The Rose of Charleswood
betzthames for Lenore Manning
Sarah's Childhood friend, same age. Her Parents are close with Sarah's, Lenore's mother Helen helped deliver Sarah at birth. She marries Jack Manning and has daughter Rose Manning.
please use [text in these brackets as direction], only read "lines in quotations"
From the Novel; "At six, Lenore was very chubby and a little standoffish until she got to know you. She had sandy blonde hair that seemed to have a mind of its own. I remember feeling quite comfortable with her. She had a very happy laugh and her giggles seemed to come from her toes. Their family was Roman Catholic, so Lenore went to St. Ignatius Church and school. She took an instant liking to my family as I did hers. I felt a certain unexplained kinship with her. Over the years, I would see Lenore sporadically, mostly in summer or at a community event, such as the Harvest Fair in October. We were never close, but we were always glad to see each other. [...] Even though we didn’t see a lot of each other and travelled in different circles, we always felt a connection. Lenore and her family always felt like an extension of ours. "
(in 40's) [Lenore and Jack have hired Sarah to be their daughters Nanny. It's been a few years and Rose is reading a school project about the war that she had done with help of Sarah's experiences as a ward nurse, and her father, a solider. Lenore notes they both look slightly discomforted]
“For the first time I really realized what the two of you had gone through in that war. Neither of you have ever said much about it.”
(in late 40's) [Lenore now knows the secrets of her passed parents as well as Sarah's. She's come back to Sarahs a few days later to express her confusion and feelings]
"When I left your place on Saturday, I didn't call Jack to pick me up. I had my finger on the button. Anyway, I just drove around for awhile trying to figure out how I was going to tell Jack and Rose. I was having a lot of trouble. My emotions were all over the place. I really, really don't like secrets, but part of me came to understand that they both kept their secret because it may have destroyed two marriages and shattered both families over a situation that only happened once, out of grief..."
(in 70's) [More secrets and lies have come out and Lenore has turned to drinking. She and Jack come to meet up with Sarah to talk again, but Lenore is pretty out of it.. once she snaps out of her drunken-daze and comes too, she notices sarah and says with a slurring voice..]
"Ohh... it's the Bitch!"
