A grand-mère avec amour...

My Dearest, Darling Little Elenore,

Oh how I have missed you my child. It seems these days my old and weary eyes only open to see your face or read your letters. My weathered hands only move to write to you and receive your words in return. You continue to be the only one who remembers her poor old Grandmere while the rest of the palace sweeps me away like the cobwebs of dust I am now almost with...

But darling, do not burden yourself with worries of my plight. I have long since accepted that I will die in this palace just as my elders fated me to do so. You however have a chance, Elenore Lissette. You were afforded the chance to fly free and see the world, to live your life on your own terms and find the love you couldn't seek back home. It lifts my weak heart with joy to think of you so far away fulfilling your dreams unlike so many who came before you.

You talked about love, my child. And it is indeed a beautiful and powerful thing, and therefore must be treated with caution. Finding love is one of the hardest things to do in the world for what has our entire life proven if not that love stems from unexpected sources rather than from those we expect it to come from. I found love in my baby boy, your Uncle Dominic, the kind of unconditional love I could not get anywhere else. If you think you have found such a love, then there is no reason you should not try everything in your power to keep it.

Lovers quarrel, they say things they do not mean. In the case of your friend Kevin, dwell not on the fact that he deceived you but that he chose to expose his soul to you in the end. A man has no need to divulge his secrets to a woman yet he clearly felt the need to include you. That has to mean something? If he said you were his whole world, and indeed if he has done something to prove it, then how could you reject such a gesture, my darling? Would you ever be happy if you do? Would you ever find a love again that matches what you now have?

I know not of this man's ties to the palace ward. As you know, I am not included in matters of any importance at the palace, only relegated to my withdrawing room, a relic of the past. Darling, age differences matters little when the hearts are in sync, like mine is with yours.

I pray you find the strength and wisdom to make the right decision. Perhaps it would be more ladylike of me to advise you to wait for him but your happiness matters more to me than propriety ever will. Go find him, tell him how you feel.

And may your heart and mind never weaken enough to consider a trip back to the palace. This place has given us both enough terrible memories to last a lifetime. I fear if you return, this time the Lord and Lady Clement will not rest until they see you wed in a loveless and dutiful marriage to someone far far away.

I refuse to lose you again, Elenore Lissette, please hear my humble request and follow your heart. You are my whole world too.

Your Loving Grandmere
Lynnette Clement.