At last month’s writers meeting we were given a writing prompt of – a broken chain in a forgotten room. This is the story I wrote. Let me know what you think?

Love Lost

Harriet’s hem brushed across the wooden floorboards, the moonlight casting light and shadow across her burgundy satin gown. The silent ballroom echoed the gentle swish of cloth against wood after an evening full of music, dancing and chatter. The last carriages disappeared into the night long ago and the servants slumbered in their attic accommodations. The extinguished candle sconces issued the feint aroma of burning, the concoction of numerous perfumes and colognes dispersing into the night air.

She dabbed her cheeks with an embroidered handkerchief, unable to stop the gentle falling of her tears.  The evening began with such promise and hope, it seemed such a long time ago when her heart was beating in anticipation of Horatio’s arrival. Her mother kept her distance as chaperone, when he asked to speak to Harriet in the rose garden. It would be the perfect setting for a proposal. She tried to keep her excitement under control, and her breathing low, especially with her corset so tight extenuating her small waist.

Horatio guided her to a bench, his hand under her gloved one and remained standing as she sat down. He cleared his throat several times and shuffled from one foot to another. She lowered her head to disguise her smile at his nervousness.

“Harriet, my mind has been in turmoil these past weeks. I do not take my decision lightly and therefore find I have to speak plainly and honestly to you tonight.”

Inhaling as deeply as she dared, Harriet raised her face to him to see his tensed jaw, and both hands gripped into fists. She resisted touching his arm, fearing it would cause him to lose his composure even more.

“My dear, I have enjoyed our many visitations, and want you to understand I was prepared to continue…”

Harriet’s ears filled with a roaring at the word ‘was’, why the past tense?

He turned and paced to one side and then the other before talking further.

“I have to cease our association, but please understand you are not at fault in any way. If I was able to alter my changed circumstance I would do in a moment without hesitation.”

Harriet tried to stand but felt her legs too weak. Horatio held out his arm for support.

A soft inhale gave Harriet the strength to ask. “What has changed, Horatio? Only last week you were hinting at a future between us.”

“It is unforgivable, Harriet, my dear, if I had known this news previously I would have shared with you immediately. That is why I came tonight. My orders came through late this afternoon and tonight’s ball was the earliest I could visit. I have received a commission with the East India Company in the East Indies serving under the Governor. It is a highly regarded position and one I would be a fool not to accept. However, due to the haste with which I am to depart, my ship is set to sail within the week. I have no time to put all my personal effects in order, including our courtship.”

Harriet sat back down her gown billowing at the sudden movement.

“Horatio, I gave you my heart. Is there nothing you can do?”

“I have sincere feelings for you as well, my dearest, but I cannot, in good heart, expect you to wait for me. I do not know how long I will be in the East Indies further to the four years of my commission. It is too much to expect of you.”

Unable to stop her tears, Harriet raised her hand toward him and stood looking at the ballroom double doors and her mother’s shadow. Without looking back she hurried away and into her mother’s open arms and puzzled look.

“My darling, what is it?”

Hiccupping, Harriet could only reply with, “He is not marrying me.”

Both women walked alongside the ballroom windows and entered the mansion through a side entrance and made their way up the grand oak staircase to Harriet’s bed chamber.

An hour later, alone and exhausted from crying, Harriet took the gold chain Horatio gave her for her last birthday and threw it across the room. The links broke as they collided with the stonework, along with her hopes of love and marriage. In the weeks and months that past, she no longer remained in the room filled with such heartache and loss. She moved into another room on the east wing as far away as possible and ordered her old bedroom locked and sealed. It remained a forgotten room for a generation.