Our story, though long and at times troubling, is one of my favorite love stories. It transcends space and time and even death. The year was 1876 when I first locked eyes with Benjamin. From the very first time he smiled at me I knew he was the one I’d spend my life with. I was fourteen at the time, Benjamin was seventeen. We met at the annual Christmas party my parents were throwing. His parents were aristocrats, as were mine, so we were destined to be togethe
Two months later Benjamin was promised to my sister, Katherine. You see, my father and his father decided to merge our families in order to preserve the wealth so Katherine being sixteen would be first to be married. Unfortunately, by that logic, that meant that Benjamin, being the oldest, would be first to marry as well. This devastated me, but I knew he loved me…not her.
Six months later they married and moved into this beautiful cottage that my parents bought for them. It was like something out of a dream. But Benjamin wasn’t happy, I know this because he spent his spare time running around with me. We were in love! We did whatever we could do to be with each other.
When I turned sixteen my father promised me to Armond Whitacker, son of Victor Whitacker. Victor was the mayor of our little town so this was a very prominent and important marriage proposal. With this betrothment, my family and I would be set for life. I didn’t care about any of it. Armond was a twenty one year old spoiled half-wit with absolutely no class. He had no idea how to treat a lady! So naturally, Benjamin and I kept seeing each other long after the wedding.
Five years into this arrangement, Katherine becomes pregnant with their first child. She is filled with pure joy at the thought of having a child. Benjamin, on the other hand, was devastated. He only consummated with Katherine because eventually, he had to in order to keep this marriage legal. She didn’t care to know why he hated sleeping with her, she just wanted a child. When she became pregnant, Benjamin knew what he’d have to do.
So one night we made a plan. We were going to run away together! First, we had to take care of our two issues. It was raining hard that night so the world was extra dark. Benjamin snuck into the bedroom he shared with my sister. He rose the axe high in the hair and chopped her up into little pieces. Meanwhile, I was packing my bags to leave when Armond came in. We began to argue because I told him I was leaving him. He struck me and things began to get physical. All I kept thinking is that I wouldn’t meet Benjamin in time.
Things started to go south when Armond, in all his fury, grabbed me, turned me around and lifted my dress. He shoved my face down into the mattress and began to rape me. It burned so badly and each time he thrusted himself onto me my cries grew louder and louder. That wasn’t enough for him to stop. He just kept grunting and thrusting managing to yell out “If anyone gets to fuck you it’s me” inbetween grunts. I began to scream from the pain.
A loud bang came from behind me but it did not slow Armond down. What did slow him down was the knife taken to his throat by Benjamin. Armond fell to the floor, mouth open and eyes staring straight ahead. Benjamin grabbed me and held me while I sobbed into his shoulder. I was traumatized by what just happened but being in his arms, even for a moment, helped relieve my sorrows.
“We have to go before they realize he’s dead.” He whispers softly into my ear. I nodded, straightened myself up and grabbed my bag. We left through the back entrance, completely missed by all forty-two of the house servants. With the house getting smaller in the distance, we hear a bloodcurdling scream which was our cue to run faster.
We made our way more north until we found a nice little inn to stay at. We were miles from anyone who would recognize us so we took a room for the night. We ended up staying for weeks, maybe even months.We lost track, lost in our own romantic paradise. We made love, ate great food, drank at the pub and laughed for days on end. It was the happiest moment of my life. We decided to go further north to avoid anyone ever catching up to us. We went to an entirely different country all together and settled down. We changed our names to Winifred and Edward. We married and bought this quaint little home to spend our days. It was absolutely perfect, all I ever wanted in life.
For fifteen years this is how we lived. He opened a bakery, making the finest breads and pastries. I wrote, spending days in poetic oblivion. Sometimes years would go by and we wouldn’t even notice because we were so happy. That was until Benjamin developed consumption. When the doctor told him it was like our bubble of happiness instantly deflated, leaving us to suffocate in it’s midsts.I personally felt like my heart exploded into a million pieces. How could this happen? How could I go on?
That leads me to this moment. Him, laying in this wooden coffin, and me, crying excessively by his side. He was beautiful. Every part of him was glistening, even in the dark funeral parlor. His wavy, chestnut brown hair lay perfectly around his slender face. He smelled of cherry wood and tobacco smoke. I lay my gloved hand upon his, tears pouring from my eyes. I leaned down to kiss his forehead, whispering to him “I will never leave you.”
Every seat in the parlor was taken. Sad faces staring up at me as I made my way to my seat. The service was beautiful but I didn’t hear a word of it. All I could hear was the beating heart in my chest echoing back at me. And just as I started to fear forgetting his voice, I heard it. Loud and clear. He said “even in death, our love goes on.” It was at that point that I knew what I need to do. There’s only one suitable place for his body and that is at home…with me.
Written by K. Holbrook