Crossovers100-Dracula-.009-"Months"
Title: Reasons
Claim Dracula: General Novel
Fandom: Dracula: General Novel/The Woman in White
Characters: Arthur Holmwood, Marian Halcombe, John Seward, and a whole slew of others.
Prompt: 009. Months
Word Count: 1570
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: Table here. I brought back the Brennans because I like them. Hush. And yes, I am aware the little ending is horrid, but I couldn't bring myself to delete it.
Marian knew the time had come for her to leave Limmeridge once and for all. She had kept her feelings for Walter a secret for as long as she had known him, and had it not been for one moment, one slip, even he would not have known. But he did know, and every day the tension grew between them. Marian knew that if one of them did not take action soon, they would only end in hurting Laura more than could be imaginable.
She packed her bags quietly, taking several days to do it. She had written to her old schoolmistress, and the kind woman hand found her work in London as a governess. It would not be any different from Limmeridge, save that it would not be her nephew she was teaching, and there would be no need to worry anymore. She was taking a late train, the middle of the night, to be precise, so she left her letter at Walter’s place at the head of the dining table. Then she thought better of it, and left it at Laura’s seat. She left no address, and no reference to where she was going, merely assurance that she was fine and that she would write. She left.
*******
Marian was quite content with her new position. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Harker, were perfectly wonderful, and always attentive to what few needs she might have. Certainly, they had their little oddities. Mrs. Harker, who insisted on being called Mina and custom be hanged, would have days when she seemed entirely distant, almost removed from her body. Mr. Harker was cheerful man who was very prematurely grey and could not sleep in total darkness. Still, everyone has their little quirks, thought Marian. And four year old Quincey Jonathan Arthur John Abraham, usually just called Quincey, was an absolute dear.
She had been employed in her new position four months and felt very happy, if a bit lonely at times. One evening she was shut up in her room, contemplating writing to Laura when there was a knock at the door. “Yes?” she asked. Jonathan poked his head in.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, Miss Halcombe, but as it turns our we’re short a player for whist and Mina thought you might be willing to make the eighth.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to presume-”
“Nonsense! Come down; I’ll introduce you to the rest of our little company.”
Jonathan and Marian came into the parlor where the card tables had been set up. Mina smiled as Jonathan went around the room with introductions.
“This is Mr. William Brennan, my lawyer, and his wife Fiona. Of course, you already know Mina. Then this is Dr. John Seward, our local asylum proprietor, and Victoria, his…” Jonathan seemed to be at a loss.
“Soon to be wife,” offered Seward, with a sly look at Victoria.
“Right,” said Jonathan. “And last, though of course not least, is Mr. Arthur Holmwood, who I suspect will be your partner this evening. Everyone, this is Miss Marian Halcombe.”
Once the proper handshakes and curtseys had been made, they split off to the two tables. The Harkers and the Brennans took the first table, leaving the others to the second. Seward began to shuffle the cards while the others sat down. Arthur gave Marian a half smile from across the table.
“I fear it’s rather my fault you got dragged down here,” he said. “I wasn’t intending on coming at all tonight, so by the time I decided to, it was rather too late for me to provide my own partner.”
“There’s really nothing to apologize for, sir,” said Marian, smiling back. “My sister and I used to play cards often, and it’s quite a welcome distraction from the interminable amount of reading that’s filled my spare time.”
“Really, Arthur, you act as though you feel guilty still being single. Really, if I’d gone through what you had, I’d quite probably be single too,” said Victoria. It took only a few moments for them to start bickering about relationships and such. Seward began to deal the cards.
“Arthur lost his fiancé some years back in a rather tragic accident,” he said to Marian.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” she replied. Seward shrugged. “It’s just one of those things that you don’t expect and have no control over. Rather like falling in love,” he said, glancing at Victoria.
The games lasted several hours, all having a wonderful time. Marian laughed as Seward told stories of his patients and Arthur and Victoria tried to outdo each other for stuffiest parties they’d been forced to attend. She spoke of her sister, and even of Limmeridge and Walter, much to her surprise, and none of the company seemed irritated at the amount of talking she did.
It was quite late when the games finally broke up. They were nearing the end of a hand when Victoria finally tossed her cards onto the table. “I don’t think I can stand it any longer. John, you really must take me home before we lose to Arthur and Miss Halcombe yet again.” Seward smiled and got up to retrieve their coats. Arthur and Marian gathered the cards and cleared the table.
“I quite enjoyed your company this evening, Miss Halcombe,” said Arthur as they tidied. I do hope I’ll have the pleasure again sometime. Perhaps the next time we all meet for cards?”
“I would be more than honored, Mr. Holmwood,” said Marian. “A familiar pastime can be so terribly comforting.”
*******
Brennan was refilling his wife’s glass and his own at the bar. Seward was already there, supposedly mixing a drink for Victoria. Instead he was watching the others scattered about the parlor. Brennan smiled a little. “Watching anyone in particular, Doctor?”
“Yes, actually,” said Seward. “I’ve been observing the governess and the lord for these last few months of card games. I do believe Miss Halcombe is quite smitten with Arthur, and vise-versa, for that matter. They just don’t know it yet.”
Brennan raised an eyebrow. “Jack, I know you turn madness into sense in your work, but your sense is starting to sound utterly mad.”
“Hardly,” said Seward as he returned to finishing Victoria’s drink. “Arthur still believes he’s in love with his dead fiancé; Miss Halcombe still thinks she’s in love with her brother-in-law. Neither of then wants to replace the presumed object of their affection. However, the other is so unlike the one they think themselves to be in love with, they haven’t realized that the difference is enough to make them fall in love. Plain, dark Marian is nothing like fair Lucy; and thoughtful, jovial Arthur is nothing like this somber Walter.”
Brennan stared at Seward. “Jack, you’re spending too much time with your analytical textbooks.”
*******
It was quite by chance that Marian bumped into Arthur on her way back from some errands she had been running. She had received a letter from Walter and Laura through a friend, and had made the mistake of reading it as she went. Her upset, and the rain which had begun to fall, caused her to collide with another figure, who much to her relief was Mr. Holmwood.
“Miss Halcombe, are you quite alright?” he asked as quickly placed his umbrella over the both of them.
“Fine, Mr. Holmwood, thank you,” she said, swiping her eyes with her sleeve in a rather unladylike manner. “I just…I received a letter, and it rather wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“Is there anything I can do? May I at least walk you home?” said Arthur anxiously. Marian handed him the letter and nodded. He skimmed over it, his brow furrowing.
They walked on for a bit before he spoke. “Miss Halcombe, forgive my being forward, but from what you’ve told me of your past, I had rather formed the impression that you loved both your sister and Mr. Hartwright dearly. If that is so, then I don’t understand why their entreaty for you to come home and help care for your niece and namesake was such a cause of upset.”
Marian sighed deeply. “I do love them both dearly. The trouble is…well, the trouble is that I don’t want to go back to them. I don’t belong at Limmeridge anymore; I haven’t for a long time and I know it. I have been here in London for nine months, and I am content. The other trouble is that I don’t know how to tell them that. I don’t think they’d understand.”
“Perhaps you simply need to give them a reason they would understand.”
“Lie to them?”
“Good heavens, no, that wasn’t what I meant at all,” said Arthur, reddening and looking a bit flustered. “Rather more like, well, telling them a reason you have to stay that came of your true reason, the one you just stated.”
Marian furrowed her brow a little. “I don’t think I quite know what you mean.”
Thinking back, Arthur realized he really hadn’t meant to kiss her. But on the other hand, Marian hadn’t intended to kiss him back either. Her only request was that the wedding happen Christmas Eve, a request which more than suited him. A month more to wait was hardly any time at all, especially for someone in love.
*******
“I told you so.”
Brennan handed Seward a five-pound note. “Jack, you are the worst.”
Claim Dracula: General Novel
Fandom: Dracula: General Novel/The Woman in White
Characters: Arthur Holmwood, Marian Halcombe, John Seward, and a whole slew of others.
Prompt: 009. Months
Word Count: 1570
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: Table here. I brought back the Brennans because I like them. Hush. And yes, I am aware the little ending is horrid, but I couldn't bring myself to delete it.
Marian knew the time had come for her to leave Limmeridge once and for all. She had kept her feelings for Walter a secret for as long as she had known him, and had it not been for one moment, one slip, even he would not have known. But he did know, and every day the tension grew between them. Marian knew that if one of them did not take action soon, they would only end in hurting Laura more than could be imaginable.
She packed her bags quietly, taking several days to do it. She had written to her old schoolmistress, and the kind woman hand found her work in London as a governess. It would not be any different from Limmeridge, save that it would not be her nephew she was teaching, and there would be no need to worry anymore. She was taking a late train, the middle of the night, to be precise, so she left her letter at Walter’s place at the head of the dining table. Then she thought better of it, and left it at Laura’s seat. She left no address, and no reference to where she was going, merely assurance that she was fine and that she would write. She left.
*******
Marian was quite content with her new position. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Harker, were perfectly wonderful, and always attentive to what few needs she might have. Certainly, they had their little oddities. Mrs. Harker, who insisted on being called Mina and custom be hanged, would have days when she seemed entirely distant, almost removed from her body. Mr. Harker was cheerful man who was very prematurely grey and could not sleep in total darkness. Still, everyone has their little quirks, thought Marian. And four year old Quincey Jonathan Arthur John Abraham, usually just called Quincey, was an absolute dear.
She had been employed in her new position four months and felt very happy, if a bit lonely at times. One evening she was shut up in her room, contemplating writing to Laura when there was a knock at the door. “Yes?” she asked. Jonathan poked his head in.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, Miss Halcombe, but as it turns our we’re short a player for whist and Mina thought you might be willing to make the eighth.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to presume-”
“Nonsense! Come down; I’ll introduce you to the rest of our little company.”
Jonathan and Marian came into the parlor where the card tables had been set up. Mina smiled as Jonathan went around the room with introductions.
“This is Mr. William Brennan, my lawyer, and his wife Fiona. Of course, you already know Mina. Then this is Dr. John Seward, our local asylum proprietor, and Victoria, his…” Jonathan seemed to be at a loss.
“Soon to be wife,” offered Seward, with a sly look at Victoria.
“Right,” said Jonathan. “And last, though of course not least, is Mr. Arthur Holmwood, who I suspect will be your partner this evening. Everyone, this is Miss Marian Halcombe.”
Once the proper handshakes and curtseys had been made, they split off to the two tables. The Harkers and the Brennans took the first table, leaving the others to the second. Seward began to shuffle the cards while the others sat down. Arthur gave Marian a half smile from across the table.
“I fear it’s rather my fault you got dragged down here,” he said. “I wasn’t intending on coming at all tonight, so by the time I decided to, it was rather too late for me to provide my own partner.”
“There’s really nothing to apologize for, sir,” said Marian, smiling back. “My sister and I used to play cards often, and it’s quite a welcome distraction from the interminable amount of reading that’s filled my spare time.”
“Really, Arthur, you act as though you feel guilty still being single. Really, if I’d gone through what you had, I’d quite probably be single too,” said Victoria. It took only a few moments for them to start bickering about relationships and such. Seward began to deal the cards.
“Arthur lost his fiancé some years back in a rather tragic accident,” he said to Marian.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” she replied. Seward shrugged. “It’s just one of those things that you don’t expect and have no control over. Rather like falling in love,” he said, glancing at Victoria.
The games lasted several hours, all having a wonderful time. Marian laughed as Seward told stories of his patients and Arthur and Victoria tried to outdo each other for stuffiest parties they’d been forced to attend. She spoke of her sister, and even of Limmeridge and Walter, much to her surprise, and none of the company seemed irritated at the amount of talking she did.
It was quite late when the games finally broke up. They were nearing the end of a hand when Victoria finally tossed her cards onto the table. “I don’t think I can stand it any longer. John, you really must take me home before we lose to Arthur and Miss Halcombe yet again.” Seward smiled and got up to retrieve their coats. Arthur and Marian gathered the cards and cleared the table.
“I quite enjoyed your company this evening, Miss Halcombe,” said Arthur as they tidied. I do hope I’ll have the pleasure again sometime. Perhaps the next time we all meet for cards?”
“I would be more than honored, Mr. Holmwood,” said Marian. “A familiar pastime can be so terribly comforting.”
*******
Brennan was refilling his wife’s glass and his own at the bar. Seward was already there, supposedly mixing a drink for Victoria. Instead he was watching the others scattered about the parlor. Brennan smiled a little. “Watching anyone in particular, Doctor?”
“Yes, actually,” said Seward. “I’ve been observing the governess and the lord for these last few months of card games. I do believe Miss Halcombe is quite smitten with Arthur, and vise-versa, for that matter. They just don’t know it yet.”
Brennan raised an eyebrow. “Jack, I know you turn madness into sense in your work, but your sense is starting to sound utterly mad.”
“Hardly,” said Seward as he returned to finishing Victoria’s drink. “Arthur still believes he’s in love with his dead fiancé; Miss Halcombe still thinks she’s in love with her brother-in-law. Neither of then wants to replace the presumed object of their affection. However, the other is so unlike the one they think themselves to be in love with, they haven’t realized that the difference is enough to make them fall in love. Plain, dark Marian is nothing like fair Lucy; and thoughtful, jovial Arthur is nothing like this somber Walter.”
Brennan stared at Seward. “Jack, you’re spending too much time with your analytical textbooks.”
*******
It was quite by chance that Marian bumped into Arthur on her way back from some errands she had been running. She had received a letter from Walter and Laura through a friend, and had made the mistake of reading it as she went. Her upset, and the rain which had begun to fall, caused her to collide with another figure, who much to her relief was Mr. Holmwood.
“Miss Halcombe, are you quite alright?” he asked as quickly placed his umbrella over the both of them.
“Fine, Mr. Holmwood, thank you,” she said, swiping her eyes with her sleeve in a rather unladylike manner. “I just…I received a letter, and it rather wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“Is there anything I can do? May I at least walk you home?” said Arthur anxiously. Marian handed him the letter and nodded. He skimmed over it, his brow furrowing.
They walked on for a bit before he spoke. “Miss Halcombe, forgive my being forward, but from what you’ve told me of your past, I had rather formed the impression that you loved both your sister and Mr. Hartwright dearly. If that is so, then I don’t understand why their entreaty for you to come home and help care for your niece and namesake was such a cause of upset.”
Marian sighed deeply. “I do love them both dearly. The trouble is…well, the trouble is that I don’t want to go back to them. I don’t belong at Limmeridge anymore; I haven’t for a long time and I know it. I have been here in London for nine months, and I am content. The other trouble is that I don’t know how to tell them that. I don’t think they’d understand.”
“Perhaps you simply need to give them a reason they would understand.”
“Lie to them?”
“Good heavens, no, that wasn’t what I meant at all,” said Arthur, reddening and looking a bit flustered. “Rather more like, well, telling them a reason you have to stay that came of your true reason, the one you just stated.”
Marian furrowed her brow a little. “I don’t think I quite know what you mean.”
Thinking back, Arthur realized he really hadn’t meant to kiss her. But on the other hand, Marian hadn’t intended to kiss him back either. Her only request was that the wedding happen Christmas Eve, a request which more than suited him. A month more to wait was hardly any time at all, especially for someone in love.
*******
“I told you so.”
Brennan handed Seward a five-pound note. “Jack, you are the worst.”