Dear friend;
I dare not say my name, as I fear for my life. But what I am about to tell will justify my anonymity with no doubt.
I have just returned from the Duke´s house, where arrangements for the upcoming wedding were being done. Naive as I am, thought it all to be the best outcome: the Duke appeared to be finally over his unfortunate past, and would receive a new Duchess with an open heart.
He invited me upstairs and told me to sit down. He talked for hours on end about the piece of art you made. “Looking as if she were alive” were his exacts words. I tell you, it made me shiver and sweat at the same time. I had always thought he knew of the relationship you two enjoy. Those first words got me paralysed and made me completely unable to respond. Grateful I am, that he takes pleasure in his own voice, for his speech turned into a long monologue and my silence was not noticed at all. Thus I limited myself to remain still and nod along. Those were the longer minutes of my life, and could not feel safe until I was at home.
He thinks she is dead, I see that now. His commands were never carried out and the Duchess survived, just as Snow White. I wonder though, who lied cold in a grave instead of his true wife. Or did he never perhaps bury anyone down?
I hope you realise, my friend, the great danger you and the Duchess run. I pray you, my dear Fra, leave and make a brand new start, somewhere far away from his lands. Otherwise only God knows, what he is capable of, the moment he sees his last Duchess in the company of the artist, that is you.
Burn this letter I write, to keep us all alive. Burn this letter and leave, dear friend of mine.
A great and unexpected twist on the story!
ReplyDeleteHmm, very original to make the young man report back to Pandolf. It's good to see the Duchess make a getaway for once. It is unclear to me, though, who was buried in her place. If the Duke knows she is not the one buried, why does he pretend to the young man that she is dead?
ReplyDeleteWell... basically everyone thought she was dead, except of course for the painter, the Duchess and the one that failed to kill her (just as in Snow White!). Fra´s friend realises the Duke thinks her dead, and he wonders whether he buried someone else, believing it was his wife. Or if he never buried anyone at all, and was just content with the idea she was finally dead.
ReplyDeleteIs the 4th paragraph written in a way that leads to miscomprenhension? Would it help if I wrote instead:
"I wonder though, if someone lied cold in a grave, instead of his true wife. Or perhaps no one was buried down; the Duke ignoring the fact he had been decieved by someone he trusted with blind eyes".
Ah, it's the paid assassin who failed to do the Duke's bidding. Now I get it. Yes, your revision makes it clearer...
ReplyDeleteI like that you have chosen to write from the point of view of the guest and made him into a failed assasin. Puts a nice spin on the story. Well written and captivating.
ReplyDelete