A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Molesley is such a dear and I think he's had many a knock-back in love….sadly, here comes another blow for the poor man! xx
Tragic Love
She was gone. Just like that….gone. The letter had come first, his father writing in his stilted handwriting explaining that his mother was unwell, fighting some unknown illness.
….do not worry, she'll be right within a day or so…..
Then the telegram came. It arrived with the evening post and Joseph knew it couldn't be good news.
MOTHER ILL STOP COME QUICKLY STOP
He was given leave and was on the milk train the next morning, but it was too late. She had passed in the night, her heart giving out before he could reach her. His mother, his dear, sweet mother, gone from his life without a goodbye, leaving behind two men who had no idea how they would manage without her.
"I don't suppose we'll need the herb garden now," his father murmured, his face stricken with grief and loss. Dazed and confused, unsure how life could ever continue without his beloved wife.
Standing by the bed, her body still, eyes closed as if she was asleep, Joseph couldn't quite bring himself to believe that his mother, the only woman who had ever loved him, was dead.