The letter dangled from her fingers as Lizzie wept on the edge of her bed. Tears streamed from her eyes as she processed everything that had come to light.
Within the span of a week, she’d gone from a mournful recluse to mystery-solving, history-changing, bona fide historian. Most importantly, she’d mended her riff with Sebastian, never to be parted from him again. The memory of him dropping to his knees after the first shot wrenched her gut and Lizzie struggled to keep from vomiting.
“Liz?” His voice called out to her from the doorway. Without waiting for an answer, Sebastian made his way to the bed. Lizzie fell into his arms and clung to him, sobbing. “What’s wrong, my darling?” he asked tenderly, smoothing her hair back as he placed soft pecks across her temple. “This has all been a lot for you, hasn’t it?” He gripped her tighter, refusing to let her go until she’d cried herself out.
“Yes,” Lizzie said, her voice muffled against the fabric of his shirt. “All of it—the letter from my mother, and that…” She pointed to Edith’s last words, lovingly scrawled as she prepared to meet a certain death.
With a free hand, Sebastian picked up the last page from it fell upon the bed and skimmed it. “Dear God,” he gasped. Lizzie felt his heart quicken against her skin. Its rhythm matched hers as she held him closely. “She chose suicide over cancer.” Sebastian’s body hardened under Lizzie’s touch.
“She did.” Lizzie sniffed, swallowing a sob that threatened to escape her throat. “Her melancholy wasn’t the reason for her death. Edith didn’t want Emily to see her die as she’d witnessed her Aunt Amelia. She wanted her to have two parents and to never doubt that she was loved,” Lizzie said knowingly, accurately reading in between the lines of Edith’s message.
“None of this would be possible without that first envelope.” Sebastian tipped Lizzie’s chin, guiding her eyes to meet his. “You and me. Edith and Edward. Even your mother.”
“I’ve never felt like I truly knew who my mother was,” Lizzie confessed. “But now, I know what made her the woman that she was, and I know that above anything else, she loved me.” Lizzie’s tears flowed anew.
Although she didn’t put it into words, the greatest part of this journey wasn’t making peace with her grief or taking the next step with Sebastian. It was finding answers that she didn’t realize she needed. A solemn knowledge that came from her mother’s own words, delivered by Darcy and Bobby, and a determined investigator who felt that she deserved to know the truth.
“I’m going to go back downstairs,” Sebastian said suddenly, sensing that Lizzie needed more time alone.
“I’ll be down in a while,” Lizzie watched as he rose from the bed and slowly moved to the door.
“I love you,” Sebastian said, hesitating a moment before disappearing downstairs.
“I love you, too,” Lizzie said to his back, staring at the open doorway. Moments later, she sucked in a shuddering, steadying breath and gathered everything together. After tucking the stack of paper into the same drawer she’d used before, she washed her face and went to rejoin her family and friends, a changed woman with a new life stretching out ahead of her.
FINAL
The backyard was a celebration of color. Whites, blues, purples, yellows, greens, oranges, pinks, and reds colored every available spot across the lawn, filling every pot and window box with rainbows. A small crowd of people sat gathered together in the center of the garden, sitting in white-painted folding chairs, donned with twisted rivers of cream-colored muslin and rose-colored chiffon. Before them, a rose-covered archway had been set up. Two people, accompanied by a priest, stood facing one another.
From the front row, Lizzie dotted at her eyes as she witnessed her best friend marry the love of her life. Darcy chose to wear a simple, cream-colored gown with an empire waist. In addition to the gown, she had her hair styled to match Eliza Doolittle when she was introduced to the queen, a style Darcy had always wanted to wear but never had the opportunity. Bobby stood before her, entranced and proud to be marrying the keeper his heart.
As the couple said their vows, Sebastian crept back into the ceremony and reclaimed his seat at Lizzie’s side.
“How is she?” she asked softly as she leaned in close to him.
“Our daughter is fine. She’s finally sleeping, although I am betting that she won’t be that way for long. Nana is with her. She said that she likes watching her great-granddaughter sleep,” he stated as he reached for her hand. Holding it firmly in his, he twisted the gold band that he’d placed on her finger just under two years before. As they watched the wedding ceremony commence, both Lizzie and Sebastian couldn’t help but think back to their own.
After getting permission from the Museum, Lizzie and Sebastian were married at Blackwell Farm near the edge of Edith’s pond. There, under Heaven and the eyes of God, they proclaimed their love and promised themselves to one another. Darcy and Bobby had flown in from America. Hazel had claimed the best seat in the house and cheered wildly once the vicar had announced, ‘You may now kiss the bride’. After the wedding, Lizzie and Sebastian went to Scotland and toured the Highlands. When the honeymoon was over, they returned to America, settled their affairs, and promptly moved to England. Lizzie had been hired on at the Lake District Museum and, after six months, was promoted to director after Martin Beemer announced his retirement. Sebastian taught mathematics at a local secondary school and had never been happier until the day that Lizzie announced that he was to be a father. Their daughter, Virginia Hazel, was born on a cold, January day but immediately warmed the lives of all who loved her. Ginny, as they called her, was a happy child with Sebastian’s light blonde hair and Lizzie’s piercing eyes. From the beginning, it was clear that she possessed her great-grandmother’s temperament—feisty, curious, and unafraid of absolutely everything. As far as Lizzie was concerned, her life was almost perfect. It finally saw the apex today, the day that Darcy’s happiness came full circle.
“Can you believe it?” Darcy squealed later that afternoon as she and Lizzie stood side-by-side in the formal dining room. Darcy and Bobby received all of their guests but once the line had reached its end, she asked Lizzie to stay. Sensing that the two wanted a moment alone, Bobby excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen.
“Believe what?”
“I’m married!” Darcy shouted again as she held up the large, rose-colored diamond band that Bobby had placed on her finger just hours before. “I finally got my wish. I have a husband who loves me and who I love in return. I don’t think I could be any happier,” she gushed as she held her hand out to peer at it once more.
“Oh, I think you could.” Lizzie cast her a sideways glance as her mouth curved into a wide, knowing smile.
“I doubt it.” Darcy met her glance with challenging eyebrow raised. “Getting married is pretty hard to top.”
“Well, take a look at this and tell me if you’ve changed your mind.” Lizzie pulled a folded collection of papers from the pocket of her cream-colored pantsuit and placed it into Darcy’s hand. Darcy’s eyebrows knitted together curiously as she unfolded the papers and let out a scream that made everyone stop and turn in their direction.
“Babe!” Bobby came running as Darcy’s cry went silent. “Babe! What is it? Is everything all right?” Bobby’s face was pure worry until Darcy handed him the documents, tears streaming down her face and mussing her perfectly executed eyeliner and mascara. “Holy shit!” Bobby cried out, nearly dropping the documents. “Are you serious, Liz?” He glanced from Lizzie to Darcy and back to Lizzie. “You gave us the house?”
Lizzie, unable to speak from the mix of emotions swirling through her, nodded instead. In one huge sweep, Bobby had her and Darcy in an encompassing bearhug that belied his gentleness.
“We did,” Sebastian added as he approached them from behind. “Lizzie wanted this house to be filled with love and laughter again. This house was made for a big family. It should have kids running up and down its staircase, across its hallways, and
frolicking in that huge backyard. Who better to fill it with all those things than you two?”
Darcy embraced Lizzie while Sebastian and Bobby shook hands briefly and shared bear hug between them.
“Well, it looks like that will be happening sooner than expected.” Darcy pulled back and met Lizzie with a knowing look. “I’m due in October.” She blushed, elated and feeling as if she were on top of the world.
“Darcy!” Lizzie shouted, matching her friend’s happiness. Lizzie hugged her tightly once more. “I’m so happy for you, Darce. And, since you’re due in October, I won’t be too far along to keep me from coming to be with you when you have your baby.” Lizzie’s grin nearly split her face in half while Darcy gawked wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
“You can’t mean that you’re…” Darcy’s words trailed off as Lizzie nodded.
“Yep. Baby number two is on the way. We found out a week ago,” Lizzie chuckled, unable to contain her enthusiasm, her pride, and her gratitude for how everything worked out how it was supposed to. As they celebrated their respective announcements, Edith Blackwell and Edward Martin Murray smiled down at their great-granddaughter and counted the blessings that their story was finally complete, out in the open, and celebrated as it was meant to be.
************
Thank you for reading The Secrets of Water. As an independent author, you, dear reader, are the foundation of what I do and are integral to the journey we share together. If you enjoyed this novel, I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a review on the platform that you purchased this through and consider sharing with your friends. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. None of this would be possible without readers like you!
For more information on Wendy and her work, please visit: www.wendynelsonsinclair.com
Author’s Note
The world of research is a rich world of discovery. In The Secrets of Water, I write about the authentication process. The process to authenticate items is long, laborious, complicated, and takes teams of people. In this story, I decided to take a creative license and ‘shorten’ and ‘simplify’ the process for the sake of storytelling. This is not meant to discredit those who do this day in and day out. I wrote this story to honor those who have been lost to history and those who work indefatigably to ensure those names are rediscovered.
In the story, I write briefly about England’s suffragette’s and their long-held battle for the right to vote. The newspaper that I mentioned, Votes for Women, was an actual newspaper (for those who didn’t know) and the editors mentioned were the actual wife-and-husband team of editors. In addition, Evangeline Hampton, the courtesan that Edith writes an editorial about, is a character of my own creation. My novel, The Unfortunate, tells the story of Evangeline’s (Evie) life, as well as her trials, tribulations, and triumphs.
I hope that you all have enjoyed this story. For years, its characters lived in the back of my mind since they were first created while stuck in early-morning rush-hour traffic, on my way to an insurance job that I HATED. It’s because of that job, though, that I find myself here. A published novelist three-times over and no longer working a job. I’m living my passion and I hope that you all find yourselves in a place where you’re no longer just working. That you find a purpose and chase it with your whole being. Sometimes at your lowest, most miserable point, comes the moment when your life changes. To you all that have found it, chase it and never stop. To those who have yet to discover it, I offer the same words. Fulfillment is the most nourishing food of all.
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