The Noble Heart Part 1

The romance of Jeffery and Anna

1607 Paris, France

 

     As I glance out my window at the Chateau and look over Paris I sigh. Though France and Paris in particular are beautiful to behold, there is still nothing like the motherland.  There is nothing like my home.  When I think back to my visit there I can almost see the story they tell me unfolding before my eyes.  Though I was only three when they died some of it feels like a real memory and not just my imagination.   Their story of true love has since inspired me to find that love for myself.  I carry the legacy of their noble hearts with me even though they are gone.  They would have been proud.

 

 

Part 1

1563 Germany

 

        Mein Vater was born just outside a small village in Germany.  His parents Fredrich and Elsa Bernhard gave him the name Jeffery with high hopes.  Fredrich was a farmer, brave and strong. He was a part of his community and depended upon food and help from others.  His mother Elsa was a beautiful and strong woman. Her pride and care was only matched by her husband’s.

       Meine Mutter  was born to Richard and Evelyn Carrol only a few miles away and a few years later.  Richard build built houses, barns, and fences.  He was a carpenter who made whatever he could to get by�"though he particularly enjoyed making furniture.  Evelyn took care of him and the house pausing only occasionally to go help her sister take care of her nine children!  Anna Carrol was welcomed by her family, even her older brother Hugh.

       Both Jeffery and Anna grew up quickly, quietly and beautifully.  It was amazing that they did not meet before they did.  They ran free in the fields and explored the forests to the east of them.  Chores and work kept them busy, but nothing could keep them from finding joy in their play. 

       One fateful day when Anna was 12 and Jeffery was 15 they met.  Anna was bathing in a small stream that branched from the Rhine several miles away.  She was just dressing so she could hurry home when Jeffery came walking up the bank. 

       She jumped when she noticed him.  “Who are you?” she demanded to know.”And what are you doing here?”

        A sly grin crept across his handsome young face.  “Come here to read…but I find something far more interesting than what in this book today.”  He held up a book that was well-read and well worn. 

        Anna finished lacing up her dress promptly.  “Do you have to stare? Tis rather rude!”

       “On the contrary, you should think it a compliment. But if you’d like I can come up with something to say that might put you at ease.”

       “No, that is quite all right.”

        There was a pause and Jeffery thought it was the perfect time to introduce himself.  “I am Jeffery and who might you be?”

        “Anna.  Why haven’t I seen you here before?”

        He shrugged.  “I’ve been reading here for nearly a year.  It is a nice spot that is close enough to the house that I can do my work when father calls but just out of sight so he can’t see me reading.”

        “What does a country boy like yourself need a book for?”

        “Don’t you know how to read? He asked sitting down beneath a tree.  A bird chirped in the branches above him happily.

        Anna pushed a lock of her wet black hair behind her ear.  “No, but father says there is only need to learn how to count mouths to feed and read the ways of life.”
        “Interesting, but terrible advice.  Books take you to far away places and…Oh, I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  If you’d like to learn I could teach you�"then you might see.”

       “Well, I suppose,” Anna said skeptically.  She sat down beside him and he began explaining how to read.  Occasionally he’d draw letters in the sand to illustrate a point.  Before the lesson ended, they ended up forgetting reading and started splashing one another. 

        Anna and Jeffery met there on the grassy knoll most afternoons to swim or read together.  One day Jeffery took Anna to his father’s farm and showed her around.  He even talked her into riding horses with him one day.  The ride was exhilarating for Anna, but all too brief.

        “Get back to work you lazy…” Fredrich cried�"the last part of it mumbled and inaudible. Fredrich wanted Jeffery to stop horsing around and finish up his chores, so Anna had to bid goodbye and walk across the field back to her house.  Reluctantly, Jeffery returned to mucking out the stables, which is what he’d originally been doing before he met up with Anna that day.

        When Anna returned home, her mother greeted her.  “Where ever have you been child?” Evelyn asked as she stared at Anna’s bare muddy feet.  Mud was caked all the way up her legs and her dress was torn.  Her black hair was a tangled mess and looked as wild as the stallions she and Jeffery rode.

        Anna answered her mother, “I’ve been riding with Jeffery.”

        “Jeffery?” she asked puzzled.  “Is that Fredrich Bernard’s son?”

        “You know him?”

        “We’ve met, yes.  He helped Hugh and your father one day.  His parents are friends I guess you’d say.”

        “How is it he and I never met before last month?”

        “Because he was doing men’s work while you were in here helping me.  Besides, what do little girls care for little boys anyway?”

        “Mama, he is practically a man and I am practically a woman!” Anna replied taking a few grapes from the bowl in the kitchen.  The sun shone brightly from the window onto the heavy, dark wooden table.  Anna sat down in the sun.

         “You sound as if you were considering this boy for more than a mere playmate,” her mother observed as she continued cleaning the kitchen.

         Anna closed her eyes.  “Him? Why would I marry a farmer when I can marry some rich, handsome stranger who will take me away from it all and make me a princess or something?”

       “You and your dreams! Dreams don’t plant crops, build houses or clean now do they?”

       “Oh Mama, why do I have to grow up?” Anna sighed after a moment of reflection.

       Evelyn laughed, “Because we all do.  That is the way of things.  There are many things you will enjoy about being an adult, I am sure.”

        “But all you do is cook and clean and tend to everyone.  It is so utterly boring to me.”

        “I do enjoy helping your father and watching you grow into a woman is very satisfying indeed.  And I enjoy the company of your father as you will one day enjoy the company of man.  Yes, there are some things you will learn in time about being an adult.”

         Anna let talk of dreams pass and began helping Evelyn sweep the wooden floor and prepare the dinner for the night.  Richard came home from town late that night and Hugh followed.  The four of them sat around the table and at with the lamp light glowing brightly.  It was a warm and pleasant meal.

        Winter came and the meetings by the river became visits to each other’s homes.  Jeffery taught her more reading and Richard taught Jeffery some basic carpentry skills.  He even began to help Anna’s father with jobs from time to time.  Then when Anna would visit Jeffery, his mother Elsa would show her how to prepare and store what they grew during the summer months.  Anna learned how to make wine and preserves among many other things.  The two families were happy that their children were so close. The isolation of the country dissolved for a while and both families felt a part of each other’s lives.  They began to rely on each other for news and companionship as well as aid whenever it was needed. 

       Though unspoken, the Carrols and the Barnhards knew that would be joined by Jeffery and Anna’s eventually union.   It was something both favored, yet dreaded in a way.  Evelyn saw her daughter in love and prayed it would work out.  Though eager to see grandchildren before she died, she also mourned the fact that her own baby was now all grown up.

       Richard liked the boy, but thought he was too restless and dreamy-eyed to be dependable for his daughter.

       “But you were not so different than him when you were younger,” Evelyn reminded him.  “Wanting to build grand palaces and cities instead of just one humble house at a time.”

        “I have built a city one humble house at a time,” Richard said rolling over in bed to go to sleep.

        Evelyn smiled, “You build whatever needs built.”

       “The village is filled with my work and will no doubt be named after me when I die.”

      A few miles away Elsa spoke to Fredrich.  “Anna is a kind hearted girl, but will she be diligent enough? Will she make our son work hard and strive to be the best he can be?”

       “Will anything make that boy work?” Fredrich wondered out loud.

       “He works.  He works hard.  It is just that he does not want what his father wants,” Elsa pointed out.  She finished brushing her hair and crawled under the heavy woolen blankets.  Fredrich pulled his wife close. “I just hope she doesn’t hurt him or runaway with all he’s got or anything like that,” Elsa added.

       “But dear, you break my heart everyday,’ Fredrich teased.

 

 

         Three years passed and it was spring time again.  Jeffery was lying against a tree, his boots were kicked off and his he had a book in his hand.  However, Ana was also lying in his arms this time around.  Softly Jeffery read to her�"the mere sound of his voice comforting her.  She looked across the babbling brook and then up into his sky blue eyes.  He closed the book and look down at her.

         “And so they gotten eaten by monsters. The end.”

         “It doesn’t end like that!” she exclaimed.

         “How do you know?” he teased.  His eyes sparkled with mischief and merriment.

         She turned around in his arms and reached for the book.  He held it above her head so she couldn’t reach it.  His arm extended further than hers, so she had to move upward to get it.  She pushed herself  up and so Jeffery tossed the book into his other extend hand.  She reached toward that one, but couldn’t reach it there either.  They fell over together in the grass, both laughing.  Anna was laying on top of Jeffery, who quickly rolled her over, still managing to keep the book out of her hand.  “You aren’t going anywhere now!” he declared after he pinned her to the ground.

        “You devil!” she exclaimed as she tried to wriggle her way free.

        He leaned down and placed a kiss on her sweet lips.  At first Anna’s eyes were wide open in surprise, but then she closed them and enjoyed the kiss.  In the three and half years that they’d known each other he hadn’t presumed that she felt the same way as him, but that day he just couldn’t resist.  His tongue slid past her lips, which caused a whole cascade of new sensation to fill Anna.  She knew now what her mother had been talking about when she spoke of enjoying men’s company.

        Jeffery pulled away and looked down into hazel eyes.  “There is something I need to tell you.”

       Anna’s heart skipped a beat.  Could it possibly be what she had dreamed of for so long?

       “I am leaving in a week to look for land to purchase.  My father wants me to have my own farm since my brothers are going to take over his when he dies.”

       “But you cannot leave!” she exclaimed sadly.

        Jeffery sat up and Anna followed. Leaves and bits of grass clung to Anna’s hair, but she didn’t even notice.  “I must leave,” he informed her.

       “But you don’t want to be a farmer.  You are a scholar and poet.”

       “Unless I join the monastery or the court I cannot possibly use my skills.  I am not a particularly religious man nor am I rich enough to be at court.  A farmer I was born and I farmer’s life I shall live.”

        “Will you be happy?”

        “Happiness doesn’t matter if you can’t survive long enough to enjoy it.  But, yes, with you by my side, I will be plenty happy.”

         “Then you will come back for me?”

         “Of course,” he said kissing her again.

 

 

        Jeffery was an old man of eighteen when he set out to make his living.  To strike out on his own and find his fortune was something his father had been on him to do for the past couple of years, but he put it off and put it off.  Finally, he ran out of excuses and set about making plans to travel.  He went into town and talked to all of his father’s friends and associates.  He ended up not traveling far at because he managed to strike up a wonderful bargain.  Such arrangements were rare then, but Jeffery always a unique way of doing things.  He often simply refused to compromise and persevered until he got what he wanted. 

        Charles Rhinehart owned the property adjacent to Fredrich Bernhard’s.  Jeffery was to take a slice of his father’s land with a slice of his neighbor’s land and build a house upon it directly in the middle of these two properties.  The ideal location for the house was on a nice hill that overlooked his home and his neighbor’s home.  Jeffery’s two older brothers would lend a hand in getting him started farming his particular piece of land.  He did not have to move away from his beloved Anna nor his family.  It suited him much better than working for another farmer in a far off corner of the country. 

         As the leaves fell from the trees wood was chopped for the new house.  Richard and Fredrich both helped Jeffery with the actual process of building the house, as he’d never done it before.  Jeffery worked hard to set things up so they ran as smoothly as possible.  By then end of the year Anna moved in with her things. 

         They were married in a small ceremony by the church that fall.  It was a surprise to no one as they began their life together.

 

         Once night, sitting by the fire reading, Anna asked Jeffery a question.  “Do ever regret marrying me?  It is just that I wonder if you might not feel as if you are missing out on something that you might have found out there,” she said gesturing to the world outside their door.

        “Of course not.  Although, I could have another wife and child out there somewhere that I left for you my dear.”

        “Jeffery!” she cried.

        He just laughed and pulled her close.  Slowly he undressed her, his beautiful wife, and cherished her with his gentle caress and passionate kisses.  Their love making was as intense as it was tender.  It was just as sweet as it had been the first time they were together.  After they were exhausted, they lay in each other’s arms and drifted to sleep. 

        Both knew that they had found a kindred soul in one another.  I’d like to think that they treasured each moment of their time together as if they knew that their time was tragically limited.  I feel they must have been as happy as two people can be on this earth.

        

         The days that followed were filled with hard work, but with happiness as well.  Jeffery managed to find a staff of willing workers to farm his land for him when spring time came.  His brothers, friends and a gypsy or two contributed to growth of the brand-new farm. Jeffery did not pay them with money, but instead gave them food, shelter and even an education.

         “How did you learn to read and understand so much?” a friend asked Jeffery one day around a very full dinner table.

          “A traveling gypsy blessed me with a magical power that is sometimes more a curse than a blessing,” Jeffery teased.

          “Surely you jest,” his friend Aric said incredulously.

          “Seriously, my Grandfather was a solider and a traveler before he settled here.  He was a friend to scribes and rich Lords who taught him many things.  In the end, he gave it all up to live a peaceful life as farmer.  He did not care for warmongering or politics despite being exceptionally gifted and wise beyond his years.  He and I were quite close until he died when I was just ten years old. Before he died he gave me two books to keep as my very own�"The Iliad from Homer and Histories from Herodotus. I’ve read those over and over again.  Finally, I bought some more books off of a gypsy when I was fourteen.  Now whenever he passes through I buy more books from him.  One day I hope to own an actual library that rivals the Monk’s at the monastery.”

           “You have an extraordinary husband Anna,” the Aric commented.

           “I would have nothing less,” she smiled and raised her goblet of wine.  She drank some of the wine as Aric continued talking.

        “This country needs more intelligent people like yourselves to stir things up.   The churches have gripped us all like hawks in their vice like grips of ignorance.  The poor remain poor and the rich remain rich and never the two shall intermingle.  It is a tragedy that a noble heart is not rewarded as it should be,” Aric told Jeffery.

        Jeffery smiled and said sadly, “I wish I could do more, but I know of no other way to share my knowledge.”

        But Jeffery did help a great many people to learn a lot of things they wouldn’t have otherwise.  They worked hard to keep his farm running smoothly and he worked hard to see that they had shelter and an education.  By fall, a huge crop was harvested and sold for more money than expected.  Anna kept busy preparing food to store for the long winter.  She also prepared for their first child. 

        This child was eagerly awaited upon to arrive by both families. Anna was now happy to have grown up and had a child of her own to raise.  She impatiently awaited the time when her daughter would not only learn to walk and talk, but to read as well. Her daughter would be given the freedom to be and do whatever she wanted.  They would give her no boundaries and learn as much from raising her as she did from being their daughter.

         Snow fell and Anna grew large with child.  Her younger sister Trudy came to stay and help her with the chores that were no becoming increasingly difficult to do.  Jeffery read to his unborn child and told it many stories of the outside world long before her arrival.  Jeffery bought more books and Anna made things for her new addition to the family.  Both and Anna and Jeffery glowed with the light of new life.  What more is there to tell of such happy times? 

         The crops were planted again�"a part of the never-ending cycle of life�"and I came into the world.  Me, Claudia Bernhard.  My mother fought long and hard to bring me into the world.  She nearly died giving birth to me.  The birth left her weak and sick for months after my arrival.  My father also had problems with pests making the crops ill.  Trudy, Evelyn and Elsa had to take care of me much of the time I was an infant.

         Come fall, the crops were harvested, but there were considerably less crops to sell and thus less money for the family to live on for the year.  The news of a horrible plague spread like wild fire through the motherlands.  Outbreaks were reported in Venice, Rome Vienna.  It was making its way west toward Paris and London.  Jeffery and Anna feared the worst for their already weak family, but prayed for the best. 

         By the New Year Anna had recovered enough to fully attend to house work and her toddler daughter.  It was a long, cold winter, but they remained safe and warm.  Their love for one another pulled them through the toughest of times.

         It was March when Barret showed up again. He was dressed in a dark clock and carried a tall staff or walking stick.  He knocked upon our door and no one answered.  He knocked again louder and finally Anna came from around the side of the house where she was washing clothes in the afternoon sunshine.  “Can I help you?” she asked.

       “Is this the home of Jeffery Bernhard?”

       “Yes it is, but he is out in the fields today with his brothers.”

       “Oh farming is he? So he never figured a way out of that did he?”

        Anna smiled, “Well, not exactly, but he does manage to get his brothers and his friends to do most of the work for him.”

       “Yes, that sounds like Jeffery,” the man said extending his hand.  Anna shook it and found his grip to be firm, but not unkind.  “I am Barret, world famous traveler and friend to many.  I am here to bring your husband some books.”

       “I am sure he will be pleased.  You are welcome to stay around and make yourself at home until he returns,” she invited.  And so Barret accepted her invitation and kept her company as she finished up the laundry.  Then he followed her inside when she went in to prepare lunch.  He told her of his many travels.  Barret had been as far away as China and he even managed to sail the strange new world of the Americas.  Anna was fascinated by his tales and kept interrupting him in order to ask the tons of questions that entered her thoughts as he spoke. 

       Jeffery returned from the fields for lunch and was quite happy to find Barret waiting.  They embraced and began talking.  “So how has my old friend been?” he asked.

       “Good,” Jeffery replied.  “I’ve been extremely busy with all that farming demands and being a proud papa to beautiful baby girl.”

       “She isn’t a baby any longer,” Anna said pointing to the toddler playing on the floor with her doll.

       “You decided not to travel after all,” Barret observed.

       “Only for now.  Perhaps some day we shall travel,” Jeffery replied.  “But we are happy here.”

       “I am quite surprised, but happy for you nonetheless.”

       “Love can change many things,” Jeffery smiled with a sparkle in his eye.

       “So you are the one who enchanted him?” Barret said to Anna.

       “No,” Anna said as she fed some food to Claudia.   “I have simply cured him of his restless heart.”

       “Carpe Diem,” Jeffery said raising his goblet of wine in the air.

       The three of them talked long after lunch and well into the evening about books and travels.  Jeffery loved to hear of the new and exiting news from around the world.  It made him feel apart of something larger than himself.  Barret was more then happy to share his adventures with his dreamy-eyed friends.  Jeffery was like a son to him�"someone that he taught and guided.  He was an extraordinary man in an ordinary place and time.  Barret thought his friend was lucky to have such beautiful, intelligent and compassionate wife as well.  In all his travels Barret had never found a woman he wanted to be tied down to or spend the rest of his life with. 

       Barret spend several days stay with Jeffery and Anna.  It was a pleasant distraction from their daily routines.  Barret helped Anna with chores and even helped Jeffery in the fields some.  He gave Anna recipes and tips about cooking from other lands and helped Jeffery learn how to better farm as well.  When Barret decided it was time to move, both Jeffery and Anna were sad to see him leave.  He had other people to see and other jobs to do and felt it was for the best, but he promised to return one day soon. 

       By the time Barret left, Anna and Jeffery had developed quite a reputation in town for their exotic and exciting ways.  Some thought their less than conservative views were scary and the work of the devil, while other embraced such a liberal attitude.  Jeffery and Anna tried to make sure that no one feared them too much and were active in the town’s politics.  They tried to maintain connections and friendship with their community despite their differing views and way of life.

        One day a noble man came to visit the village.  Lord Schwan was drinking ale at the local tavern with Fredrich Bernhard.  They spoke of wars, politics, women and even farming.  Lord Schwan slapped Fredrich on the back and said, “With noblemen such as your son, we noblemen by title soon be out of jobs one day.  The title will be one earned and not freely given�"which both a boon and a bane for the world.”

        In his drunkenness, Fredrich glowed with pride.

        The summer was a good one.  Jeffery grew another fine crop and Anna chased Claudia around while making sure the house ran smoothly.  During the heat of the summer Anna realized that she was with child again.  Both Anna and Jeffery were ecstatic to make their family bigger and better than before.  Sadly though, it was not meant to be.  In September as preparations for the harvest began, Anna had a miscarriage.  She was sweeping out their house when the pains began.  Then the bleeding followed and she begged Jeffery to fetch the local physician from town.  Jeffery first sent Evelyn to be by her daughter’s side and then continued on to town to fetch the doctor as he was implored to do.

         Anna was in bed weeping when Jeffery arrived back at home with the town physician.  “I am so sorry,” she cried as Jeffery took her hand in his.

         “It is all right my darling,” he told her.  “You are still here with me and that is all that matters.”  He kissed her flushed cheeks and then brushed her lips gently with his.  He tried to calm her and be reassuring as the doctor did his examination.

         “We can still have more,” Jeffery said.

         The doctor’s assistant Heddy shook her head, “Herr Bernhard, I have helped with many births and helped with many who are ill.  I do know if she is strong enough to bear another child.  Another child may just kill her.”

          Anna started sobbing and Jeffery tried to calm her down.  “I do not want you to bring another child into this world if it costs you your life.  It is all right, we have Claudia and she is enough for us.”

          “I want to make you happy,” she said through her tears.

          “You already have,” Jeffery said.  He climbed into bed beside her and held her until she fell asleep. 

         They loved each other deeply and were always there for each other even in the worst of times.  They made the best out of whatever life gave them and were happy despite their setbacks.  When I heard from my aunts, uncles and cousins how happy they were, I was actually jealous at first.  I was almost glad for their misfortunes since my life had not proved to be all that satisfactory.  I am neither envious nor angry with them now that I am happy myself.  I am merely sad that their light love did not shine longer.

         When winter fell, Jeffery fell ill.  It was unexpected and devastating to the whole family.  At first he tried to work despite his growing tiredness.  After a week, he did not even the energy to try to keep up with feeding the livestock and his other daily chores.  His brothers came to help with the work while Anna tended to her sick husband.  As the snow piled high and the wind whistled through the firs and bare trees, Jeffery lay in bed.  He was very upset that he couldn’t keep up his reading, let alone his daily chores. Anna stayed beside him as much as possible to tend to his needs and comfort him.

           Anna would read Jeffery as he once read to her.  He would close his eyes and listen to her soft, sweet voice.  It gently carried him away into a deep, restful sleep every night.  Claudia would come to his bed and hug him often and tell him stories that she would make up just for him.  Anna feared though that Claudia would fall ill as well, so she tried to make Claudia keep her distance in case whatever Jeffery had was contagious somehow.  It pained Anna to tell her daughter that she shouldn’t show her love for her father.  Claudia was too young to understand the seriousness of the illness.  Besides, it seemed to cheer Jeffery up a great deal and do him a world of good to feel the love of his family.  

         It wasn’t long before the same illness ravaged the village.  It killed nearly half the population and left many men and women with out their spouses and children.  Jeffery fought it long and hard, but he just wasn’t able to conquer it in the end.  He stubbornly tried to get and walk around the house some so he wouldn’t lose the use of his legs. He tried to eat despite the awful nausea. 

        Late one night he interrupted Anna while she was reading the Iliad to him for tenth time.  “I am dying,” he told her.  “I can feel it.”

       “Do not say that! You’ve fought too long and too hard to just give up!” she pleaded.

       “Sometimes you just have to let go,” he replied.  Anna could see the pure exhaustion and pure love in his eyes at the same time.

        Anna knew there was nothing to do but accept it, but the tears welled up in her eyes as emotion overwhelmed her.  The tears slid down her cheeks as she cried, “I am not ready to let you go just yet.  Don’t go yet.”

        He reached up to touch her face.  “Do not cry for me Anna.  I have lived a good life, but now it is time to move on.  

       “We need you here.”

       “I will be watching over you and Claudia.  Don’t worry.”  He paused and took a slow, deep breath.  “I will always love you no matter what.”

       Anna buried her face in his warm chest and he put his arms around her, holding her as she cried.  A few tears slid down his flushed cheeks as well.  He closed his eyes and sighed.

        The next morning his body lay perfectly still.  Anna knew that he had past quietly and peacefully during the night.  It took all she had to take Claudia and go get Fredrich.  Elsa and Fredrich embraced and wept upon hearing the news of their son’s death.  Then they walked with Anna to come and get Jeffery’s body for buriel.  The very day he was buried on a grassy knoll beside his favorite reading spot.  It was the same spot where he’d met Anna just nine years before.  
       Anna stayed dazed in a state of mourning for a quite a long time.  Some say she never fully recovered.  Evelyn and Elsa had to take care of her and Claudia for following months because she had no will to take care of herself or anyone else.  

       Then Claudia became ill.  It was simply too much for Anna to bear.  Claudia lost her innocence and playful spirit.  Soon Claudia was too sick to even get out of bed to eat or play.       

       Anna sent Evelyn, Elsa and Trudy away saying, “Go tend to your own families.  I don’t want you to get sick and die too!”  They left after a great protest.  Nothing would change Anna’s mind though.  It was made up.

       The next few weeks Anna neglected her chores and spend nearly every moment she had tending to Claudia’s every need and want.  Fall slipped silently into winter, which drug on for what felt like an eternity.  Darkness filled Anna’s heart and her life.