Subj: Last View of Love
Date: 6/17/00 4:34:12 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Shadowalker

The last time she had seen these grounds of the estate, was as she was riding away from the home that she had shared with him for a year.

Feeling the tears well up again in her eyes, she remembered the last time she was here. She hurridly wiped her tears away as they brought the memory of him as he stood at the entrance, watching her ride away from him and thier life together.

In their room just minutes before, they had bitterly fought with each other again.

She had meet an old beau in the village. He had come by where she was visiting friends at the busy street corner.

The ninny of a maid was down in the village purchasing vegetables for that nights dinner and saw them together.

Somehow he found out, and became angry once again with her. He never learned to trust her, and after his heated and badgering questions, she answered him, spinning around to meet his eyes, "YES!" "It WAS an old love! YES, he saw me! And, YES, he talked to me!"

"But I don't love anyone but you! My God! How can I ever hope to ever convince you?"

She turned back around and quickly packed the last of her bags. Picking it up along with the other two, one tucked under her arm and she held one in each hand.

"I don't believe I will ever be able to, so I am leaving you. I'm weary of this, and miserable."

She, tired finally of all his jealous rages, left him that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How different her life had been then, so many years ago...... Basil Hawthorne had known her since a child.

They were neighbors growing up, being childhood friends and sharing each thing together, every little secret and wish. Hope and desire.

As the years progressed, they both, changing from small silly children full of mischief and innocense, then changing to young adults, growing and maturing. Then they finally finding their closeness had brought them both to a blossoming true love. They, themselves, had always felt a bond to each other, that had outgrown from naive flirtation, to talk of future marriage someday.

But one fateful summer day, while there was a small warm breeze, he came to her with his tear swollen eyes, to say good-bye. His father had found him an apprenticeship in Boston, and he was to leave the following day.

She remembered crying her first bitter tears of heartbreak. She so loved him, but being young, her father would never consent to her marrying him. She too young, and he without money. All that was left to do, was to hold each other closely as they were painfully aware of the hours growing shorter as their time together.

He whispered the young lovers promises that someday he would come back for her.

That was ten years ago. He never returned for her.

He became quite successful in Boston and married another. She hearing of this years ago, swore off love for herself, only knowing of the hurt and pain it had caused her. They were two powerful emotions and too close in thier intensity and pain.

She vowed that she would never allow herself to endure it again. And from that day, she did just that, going upon her daily chores and her dull routines day after day, her life was empty, uneventful and a bore.

Men would show her interest, but she would flatly turn them down. After awhile, they came by less and less. Eventually, they stopped asking to court her.

Then one day, she began crossing the main street to the tailors shop, stopping on the sidewalk, she turned and observed a group of loud and rowdy men exiting from a tawdry saloon by the docks. She became disgusted by thier obnoxous and drunken behaviour, all that is, but one.

He was not as the others. This man slapped his drunken friends shoulder and the both of them laughing, said "Jack, you need to go straight home before your wife takes the rolling pin to your head for being drunk again!" Jack turned to him, closing his one eye in the belief that he would then see only one image of his friend, leaned drunkenly into him, almost stumbling, pointing his finger, "Oh sure, you don't have a wife, no problem for you Bramwell, and your not drunk either!" Bramwell smiled at him, "Of course not! Its much too early to drink for me my friend!"

They both once more broke into a laugh together, then Bramwell, shook Jacks hand, and told his friend that he should be careful not to fall into the water on the way home and drown!

My, she thought, but he was handsome in a rogueish way. He bid the rest of his friends goodbye, and headed up the street where she was by this time. He spotted her, and a smile played upon his lips.

She was overtaken by his presence, and felt herself begin to blush. She chastised herself for her feelings of this stranger... to this gentleman.

As he came near her, he removed his hat and bowed to her. "Good afternoon Miss....I beg of your pardon, I didn't get your name." Taken aback by his brashness, she stammered, "I..I didn't give it!"

This time it was he who was surprised and let out a loud laugh. "Very good, and touche'." He placed his hat back on his head, but not before she saw the growth of dark wavy hair, that seemed to go quite nicely with his deep brown eyes.

Spying the bundle that she carried in her arm, "I apologize for my forwardness, and offer my humble services to you for what you need to carry." Relenting, and murmuring "thank you", she handed the package to him.

Walking side-by-side, they made thier way up the walk, towards the tailors shop. Passing a group of young men, she glanced at them from under her lashes and laughed within herself as thier mouths comically dropped open.

They watched as the one beauty in town that had refused to be seen with any of them, sauntered by with Bramwell Collins! She, knowing that she was the main topic of the stirring of the group, looped her arm through Bramwells.

The men begain clucking like a group of hens, causing her to giggle. Bramwell at first impressed that she was bold enough to take his arm, then he noticed why, after seeing the group. As he glared at them, they all quickly quieted down and looked away. "Stop it!" she scolded herself. She felt the heat radiate from her cheeks. She could not control it, anymore than she could control the winds.

"Thank you for escorting me". She turned towards him, looking into his deep brown eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and she found that her mouth had gone dry.

She pictured herself, Doe-eyed, red-faced and acting like a simp! And again she became cross at herself for acting this way. Why, no man had made her feel this way since Basil, but she was young and innocent then.

"Excuse me, your thinking of someone else?" He asked teasingly as he had interrupted her daydream. She had let her thoughts wander.

He asked if he could walk her home when she was done with the tailors. Again, she was surprised, and thrown off by his forward approach, and nodded a yes.

Taking her hand, he kissed it, bowed to her and promised to be back to meet her in a quarter hour. She brought her hand to her breast and turned to leave.

He laughed and said as she walked away, "Wait, I don't even know your name!" She smiled from her silliness, and replied Miss Johannson. "Mine is Mr. Collins, I am so very glad to make your acquantence, he removed his hat, and bowed to her once again. She, embarrassed, turned and ran into the shop. He watched her enter and thought to himself, "such a beautiful and exotic creature, yes, that woman will be my wife." A smile once more came to his lips.

That was the beginning of their whirlwind romance and as he had predicted, they were betrothed shortly after.

She would not even consider marriage at first for her constant fear of abandonment. But her never left her, he devoted each moment to her, and as she to him. Thier love grew stronger each minute and hour. Strengthening her love and trust for Bramwell.

But she saw a different man underneath, one that did not trust her completely. He wanted no other mans eyes to ever want of her, just him. He had already told her with great sterness, many times so.

When she was in town for business, he would constantly ask her where she had been, who she saw. She would calmly kiss his doubts away, and soon they were in each others arms of passion again, his mistrust pushed to the back of his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their Wedding was a small, intimate affair, only attended by her parents and the immediate Collins family.

Thier vows were said in blessed love and complete, undeniable devotion and trust.

After the touching ceremony, the newly wedded couple soon departed for San Fransisco for thier honeymoon. Months later after thier return, his ugly possiveness returned, and his doubting of her faithfullness with it.

He began to question her whereabouts each day and convinced in his mind, that she was seeing someone else.

When Nancy, thier busybody maid, came back from shopping one day, he overheard her telling the other maid about seeing "Mrs. Collins being very friendly to a certain gentleman".

Bramwell knew then this was it, proof that she was cheating on him! He went up to thier room to wait for her. When she returned, he began his bellowing at her, she was completely shocked to even have him find out about her!

She told him that Basil was still happily married with a wife and children. He was in town to visit family and saw her. He came over to give her a warm embrace after so many years had passed between them.

Bramwell did not believe her once again, and this time, she tired of the fighting, left him for good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was a year ago, now she was returning to him, to see him once more.

She held the note in her delicate hands that were visably shaking.

The carriage stopped in front of the great house. Her door was opened, and she stepped out looking at the house once again, bathed in a rare sunshine.

Flora came out to meet her, putting her arms around her, walked her inside to the drawing room.

There was Bramwell. My, she thought, he looked as fine as he did the first day she saw him.

She took a deep breath, then walked to his side. Tears came to her eyes as she touched his ice cold hand. Her hand flew to mouth as she tried to control her sobs. "Excuse me Mrs. Collins" She glanced up through her tears at the mortician. " I must close the lid now."

It was to be the last view of her love. "NO!! She screamed. She clutched at his casket, not wanting to let go of him! Flora and Julia came over to pull her away as she cried uncontrollably.

It seems that Bramwell had broken his neck during a riding accident. But some say that he had died of a broken heart, because he could not bear to be without her any longer..............

The End

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.