Tales of the Woods by Inge Richardson

Author:Inge Richardson [Richardson, Inge]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-04T04:00:00+00:00

Spring came, and they celebrated Wyntr's wedding as she wished. It was a beautiful day, filled with cherry blossoms and good wishes. The farm tables were covered with hearty dishes. Yet when Lefwyn took a mouthful of cake, he remembered the girl in the forest.

They wrote long letters to each other every week. And he felt a little sad at her growing awareness. She was doing so well at her studies that she did not care about the slights from her school mates. She was always neat and clean, and, in fact, one of the boys had told her, beautiful. His heart tightened when he read these words, and his hand gripped the paper, longing to squeeze it into a ball. Was she going to grow so far away from him? They even invited her to parties now. Sometimes she went, but she was so calm and quiet, the boys chased the more amiable girls. She knew by now that he was no elfin king. His forest crown must be discarded, and he must appear as dull as other men.

“Will you come to the village for your holiday?” she asked.

He wanted to, but ahead lay a summer filled with delights, and he was invited to stay at the house of a friend at the seaside. A young woman would be there, the sister of his friend, and he was curious. Could he shake these foolish memories?

Although he could not see her face and eyes, he could sense the hurt in her letters. The words became more formal and distant. She was teaching herself to live apart from him. He satisfied himself with swims in the sea, feasting with his friend, and kisses with the sister. They were sweet, delicious kisses, tasting somewhat of chocolate and mint. But when he returned to his studies, he still felt vaguely unsettled. He went for long walks in the evening and poured all his energies into his work.

“I will return to visit the girl for the holiday,” he told himself, “I should see how she is progressing after all.”

But she wrote to inform him that due to her assiduous studies she had been offered a place at a select grammar school for young ladies. It was in the countryside, and she was excited at the opportunity. There would be horses, and she might even learn to ride. He forced himself to wish her well with every stroke of his pen. Then he went out for an even longer walk and ended up at a tavern where the cheerful, curly-headed barmaid reminded him so much of the village and his moonlit swim that he ended up sobbing into his wine.

He wrote a sad letter to his sister, who insisted he stay at the farm for his holiday. It was a kindness on her part to put up with his morose, grumpy ways. But he was soon distracted by her plump babe and laughed out loud at his father’s attempts to amuse the child. One night,

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