Jean dragged the box out from under her bed and wiped the dust off with her handkerchief. It was a heavy wooden box, inlaid with marquetry, and one of the few things she had left from her life with Christopher. Lifting it onto the bed, she opened it slowly and sighed with relief to see her memories laid out in front of her.
She picked up her father's pocket watch and turned it over in her hand, rubbing her thumb against the engraving on the back. She remembered playing with the watch as a child, her father passing it to her to keep her quiet in church. She hadn't thought about it in years.
Replacing the watch gently she found what she had come looking for. As she pulled out the envelope of photos, she caught sight of Mattie on the landing, through her open bedroom door. Taking Jean's smile as encouragement, Mattie came closer, leaning on the doorframe with her arms folded.
"What are you doing, Jean?" she asked.
"Come and see," Jean replied, and she sat on the bed, patting the space next to her to invite Mattie to join her.
"Ah, photos!" Mattie leaned closer to see.
"Mm, they're all in a bit of a muddle, I'm afraid." Jean flicked through the few photos till she found the one she wanted. "There. What do you think?"
"Is it..?" Mattie didn't want to get it wrong. "Is it Christopher?"
Jean nodded, and Mattie looked more closely at the man in the photo. He looked young, maybe in his twenties, and seemed uncomfortable in the suit he was wearing. He wasn't smiling, but he was good looking, and Mattie found herself searching for a likeness to his sons. She could see more of Jack in him; the wavy dark hair in particular, and he was tall, too.
She handed the photo back to Jean, who looked at it for a moment, and then propped it upright on her dressing table. She returned the other photos to the box and closed the lid decisively.
"It's his birthday today," Jean said. "He would have been 49." Looking at the photo leaning against her mirror, she added, " I can't remember his voice anymore, and even his face is fading. He was my husband and I can hardly remember what he looked like."
Mattie wasn't sure what to say. "It's been a long time, Jean."
Jean nodded, and she knew Mattie meant well, but it didn't help with the guilt. She stood up and Mattie took the hint that she wanted to be alone now, and went downstairs.
Jean replaced the box under her bed and sat looking at the picture again. It wasn't just time that was making Christopher seem distant. She still loved him but she was letting him go, she knew. Would he mind, she wondered? Would he be jealous that she was beginning to give her heart to Lucien?
She didn't know. She hoped he would be letting her go too, if he could, because she knew it was time.
Time for a new life, if Lucien wanted that too.