Two weeks passed by before I saw the little maid again. I had settled into a new hotel and established the same routine as before. In fact I had completely put her out of my mind when I returned to my new hotel at dawn and saw her standing outside, searching the street. I was too far away for her to see me, and it would have been easy for me to quickly materialise in my room, pack, and wait for her to leave before vacating that hotel. There were so many things I could have done. I could have made her forget me, or left France. But I didn’t do any of those things, something that haunts me, because even then, a part of me didn’t want to let go of her so easily.
Instead, I took a few moments to admire the transformation I saw. Her dark brown curls were glossy and hung down her back. She wore a brand new dress and an expensive, stylish new coat. But the most heartening change was the disappearance of the dark circles under her eyes, the colour in her cheeks and how lifted she appeared to be. The little bird had blossomed into a beautiful woman.
“Henriette. What are you doing here on your own at this hour?”
She spun around, and I couldn’t deny the fact that the smile that lit up her face when she saw me warmed my heart. She immediately ran toward me and grasped my hands.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You were the one who did all this for us.”
She was referring to the anonymous benefactor who had given them a large sum of money, effectively securing her future. She was well rested now, as she no longer needed to work at that hotel and had nurses to care for her mother. They were in the process of moving out of the cramped one bedroom home they had been in to a house in the country. It was a quiet, peaceful place for her mother to spend her remaining few months.
Henriette didn’t wait for me to respond, but threw herself into my arms, her head against my chest.
“Thank you, so much. You cannot know what this means to my mother. So much worry has been lifted from her life and mine. She can die now knowing I will be cared for.” She glanced up at me. “I know I am selfish, but when Monsieur Durand came to us and told us someone had given us all that money, I knew straight away it was you. And my heart was so full, because it meant you cared. That you care for me.”
“It means nothing, Henriette. I will leave France soon. It means nothing. You have a chance now, so go home and forget you ever knew me.”
The joy that had brought an infusion of colour into her cheeks slowly drained away.
“But...but...you do not have to leave. I...I was hoping—”
“I know what you are hoping for, Henriette. Of what you have dreamt of ever since you saw me. But I cannot stay in France. I am searching for someone. I have been for years. I will be leaving to continue that search.”
“Another woman?”
I nodded.
She was crying now, tears flowing freely.
“My mother will be gone soon and I’ll be all alone. I don’t want to be alone.”
I moved closer and placed my hand against the side of her head.
“You don’t have to be alone. You have so many admirers, quite a few at that hotel you used to work at. You were just too unhappy to notice them. You will soon find someone, get married and have a houseful of children who won’t give you a moment’s peace.”
“But how can anyone else come close to you?”
“I...I cannot be the man you want me to be, Henriette. So go home and forget you ever saw me.”
I kissed her briefly on the lips and then walked away, knowing she was watching me get farther and farther away, the tears streaming down her face.
***
I was sure Luna was dead, for I did not believe she would disappear from my life for so long without word. I held myself together during those years with nothing but hope. But I had found nothing in all that time and the years were beginning to weigh me down. I did not want to give in to the desolation and Henriette offered me a way to beat it back. No one could ever compare to Luna, but seeing Henriette’s tear-streaked face and the innocent adoration she held for me had eased my pain for the brief moment I was with her.
So it was on a clear, cool night that I found myself at the little cottage by the sea I had bought for the little maid. I convinced myself I was only there to check on her and make sure they were settled in their new home.
I approached and stood outside where I observed them through the eyes of one of three nurses who provided twenty-four-hour care for the dying woman. She was resting in bed, her breathing laboured, face sallow, dark circles prominent under her eyes. Her thin grey hair hung down the sides of her head. Henriette sat by the bed reading to her. The glow I saw that morning at the hotel had diminished somewhat, but she was still radiant, if a little thinner. She read aloud until her mother fell asleep and then she sat and gazed at her, her expression sad and melancholy.
Henriette. She jumped when I spoke her name in her mind, her eyes widening in shock and bewilderment. Come to the window.
She sat completely still for a moment, and then placed the book on the bed. Her expression was still startled, but she got to her feet, and a few seconds later appeared at the window and peered outside.
A huge smile lit up her face when she saw me standing outside in the dark. She darted out of sight. I moved to the front door and it was thrown open a few moments later. She ran into my arms.
“Monsieur Wentworth! It is so good to see you.”
I held her face in both hands and kissed her briefly on the lips.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, holding tight to my hand when I was able to let her go.
“Will you come for a walk with me?”
Staring into her soft brown eyes and radiant face, I made a decision I have regretted over and over again.
“Just one second, monsieur.”
She ran back inside the house and emerged moments later with a coat.
We went for a walk and I told her everything. I told her what I was and how I was made. I told her about those long, lonely years in the wilderness...and then I told her about Luna. She listened, enthralled with my fantastical stories.
I finished with the reason I had made the journey to see her.
“Like you, I do not want to be alone. If you will have me, I would like to marry you.” I hushed her as she made to speak. “I will be with you for the rest of your life and I will always care for you. But if you choose to marry me, it is on one condition. You can never ask me to make you into what I am. It was a mistake to turn Luna into a vampire. I will not do it to another.”
She was beaming, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Oh, Monsieur Wentworth! Of course I will marry you, but...” She frowned and looked away in anguish. “But what will happen when she comes back?”
“Henriette, Luna is not going to come back. She...she must be dead, for she would not have left me for so long.”
Henriette still appeared unsure, as if she wanted to say more.
“I am yours,” I said. “If you will have me.”
Those words took her thoughts away from her concerns and she threw herself into my arms.
“Yes! Yes, I will marry you. But I want us to be married straight away. Today!”
I laughed. “Whatever you want, Henriette.”
It felt good to say those words, and I envisioned many more years ahead when I could say those words and give her everything she asked of me.
So it was with a light heart that we walked back to the cottage. I still grieved for Luna, but some of those dark clouds had finally been pushed away. I could only see them getting further away, for it would be many years before the inevitable.
That morning I dreamt of Mama. I saw her as I had the day Luna returned to me. She did not repeat the warning she gave me that day, but it was there in her silence and the sorrow that marked her face.