Mary Elizabeth returned to the spa again, in search of the young man she had met there. She hoped that the conversation with the handsome, well-mannered Alois would take her out of the monotony in which she had been living for a while at least. Mary’s parents wanted her to marry a rich merchant from London, Henry. And that’s how it was. After all, it was an era when arranged marriages were the norm and not the exception.

So Mary visited the park near the hotel, walked along the river and past the sports fields. She remembered how Alois had told her that he was a science student, and yet he liked to relieve himself with sports. He knew more about sports than she did, which surprised her. Wood pigeons were still waddling under the trees. If nothing else, at least she found some peace there. She did not want to return to her husband, whom she did not love and he was indifferent towards her. She knew she was committing a sin, but she wasn’t ready to give up.

Finally, she found Alois and the two reminisced about days in the past. They used to walk together in this park, talk about various topics and laugh. At parting, they hugged each other tightly, as if they were afraid that one would run away from the other.

Now Mary admitted to Alois that she was married (he had previously known about her engagement). He said he hoped she was happy. They both knew they were suffering from being separated. Finally, Mary admitted to Alois that she was still in love with him. And he shared her feelings. She wished she could run away with him, anywhere. Just to be away from everything.

24F

(Written to practice my English. Thanks for reading!)