Page 141 of Unwritten Rules

This will be my final letter. I can’t torture myself like this any longer. I have been married to Xavier for almost three years, and in that entire time, my whole self has been committed to someone else. It’s time to devote myself to my husband.

It’s time to stop dreaming, and as a true Hawthorne, I now understand the meaning of doing my duty.

If you ever cared for me, please don’t come back here. I’m haunted by your ghost. I don’t think I could survive being near you and knowing with certainty that you can never be mine.

Always your friend,

Ana

I drop the letters onto my lap, where they slide onto the floor so that I can tip the box upside down, praying for more answers.

I know for a fact that Wetherby never married. So why would she think that…

Grabbing the final letter again, I scan it. The first line tells me all I need to know.

Xavier has just shared the happy news.

I’ll bet he did.

These were never posted. Wetherby never got this correspondence. I’d stake my life on it.

Fucking Xavier!

Gritting my teeth, I reach for the notebook, anxiety making my stomach dip unpleasantly, but when I crack the spine, a smile splits my face.

PROPERTY OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Held within the pages are drawings – scribbles, really – clearly belonging to a young child. Belonging to me.

A folded piece of paper drops out when I flip the last page. It’s newer looking than the rest of the contents of the box, so, interest piqued even further, I gently deposit everything back into the box and unfold the paper.

May 2022

My Ana, the greatest love of my life,

Today I received the news that I will join you in the stars in the coming weeks. I have fought hard for a long time to stay here to watch over our boy, just as you wanted, but, my love, the time has come to leave him.

I have done as you asked and not disclosed who I truly am to him, instead standing by his side as a confidante and, hopefully, as a friend.

The day I agreed to put my pride aside and work here at Hawthorne House was the day I freed myself from the shackles I’d grown up wearing.

The bastard son of Viscount Nelson, the half-brother of Xavier, the penniless exile who’d forged a path in the army in an effort to prove himself to those same men.

All I wound up doing was depriving myself of the one thing I wanted more than anything. To bask in your light and allow it to chase away my demons.

I shall be forever regretful that I ran from you that night instead of with you.

You would be truly amazed to see the man our boy has grown into. Nathaniel is his own person. He doesn’t bow or kneel. Instead, he grabs life by the balls, acting when lesser men would stumble and fall.

Men like me.

He knows his true worth. He’s not afraid to chase his dreams. To reach out and take what he deserves. He truly is made up of the best parts of both of us.

Forever and a day; I’ll be seeing you really soon.

All my love,

Nathan