As the days stretched on into years, Arianna smiled more (or tried to, anyway), Harry became “Dr. Brayton”, and Cecily Rose grew into a lovely young lady. She was sweet, like her mother, but also rather quiet and reserved, which Harry thought perhaps she had learned from Arianna.
Cecily and Arianna were still very close, and Harry noticed that Arianna seemed to enjoy herself when she and Cecily were playing together. Now that Harry was a physician at May Green Hospital, which had gone from two beds to twenty in the last few years, he didn’t get to spend as much time with Cecily as he would have liked.
Harry was glad that Arianna was there and hadn’t left Brayton Hill for greener pastures. He ensured that she would stay by raising her wages, giving her days off, and generally treating her better than any servant in May Green was treated. He didn’t want to lose her.
One day Harry realized something: the main reason why he didn’t want to lose her was not because she was an excellent servant — which she was — but because he was in love with her. It struck him as he watched her simply walk across the room to put away a book that Cecily had left on the parlor floor.
“Arianna,” he said from where he was sitting on the couch. “Take your rest a moment.”
Harry did this often when he wanted to speak to her. She complied and settled next to him, folding her hands in her lap.
“Arianna,” Harry began, as he always did. “I have something very important to discuss with you. I was wondering if –” He halted, suddenly unsure of his words.
She turned to him uncertainly and raised her eyebrows. “Yes, sir?”
Harry took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you might consider…marrying me.”
Arianna sat perfectly still for a moment, her eyes wide, then looked down at her lap, dumbfounded. Harry kept talking, the words spilling out.
“I’ve loved you ever since you came here. You’re the one who made Cecily stop crying when she was a baby, and the two of you have grown so close…I don’t know what we would have done without you. I know you’re a woman of few words, but please, let this word be ‘yes’?”
Harry moved closer to Arianna and tried to put his arm around her, but she wouldn’t have any of it.
“This is improper, sir,” Arianna said as she moved away. She stood up, agitated. “You cannot — I will not — it isn’t right!”
With that, she hurried out of the room, not even waiting for Harry to dismiss her this time. Harry was heartbroken. Surely Arianna would leave now, thinking him a horribly improper man, and he and Cecily would be alone again. He thought of little Cecily sleeping in her bedroom not far from the parlor and hoped she hadn’t heard anything Arianna had said. He was going to feel terrible enough having to tell Cecily that Arianna had left them.
Harry wandered gloomily to bed, hoping he might be able to make amends to Arianna in the morning. The rest of the house was quiet, though someone stirred out in the garden…
It was the ghost of April Brayton, who had now been dead for nearly 10 years. What had roused her? Jealousy? Anger? The desire to see her daughter again? No one knows, but one thing was certain — she wasn’t a happy ghost.
Moaning and shrieking as ghosts are often wont to do, April drifted through the house and into Cecily’s bedroom. The little girl, sensing someone’s presence, rolled over in bed and opened her eyes. By the wavery light of one sputtering candle, Cecily could see the outline of a figure floating towards her. As it got nearer, she recognized the figure as her mother, whom she had seen in her father’s old photographs. Cecily jumped out of bed and let out a scream.
At the sound of Cecily’s scream, both Harry and Arianna rushed into her bedroom. By then the ghost of April had vanished, leaving Cecily to relate the story through tears of fright and sadness. As Harry held Cecily in his arms, he looked at Arianna, who had an expression of deepest concern on her face. In that moment, he knew she was going to stay, botched proposal or no.
Great! I love how you’ve captured the timeline this time! Of course I wasn’t around anywhere close to that time but it’s a wonderful story!
Wonderful storytelling, I have been following your blog since the beginning and it keeps on getting better and better!
Great job Jen! I was defnitely missing your updates. Did you move Arianna in or did you use SimPE to edit her? She looks great, as does Cecily. This was really well told. Keep up the great work! I can’t wait to see more.
Awww, poor Cecily! Hopefully she isn’t too frightened of spectres from the past. ;) Great storytelling/flow. It’s always fun to write stories as opposed to just narration sometimes. Looking forward to what happens next!
Wicked update. Looking forward to what happens next ay! I wonder if they’ll ever get married?
ur blog is nice
Jippie! Another historical update! I love the decorations of your house, where did you get the stove?? I can’t wait to see how the story develops further.
Great update! I love this story and all your furnishings really do look as if they’re from that time period :D
Hello again Jen, i´m following your blog since the beginning but this is only my second comente here.(I am portuguese)
I´m 30 years old and i´m like a kid for candys with your blog…..shame on me.
Months and months folow this blog, day by day, always in anonym.
Maybe because i am a litle shy and my english are bad, but i´m read very weel and i love your stories.
This is with no doubt my favourite blog.
By the way Harry Brayton is´t very cute, i think he is very alike my husband LOL.
Jen you are great. :)
hi Jen. Awesome update. After reading your great writting i now remember why i first starting coming to your blog. Your writting is just wonderful and i missed that so much while you did the challenge. I’m really looking forward to the next update.
Oh BTW i saw this cute victoria crib on themodsims
hmm i think i also saw it on “bringing up daysies blog” a few weeks or months ago.
Hey all, thanks for the comments! I’m sorry it took me so long to update. I took a break from the Sims for a few reasons (the main one being that my sister visited for the weekend and commandeered my computer so she could play HER Sim family), but I’m back now and even have an update on Mia ready to go soon. (And I might post on the Shanley Hall Shanleys, too.)
To answer some questions:
Jessica — I moved Arianna in (she was the maid) first, then had her change into the Victorian get-up. I end up having to do things all backwards for the sake of the story, but it’s great fun.
Yannick — That stove is actually in the game, in the Fireplace category. I forgot it was even there for a long time because I usually use the larger fireplaces. It’s a neat stove, though, with a ton of colors to choose from.
Susana – Hi and thanks so much for commenting. Your English is great!
Mary – Thanks, I’ve actually downloaded those old-fashioned cribs, but it was too late for this story (I took these pictures about a week ago). They’re really cool, though, and would have been perfect for this story! I’ll probably use them in the next few stories, as I’m not sure when the modern day crib came into fashion. Time for some research…
I’m so glad you posted again…Man! your stories are awsome! Yay!
I love this story! Keep it up :)
By the way, I’m still not sure what’s up with the pictures on those posts of my blog…they’re not showing up when I edit anymore either…maybe I’ll have to upload them again…I hope not, that’s my least favorite part of posting. I think it’s something on Blogsome’s server though.
Aww! That was so sweet! I feel bad for poor Harry, being rejected like that. And mean old April scaring her daughter in such a mean way. I hope That Arianna will eventually marry Harry, how cute would their babies be? Looking forward to the next installment!
oh, what a great addition! i love the name Arianna and have often considered naming my first born child that (if/when i have kids). keep up the good work! :)
Hey glad you got a chance to update; kept coming round your site to see if you had.
Love the story …are Harry and Arianna going to get married or are they married already (wink..wink) ..since Arianna was the maid does this mean she’ll produce an heir for Harry?
Toodles….
brilliant storytelling as usual. You’ve certainly stuck to you plan of “going through the ages” Look forward to seeing the tension between arianna and Harry ^^ I just love it how you put so much detail and effort to make such a great post so do keep it up^^
Wow, great update, Jen! Your story telling is amazing and I am really enjoying how you are working this challenge. I had a question though, I bet you are scrounging all over the place looking for clothes and objects for different eras and such and I was wondering if you would do a post either here or on Sims Scribes with links to all the sites you are finding sorted by decade. I know I am surfing around and coming across clothes or meshes and thinking, “Wow, that would be great for a sixties child, or a forties teen, or a thirties adult.” Besides, it might be helpful if other people decide they want to do stories that take place in certain eras. I know I would probably throw in my two cents whenever I found a site, and we could help you out in return. Just a thought. :) Keep up the great work!
Bitsy, that’s an awesome idea. I’ll write a post for it. Thanks!!!
I’m really enjoying this one, Jen… There’s something very unique about the way that you’re telling this story (apart from the period dress and decor, that is). You’re a great storyteller and I’m finding myself looking forward to your updates more and more!
I plan on starting to feature another blog in mine every week and this week I’ve decided to feature your Brayton Legacy. I hope that’s okay with you, but as it means an extra link I don’t see why it would be a problem :D
Becki – I would be honored to be featured in your most excellent blog! :-) I’m glad you’re enjoying the Brayton story so far.
*CRY!!!*
Why won’t she marry him! *pout* Darn it!
I wonder why April is so angry. Is it because she was MURDERED! *dun* *dun* *duuuuun* (Or not). *LOL*
I really love this period setting.