This story is easily recognized as a retelling of an old bit of folklore. This was an alternate ending I ran across in a children's book retelling this tale. Since the idea that the protagonist fails to keep his promise, and is made to suffer for it seemed rather depressing.

I shall confess to being an incurable romantic, so the idea that the story could end on at least a melancholy note was very pleasing. The idea was to stress the loving nature of their relationship, and allow the protagonist to find out the truth without having to suffer beyond what he would otherwise go through.

There has always been a whiff of Victorian repression to this story, so making them Victorians seemed the obvious way to go. They did not enjoy the same close husband-wife relationship of modern relationships, plus they were more prone to diseases, such as tuberculosis, which Chloe dies of.

I could have set it in the French Revolution, but I already have one story about that, and the underlying tensions of that time period would have created a lot more potential land mines to the story. Plus, the tensions that existed then would have been a further hindrance to a stable relationship.

This story was chosen for inclusion because it is a retelling of an old campfire story. Plus, the double ending helps serve a double purpose. Like in 'One moonlit night', the horror candy ending is an attempt at darkness. Maybe not as successful, but it was an attempt. The love ending is my more traditonal ending. Since I have already pled guilty to being a hopeless romantic, and most of the time, true love will be rewarded.