Chapter Text
Wednesday, January 2nd 1901.
At the rise of dawn she was greeted by a tall, but not as tall as she was, man in a light blue suit, with greasy slicked back brown hair; he had a youthful face, a small beard, and couldn’t be much older than she was, probably around the mark of 28.
‘Miss Vandernacht. I am Charlie Blue, and from now onwards, your lawyer.’
‘Lenore looked up at him from the floor, where she had been sleeping, and couldn’t entirely tell whether she was in a dream or not.
‘I didn’t know they give alleged murderers lawyers, talk about a change in a century.’ Lenore remarked, realising she was in fact very much awake.
‘Well you have the good man here to thank for that.’
‘Tsk, what man? You’re standing alone.’ Lenore was irritated now, did he think her a madman? Well he wasn’t wrong but she hated being reminded of the fact after so long building a sane alter ego for herself.
And at that, a billowing clock passed into view, standing well away from the bars of the cell. Despite the tophat, as well as that the figure was looking downwards, Lenore knew who this was, far before their alike blue eyes met one another, with almost equal shock, and stared transfixed at one another.
‘F-fa-.’ tears of shame poured out of Lenore’s eyes, even after having cried for about half of the last 24 hours.
‘Leo.’
Thaddeus Vandernacht pressed his hand against the bars of the cell now, revealing Mr Whitlock behind him, looking, somewhat awfully relieved.
Lenore looked between the two men confused at the lack of signs of grieving from Ira, who wore a green suit not a black one.
‘Lawyer? What is happening.’
‘It seems you are not a murderer after all nephew.’
Lenore pinched herself very hard, poking the small of her back and her spine where it hurt to try and wake up, because what on Earth were they talking about.
‘Annabel Lee Whitlock is alive!’ Ira beamed at Leo, as she instantly collapsed onto the floor.
The opening of bars was the last thing she heard, and familiar hands picked her frail form up.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some twenty odd years previously
‘Father?’
‘Lenore?’
‘Where do we go when we die?’
‘To the kingdom of God, Lenore’
‘But why.’
‘Don’t ask incessant questions child.’ Thaddeus Vandernacht snapped at the four year old girl at his chair side.
Lenore simply started walking away, out of the oak door, waddling like a little penguin in an autumn dress.
Mr. Vandernacht made no haste to follow his daughter, before he remembered he in fact was obliged to look after her without the presence of servants in the Finger Lakes Cottage due to an outbreak of Measles, and rushed outside, abandoning the letter at his desk, addressed to his wife Lucile.
He walked through the halls with high windows, past neatly trimmed hedgerows, and blooming rose bushes that reached as high as the second floor windows, all before he spotted his daughter next to the lake itself. Thaddeus Vandernacht, in all his life had never been a fatherly man, let alone to his son, but the sight of his youngest child seconds away from drowning sent shivers up his spine, adrenaline forcing him into a run, before he scooped up the child under his arm like a bag and walked back to the cottage, relief washing over him.
‘Father! No! Father I want to rescue the bird!’
‘What bird?’
‘The swan at the lake!’
Thaddeus turned around, to see what his daughter was protesting about.
It seems she had started attending to the needs of a large gosling, with a seeming broken leg, for it was flopped sideways on the pebbled shore.
‘Don’t touch it! It’s far too dangerous, it could have measles on it. And you can’t help it, Lenore. It will die regardless of what you do to try improve its condition.’
‘But… ‘The little girl looked at the floor, long black hair falling over her face, ‘But they’re trying to help Theo, will that not work…’
Thaddeus winced, why was it always the small children that made jarring comments such as these, although he presumed they simply saw the world in more simple eyes, without the need to hide the truth. As much as it may be hard to imagine, he himself had been a child once, and deep down he felt the exact same as he did as when he was his daughter’s age.
‘Theo will get better because he… he is a human, and its easier for humans to get better than animals. so don’t worry about him, your mother and the best doctors in the state are looking after him right now.’
Thaddeus couldn’t imagine the contrary, being stripped of his only male heir at the age of 8 would be a tragedy for him, he would lose all his company after he died, unless Lenore made a successful enough marriage so as to take over the company without being a disgrace.
But no. No it would not only be a travesty from a business stand. This was his own and only son who he was talking about, someone he probably cared about more than anyone else except his wife and his late mother.
‘Do you promise he’ll never go away like the swan will Father?’
‘I promise Lenore.’
He extended out his pinky finger, where it hooked onto Lenore’s tiny one.
‘Promise’
Little Lenore took one last look at the grey, dying bird, before Father and daughter walked back towards the cottage at last.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
New Year day, 1901.
The best man handed ‘Leo’ her tie, with a slight grin across his face, out of character for such a serious man.
‘Thank you Prospero’ Lenore answered, fixing it around collar and pulling it taught so it was crisp and sharp.
‘You look fit for the Queen, Leo, I am sure Annabel will be astounded when she sees you at the altar later, in a good way of course’
‘I never took you as one for complimenting so much Mr. Medici,’ Lenore laughed, ‘But I cannot lie, I do feel absolutely my best today.’
They said a few more words, before Prospero left the dressing room, leaving Lenore to stare at herself in the mirror.
She had always wondered if Prospero ever would have wanted to marry Annabel Lee, they had been the closest of friends ever since he immigrated here from Naples, to start a rich and esteemed life amongst high society in London as a Physician. They would, undoubtedly be perfect together, both with intelligence beyond measure, from good backgrounds, and equally good looks, but Lenore supposed her Annie would never be able to truly love him, for he would essentially be the sort of husband she had spent her life trying to run away from. They would have the children she dreaded, and then be left alone to rot for the rest of her life, while her children themselves were taken away by the maids to be raised and educated, and she would watch them grow up from behind a glass window, alone, isolated, trapped, making the most beautiful pillows that would muffle her screams of rage every night as she yearned for the life she wished she would have had, if only she didn’t have to be a woman.
Lenore shuddered, her brain pictured these events in such realistic detail, the anger had even started to brew without such a thing being true.
She was marrying Annabel- in but a few hours, and she would give her the life she deserved, and foremost the life she wanted, no children, no needlepoint, no dying as yet another wasted soul . She would do anything for her Annabel Lee.
‘But what if you can’t do that for her? Seems a hefty promise doesn’t it-’
The voice murmured snidely from behind her, and she whipped around in her seat.
Lenore stood up to meet him, and they looked like mirror reflections of one another. The same ponytail, the same build, the same height, same cold Vandernacht eyes that bore into each other’s faces with horrible recognition.
‘You were dead last time I checked, my dearest Theodore’ Lenore breathed at the ghostly image of her brother.
‘Dead except in your mind, dearest Lenore.’
He smiled the same smile he did in life, but this was emaciated and gaunt, and his eyes became hollow, and his body began to writhe and shrivel up like all the water was being drained out of him, until he was nothing but skin on a skeleton. Lenore watched the skeleton bow its head in defeat as it turned to dust at her feet. She blinked and it was gone, all within five ticks of the clock on the wall.
And all of a sudden she felt like she had lost him all over again.
Tears flooded out her eyes, for what wouldn’t be the last time today.
‘Gah-,’ she cried silently, ’Why do you have to haunt me so, foul spectre? ‘
She addressed the room, anticipating a reply, but she never would have expected it to reply in the voice of Annabel Lee.
‘Leo my love? Talking to ghosts are we?’
Lenore sprinted to the nearest wall, pressing her head against it.
‘ANNIE. I shan’t look at you at this time, it’s bad luck.’
‘Since when were you superstitious?’
‘Since a long time, Miss Whitlock’
‘Weird how I will be letting go of that name, I can’t deny.’
Lenore heard a stool scrape across the floor, and the door shut, with a lock.
‘Annabel, please, the reception starts in an hour, is there really any reason to make me stand like a naughty school child in the corner.’
‘I simply wanted to talk- but I understand I may be hindering you. Goodbye, I shall see you later then’ She moved across the room, the swish of her veil marking her path.
‘Wait!’
She turned around to face her fiancée, and for a moment her eyes lingered on the white trail of the dress across the floor before she firmly shut them again.
‘Stay, please? I’m sorry I am as nervous as you are…’
Despite not being able to see her, Lenore felt Annabel smile, and she stepped towards her, pressing her face against Lenore’s armpit and squeezing her around her back in a tight embrace.
They stayed there, rocking side to side, exchanging words through merely their thoughts before Annabel broke the silence.
‘I have a bad feeling in my gut, Lenore.’ She whispered up at her, ‘And I know feelings in my gut are seldom incorrect, maybe its guilt that I am probably going to be condemned to hell for this.’
‘Or maybe it’s butterflies from being around me right now?’
Annabel sighed, but smiled all the while. ‘Maybe you are right, maybe I am just nervous about all of this.’
‘Well, you’re not wrong, but I for once most certainly never suggested that idea, don’t credit me with it,’ Lenore chuckled softly.
‘You feel the same? Do you not?’
‘Indeed, but most of all I am excited for tonight, when were are married, and every night and day that follows onwards until we die and are buried in the same grave. ‘
‘Unless the mortician finds out you’re a lady’ Annabel laughed.
‘Well, I’ll already be dead by then, and I could tattoo myself with an apology and the code to a secret vault of money if they never breath a word that I am in fact a female, and let us be buried together. I might not have any other people to give my fortune to. The Vandernacht’s will end with me.’
‘Us. Even though I don’t fancy the idea of you being covered in tattoos. Anyways, I don’t plan on outliving you, it would be far too much of a pain to bear, without you Lenore, when I have already spent 23 years without you. That itself is far too much.’
‘Leave me to kill myself over it, fine then’
‘You shan’t dare do such a thing!’
‘We’ll get to that problem when it arrives my darling’
There was a rapping on the door, and the pair sprung apart.
Lenore opened the large wardrobe full of an array of spare suits and shirts, and shoved Annabel into it, not caring about her open eyes.
Why was it that every time they had a moment to themselves, they were interrupted by unwanted presences, she thought to herself, as she opened the door wide.
‘Hello?’
‘Leo.’
‘Ah- Greetings Uncle,’ Lenore smirked, at her father’s somewhat cold, but neutral expression.
They had met once before, when Thaddeus and Lucille were greeting Ira, as the closest living relatives of ‘Leo’.
Thaddeus, the only sober one out of her parents, never spoke much to Lenore, instead focusing more on Ira, and Annabel Lee.
Her mother on the other hand had been a violent alcoholic ever since her first son died, topped off by what she believed was the death of her daughter. She was not aware that Leo was in fact her daughter, even if Thaddeus knew, he wouldn’t tell her. Until sober, both Lenore and her father agreed it would be too much for her to handle.
It was not even a week ago
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, 27th December 1900
They walked in silence side by side towards the balcony, towards the cool midnight blue sky lit with fireflies of whose reflections glistened in the lake next to the Whitlock Estate.
‘I should really say you’re going to go to hell for this, Lenore.’ Thaddeus muttered cooly at his daughter in a green suit.
‘God forbid two women escape from being forced into unhappy miserable lives through whatever means necessary.’
‘You’re life would not have been anything such Lenore- I have always known you to be an ungrateful child, but never-‘
‘And ever so grateful to have succeeded in my plan. There’s nothing you can do to stop it now, Fa- Uncle.’ Lenore glared at him, after interrupting, without an ounce of regret in her tone. She would no longer act as the all-subservient daughter of this fool, but the entitled man she had made herself into.
Thaddeus looked across at his daughter whose eyes burned with fire despite their complexion of ice. He looked down at her black waistcoat, on the breast pocket of which the letters T.V were embroidered in minuscule lettering, but he noticed it anyways. ‘You look so much like Theodore, I think your mother believes you’re him’
Lenore felt the tears burn far behind her eyes, but supressing them, and channeling all her rage into a remark, ‘ Always dear Theo no? You’d think with the white hair you would be able to tell I resemble Lenore, who I am, far more, but no, it was always him, never me, you never truly cared about me enough to do anything but sell me off to the first suitor you could find!’
‘Do you remember when Theo got sick that Autumn, you were around 5, I believe.’
Lenore now noticed how her father seemed to have given up in all attempts to continue the argument after she had pointed out that he could do nothing about the situation, and was making clear attempts to switch the conversation elsewhere. ‘Can’t forget, you were awfully worried weren’t you…’
‘I think that it was then that I realised how much I did truly care for you as a daughter.’
Lenore snorted,’ Didn’t care for me before that did you.’ Her voice almost broke.
‘No, I did… But I suppose I never really appreciated your presence as much until then. You were an awfully amusing child.’
Lenore watched the faintest smile curl the corner of her Fathers mouth, as he reminisced on the slightly happier days of their lives, when death and marriage and tragedy didn’t plague their family, even though illness did.
When Lenore didn’t say anything. Thaddeus spoke.
‘Whatever you’re doing Lenore, I do not know, but maybe it is in my best interest as much as it is yours.’
Lenore raised a brow.
‘I need an heir for my business, and even if you had secured a proper marriage, due to your injury, the doctors claimed that childbirth would be a void possibility. Business-wise, you being a man is as good as… As good as having Theodore back with us.’ He swallowed. ’So as long as this is only a ruse, I can only congratulate you and Ms Annabel-Lee on your engagement. Ira seems overjoyed regardless, I shan’t call it off if it benefits me so greatly, for his sake.’
They both looked towards Ira and Annabel who sat next to each other talking and laughing next to the fireplace behind them, with their backs facing the window.
‘You shan’t- I beg, shan’t tell anyone that I am Lenore. Especially not Mr. Whitlock.’
‘I don’t believe he even considers it a possibility, but then of course issues may come when it is apparent that you and Ms. Whitlock cannot produce an heir.’
‘Well I don’t believe it is something she would have wanted even if she had a husband.’
Lenore watched the corner of Thaddeus’ eye twitch with disapproval.
‘Well I was never aware a woman had much choice in the matter. I may not have gotten despicably mad with you yet, but the matter that you two, somehow find a child in some orphanage and pretend it is your own, is not negotiable.’
‘We’ll see.’
‘You sure will see, Leo Vandernacht.’ He glared at her. ‘Otherwise I will send one through the mail.’
‘Was that meant to be a joke?’ Lenore held back a snort.
‘Not intended to be, but I see you find the matter rather immaturely funny. Man up Lenore, you still have the composure of a hysterical woman at times like this, if you want my approval in you pretending to be a gentleman to be unwavering.’
‘Alright Father, alright.’
‘Good, Nephew, then we have no problems going forth.’
God, he must still think the cottage fire was an accident, mustn’t he? Lenore’s eye twitched.
‘As for Vandernacht railways? Mr.Whitlock told me you said you wanted me to be placed here to oversee the extension of it into England? I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to the notion, as long as it doesn’t consume my every move, like it did yours.’
Thaddeus Vandernacht coughed at the slight insult Lenore had thrown at him, ‘Well, I shall make arrangements for a position for you, somewhere, after you are married.’
Then he abruptly left the balcony, leaving Lenore alone on the balcony to mull over her father’s actions. In all of her time pretending to be Leo, she had never anticipated even an ounce of sympathy from her father, but then of course he only cared about having a male heir again, she couldn’t confuse his tactics for empathy for herself.
She turned around to see her Father talking with the animated Ira Whitlock, to the side of which was her Annie in a red Christmas dress which almost sparkled in the light of the candles burning in the Christmas tree behind her. Lenore watched the light dance across her face and her hair, which pinned into an elaborately decorated bun at the top of her head with pieces of holly, berries and pine .
She could have stared at her for years, her Annabel Lee. For Years.
A woman in a maids outfit burst through the door to the room where the three were sitting, carrying a tray of mince pies left over from the Christmas party Ira had thrown for his close friends (which Lenore and Annabel hadn’t attended, for attending a play at the local theatre ) and handed them out on plates to everyone.
‘Leo! Do come over, the pies are excellent! You should be sorry to have missed them on Thursday!’ Mr. Whitlock called over, about to dig into his own pie.
Lenore walked over, grabbing her cane from the wall, and taking a seat on a high backed armchair next to Annabel, and thankfully far away from Thaddeus, who was seemingly glaring at her again. How peculiar.
She thanked the maid who handed her the pie, and upon looking up at her, was met with a familiar face.
‘Miss Ada?’ She had been her mother’s personal maid after Theodore died 4 years ago, and was somehow now in England.
‘Indeed, I brought Miss Ada to England in hopes of passing her onto Miss Annabel since she claims to be very fascinated in the country, consider it sort of a wedding gift- well- lesser so a gift, more so…a recommendation. Ada was very helpful in helping Lucille in recovering from the grief of losing our son see, so she will be an excellent asset to your personnel in this manor.’
‘Well, it will be nice to have a face from home, after my Uncle leaves’, Leo nodded and smiled at Ada, who curtseyed back at the group before leaving the room in complete silence.
They spent the rest of the evening merry making around the fire…
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
New Year day, 1901.
‘I do hope you have the time to accompany me on a short stroll to the church, before the wedding officially starts, Leo.’
‘Of course- Uncle, I shall be one moment, and then will meet you at the front door’
She whispered to Annabel in the cupboard, 'Go back to your quarters Annie, I will see you at the altar my love' and left.
___
Leo met Thaddeus Vandernacht at the gate of the garden of the house in which brides and grooms got ready before being wed at the church on the corner.
England was full of quaint little houses, with front rose gardens, Leo observed upon strolling out, the flowers grown here were the epitome of beauty- peonies, lavender, dahlias, fuchsias, it was too much of a shame that they wedded in the cold winter months, and not in the flowering spring. Heavy coats were donned by men and women alike, weighing down their backs, but thankfully insulating them from the harsh winter winds which bit at their noses and ears.
‘Well, the wedding day finally arrives.’ Thaddeus began, in the manner of someone trying to awkwardly make small talk.
‘Thankfully we haven’t been waiting long, my, I only met Annabel Lee this August.’ Lenore smirked, adjusting a fresh blood red rose, pinned to her tuxedo jacket underneath her coat. It must have been grown in heated glasshouses to be grown in the winter months.
‘Indeed. Your aunt is waiting to meet you at the church, much to my disapproval she has taken an awful fancy to arranging the flowers.’ Mr Vandernacht looked very grim at the thought of his aristocratic wife mingling with the maids and performing what he regarded as manual labour, but wouldn’t dare tell his wife to stop. She had been awfully fragile as of late.
___
They entered through the large oak doors of the church, which was nestled between towering evergreen pine trees, and box hedges. It was a scene out of a fairy tale, on the inside and out- the many candles on each wall’s light flooding through the windows due to the winter clouds that blocked the sun. Upon entering, it was almost blinding to see the church. The tall stained glass window depicting biblical scenes cast red and blue shimmers across the floor and walls, and reflected upon gold crosses, and glass candle holders. Red velvet cushions were placed upon the mahogany pews, to soften the seats for the attendees of the wedding, which faced forwards towards the altar.
Lenore’s gaze was transfixed upon the plain wall where she and Annabel would stand, and pronounced husband and wife, and she let the corner of her mouth curl into a small smile at the thought of an eternity spent with her Annie.
‘Leo!’ A woman’s voice called to her from somewhere above.
Lenore stared up at the painted ceiling for a moment, before spotting Lucille Vandernacht next to a bouquet of roses on the second floor.
‘I haven’t seen you since you were a baby my dear’ she started hurrying towards the stairwell to greet her ‘nephew’ .
How addled must her brains be Lenore pondered, to not recognise her own daughter. She hadn’t seen her mother in what was almost two years- she seldom visited the Finger Lakes cottage. What if she had gone as mad as Lenore had been. What if she was currently drugged with the same Ether that had poisoner her own mind for two years. Lenore shuddered slightly, clutching tightly to the skull on her cane, which dug into her gloves; she had never really gotten on with her mother, especially after the state she was in once she was declared to never amount to more than a spinster, but she couldn’t deny the love she had for her growing up.
Lucille Vandernacht, compared to her husband, was an extremely down to Earth person, and Lenore always attributed her wild streak to her. She accompanied her children on treks in the forests surrounding their manor, or play hide and seek with them in the upper rooms of the house, much unlike a lady of the manor was expected to do, but Lucille never cared, for she valued her life too much to let it be controlled by acting a proper lady, besides, she was married, so as long as her husband didn’t care, no one else dared reprimand her.
Lucille appeared at the stairwell, dressed in a purple gown with lilac lacing and her slightly wavy hair half tied up into a bun. She walked over to give Leo a hug, which Lenore was slightly taken aback by.
‘My gosh, you look so much like your Uncle used to, the Vandernacht genes are far too strong for anyone to escape thanks to your Grandfather,’ She laughed, and upon reopening her eyes, Lenore saw the red quality in them of someone who was probably extremely drunk.
‘Happy New Year!I hope you have been faring well after the loss of your children, Aunt Lucy.’ Lenore said, gently, putting her hand on Lucille’s shoulder. That had been what her real cousins had always called her.
‘I- ‘ Lucille looked suddenly panicked, and as though she had realised a catastrophic fact. The alcohol must work incredibly well as drowning out her grief.
‘Lucille, there you are. The maid told me you were getting more flowers.’
Thaddeus broke the silence, staring at his shuddering wife with no sort of sympathy. Lenore glared at him, but then the thought crossed her mind that his wife was probably always like this. Regardless, this man didn’t have a heart.
‘The guests are arriving, I think you should come greet them at the door with me, Leo.’
Leo made a desperate look at his aunt -
Mother.
And followed Thaddeus towards the open doors.