Chapter 2
Charlotte rubbed her eyes wearily before looking at the clock beside her bed. Waking up in the middle of the night had become a regular occurrence during the past four years, the same nightmare playing and replaying until she eventually cried herself back to sleep.
“If only I could see him,” she thought to herself as she got out of bed, determined that tonight she wouldn’t let her mind get the better of her.
It had been a month since her brother and George had finally returned from college. In that time she had seen George only briefly, although they continued to write to each to other in secret as they had since the day he’d left to train as a physician. In every letter he sought to reassure her that he still loved her more than anything in the world; he couldn’t stand to be away from her and was counting the days until they could be together again. However there was a nagging doubt at the back of Charlotte’s mind that convinced her that he was enjoying the company of someone new, someone who was free to admit that she loved him more than life itself. Every night as she lay in bed the thought manifested into the nightmare that refused to go away, refused to let her sleep peacefully for just one night.
Tonight the nightmare was worse than ever; she could see George and his future wife laughing as they walked hand in hand through the fields, every step taking him further and further away from her until he was no more than a blurry speck on the horizon. Then came the tears.
Charlotte’s feelings grew to despair when first her twin sister Olivia, then Louis, were married. Both of their marriages had been arranged while they were still babies, and as they grew and got to know their future spouses Charlotte became increasingly convinced that she was destined to spend her life as the “maiden aunt.” She had known George all of her life, and when it became clear to them that their friendship was growing into something more they were forced to hide their feelings from their families. How could the daughter of the king marry the son of the royal physician, no matter how much they loved one another and in spite of the fact that there were no royal or noble suitors to whom her father would part with her willingly?
Charlotte was allowed a brief respite from her despair when it was announced that Olivia and her husband Edward were expecting their first child. Their marriage, together with Louis’ recent marriage to Edward’s sister Hannah, was somewhat unusual among those pre-arranged between royals and nobles - the bride and groom were genuinely devoted to one another. For as long as Charlotte lived she would never forget the look of joy on her sister’s face when she broke the news to her parents, and the tears she shed that day were those of pure happiness.
For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Charlotte had something good to record in her journal. However her fears that she would never know such happiness for herself were never far away, her thoughts returning once more to George and the phantom bride she had conjured for him.
Ah! You’re writing again–fantastic! Loved the use of CC and I am glad those two don’t have to hide any longer. Although, I am wondering about all the men and their hair? I was starting to peg them by hair color, LOL!
Comment by Mao — 4 July, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
Thanks Mao! I thought it was time for Charlotte and George to finally “clear the air”
Next time you see the founders everyone will be in Victorian clothing (because I haven’t found any Regency clothes for elders I decided to move them all on a bit), so the men’s hairstyles will change and it should be clearer who’s who. It’s not so bad for the first two generations - royals have brown hair, nobles have red, merchants have black, peasants have blonde - but now that they’re starting to mix up I think I’ll have to make it more obvious who’s who. I’ll probably end up confusing myself otherwise 
Comment by Tanya — 5 July, 2007 @ 10:32 am
Great to see you blogging again! RKC stories are fun to follow, and I love the regency setting and clothing.
Comment by Jen — 5 July, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
Thanks Jen, it’s good to be blogging again
I’ll be posting a new series on my other blog, Sims 2 Tales, soon - just need to finish sorting out the pictures and making sure the text makes sense!
Comment by Tanya — 6 July, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
Hi Tanya, just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy this story. I don’t comment that often though, I’m kinda like a hit and run reader. But I try to make a valiant effort to let people know when they really have a great story going, and you certainly do. Looking forward to the next chapter, happy simming!
Comment by Taryn — 11 July, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Thanks Taryn, I’m glad you’re enjoying the story
I do quite a bit of the hit and run as well *shameface* The next chapter will probably be posted in a couple of weeks, and I think it’s time the Gardener family (peasants) had a bigger mention …
Happy Simming to you too!
Comment by Tanya — 11 July, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
Hi. Good to see you’re still writing. I enjoyed this chapter very much.
Keep Simming!.
See ya.
Comment by Pandora Moon — 18 August, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
Hi Pandora, thanks for commenting - glad you’re still enjoying the story
The next chapter will be online in a few days’ time, complete with eight out-takes (they’ll be posted at my Live Journal blog)!
Comment by Tanya — 19 August, 2007 @ 7:54 pm