The Windsor Girl by Sylvia Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

visit her in her rooms, but a warning William, the child needs rest and must not be disturbed for long.  Please see that you stay only five minutes.
    William felt panic rising in his chest as he was escorted, by a manservant, along a maze of hallways to Sarah’s quarters.
    He arrived there to find her sleeping; her golden hair tussled and damp, her breathing shallow.  He noticed, with concern, the dark shadows beneath her closed lids.
    ‘My love, if anything should happen to you, how would I bear it?’ he whispered.  He carefully took her delicate hand in his and pressed it to his lips.  He stayed this way for five minutes then quietly left the room.
    The next few days were a nightmare.  William could not work.  He could concentrate on nothing but his lovely Sarah.  He was allowed to see her every day, but only for a few minutes.  She was showing no improvement at all, in fact, she seemed to be ‘sinking’ more each day.  The Doctor said she had a ‘lung impurity’ and it would take some time for her recovery.
    Sarah slept most of the time, but when she was awake, William told her how much she meant to him and how they were going to marry and live in a fine house and have beautiful children.
    She smiled at him and said, ‘we will always be together William, no matter what happens won’t we?’  But the effort of talking seemed to be too much for her.  She closed her eyes, once more, and slipped into a deep sleep.
    The next morning, just six days after the onset of the illness, William’s world fell apart.  Sarah was dead.
    The dreadful news was conveyed to William by the Master.  He himself had insisted on this.  It was important to him that William should understand how devastated he felt at Sarah’s passing, and how sympathetic he was for the boy’s loss.
    William was ravaged with grief, but allowed himself to be escorted to the house, where he could see Sarah, for the last time.
    Mister Fairfax silently closed the door behind him as he left the young man in the bedroom.  William tiptoed to the bed somehow afraid he would wake her.
    ‘Oh that I could’, he cried, tears now leaving a trail of sadness down his face.  He pressed her limp hand to his cheek and wept as if he would never stop.
    ‘How could you leave me Sarah?  How can I survive without you?  My poor, sweet, love.  My only love’.  He did not move for a long time.
    When the tears subsided he suddenly felt calm.  He turned back the sheets and lay next to Sarah, his body close to hers for the very first time.  He kissed her lips, to find them cool, but not yet cold, and William thought, how ironic that we should be left here, alone, only now when it is too late for us.   He lay there, undisturbed, for what seemed like an eternity.
    They made a strange picture, he and his dead Sarah.  And he vowed, there and then, never to give his heart to anyone else, as long as he lived.
     
    The next six months were taken up with work, and then, more work.  It was the only thing he could do.  He wanted nothing from this cruel world, only to work until he dropped.  His parents were worried for his health.
    ‘The boy can’t go on like this John, he really can’t’, his mother said, ‘I’m so worried about him.  All he does is work and I know he’s not sleeping well’.
    ‘He should find someone else’, his father replied, ‘if only he would, it would help him to get over his bereavement’.
    She looked at her husband and sighed, ‘John, do you honestly think he will ever get over Sarah?  If you do, then you’re closing your eyes to the truth.  I don’t think he will ever be happy again and it makes me sad.  If only I could help him’.  But she knew there was nothing to be done.
    William's father tried on numerous occasions to reason with his son, but so far he had made no progress.  He decided he would try one last time.
    He approached William, who was in the Dining room, sorting the upstairs silver.
    ‘William.  I