**Cursed Love**
*What will happen now?* Charlotte asked anxiously, more to herself than to her sweetheart.
*Well, I’ll send the matchmakers. Just wait,* he replied coolly.
…Charlotte returned from the tryst (which would change her life forever) with a secretive smile. She told her younger sisters, Emily and Sophie, every detail of her meeting with Alfred. They knew how madly in love she was with him. Alfred had promised to marry her in autumn, after the harvest.
Now, after that intimate evening in the hayloft, he was obliged to propose. But the fields had long been cleared, the crops stored, and the new year approached—still, no matchmakers came.
Charlotte’s mother, Aunt Maggie, noticed the change in her eldest daughter. Usually cheerful, she had grown withdrawn and oddly fuller in figure. A heart-to-heart confirmed Maggie’s fears. After Charlotte’s tearful confession, Aunt Maggie resolved to confront the would-be groom—and ask why those matchmakers had lost their way.
Without hesitation, Maggie marched to the neighbouring village where Alfred lived. His mother greeted her, unaware of her son’s misdeeds. Maggie didn’t hold back. Soon, both women turned on Alfred, who scoffed:
*How do I know the child is mine? Plenty of lads in the village. Should I claim every babe as my own?*
Maggie stormed out, cursing him: *May you spend your whole miserable life marrying!*
Perhaps heaven heard her. Alfred would indeed marry four times.
Charlotte knew from her mother’s face the meeting had gone badly. Maggie warned her daughters sternly: *Not a word to your father. We’ll handle this.*
*Charlotte, you’ll go to stay with family in Leeds. When the baby comes, leave it at the hospital. Or the village gossips will never let us live it down. God willing, things will mend. Ah, girls—sin is sweet, but people are cruel.*
Maggie’s husband, Dennis, was the village schoolmaster—respected, stern, and just. Everyone addressed him formally. Now his own daughter had shamed the family! Maggie couldn’t allow it.
To Dennis, she lied: *Charlotte’s going to Leeds for work. She’s twenty, not a child.*
She watched her younger girls more closely. But who could keep up? Emily soon left for Manchester for her nursing training, and Sophie moved to London.
…Village gossip always spreads. Eventually, Dennis heard the truth from his own pupils. He raged at Maggie: *How could you? Abandoning a grandchild? Bring her home at once!*
Maggie hadn’t expected his fury. She’d cried all year, too afraid to visit the baby, haunted by guilt. *Ah, the daughter tastes the berries, but the mother gets the bitter aftertaste.*
Soon, Maggie and Charlotte brought baby Anna home. The child had spent her first year in care—a sin Charlotte would carry forever. No matter what Anna did (and she did plenty), Charlotte bore it patiently.
Dennis, Maggie, and Charlotte raised Anna together. Charlotte often remembered that last night with Alfred—the scent of hay, the reckless sweetness of love. She still loved him. He’d shamed her, broken her heart, yet… *Love’s not a potato; you can’t toss it out the window.*
Now a single mother, Charlotte saw Alfred in Anna’s features—and her fiery temper. Life felt soulless. Even Anna’s laughter brought sorrow. *Ah, a fatherless child…*
At twenty-five, Charlotte caught the eye of Freddie, her foster-brother. They’d grown up together—Maggie’s sister had married a widower with three children, and Freddie was one of them.
Reluctantly, Charlotte accepted his courtship. Life alone was hard, and she was still young. Freddie would make a fine husband—but what of Anna? He knew Charlotte’s whole wretched history, yet adored her. He’d have taken her with three children, let alone one.
…They married in a raucous village celebration. To escape prying eyes, Freddie moved his family to London—away from the fragile secret.
Soon, Charlotte bore a daughter, Lucy. To Freddie, both girls were his. He adopted Anna without hesitation, treating the sisters equally. He lived for his family.
Charlotte proved a devoted wife and mother. Freddie mended her broken spirit. Their home was peaceful, full of love.
…Ten years flew by.
One summer, Anna, Lucy, and four cousins visited Grandma Maggie. Proudly, Maggie strolled the village—three daughters wed, six grandchildren!
While tidying the attic, a cousin stumbled upon a tiny notebook buried under old papers. She gasped—every page mentioned an *Alfred*! Anna’s father wasn’t Freddie at all!
The news spread like wildfire. Anna snatched the diary and confronted Maggie, who confessed everything, cursing herself for not burning it.
Anna was shattered. *They hid my real father all these years?* She demanded to meet him. Reluctantly, Maggie gave her the address.
Anna stormed off with her cousin in tow.
Alfred’s mother recognised her instantly. *You’re his very image!* she wept, setting out tea. *I’ve longed to know you, but he forbade it.*
Alfred strode in, eyeing the girls. *Which one’s mine?*
Anna scoffed: *I could’ve been your daughter!*
They spoke outside. Anna returned furious.
Her cousin whispered: *What did he say?*
*Nothing. Offered me money—blood money! I refused. Didn’t even recognise me!*
Maggie wrung her hands. *Should we tell Freddie and Charlotte?*
Anna cut her off: *Freddie’s my only father.*
But from then on, she scorned Charlotte—for cowardice, for abandoning her.
Charlotte begged forgiveness all her life.
Years passed. Anna and Lucy married. Anna had two sons, the eldest the spitting image of Alfred.
Alfred, too, thought of Charlotte. They met occasionally in London. She dressed finely, proving she wanted nothing from him.
She never told him Anna barred her from seeing her grandsons for ten years. Some shadows never fade.
But Charlotte found solace in Freddie, who adored her unconditionally. Once, before their wedding, he’d joked: *A worm in the apple doesn’t spoil the tree.*
They celebrated their golden anniversary surrounded by family.
Tearfully, Anna pulled Charlotte aside: *Forgive me, Mum. I had no right to judge.*
Alfred called too: *Four wives, and I’ve never been happy. Why did I let you go?*
Charlotte stopped him: *If you’d loved me, you wouldn’t have. But I’m happy now—thanks to Freddie.*
*Goodbye, Alfred.*
