Chapter 215 – Four Horse Epoch

I lock up the office and sit on the front step outside the building. The sun shines brightly on Hope Street, buzzing with people, carriages and carts when suddenly the light is blocked out by a carriage pulled by four horses. The two coachmen are wearing gold buttoned black jackets, black top hats with gold trims, white gloves, neckerchiefs, and black boots, combining into an impeccable livery. The carriage door is coated in black enamel and engraved with a gold emblem, ‘C & F’.

A gloved, slender hand pulls down the window and holds out an envelope. The coachman jumps down from the footplate, takes the envelope and hands it to me before returning to his position. There is a two thump signal on the carriage roof, and the coach speeds off down Hope Street, with dust kicking up in all directions.

I turn the envelope in my hands. What on earth is this? On all the days to choose, they chose this one. I rip open the letter, absorb its contents, and read it over and over again.
The rage builds up inside me, and suddenly all my emotions and anger are released in one violent eruption. I take my lighter out of my pocket and burn the entire contents in the morning sun.

The ash drifts down Hope Street.