwhelmed…fascinated.

"I was joking", Liesl breathed, "...I didn't really mean for you to actually do it!", her hands rising to her cheeks. There was silence as the three eyed each other. "…or at least, I'm not sure if I did…" Then slowly she saw her father smile and extend a hand, standing motionless, the three of them together. Hesitating, she stepped in to the gazebo, and knew that really, she hadn't been joking at all.