The road was pitching black. I saw nothing as I looked out the window, not even the moon. The only light on the road was the car lights. I kept awake and watched Clark as he drove, showing little expression. “I wonder what time it is.” I said to Clark. He pulled out a pocket watch from his jacket pocket and handed it to me. The darkness was hindering my sight so I struggled to see the watch hands. Clark noticed. “It’s around two am. That was the time it was when we took off.”
“Thank you…” I shyly replied. As we drove I become colder even with my coat on. I reached in the back seat for a blanket. I unfolded and placed the blanket over my shoulders and knees. Clark seemed to be unaffected by the weather. “I don’t understand why it’s so cold in the summer. It feels like the weather we winter past. This makes no sense!” I said with a shutter. “This makes perfect sense, if you think about it… Rosaline.” Clark took his eyes off the road and intently looked up at sky. “There is no moon my dear. No stars... There was a massive explosion not far from here, probably in range of 10 square miles. The dust and ash from the explosion filled the air and blocked out our portion of the sun since this afternoon. It’s going to get even colder tomorrow. It will stay this way until the sky clears up.”
I found myself opening my eyes to gloomy light. I must have fallen asleep. Clark was still driving. I looked at the pocket watch that I was tightly holding. It read eight fifteen am. “Seven hours past? Have you been driving all this time?” I ask concerned. Clark did not answer me. He kept his firm gaze on the road. “Where are we headed?” I softly asked. “We are headed for Maschuten, to find my wife. If she survived she will definitely be there.”
Maschuten was a small village in the middle of the country woods. It was a place of retreat and quiet life. A place where scandals were conceived and hidden. A place of refreshment in nature. Many of the aristocratic wealthy construct villas around or in Maschuten and its surrounding woods. “I have heard many rumors of this place. But I have never been.” I said out loud. “Ha, indeed the servants do chat amongst themselves of the many secrets Maschuten holds…” Clark said cynically. “Tell me something you servants speak of regarding this place.”
I couldn’t really bring myself to tell him anything, for everything was scandalous! “Well, I don’t really know anything…” I lied.
“Come now Rosaline! I know some things too. I just want to know what you know.”
“Where should I start?” I asked shyly. “Tell me what you heard last summer.” Clark demanded. That was what I dreaded. Those summer rumors are the most vicious to one’s reputation. They spread like wild fire amongst the servant winds. In particular, it was said that the late Lord Haddinger, Clark’s father, committed a scandal in Maschuten Woods. This was set before Clark was born. Lord Haddinger was said to have had a mistress, a Spanish countess that he was in love with. It was said that he built the Haddinger villa just for this woman, as a private get away. It is also said that this woman returned to Spain, carrying his child. Rumors of this sort can damage an entire family reputation. Servants, who discussed such things, whether true or not, would be severely punished.
Unfortunately for me, that was all I could think of. I could not think of any rumors prior or after that I had heard. There was a long silence as I tried to think of something to say. Then Clark turned to me. “That summer, the main rumor was that that I have an older Spanish half-brother. I’m sure that’s what you were hesitant to say. It’s alright…” I was frozen. I didn’t know what else to say. Finally I grasped the courage to say something. “I’m sorry. Know that I never partake in such gossip, even though I can’t help hearing…” Even still, I wondered if such a thing were true, although I would never ask.
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