Lady Ann's Holiday: Epilogue - Part One

Once the horses were put safely away, Burt paused, thinking about the conversation he had just shared with Lady Ann.

That was who she truly was now. And he was truly Burt. For a week he had felt the crushing sense that he was going to be Burt forever but the tiny doubt had always been there that her ladyship might return and make the exchange with him.

This was entirely different. By making this final decision he had closed the book on that part of his life forever by his own choice. He was never ever going to go back to being Lady Ann again. He was going to enjoy this humble life instead, such as it was.

He pondered for a moment if that was a foolish choice, but he knew that it wasn’t. It felt right and this time it really did feel permanent.

To his mind the most crucial part of it had been his refusal to take any extra money from her ladyship. He didn’t want to be reminded of his past life or connected to it in any way. He had decided to just live a normal life as a hard working man, a tiny but important cog in the workings of Griply Hall. He knew his place and he knew he would never broach the subject of exchanging with Lady Ann again. In time, he might even forget that he had ever been a lady. He already had such an abundance of Burt memories and so few Ann ones. He fully expected in the fullness of time to reach a point where there was nary a trace left for him to consider; where days, weeks, months and even years would go by without him thinking about how it used to be; happily chuntering along in his own little way.

And as for Lady Ann... He understood now that the cultural barrier could never be crossed; that no matter how much he had been in love with her it could never have worked out. Their characters were simply too different and animal attraction wasn’t enough to carry a love for the decades of marriage.

No. It was high time he put that mad infatuation behind him and he resolved instead to put Mavis first – to dedicate his life to making her happy and possibly even making an honest woman out of her in good time.

He smiled. He liked the sound of that. That wasn’t a bad idea at all. Maybe he should look into where he could get a ring over the next couple of days and start thinking about the most romantic way he could propose...

He wandered out into the early evening light and saw Harry sitting there on the back of the cart. There was a long frozen moment between them, framed by the fact that Burt had just stolen the Earl’s horse and had yet to get his comeuppance.

Then Harry gave Burt a nod and went back to his whittling. “How’s about gettin them sheep fed Burt,” he said and nothing more.

Burt looked back at him for a moment then bobbed his head. “Yes sir. Right away. That’ll be my pleasure.”

He scurried off to get the food sack, questioning himself only one last time about whether he’d made the right decision.

He walked quietly toward the barn then he smiled to himself.

He had. Definitely.

There was no better life than being a strong hard-working man – no better sense of pride and purpose – and by gum he was grateful for it.

And he always would be.