Two months later.
The sun shone into Jozef’s eyes. He woke, instantly remembering
his changed state, as he had the last several days. Two weeks earlier, he and
the bishop had come to an understanding, and Jozef had given up his calling as
a priest. Even after these many days, it felt right. Once again he thought
about having a family, but his heart wasn’t his to give away anymore. However,
Maja was probably married by now, and even if she weren’t, he and Maja lived in
two different worlds. She probably wouldn’t want him, a local man, even if she
were still free.
He lay quietly, thinking. What his heart really desired,
besides Maja, was a family. How nice it would be to have a loving wife and sons
and daughters to play, laugh and spend time with. Now that he was not bound by
the priesthood anymore, marriage could be a possibility. But was it fair to
marry a woman while his heart belonged to another?
He shook off these depressing thoughts, rose and dressed in
wholly unremarkable clothes. After breakfast, he finished the last of his
paperwork on Konrad’s holdings to the west.
The late fall sun was still shining, and he decided to take
a walk to the little town where most of Konrad’s peasants lived.
As he went on the path, admiring the red, green, and yellow
foliage of the trees flanking the road, he caught up to three figures walking
ahead of him. He squinted into the sun and recognized two as females, and one
man. His stride being longer, he had caught up with them in a few minutes.
“Good morning, Fa…, Panje Wawrzyiniak,” Maja and Sylwia said
in unison. The young man, Karel, bowed with a grin. Jozef had met him before.
He came to see Sylwia, and everybody knew it.
Jozef doffed his hat and bowed. “Good morning to you, lovely
ladies and gentleman. Where are you going, this early in the morning?”
Maja gave him her bright smile. “It’s such a beautiful day.
We thought we’d take a walk to the village.”
Sylwia giggled. “She’s not telling you that the best
seamstress lives there. We’ll probably visit her and look at her new material.”
Maja turned red.
Karel grinned. “And I’m out for a walk. But what better way
to walk than with two beauties on each side?”
Jozef nodded. “How right you are.” He touched Maja’s
shoulder. She was such a nice girl, even though she was almost past marrying
age and a little heavy. She’d make a great wife to a lonely guy, and a
wonderful mother one day. “It’s all right. You have the right to delight in
beauty. Everybody does.”
“That’s for sure,” Karel said, but he never took his eyes
off Sylwia’s.
Karel, Sylwia’s arm in his, walked on a little faster.
Jozef slowed down to give them some privacy. Maja matched
his steps.
“Maybe I’ll have the seamstress make a new dress for my
birthday next month,” she said.
More about these two tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment