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Since the introduction of public forums for the people pf cheesebridge and the opening of volunteers to the government, portley rind found himself lost
Sure he was the mayor, but he’d become more of a figurehead than anything. He wasnt really a good politician, he’d just been the one in power.
He was given time to think….think about what he was doing…and why. He had started walking about town in the mornings, to find himself a place in his changing world
He saw the leaves fall, the sunrises. Young love and bitter contempt.
He sat in his bed one night. sighing.
He turned to lady portley rind
“Cynthia?” He asked
“Yes?” His wife responded
“You dont love me….not really i mean?”
“Charles-“ she sounded surprised at first but eventually she looked away and sighed “you know this was arranged- and…you know its best for Winnie if…..we work things out”
“You’ve thought about this an awful lot, haven’t you?” He chuckled weakly
Lady portley rind frowned
“I think….we don’t spend any time together, we don’t talk about much outside of winnie and cheese- and I don’t think we can change that…..”
“Charles-“
“I mean…say we did…pull the plug on this so to speak….don’t you think we’d both be…”
“Happier?”
“Exactly…” he sighed
“To be blunt, it seems you’ve made up your mind on the matter”
Lord portley rind was going to say something but his wife wasn’t quite finished it seemed
“And if you think thats whats best then I suppose I don’t see how to stop you…..i only have one question” she looked off into the distance
“Yes?”
“do you love me?” She whispered
“Cynthia-“
“Be honest” she pushed. Her husband sighed. “I cant say i did…”
“Me neither” she frowned
“Then i suppose its a relief”
“Perhaps” she muttered, lying down. There was no avoiding it any longer.
And the two of them agreed to share the mansion and the butler’s but to get their own beds and let Winnie get the two of them in the same house.
“What do you mean ‘splitting up’?” Winnie was stunned. She knew her parents weren’t affectionate but she assumed that was normal, that a happy family, like one from her books, was as far fetched as the stories themselves
“Winnifred, dear, we think it best you hear from us first-“ her mother started
“And we want you to know that we love you oh so much, and we arent moving, and it’ll mostly be the exact same” portley rind smiled weakly
“If anything we’ll both be happier- and that will make you happy! Like a great big happy….” Her mother couldnt think of the right word
“Clump?” Her father mused
“But i dont understand- why?” Winnie was puzzled
Lady and lord portley rind stopped for a moment, not sure how to respond.
Had this been a few years ago they would’ve just lied, but they were trying to be more communicative and honest with the poor girl
“Its…..a complicated matter winnie, you don’t want us to explain, we’d be here all day-“ the lord started
“Well you haven’t got anything else to be doing” she crossed her arms. Her parents sighed, she was right.
“Well….you must marry someone you are really sure that you love Winifred- and……” he started
“Your father and i never really loved eachother….we were wedded for more…political reasons- and some people can salvage an arrangement like that but-“
“I suppose it just wasn’t in the cards for us Winifred” lord portley rind sat down next to her. She frowned.