Cathedral bells from many decades ago still sound in their hearts. 🕊️
ABEL & IRENE REUTHER 💍
Young scion to a prominent international bank, Abel Reuther, tied the knot with Irene Catherine Reuther (Née Tallien) on a June day in St. Patrick's Cathedral. The wedding reflected the prominent fashion trends of the time, particularly in Irene's ceremony and reception dress. Afterwards, the two honeymooned in St. Tropez.
The two grew up in the same New York City social circles, but Abel took new interest in Irene after her four year absence attending boarding school in Switzerland. Abel began to court Irene and eventually escorted her at her debutante ball. The two were engaged shortly after, but planned the wedding a few years later, when both of them were twenty-seven years old. This was in respect to Irene's desire to receive a master's degree in music. The unfortunate early passing of Abel's father further delayed the wedding date, as Abel found himself far too busy with unexpectedly taking the reins of an international bank. Despite delays, the two were elated with the elaborate wedding. They continue to reminisce frequently, nearly forty years after.
When money got tight, Cameron would take up seasonal trucking jobs on the open road. On one of these journeys, he came across a hitchhiker, Annette.
She carried little, only trinkets of her childhood and the clothes on her back, a confusing sight in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania.
Quickly besotted with her, he brought her home and they got married in a fever. He got to work toiling in construction sites, saving for a new home. A bit of a boorish and crude man, he cares deeply for Annette nonetheless. However, he knows little about her. He knows some about her parents, a Mississippi River Delta Chinese mother and a Japanese father that made for a turbulent childhood. He was never quite a man for knowing things, preferring to work hard to provide for his woman.
Annette, though, prefers it that way. Growing up in and around the southern United States as her father, a barrel manufacturer travelled, Annette considers her roots to be in these long stretches of backwoods. She enjoys a quiet life, now free from most responsibilities. In her free time, she mostly writes children's books and poetry collections under various pseudonyms. A few lapses in judgement might make her think of her past, but she tunes it out well. She's quite disciplined in fact, but only due to her past. Occasionally, she might send a letter to Simon and tell him about something he certainly wouldn't care about, like a Malvern pudding recipe, or ask him how the firm has been holding up since she left. Is New York any different? Will you ask me to return? She'll read the letters half-heartedly in bed as Cameron sleeps and sneak away to the post-office when Cameron is working.
Now, the couple have a little home for themselves, and in the future, a family of their own.
