Photos were ordered at the Langston House and the Godfrey Mansion by Lady Ada Perceit and Mister Cassius Godfrey, respectively. Lady Ada was Miss Adelaide Langston’s dear aunt and Mister C. Godfrey was the father of Enoch Clifford Godfrey. After much haggling, Lady Ada, through her airy husband, had sealed the marriage of her eldest niece to the rich merchant’s son.
After that the photos had become a necessity of war. Enoch had foolishly enlisted into his father’s old military the instant he was told he must marry. He had expected one of those rich widowed hags that his father greedily eyed for his son.
The foolish boy both regretfully and thankfully found that his beautiful bride was, in fact, three years his junior. Being ever the romantic, he began a series of love letters to his wife-to-be with a goal to at the least get a photograph of the young girl. Going off to the Great War seemed more of a sorrowful death sentence now that he could run the letters of her name over his lips every day.
Fortunately Adelaide was not a dull, naive girl. She was a sharp-witted woman with nimble fingers that ardently reached for every letter her persistent fiancé sent her. Her sisters had not to do much work to convince her to send a photo of herself in the white lace dress with dark green embroidery that Lady Ada had sent along with a photographer. Dear Enoch made sure to tuck the photo of the dainty woman into his uniform pocket as he marched off to meet the Germans.
The marriage had already been finalized, but the true wedding was to take place on the return of the dashing Enoch Clifford.
Mister Cassius turned his cheek to the coffin as it was lowered and left the boy’s wife with her aunt. The grief for Enoch was like a layer of grime on her fingers, confined to the ink it had touched of a man she had not seen but looked over on a black and white paper. Adelaide ignored the slow postal service that kept delivering, long after he was gone.
When her old photo arrived along with his belongings to his breathing widow, it was burned with the dress, along with the shredded letters. Soothing words of a love that did not exist- that did not get the chance to live- were set aflame and left to crumble into a pile of ashes.
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See you in another day,
SA