My dearest Corwin, greetings.
I know you have always called me old fashion, so I decided what could be more so that a letter.
All is well here in the new house. Dire rumors aside, this is in fact a quite nice little town. Ellie loves it here. It's rustic, true, but in a good way. Life here is in no hurry. Indeed, the people seem to have forgotten the modern world and its daily hustle and grind. I even left the house the other day without my phone and didn't realize it till I was almost back home. Delightful!
Ellie has come down with a mild flux, a simple chest cold I believe. I'm sure she shall be over it by the time you arrive. All she can speak of is your coming to spend Halloween with us. There are days when I do have to wonder if she ever regrets not marrying you, my old friend. Nonsense on my part, of course, but still, she loves you fiercely.
Sending love and hope that all is well with you.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
Corwin, my brother of another mother ...
... it is with woe that I must report Ellie has become quite unwell. She insisted that she would be fine by the time that you arrive, but I must beg to differ with that opinion. At best I believe she will be weak and recovering at Halloween. I have been insured that her condition is not contagious, but the odd swiftness with which it has taken her makes me doubt the doctors.
Little other than that to report. My restoration of this old Victorian is progressing at the speed we joked about. However, I've made a discovery. While tracing a bit of dead wiring, I discovered a hidden door behind a paneling wall! A real hidden room. How outstanding, right?
As of my mailing this letter I'm not sure what the room may contain if anything. Whoever secured it did so with a will. It will require tools I do not own to get through the locks. I'm searching the house for the keys, but I've had no luck so far. I hate to take a saw to the wood of the door, it is incredibly well made. But if it comes to it, I will apply elbow grease and a pry bar! You know me and a mystery.
Well, hugs to you from Ellie, and I will keep you advised about the hidden room. See you soon, and we will both go over what I find.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
Corwin, greetings, salutations, and a hearty how are you?
It is with great joy that I can announce that my beautiful wife has taken a turn and is now bedridden. She is losing weight and has taken on a rather yellowish pallor to her skin. Simply delightful! Keep her in your thoughts.
A week ago I broke through into the locked and boarded-up room. It's a library! Oh, such books I have looked upon in these last few days. Turn of the last century, if not older. There are even two manuscripts that have been handwritten, illuminated beautifully, and if they are not from the middle ages I'll eat my hat. The language is a beast to decipher, but I'm managing it slowly.
Mind you, the images in some are disturbing.
Oddly enough, not long after I entered the old library, I too have become ill. However, it is an illness that I would wish upon any and all. It's been a delight. To try and not be too crude, I'm as randy as a spring goat. My Ellie - confined to her bed by her illness as she is - had facilitated a marvelous revitalization of our former lusty lifestyle. Mind you, it is she, not I that has instigated this marital jousting. She seems to have grown positively wild for sex the sicker she has become.