.
Give your hearts,
but not into each other's keeping.
May 30th, Tuesday
He is alive, and with this I must be satisfied, for there was no conversation hardly between us. He is exhausted, that much is plain. Memories must torment him from his past, for I have already experienced a wide gambit of his past and none has been pleasant. Where are his thoughts of the awards he has won, the acquisition of his great house, parties and society? He is truly caught in a sort of dark spiral.
I am convinced that he is still unaware of the true nature of the dreams and wonder if he even recalls them upon waking. How I hope that he finds as much comfort in them as I do. More even, if that were possible.
I am rereading some sections of Hortence's Dream Theory, one of the first books I acquired and have let lie unstudied too long. These passages touch on the power of dreams to heal traumatic memories. These writings are explored further, but in more archaic language with much Latin and Old English in Souls Bound in Dreams. I feel overwhelmed and humbled that he has, however subconsciously, allowed me access to such things.
June 2nd, Friday
Narcissa has been turning over the idea of a formal petition for a legal separation. It might be possible to convince the ecclesiastical authority of her home parish to grant it, even in the absence of her husband. There might be a way to secure her desire through questionable channels. She seems delighted at the prospect of being separated from the shackles of her marriage. I do not know if she has ever before thought it possible to leave Lord Malfoy.
I confess myself by turns ecstatic for her and fearful that Lord Malfoy will catch wind of the scheme and find some way to foil her plans.
June 6th, Thursday
I have had quite the shock today, and so, I think, did Austen. A girl came over the garden wall. How she managed to get past the wards is beyond me, especially since Dumbledore and his Charm-Breakers have just reached the edge of the stairs of Spinner's End, although to be fair they cannot work on the blood anchored wards day and night and are often called away from the property on other, presumably more important, business.
The girl, I can barely describe her so changeable was her countenance, seemed neither too tall nor too short. She had the brightest grey eyes that seemed almost purple at times through the most alarming pair of jeweled pince-nez. Her hair was unpinned and bright blond and she kept her wand behind her left ear.
What passed between us, I hardly know, so surprised was I.
Edited for grammar, capitalization, clarity, punctuation & spelling May 29th, 2014 [courtesy of renaid, who is as excited as I to meet Luna].
For my knowledge of a legal separation in the Regency Era I owe a debt to A Regency Primer on Annulment and Divorce by Kristen Koster. The separation (called 'divortium a mensa et thoro' which means 'separtation from bed and board') would be grated on the grounds of lethal cruelty or adultery on either part. It would allow them to reside apart and relieve the husband of his financial responsibility for the wife; however, it prevent remarriage. Sadly, this separation would quite probably be the best that Narcissa could hope for.
