Rebecca

"Will you marry me?" Lucas asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Becky sighed impatiently. "No, I shan't. I've told you countless times, I don't want to marry you."

Lucas looked hurt. Becky ignored him and turned away. She didn't like these times when Lucas started feeling romantic.

"Please Becky. You know I love you so." Lucas said in an injured tone. Becky looked at him and took a deep breath.

"You know I can't marry you. You're my best friend. If I marry you, I'll lose the friendship." said Becky, somewhat foolishly.

Lucas shook his head. "No, no. Becky, if you marry me, our friendship will be stronger. You will not lose me, for I shall love you always." Lucas picked a flower from the ground and placed it in Becky's palm.

Becky turned her hand and looked away, exasperated.

"Becky," Lucas said, in a sad voice. "Will you please marry me?" At this, Becky lost her temper. She whirled around and glared at Lucas.

"Leave me alone! I don't want to marry you. I don't love you and I don't need you. I shall never marry you." With this, she ran away, leaving poor Lucas in tears.

The next day, Lucas decided to try one last time. He loved Becky so much, he was almost blind to her hostility. He knocked on her door and waited.

Her maid, Pomona, opened the door. She greeted him and let him in.

"Miss Rebecca is in the parlour, entertaining a guest. You can wait for her in the hall." Lucas took off his cap and waited on a chair outside the parlour.

As Pomona left the room, Lucas realized that the parlour door was ajar. He stood up and looked through.

What he saw was a terrible shock to him. There, on his knees, proposing to a beaming Becky, was Flynn Delano, a rich man who had always looked on Lucas with contempt.

Lucas rushed in, shouting, "STOP!" Flynn looked up. When he saw Lucas, he rolled his eyes and stood up. Becky was frowning.

"Look what we have here, little Lucas Jennings." Flynn said derisively. Becky gave Lucas a look. "What are you doing here, Lucas?" she asked, irritated.

"Becky, this is the last time I'm going to ask you. Will you marry me? If you don't, I shall do something, something drastic." Lucas looked at Flynn and Becky defiantly. They were silent.

"Don't you want to marry me, your best friend, whom you have known your whole life? Or Flynn Delano, a man you barely know?" Lucas looked terribly upset.

Becky was at a loss. Flynn and Lucas looked at her expectantly. Finally she found her voice. "You can't control my life, Lucas. I already told you, I will not marry you, even if you were the last man on earth."

Becky took Flynn's arm as Lucas looked at the ground dejectedly. Flynn was triumphant. "Flynn Delano always wins, don't you ever forget it." he said, smiling unkindly.

Lucas left the house and went into the park, where it smelled sweet and was filled with memories of his beloved Becky.

Lucas felt extremely sad. Why didn't his beautiful lovely Becky love him? Was he too ugly, too poor? He wasn't sure.

He wasn't a vain man, but he knew that he possessed a sort of boyish charm, with his wavy blonde hair and expressive blue eyes. That Becky could not love him because of his looks was unbelievable. Besides, Flynn wasn't so handsome himself.

Lucas was heart broken. He was tempted to go and end it all. He was so very upset. But eventually his common sense won over and he decided to go somewhere new and start a new life.

He went home and started to pack. In the next few days, he sold off his house and sent his furniture to the new home he bought, in a little country far away.

In the days he was preparing to leave, he received an invitation to the wedding of Flynn Delano and Rebecca Harper. His heart ached with pain as he read the card.

He couldn't face the fact that Becky, his Becky, was going to marry such a man. For even though Becky had rejected him, his heart still overflowed with love for her. He decided to leave earlier and to avoid the dreaded wedding.

So he set off the very next day on a boat to his new home. But alas! The small boat hit a sharp rock underwater and sunk instantly, letting all it's passengers drown in the middle of the ocean with no land to go to. Those who could swim were very quickly tired out and soon drowned.

So poor Lucas Jennings, who loved Becky Harper with his heart, died that day, in a sad and unfortunate death.

When Becky heard the news, she was shocked. She had lost her best friend in two ways. She had insulted him, and now he was dead. The regret she felt in her small heart was plentiful.

She felt so upset. She had realized she loved him! But it was too late. She had scared him off and now she was going to marry Flynn Delano, a man she had despised in her youth.

She now knew that she only agreed to marry Flynn to spite poor Lucas.
Lucas!

How could she have been so foolish? Lucas was wonderful. But it was all her fault. She had sent him away. She was so angry with herself. But she couldn't do anything to fix her problem.

She sat and wept. She couldn't marry Flynn now. So quietly, she broke it off. Flynn was indignant. "Why are you doing this? Aren't I good enough for you?"

Becky had cried. "I cannot marry you." So that was that. The wedding was called off and there was a great amount of talking in the town.

And so Rebecca Harper never married until the day she died, sad and all alone.