Epilogue: Awake

'What's the verdict?' Thomas asked.

The structural engineer's pants were coated in red at his feet and he looked very sour. 'It's a miracle this thing is still standing, but sure, it can be done. I can see you tried to fix some of the damage yourself recently, and you've done a fine job. But it takes more to keep this place habitable. The mines under the house would not be accessible any more, once it's all done, I can tell you that much. And of course it's a question of how much you are prepared to pay.'

Thomas's gaze wandered to Edith who came up behind him. She offered the engineer a cloth to wipe his hands clean. 'Any idea what it will cost?' she asked.

'Here.' The man passed Thomas a stained piece of paper with a sum that made his heart sink. 'This is what it will cost you if you want this house to remain standing for the next generation and more. It doesn't include every other problem a blind man can see.'

'Those can wait,' Edith said. Thomas had hired workers and reopened his mine. They would make money soon, selling tiles and bricks and the clay itself, and they still had a lot of her own fortunes left. 'We can do this, Thomas.'

'Or,' he suggested, 'we tear the house down and build something new. We could live in the cottage, in the meantime.'

The engineer snorted. 'You won't live here while there's construction workers about anyways.'

'We'll make this work,' Edith said.

'Thank you,' Thomas said. 'I hope I can leave the matter in your capable hands?'

The engineer huffed. 'You sure can, Sir Thomas. I just wonder how you want to pay. This place is decrepit. It doesn't look like you can afford a hot meal tonight.'

'Understood. You get a deposit first thing tomorrow. We're not paying the full sum in advance.'

'Fair enough. Seeing what you already did to the place, you could offer a hand yourself. That would take a bit off this sum. Anyway. Good day to you. Ma'am.'

'You'd think,' Thomas said, snaking an arm around her, 'he's happy that he gets such a contract.'

'He thinks he won't see a penny, Thomas.'

He looked up at the hole in the roof. He had boarded it up enough to offer some protection from the weather, but it was far from ideal. 'I can't blame him, either.' He sighed. 'The frightening part is that I'll see a lot less of you. You won't be able travel up and down the mountain every day, that would soon be far too exhausting, and I cannot stay down with you all the time and leave my work alone.'

'But at the end, we'll have a house that is fit to raise a child in.'

'Indeed.' He looked at her. It was too soon to see much of a physical change, but by now they knew that Deirdre had been right, however she had known. Edith was three months pregnant. 'So we're going to rent that cottage again. I have to say, there are worse things. I have very fond memories of our time there.'

'Thomas, I think we should buy it. It takes a lot less to keep the cottage nice and warm, so that won't be a financial burden in the long run. And we wouldn't be cut off if we needed a Doctor in the winter. With a small child.'

'Oh dear, yes. Ah. Soon. Then this crazy endeavour will actually yield a profit, and I'll no longer leech away your heritage.'

'Ours, Thomas.' She leaned her back against him and put his hands on her belly. 'Ours.' She rested her head against his chest and he looked down at her. Edith tilted her head back and grinned, obviously amused at how he looked upside down. 'You know what? When we got married, I thought I was dreaming. A man like you, so handsome, so gentle, so …'

'Well-equipped?'

She turned around and glared at him. He grinned back. 'Kind, I was going to say,' Edith told him. 'But that, too, I should think. Thing is, I'm awake now. And you're still every bit as wonderful. Why is that?'

'I'm an amazing husband?' he offered.

Edith placed a gentle kiss on his lips. 'Very. And you will be an amazing father. I would absolutely marry you again if I stood at the altar right now, knowing all I do, the pain, the fear, but also this very moment.'

'I'll ask you that again in a couple of decades, my darling. But I'm optimistic that your answer won't change.' He touched his lips to hers before he continued. 'And neither will mine.'

((The sources of inspiration that I mentioned in the prologue were Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw and the misleading thing was William Somerset Maugham's short story The Force of Circumstance. The opera would be a spoiler because it is a story about two very evil ghosts, and Lucille or the manner of her influence on Thomas is not that dissimilar from those. The short story is misleading because the heroine in it chooses to leave her husband after her time of consideration.

I don't feel too bad about the absence of a major plot twist at the end, since there isn't really a gigantic one in the source material. What I did want was to give Thomas not just survival but a bit of growth regarding his dependency from Lucille as well as basic self-worth. I hope I managed that.))