Perchance..............
                                              Did you see her there?
                                      That little white dog.......
                                              always at her side.
                                      I must confess I peered quite intently
                                              to see the look in her eyes.
                                      Why.........I need to share her sorrow,
                                             I'm sure I don't know.

                                      The hair from out her bonnet,
                                             quite untidy..........not like her.
                                      The attempt at normalcy....is obvious.

                                      In a place of regret
                                             the sadness over takes one,
                                                touching the heart.
                                     
                                      Why I shared this -
                                             I can't tell-I knew him not.
                                      He was a man about town,
                                             well thought of, some say.

                                      Though hints at sordid affairs...
                                      (we caught the drift from those who knew him well)
                                      And yet, he loved his children..
                                              from a former marriage.
                                      That speaks well of him.

                                      He freely gave to the church -
                                             a pious man, not boastful.

                                      Subtle stirrings....
                                             all was not well at home.
                                      But...what could one expect?
                                             She, so much older than he.
                                      An arranged marriage,
                                              a dowry.
                                      No children between them,
                                              sad recompense.
                                      In another time.......they
                                               would not have tried
                                      to have a semblance              
                                                          of happiness.
                                      And now........the accident,
                                              so unlike him
                                                 to leave her alone.
                                      That night, so stormy.
                  
                                      No apparent reason to go out.

                                      And he, found lashed to the                                                    boat.
                                                NO FOLLY?
                                                  ....... Indeed!

                                      The proprietor of the inn saw him not-
                                                "Wasn't by here"

                                          FOLLY     -       Indeed!

                                             The unfamiliar surroundings...
                                      The scarf around his neck,
                                            bespeaks of foul play.
                                      It took a full two weeks
                                            to identify him-his purse                                                   gone.
                                      The constable waiting by the
                                                boat...
                                       not wanting to accuse....
                                                not sure whom to accuse.
                                      And so, closed the case.

                                      And now, she sits,
                                           amid the whispers,
                                                holding her head up high.
                                      I can see her uncertainty,
                                           holding back her need to cry.
                                     
                                      If only there'd been children
                                           to shore her up, to give
                                                her a future.
                                      Yeah - I fear for her sanity.

                                      When the mourning is over..
                                             I shall visit her,
                  
                                      And see what we......have  
                                                wrought!

Kay Ekwall©2000