[Vernon]
I confess that, as I watched the carriages from just beyond the hedge, I too was surprised by the well of emotions that stirred within me. I found myself standing there, empty eyed, staring as the long train of horse drawn buggies pulled out off the courtyard, filled with excited servants and their luggage. All of them tailed after the most elegant, ivory white, freight which led the procession.
Within, I imagined my parents; their eyes not glued back at home, at me, but their minds no doubt. One could almost chuckle as they pictured Mother biting her thin nails, anguished to leave me behind, while father, ever stoic, privately revealed her anxious maternal worries – which he found so very cute in his beloved. They were nothing more than empty anxieties after all. There wasn’t any real worry in leaving their 19 year old son behind after all. He was far more a man than boy any longer (as far as they knew).
Inside, I was ecstatic. Though, also, very anxious. And, just a tad bit sorry to my sister – who’s housewarming I’d chosen to neglect. Frankly, I was a lot of things.