At Summer's End by Courtney Ellis

Author:Courtney Ellis [Courtney Ellis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-08-09T16:00:00+00:00

13

I felt wicked, slipping away just after dinner the next day, making excuses that I was tired and wanted to turn in early. I went to my room to freshen up, dabbing scent behind my ears and patting rouge on my lips to tint them. They didn’t need much, already bright pink from the mere thought of joining Julian for after-dinner drinks in his apartments.

It still thrilled me to think of him this way. Julian.

There’s no lying here—I was not what one might call a virtuous woman. At seventeen, I’d discovered early the allure of sex after sneaking from a local dance with a boy my age. In the cover of darkness, we explored each other’s bodies, and though his methods left much to be desired, I rather enjoyed the act, and sought to make it happen again, and again. Just simple dalliances. But if my parents knew the sort of girl I was, they would both drop dead.

In any case, I had thin faith that the Earl of Wakeford would be so untoward. Though if he were, I would be prepared.

I removed my shoes to quiet my footfalls, and padded down the corridor to Julian’s door. He opened after the first knock.

The sitting room was fuggy, still smelling of his dinner, savory rosemary and seared meat trapped in the unmoving air. He’d already started with a digestif, a tumbler of whisky he’d left on a side table, near where the imprint of his body was carved in his wingback. We stood together just inside, both with a half smile, both unsure of what precisely we were doing.

To my surprise, Julian spoke first. “May I offer you a drink?”

“Please do.”

He walked backwards to the sideboard. “I’ve had Huxley bring a fine thirty-year Scotch whisky.”

“Sounds divine. I can’t say I’ve ever had a drink older than I am.”

While he poured, I went to see how my painting looked in the orange light of evening. It took on a sinister air—the sky in flames, clouds with the greyish hue of smoke.

“I was just considering how best to frame it,” Julian said, coming up behind me with a glass.

“I think that depends on where it’s to be hung.” I breathed in the whisky. It was certainly the finest I’d had, rich, smooth, and tasting of all thirty years it had waited for us to drink it. “Where will you go after Braemore?”

I wasn’t sure Julian had heard until he eventually answered, “Somewhere people pass without noticing.”

Lamplight cast a glare over Julian’s spectacles, making it difficult to read his eye, which for a man of such few words could be the only way to understand what he was thinking.

“Will you take it off?” I asked. “As much as I appreciate Mrs. Ladd’s artwork, I’d much prefer to spend the evening looking at you.”

Julian unhooked the arms from his ears and dropped his chin, letting the mask fall into his open palm. He set it gingerly on his desk and returned, pushing his hands through his hair.

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