Love and Loyalty
Ashley J. Blake
Walter William Blake loved the occasional 'flutter' on the racehorses. He was happiest when he had his brandy in hand and watched the day's sports meetings unfold—clutching and waving his betting tickets in the air withchild-like enthusiasm.
However, as the days turned into years, this once harmless pastime spiraled into a habit that would soon become a crushing financial burden. Once a man of means, Walter William Blake squandered all the family's money in one reckless gamble after another. And so, in one mere year, it was all lost. In a desperate move, he even used the family home as collateral to add to their woes. As a result, he now found himself owing a significantsum to the local bank, a debt that seemed insurmountable.
Young Ashley James Blake was the son and heir to nothing more than Walter's bills, collection notes, and threats of repossession. He and Jenny Anne Galloway sat by a babbling English brook in the small village of Biddulph, Staffordshire. Ashley threw tiny rocks into the cold water.
They would often walk across the golden fields, hands locked together, and sit here planning theirimaginary home. Every little detail was meticulously discussed and mutually approved before it could take residence within their dream. Jenny would make whimsical drawings of them standing outside their door, Ashley tending to the garden, and Jenny placing a warm pie by the window to cool down. The names of their children. The names of their pets. The name of their home.
Ashley felt the small silver ring he had folded within his pocket-handkerchief. He rolled it several times between his fingers. He remembers his grandmother giving it to him so clearly. After Ashley had first introduced Jenny to her, she gave her a knowing smile of approval. He withdrew the ring from his pocket. Jenny heard the gentle plop of water and thought it was just another stone cast into the cold stream.
He spoke softly to Jenny, his voice trembling slightly, betraying his inner turmoil. To marry and build a life together, all the dreams they had cherished since childhood would have to be abandoned. All suddenly dissolved into nothing in the space of one conversation.
Ashley stood and left Jenny by the Brook. He rode the short distance to Biddulph Grange, the estate of Bridgette Sarah Cowley-Price. Tipping his cloth cap, the groundskeeper swung open the large iron gates, revealing the long, stone path to Price's towering estate — the path to her dowry and the only available road that could lead to the Blake family's salvation.
Paper print (Matte finish - Signed): 8.5" X 11" - $30.00
Paper print (Matte finish - Signed): 11W" x 15H" - $49.00
Original: Graphite and charcoal pencil on paper. 18" x 24" (image size) with frame and matte. Total size: 24" x 30" - SOLD
Some digital prints may have a slight enhancement from the original illustration, to increase tone and color balance.
Watermark will not be printed on image
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All reproduction prints are scanned and printed using gallery standard, professional equipment and materials. Ensuring the highest quality.
Illustrated in the style of a vintage Edwardian or Victorian photograph. This image is part of my 'Anicurio' collection. Each original illustration is carefully hand drawn in pencil. Once finished, I often hand age and treat them with various dye methods, to resemble an old dusty antique photograph. I want this series to suggest something that was rediscovered by you. An inherited artifact from a mysterious benefactor? Or perhaps revealed in a long abandoned attic, lying at the bottom of a chest. Buried beneath old dusty clothes and fading hand written notes.