“God, Crispin.” Unable to sit any longer, Gwen stifled hertears, got up and stood beside him. When she placed her hand on hisshoulder, he turned to her and rested his head on her chest. Hewasn’t crying, though, just breathing, obviously trying to absorball this information. None of this could be easy to hear and herheart went out to him. He had lived his entire life alone, thinkinghis mother hadn’t wanted him, to suddenly discover the sad truth ofit all.
Gathering hisown emotions, Piers focused once again on the bracelet. “Nowforgive me, but I have to ask. You say you’ve just met. Pardon mycuriosity, but if that is the case, how is it you decided to giveGwen your mother’s bracelet so soon into your relationship? Iassume it was all you would have had of her.”
At that,Crispin stood up and growled, “Again, I have no idea what you’retalking about!” He then turned and paced about the room like a lionin a cage. After a minute, he returned to Gwen’s side, held up herwrist and glared at the tiny trinket in question. “I bought thisthing at the shop where she works! She liked it so much, I gave itto her. It’s of no other significance!”
Standing up,Piers approached them and held out his hand for a closer look. WhenGwen attempted to remove it, Crispin stopped her. “It stays whereit is! It belongs to Gwen.”
“Well, I don’t want it,” Piers stated, slightly irritated byCrispin’s attitude. “I just want a closer look. In fact, wait here.I’ll be right back.”
Crispin andGwen watched him leave the room and then he turned to her. “Comeon, let’s get out of this hell hole!”
“No, Crispin, we can’t just leave. Not now, not after allyou’ve heard. I know this can’t be easy…”
“Easy?” Crispin barked out a laugh. “This is a fuckingnightmare! A farce! Nothing more than a farce!”
“What are you saying? You think he’s lying?”
“I think he’s either delusional or very much mistaken! There’sno way I originated from this place!”
“But it makes sense, Crispin! You look just like your mother.”She pointed at the painting.
“Coincidence! Purely coincidence! A mere resemblance does notprove anything.”
Clearly, hewas in denial, thought Gwen. The poor guy was beside himself. Partof her wanted nothing more than to take him away from this place,the current source of his anguish. But she knew he would regret itif he left in his current state of mind.
They bothturned when Piers re-entered the room holding a small picture framein his hand. He held it out to them. “Go on, see foryourselves.”
It was a photoof Cassandra at a window, drawing back a curtain. Clear as day, onher wrist was the bracelet in question, its every detail ondisplay. “I took that photo myself,” Piers said with a sigh. “Shedidn’t know until the camera clicked. I’ve always liked it for itsspontaneous pose. I fancied myself quite the photographer as achild. Anyway, there it is, the very same bracelet that is onGwen’s wrist today. It’s one of a kind, apparently, a familyheirloom given to her by your father, right before our father foundout about their romance, and had him sent off. I recall, she heldit quite dear. I only know all this because she told me. She keptit hidden from our father, though. Had he known, he would havesnatched it and done away with it like he did with everything elsehe didn’t approve of.”
“My father?” Crispin repeated guardedly.
“Yes, I don’t know much about him except that he worked in thestables. You see, Cassandra and I lived quite the shelteredexistence. We had tutors, never had much opportunity to mix withothers our age. We didn’t experience much love and attention fromour father so as you can imagine, that left Cassandra quitevulnerable to the least bit of attention from the handsome youngstable boy. But alas, the moment my father noticed them spendingtime together, he put an end to it, and had the boy shipped offback home to Ireland. Cassandra cried for weeks. Months later, shediscovered she was pregnant. Your so-called father couldn’t haveknown of her condition.”
“This gets harder and harder to believe with every word youspeak,” muttered Crispin. “It sounds like something out of yourbooks, Gwen. What a joke!”
“I’m afraid it is no joke,” Piers said wistfully. “It is onlythe truth, as sad as it sounds. My poor sister never stood achance.”
IgnoringCrispin, Gwen couldn’t help but ask, “But how did the bracelet endup in my uncle’s jewellery shop all these years later?” Shecontinued to study it, comparing it to the one in the photo.“Piers, could you give us a moment?” With a courteous nod, heexcused himself and made his way over to the drinks cart again.Taking Crispin aside, she whispered, “Crispin, I can’t help butwonder if this was all meant to be. Could it be the reason why Ihad felt such a strong connection to it? Could it be why I was sokeen on you buying it that day before Christmas? Had it beenfate?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Crispin scoffed. “How far-fetched anidea is that?”
“Think about it,” Gwen said. “We were meant to find each other.Remember the clover incident? How is it possible we found eachother again after all these years. Now this bracelet. Perhaps itwanted to find you, and maybe, that’s why you chose it out of allthe others.”
“I chose it because you compelled me with those eyes of yours.It’s nothing more.”
“Yes, but maybe I compelled you because the bracelet wanted meto.”
“You talk like it has a mind of its own or like it’spossessed!”
“Well, in a way, maybe it is,” Gwen said. “Not so muchpossessed but maybe your mother was reaching out to you through it.Maybe she wanted you to have it. After all, it found its way backto you. Just like we found
