Challenge 17: Lovesick
Title: Perfect Health
Author: Silvestria
Rating: G
Character/s: Richard Carlisle; implied Richard/Mary
Word count: 300 exactly!
First time writing from Richard's POV so we'll see how this goes!
Sir Richard Carlisle had always prided himself on being in perfect health. And if he ever found himself suffering from a head cold or similar, that was just another minor complication to be swiftly overcome, like so much else in his life.
Still, as he sat on the train that bore him with reassuring power and speed away from the complicated wilds of the north and back to his familiar stamping ground of London, he could not help feeling a shadow of doubt arise. The speeding countryside became a blur before his eyes and the rhythmic chugging of the engine seemed to reflect his heartbeat, slightly elevated. Her face swam into view before him as he had seen her last on the platform, brown eyes so much softer than he would have expected of her, cheeks faintly flushed but head still held high.
Had he been wrong to address her as he had? For a moment he felt an unfamiliar sense of insecurity but he dismissed it. Lady Mary Crawley did not want sentimental drivel like other girls; she was better than that. Those big brown eyes were more clear-sighted than any other woman's he had met. Oh yes, they understood each other, he and Mary; of that he was quite certain.
He allowed her image to grow and clarify in his mind's eye, taking precedence over the telegraph poles that rushed by outside the window. She was beautiful, he understood suddenly. The idea was not a shock. The man who did not think so when he first saw that woman would have to be blind but the feeling that accompanied the statement was rather shocking. His lips curved involuntarily up and he felt for the first time that there might be one sickness which he did not want to overcome.
Author: Silvestria
Rating: G
Character/s: Richard Carlisle; implied Richard/Mary
Word count: 300 exactly!
First time writing from Richard's POV so we'll see how this goes!
Sir Richard Carlisle had always prided himself on being in perfect health. And if he ever found himself suffering from a head cold or similar, that was just another minor complication to be swiftly overcome, like so much else in his life.
Still, as he sat on the train that bore him with reassuring power and speed away from the complicated wilds of the north and back to his familiar stamping ground of London, he could not help feeling a shadow of doubt arise. The speeding countryside became a blur before his eyes and the rhythmic chugging of the engine seemed to reflect his heartbeat, slightly elevated. Her face swam into view before him as he had seen her last on the platform, brown eyes so much softer than he would have expected of her, cheeks faintly flushed but head still held high.
Had he been wrong to address her as he had? For a moment he felt an unfamiliar sense of insecurity but he dismissed it. Lady Mary Crawley did not want sentimental drivel like other girls; she was better than that. Those big brown eyes were more clear-sighted than any other woman's he had met. Oh yes, they understood each other, he and Mary; of that he was quite certain.
He allowed her image to grow and clarify in his mind's eye, taking precedence over the telegraph poles that rushed by outside the window. She was beautiful, he understood suddenly. The idea was not a shock. The man who did not think so when he first saw that woman would have to be blind but the feeling that accompanied the statement was rather shocking. His lips curved involuntarily up and he felt for the first time that there might be one sickness which he did not want to overcome.