Tea Rose 16, Danish Red 5: Sacrament

[bookblather]

Author: Kat
Title: Sacrament
Story: In the Heart -- Regency AU
Colors: Tea rose 16 (If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.), Danish red 5 (the nightingale)
Supplies and Materials: Tapestry (Tea rose/eraser), eraser (Regency AU), miniature collection, brush (sacrosanct), glitter ("For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul." – Judy Garland).
Word Count: 300
Rating: G.
Summary: For Hugh, church is an obligation.
Warnings: none
Notes: In this AU, Joanna is Church of England. Only way I could make it work, sorry. :/


When Hugh was a child, church was an obligation. It has not become less so as an adult. The vicar is longwinded, the pews are hard, the altar plain. There are a thousand things he would prefer to do, were it not politic for the local physician to be a religious man.

He is, as it happens, a very religious man. He believes in God with an unshakeable faith—was not his child spared to him? Was not he granted the company and love of the dearest woman he has ever known?

He just has difficulty linking God with church.

--

Joanna adores it. He isn't sure why. She certainly shares his opinion of the vicar, and she sits on the same pews he does, looks at the same altar. He thinks she must see something different.

He looks at her face in church, and she is rapt, beautiful, her eyes closed and her hands clasped over her Bible. She prays with all her soul.

He wonders sometimes if she is an angel. His angel, as she must be—she is not his wife, but she has chosen him nonetheless.

He wonders sometimes if there is anything else she could be.

--

They walk home afterwards arm in arm, Joanna's head against his shoulder. She is humming still, Christ, whose glory fills the skies, they'd sung it that morning.

He loves her so much, more than he can ever say. It isn't that he doesn't want to; he simply doesn't have the words. She is perfect, angelic, the surest proof he has ever had (besides Olivia) that God exists, that God loves him. That she is his is a miracle beyond the asking. He tucks her closer to his side.

She is his church, his altar, his sermon. He needs nothing more.

Comments

[shipwreck_light]

And make it work you did.

This is so beautifully written. Fleeting, but lingering. Sweet, but not too sweet. Warm and sunny. Thank you so much for posting!

[bookblather]

Awww, thank you so much! That's basically exactly what I was going for, that feeling of fleeting perfection that stays with you forever.

[shipwreck_light]

You are seriously outdoing yourself this year. My audience choices for your ficcage? It's going to be some rough choices.

[bookblather]

*blushes face off*

[isana]

I have to agree, it works really, really well, that contrast between belief and organized religion. Especially how Hugh finds his faith with or in Joanna.

[bookblather]

Thank you very much! That's mostly what I was going for; they're neither one of them very much into organized religion, but Joanna finds it easier to believe than Hugh in a church. But they find their faith in each other.

I'm glad you like it!

[finch]

This is beautifully poetic, especially the repetition at the end. Very nice.

[bookblather]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[ysonesse]

Very lovely and poetic, straight to the point, the perfect reflection of what Hugh's definition of faith is compared to Joanna's. Both are valid in their own ways, both approaches to faith bring joy and contentment.

[bookblather]

Yes, exactly! And they accommodate both definitions of faith, because there's so much stretch in their relationship.

[dark_kana]

This is perfect. Sweet and beautiful and poetic and... ^^
Very nicely done!

[bookblather]

Thank you very much!

(ugh, your icon is taunting me)