Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Prologue 

1780

Cheney met Magnolia at a ball hosted by the Schuylers the winter of 1780. The ballroom was filled with men and women alike, all of the aristocracy, and Cheney had always considered himself quite lucky to have been born to a well-off French family. He also considered himself lucky enough to be one of the soldiers attending the ball rather than starving or freezing to death at a camp short of food and shelter. He was luckiest, however, to see the young maiden across the ballroom at that moment. 

Even in heels, she appeared to be one of the shortest women in the ballroom. Unlike many of the other ladies, she was not wearing a wig, instead her dark, glossy locks had been pulled into an intricate updo that suited her. Her silky lavender gown fanned out beautifully around her, the color complimenting her pearly skin. She must have felt him watching her for her dark eyes met his for a moment and she smiled, amusement gleaming in her eyes. 

"Hoskins," Cheney downed the remainder of his wine glass in a fluid motion before handing the empty glass to his friend, Benjamin Hoskins, making an effort to mask his French accent as he spoke. "I will be back."

Before Benjamin had a chance to ask Cheney where he was headed, Cheney had began to confidently stride across the ballroom to the woman who had caught his eye. As shr saw him approach, she smiled and whispered something to her friend, who giggled and instead made her way to another group of women. "I beg your pardon, mademoiselle, but I am utterly smitten by your beauty."

A smile graced her lips, "And I beg your pardon, sir, but I am intrigued by your ingenuity."

He chuckled, his grin somehow made the woman's heart race. Perhaps it was his accent or his laughing eyes, but she found something about him truly intriguing, "My name is Cheney Garnet," he introduced himself, still smiling.

"Magnolia Smith," she carefully extended her left hand to Cheney who pressed his lips to her dainty knuckles.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful woman," he smiled charmingly. "Might I have this dance, Mademoiselle Smith?"

"My pleasure, Monsieur Garnet," Magnolia smiled flirtaciously back as Cheney led her to the dance floor by the hand. Magnolia found that her heart was erratically beating as he placed one hand on the small of her back, pulling her closely. She was relieved that he had not allowed his hand to venture lower as he firmly, yet gently, took her small hand in his much larger hand. Magnolia had to reach to place her hand on his shoulder as he was uncommonly tall and she was uncommonly short. Cheney began to lead the two in dance and Magnolia found herself praying that he could not feel hee heart sputtering out of control.

The pair danced the night away, and at the end of the night, Cheney again pressed his warm lips to her knuckles, promising to correspond often with the young maiden. Magnolia smiled, hoping he could not see the excitement bubbling inside her.

xxx

April came and Cheney and Magnolia stood outside the Smith Manor, hand in hand as Cheney took a deep breath. Magnolia smiled reassuringly at him and she rubbed his larger hand with her thumb, "Father will grant you his blessing, my love. Don't worry." She wasn't sure if she was reassuring him or herself. Nevertheless, Cheney gave her hand a tight squeeze as he entered her father's study to ask for his blessing.

Magnolia stood outside, impatiently waiting for what seemed to be an eternity. In an act of desperation, she even pressed her ear up against the elegant door, in hopes of hearing something to calm her nerves. After several minutes of being unable to hear any distinguishable words, she backed away from the door, quietly huffing to herself. Father will love Cheney, he is quite the charmer.

In fact, Magnolia was filled to the brim with confidence in Cheney that she couldn't help but beam. That is, until she recalled his habit of viciously coughing and physically tripping over himself when he got nervous. Magnolia internally screamed as she flung herself back up against the door, which swung open within seconds of Magnolia's panic.

As Cheney and her father stepped out, Magnolia quickly smoothed her dress out, attempting to look more dignified. However, her facade fell within seconds of seeing Cheney's excited expression as the two young lovers ran into each other's embrace.

xxx

Magnolia had no clue why Cheney insisted on a winter wedding. In her opinion, winter was far to cold to be holding a wedding, but Cheney insisted, and she was rendered helpless to his puppy-dog expression. As Magnolia made her way down the aisle to her groom, Cheney's eyes shined in a way that gave away his motives for a winter wedding. Eyes sparkling, he couldn't help but be amazed by Magnolia's beauty as she made her way down to him as the snowflakes caught in her dark hair. Her long white gown made her look like an angel, "Mon angel," he breathed to himself as she smiled back at him, happiness radiating off of her.

He held her small hands as he promised to love and cherish her forever, each word an honest promise. Magnolia's eyes began to tear up as she heard the heavily accented, "I do." 

xxx

Their wedding day had been one of hope, of optimism for the future. Cheney wanted nothing more than a large family with the only woman he would ever love. Magnolia hoped for a son who would have her husband's ideals and smile, the things she had fallen in love with. The two conceived a child not long after their wedding, much to both of their excitements. Spring came, and Magnolia was six months along. Cheney had never thought his wife was so beautiful as she was then. 

Two weeks later, as the world around them blossomed with life, Magnolia fell ill and laid on her deathbed. There had been complications in the pregnancy, and the doctor told Cheney the chances of either his wife or his child surviving were slim. He took a shaky breath and returned to his wife's side who laid in their bed, tendrils of dark hair stuck to her sweaty forehead as she panted of pure exhaustion. Cheney took her pale hand in both of his and pressed his lips to it gently as hot tears began to well in his eyes.

"I'm not going to make it, am I?" Magnolia's voice was soft as she looked sorrowfully at your face. She wiped your tears away as she offered him a reassuring smile. "Don't cry, my love."

Cheney nodded knowingly as he stroked her sweaty hair, "Mon amour, I have cherished every day I had with you. We will meet again in the next life, beau."

She smiled one last time as she closed her eyes and fell into an unending sleep.

Cheney never knew if he had a son or a daughter.


A/N: Hi friends! Thank you for reading, there will most definitely be more to come, so please give me a follow or archive or something. And like, this was pretty inspired by Hamilton (reference to the Schuylers) so just a fun fact. (: