Fables of Cornwall

by StanJiminie

A young girl in the late 1700's with a tragic backstory has been raised by her rich aunt and uncle. Now she's sixteen and finds herself in love with a young man of a lower class who she'd known since she was young. Little does she know he has a complex past himself. As time passes and the stars align, a clear path has been set for him to return home. Read to see how things play out

Chapter 1:

"Danielle hurry up!" Alice laughed and ran towards to cliff face. She spread her arms and let the wind push her forward as she ran. Her golden locks flying behind her.

"Wait Alice please," Danielle struggled to keep up with her older sister. She picked up her skirts and hastened. Her Mama and Papa sat with her Aunt and Uncle enjoying tea under umbrellas held by their servants. The carriage stood in the distance tall and white, awaiting their departure. The women sat and gossiped as they drank their tea while the men discussed politics, and no one was aware of the two little girls heading toward the Cornwall cliff's edge.

The wind was stronger near the edge as if it were coming up from the shore below. Alice was as care free and innocent as any 8-year-old girl would be. All she could feel was the salty air on her tongue and the overpowering wind. She was running with the wind, so fast she couldn't stop and before anyone knew it she was flying. Flying high above the rocky shore. Free.

"Alice, No!" Danielle screamed. But it was too late, she was gone, falling through the air toward the rocks. Danielle paused as she reached the cliff face, slumped to the ground and turned her head away as the sound of a crack vibrated up the cliff wall.

Danielle gasped and sat up in her bed. A soft blue dim light entered the room through her window, it was nearly dawn. A new day, her 16th birthday to be precise, exactly 10 years since her sister, Alice's death. Today was a special day, she was 'coming out' as a young lady. She felt the familiar pull at her heart as she realized Alice wouldn't be there to see her and would never have the life she was about to embark on.

She swung her legs out of bed, slipped her feet into her white silk slippers and draped her dressing gown over her shoulders. She walked to her porcelain basin, scooped the ice-cold water into her hands and gently splashed her face. She took the towel off the edge and patted her face dry. The first golden rays shone through the window and she stared at her reflection. She looked younger than sixteen, perhaps it was the fact that no matter what happens in life rich ladies never smiled except for the occasional curl of the lips when amused. Not that she had anything in life to smile at.

Aunt Harriot had taught her that smiling created lines upon the face making the face look older and that it was her duty to look as young as possible in order to ensnare a rich husband. She had no dowry or inheritance and so it was only to be her family situation and her pretty face that would catch any man's eye. Danielle's mother had died of a heart attack soon after her sister's death. Alice had always been the favourite child and her father was so overridden with grief he could not even look at Danielle his youngest daughter and sent her to live with his brother Sir Henry Erwin of the Murray estate. He had gone to sea later on. She had lived here for almost 10 years.

Danielle stepped out into the corridor and walked through opening the door to the courtyard and walking in. Her courtyard was a little garden filled with homely and radiant flowers. Lilies of the valley, cabbage- roses, pansies, tulips, lilacs, marigolds and petunias. She sat on a bench cut from marble and her hand felt under the mahogany table for her diary, ink bottle and quill which lay in a secret compartment only she knew about. It was too risky to keep something so personal and private in her bed chamber, servants liked to rummage and then gossip about what they heard or read. No one ever entered her courtyard except herself and her maid Mary who came in once a day to water the flowers. She set the book down and began to write...

Dear Diary, 12-08-1775

Today is my 16th birthday, I am to have a coming of age ball and my new dress will be delivered. It is pale blue silk with white lace around a low-cut neckline. Low-cut is the new fashion from France and all the ladies are copying the style with their ballgowns. Aunty agrees with Uncle Henry that I am still too young to were a low neckline in everyday wear but for special occasions such as this they see no problem. My only grief is that dear Alice will never see me in my new dress. Aunty says she and Mama watch over me from their place in heaven, but I still think she should be here to see it. I begged Aunty for days to invite Edmond, he has been my one consolation through these tiresome years. I need someone there to keep me company but I'm afraid of the gossip it will cause. Aunty says as long as he is not the only person I speak to all night there is no harm. I must leave now to prepare. I am not yet dressed and Mary will be awake soon to help me dress. We have a long day of preparations. I will write more later.

~Danielle