The Winds of Autumn

Oxfordshire, 1820. Alicia McDowell is a 25-year-old woman who simply enjoys life. She enjoys dancing, playing piano, and talking with her best friend, Daisy Jane O'Reilly, as well as the autumn season - which she simply finds the loveliest time. Alicia and Daisy go to the autumn ballroom dance, and there they meet two gentlemen, Clive McGowan and John Lawrence, who invite them to dance. Clive strikes with Daisy, but John, whose personality is as charming as kind, succeeds and shares a dance with Alicia. John starts visiting Alicia every time he can, and his remarkable attitude is admired by both Alicia and Daisy Jane. Soon enough, Alicia falls in love with him and hopes that he proposes to her. However, during a visit to her house, John reveals that he must leave England for a few months to take care of some family businesses in France. He assures her that he enjoys his company deeply, and assures her that he will return as soon as possible... and so, Alicia promises to wait for his return. John leaves and Alicia tries to live up to her promise. While he is away, she won't dance or talk with other men. John writes her the same kind of letter... but his actions while he is away are completely different. He goes out with women and even has sex with them. Still, he tells Alicia that, without her, life is boring and that can't wait to be with her again. John's letters fill Alicia's heart with absolute joy and her hope for a future with him grows bigger and stronger. Her father, Virgil, tries to warn her not to think too much about it, but the more she hears this, the more Alicia convinces herself that things will work out with John. After all, what's more romantic than the forbidden romance? John writes Alicia that he will return by Springtime and Alicia keeps her hopes high. She shares them with a confused Daisy Jane, who is beginning to think that maybe she has been too rude to Clive. Alicia tries to convince her that Clive is not a good option for her, calling him a "strange, odd man" and questions Daisy Jane about what could she possibly see in him, to which she replies that he is always there. Alicia tries to convince Daisy Jane (and herself) that is not about being present, but to love each other. The Spring arrives and Alicia can't wait to see John again... but days go by and John doesn't appear. As she shares her concerns with Daisy Jane, they meet with Clive, who tells Alicia about a letter John sent to him in which John explains that he has been sent to Spain and that won't be able to go to England for Springtime. A shocked Alicia decides to write John, asking him about his letter to Clive. She apologizes in case her eagerness to see him has made him feel uncomfortable. John replies telling her that he didn't want to disappoint her and lacked the courage to tell her about his failure to be in England in Spring, and that he most likely won't be there until Autumn, but that he longs to reunite with her in her favorite season. Alicia holds to the romantic idea to reunite with him in Autumn, while Daisy Jane finally agrees to go on a family picnic with Clive. Daisy Jane and Clive start seeing each other more often. Summer arrives and things seem to have reverted. Now is Daisy Jane who enjoys social gatherings and dancing, while Alicia is unable to enjoy any of it. She's not even able to see Daisy Jane being happy without missing John and leaves the dance. As she cries in melancholy, she is searched by Terrance Plant, a young man who once invited her to dance and who tries to comfort her. Alicia thanks for his attention but asks to be alone. Noticing how she has changed, Virgil tries to talk to her, but, again, the more someone tells her something against John, she defends him and forces to convince herself that things will work out. Autumn arrives, but John does not, and Alicia begins to suffer from depression. She can't sleep, doesn't eat well, and searches for solitude. One day, Daisy Jane reveals to Alicia that she is getting married to Clive - a news that shocks Alicia as she thinks about how Daisy Jane and Clive have been in a relationship for half the time she has been waiting for John's return. As her friends notice that thinking about John affects Alicia, Clive suggests the option not to invite John to his wedding, but Alicia declines, saying that it would be good to finally see him and set things straight. Daisy Jane and Clive get married and John doesn't arrive (even though he had written to Clive that he would go). A disappointed Alicia feels detached from everything around her, and Virgil has enough. Virgil tells her that life can't be just about romance and that she needs to enjoy the other things in life before they disappear. Touched by this, Alicia promises Virgil to make an effort and, for the first time in almost two years, she tries to enjoy the moment. She congratulates Daisy Jane and Clive and even allows herself to dance with Terrance Plant. And, for a few months, Alicia tries to move on. She goes out with Terrance Plant, reunites with Daisy Jane and Clive, and avoids thinking about John, even though the winds of autumn constantly remind her of her walks with him. Her efforts don't last long. One evening, as Alicia is on a picnic with Terrance, Daisy Jane, and Clive, Virgil suffers from a heart attack and dies. This shocks Alicia, even though she doesn't share her sadness with anyone. She cries and breaks down alone. One day, she gets a letter from John, in which he apologizes deeply for his failure to reply, and explains that things have been very difficult for him lately. John reveals that many of his family businesses have failed and that they have been forced to sell some of their properties - a situation that even sent his mother to a mental hospital for a few weeks. John assures Alicia that he wants to live up to his promise, that he loves her, and that he would love to marry her when she returns to England. Reading this, a confused Alicia breaks down, wondering what she has done. She breaks up with Terrence. Alicia is confronted by her cousin, Beatrice , who asks her how could she do such a thing if Terrance is such a good man, to which Alicia says that she agrees that Terrance is an admirable man, but that is precisely because of that that she can't continue on a relationship with him. She won't be able to love him as he truly deserves if a simple letter from John can confuse her that much and concludes that her relationship with John might not be perfect, but that that is the way she has come to love someone. Alicia no longer thinks of love as a blessing, but rather as a condemnation, and wants to commit to the promise she made to John. She writes to John, this time with less passion and devotion, but rather a resolution. She tells him that she will marry him as it would be a shame to suffer all she did for no reason, but asks him that, if he doesn't plan to move on with his promise for whatever reason, he stops writing her once and for all and to allow both of them to forget about each other. Alicia also isolates herself from her friends. She stops going to the dances and doesn't even want to see Daisy Jane. Instead, she spends all of her time alone knitting or playing piano. Concerned, Daisy Jane, Clive, and Beatrice try to think about a solution, but Daisy Jane concludes that the only way Alicia will be truly able to get out of such a situation is by herself, and by destroying whatever good image or admiration she might have had towards John. Time is the only thing that will heal Alicia's heart. Time passes and, one day of spring, Alicia wakes up feeling different. Seeing the blue sky and the birds singing, Alicia begins to feel alive again. She talks with Beatrice, and visits Daisy Jane and Clive (who are now expecting a baby). Amazed by how much she has lost during her isolation and depression, Alicia apologizes to her friends and promises that things will be different now. She goes to walk with Daisy Jane and tells her that every day she doesn't have new information from John is a blessing. Daisy Jane assures her that she will find someone someday, but Alicia tells her that she has lost all interest in love, and that hopes to find happiness in something different. Autumn arrives once again... and Alicia tries to enjoy it once again. One evening, she goes shopping with Beatrice, and as the wind blows her hair, she tries to allow herself to enjoy it... when she finds John and his new wife. The two of them are shocked by said meeting, and neither of them recognizes each other in public. John leaves with his wife, while a stunned Alicia holds from a lantern. As a worried Beatrice tries to help her and asks her if she is alright, Alicia says the is simply the winds of Autumn that affect her. Beatrice says that she thought Alicia liked them, to which Alicia replies that she once did, but not anymore... and asks her cousin to simply carry on.