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love letters | 13,648 words (wip) | chapter 2/7

Fandom: The Gilded Age

Ship: Bertha Russell/George Russell

Summary: A series of loosely connected chapters that are based on the letters Bertha and George have written to each other, from the year they met to the year they parted.

Chapter 2: all the things she said / Day 2: The Secret Affair

In a flashback, a young George and Bertha are reacquainted and begin a secret romance.

In the present, Bertha pines after George who is away, recovering from his laudanum addiction.

Today is the greatest day of my life. You are the greatest love of my life. From here on, everything I do will be in your name, for us, for the life we build together.

love letters | 6109 words | chapter 1/7

Fandom: The Gilded Age

Summary: A series of loosely connected chapters that are based on the letters Bertha and George have written to each other, from the year they met to the year they parted.

Chapter 1: wild roses and hothouse flowers / Day 1: The Gardens of Newport

Through his letters, she entered a fantasy world at night, alone in her dark room. She dreamt of him returning from Harvard and marrying her, about starting a family with him, about supporting him relentlessly in his work so that they might have a comfortable and secure life together. 

Having a husband who could earn money reliably for their family was her dream, her goal, everything she wanted. Their children would not need to work. Their daughters, if they had any, could marry good men without worrying that their background would offend said men, and their sons would learn the family business from George and work with him, eventually building a small empire…

And a husband as attractive and as intelligent and kind to her as George was… well, that was beyond her wildest dreams. 

In the back of her mind, however, she knew it would never become reality.