Sims 2 Tales

Eventually Walter became a teenager, and over time he took on more responsibility for the day to day running of the Manor and its lands. However he still missed his father terribly, and knew that his mother still cried herself to sleep every night. Grief had aged Eleanor rapidly, and not a day went by that she didn’t think of the gypsy and what she had told her.

"Was it this that she had forseen?" she wondered to herself.

She knew that she could never have prevented Hugh from doing his duty: if he’d refused to take part in the battle she could still have lost him, either to imprisonment or the scaffold. Knowing that she would always have Walter by her side was all the comfort she had left.

As the years passed and Walter grew into adulthood, both he and Eleanor realised that sooner or later he would have to find a wife and produce an heir. Fortunately Walter already knew who he wanted to marry, and when he broke the news to his mother she was thrilled. Walter had always been friends with one of the family’s more respectable neighbours, Richard Westenholme, and had secretly been in love with Richard’s sister Mary since they were children.

"In the morning I’ll send a message to the Westenholme’s and invite Mary over for dinner," Eleanor said, looking happier than Walter had seen her for months.

That night Walter felt too happy to sleep, so he visited his father’s grave to tell him the good news.

"I wish you could be here to see the woman I intend to marry father," he sighed. "She’s good, and kind, and I know mother adores her just as much as I do. We’ll have a son and he’ll grow up to be just as strong as you. I’ll teach him all that you taught me, and everywhere he goes he’ll be proud to be the Le Grande heir."

Mary and her family were overjoyed at the Le Grande’s dinner invitation, and later that week she and Walter were engaged. Walter breathed a huge sigh of relief when she accepted his proposal, and didn’t think it was possible to feel any happier than he did at that moment. Unknown to her son, Eleanor had always had Mary in mind as a future daughter-in-law. She was from a good family, and the marriage would be a favourable alliance for both sides.

Walter and Mary were married six months later in a very romantic and emotional ceremony, and everyone in the neighbourhood was happy for the young couple who were very much in love. Eleanor felt as if she was the happiest person of all: in spite of the tragedy of losing her husband, she had managed to raise their son to be a caring, successful man. Now that he was married he would have a son to ensure the future of Normandy Manor and the family’s good name and reputation.

"I’m getting older, and may not have a lot of time left on this Earth," she thought to herself, "but I can die knowing that there is some hope for the future, and I couldn’t have asked for more. Except for having Hugh by my side to share these days with me."

Every day Walter and Mary would discuss their plans for the future, and how they would never be parted from one another. The bond between them grew even stronger when Mary announced that she was expecting their first child. Nine months later the new heir to the Le Grande estate was born, and they named him Henry after Eleanor’s father.

Young Henry grew into a well mannered, handsome child with his mother’s jet black hair. His parents and grandmother doted on him, but took care not to spoil him too much. Every night Eleanor would read to Henry before he went to sleep, and watch over him until she could no longer keep her eyes open.

"He looks just like his grandfather," she would say to herself, and shed a tear for every year that Hugh had been gone.

It wasn’t long before Eleanor and Hugh were reunited at last, and in spite of the happiness of the years since Walter’s marriage there was more heartbreak to come.

It was August 1485 and Henry had just celebrated his fifteenth birthday. Unlike his father, he’d had the opportunity to experience the running of a large estate while he was still learning, and felt that he would soon be ready to take on some of the responsibilities that his father often pushed to one side. His chance to prove himself would arrive sooner than expected, as the Wars of the Roses were not yet over and like his father before him, Walter was forced to answer the call to arms. As Walter hugged Mary goodbye, he couldn’t help glancing at the portraits on the wall, and in particular that of his father. However he would not have as far to travel, as he was heading for Bosworth Field to join the forces of Henry Tudor.

The Battle of Bosworth Field was short and brutal, and Henry Tudor was victoriously proclaimed King by right of conquest following the death of Richard III in the thick of the battle. There were losses on both sides, and among those on the side of Henry Tudor was Walter Le Grande. His body was returned to Normandy Manor, and he was laid to rest beside his parents.

Henry had proved to be more than capable of running the estate after his father’s death at Bosworth, and soon grew into a young man with more confidence than his father had had the opportunity to achieve. Luckily the Battle of Bosworth Field was the most decisive of those fought during the Wars of the Roses, and Henry could rest easily knowing that he was unlikely to have to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. This was also something of a relief for Mary, as Henry had not yet chosen a wife.

As happy as life now was at Normandy Manor, the peace was shattered one dark, winter night by the sudden appearance of Hugh’s ghost. Still bearing the cut to his face and screaming in pain, he woke Mary from a deep sleep. On being woken by Hugh’s apparition Mary went straight to the church, still in her nightgown, and prayed more earnestly than she had since she’d been seven years old and longed for a puppy. She vowed to tell Henry what she’d seen, but didn’t know if he’d believe her.

When she arrived back at the Manor, she found Henry playing chess.

Tentatively she said "Henry please don’t think that I’m going mad, but an hour ago I was woken by your grandfather’s ghost. I didn’t know what else to do so I ran to the church and prayed. He’d vanished by the time I’d got out of bed, so there was no point waking you."

Henry looked at her and smiled. "I don’t think you’re mad mother, because I used to see him when I was little. Sometimes I’d wake up in the middle of the night with the feeling that someone was watching me, and when I opened my eyes he’d be standing at the end of the bed. He looked frightening with his scarred face, and would scream and moan, but I knew that he would never hurt any of us. I always felt safe with him in the room watching over me."