The Gypsy Blessing Read Online Free PDF Page B

thought seemed disconnected from the event represented there.
    If the happenings I see there do come to pass, I will have proven to myself that the pages are not blank. She chuckled. Either that or they are blank, and, along with madness, I have acquired the ability to predict the future accurately!
    ~%~
    June 13, 1811
    Always having been someone who looked forward to keeping up correspondence with a number of people, Elizabeth found it odd when, over several days, she felt a wave of tranquility pass over her whenever the post arrived and there was nothing for her—until the morning that Jane received a letter from their Aunt Gardiner. Although Jane had been discreet in her surveillance, and nobody else seemed to detect it, Elizabeth herself could not help but notice
    that Jane had been looking in her direction more often than usual, her customary serene countenance marred by a slightly odd expression. Elizabeth was torn between relief that Jane had not had an opportunity to discuss what she had read and curiosity about what Aunt Gardiner could have told her.
    The afternoon post arrived. Elizabeth received a letter bearing the handwriting she had come to recognize as that of the artist—whomever that may be. Elizabeth excused herself to her room. Upon breaking the seal, she was not surprised to find another drawing, but she was stunned that it did not show anyone that she knew. Instead, she found an illustration of a remarkably handsome man whom she did not recognize. Noting that it was more like a portrait, she thought it seemed unfinished without any background. By the cut of his clothing, she could tell that he was a gentleman, and the quality of the buttons on his coat indicated that he must be quite wealthy.
    Is this gentleman sending me the drawings?
    Feelings and opinions came unbidden, and she found it difficult to look away. Instinctively, she knew he was intelligent, kind, and generous. A sensation welled up within her to the point where it was almost overwhelming. She gasped.
     

     
    I love him—with all of my heart and soul, I love this man, on whom I have never before laid eyes! Her eyes filled with tears. I do not understand. How can this be?
    A knock sounded at the door, and Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut, spilling her tears so that she could blot them from her cheeks.
    “Just a moment, please,” she called out. Reluctantly folding and placing this illustration in with the others, she closed the drawer and then opened the door.
    Elizabeth smiled. “Jane—come in.”
    Still plagued by a half-probing, half-worried expression, Jane entered. Elizabeth closed the door.
    “Lizzy, I must speak with you.”
    Elizabeth hid her dread by busying herself with smoothing the wrinkles from the covering of her bed and settling herself upon it. “I can tell that something is bothering you, Jane. Will you tell me what it is?” She patted the bed near her, and Jane sat on the edge.
    “Aunt Madeline is concerned about you, Lizzy. It seems she has received several notes from you concerning drawings that you have been receiving by post.” The last came out as if it were a question.
    “Yes, it is as I thought.” Elizabeth sighed, furrowing her brow. Jane will not judge me harshly. She will not betray my secret. Elizabeth rose and removed from the drawer a folded stack of paper tied with ribbon, leaving behind the sketch she had received today. Elizabeth turned towards her sister, and, handing the pile to Jane, she said, “I thought they were from Aunt Madeline, but she wrote to say that she did not send them to me.”
    Jane placed the stack on the bed and took up one of the ends of the ribbon, looking up at her younger sister first for permission to open it. Elizabeth nodded, and Jane proceeded to unfold each one and examine it before moving on to the next. Elizabeth’s heart hammered against her ribs as she waited to hear her sister’s pronouncement.
    After several minutes, Jane observed, “It must be someone