Brian Stableford by The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady

Author:The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady [Lady, The Man Who Loved the Vampire]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-11-21T21:51:03+00:00

When Monday came, Edmund and Noell made their way to the Lady Carmilla’s chambers. Noell had never been in such an apartment before, and it was a source of wonder to him. Edmund watched the boy’s reactions to the carpets, the wall hangings, the mirrors and ornaments, and could not help but recall the first time he had entered these chambers. Nothing had changed here, and the rooms were full of provocations to stir and sharpen his faded memories.

Younger vampires tended to change their surroundings often, addicted to novelty, as if they feared the prospect of being changeless themselves. The Lady Carmilla had long since passed beyond this phase of her career. She had grown used to changelessness, had transcended the kind of attitude to the world that permitted boredom and ennui. She had adapted herself to a new aesthetic of existence, whereby Her personal space became an extension of her own eternal sameness, and innovation was confined to tightly controlled areas of her life—including the irregular shifting of her erotic affections from one lover to another.

The sumptuousness of the lady’s table was a further source of astonishment to Noell. Silver plates and forks he had imagined, and crystal goblets, and carved decanters of wine. But the lavishness of provision for just three diners—the casual waste—was something that obviously set him aback. He had always known that he was himself a member of a privileged elite, and that by the standards of the greater world, Master Cordery and his family ate well; the revelation that there was a further order of magnitude to distinguish the private world of the real aristocracy clearly made its impact upon him.

Edmund had been very careful in preparing his dress, fetching from his closet finery that he had not put on for many years. On official occasions he was always concerned to play the part of mechanician, and dressed in order to sustain that appearance. He never appeared as a courtier, always as a functionary. Now, though, he was reverting to a kind of performance that Noell had never seen him play, and though the boy had no idea of the subtleties of his father’s performance, he clearly understood something of what was going on; he had complained acidly about the dull and plain way in which his father had made him dress.

Edmund ate and drank sparingly, and was pleased to note that Noell did likewise, obeying his father’s instructions despite the obvious temptations of the lavish provision. For a while the lady was content to exchange routine courtesies, but she came quickly enough—by her standards—to the real business of the evening.

“My cousin Girard,” she told Edmund, “is quite enraptured by your clever device.

He finds it most interesting.”

“Then I am pleased to make him a gift of it,” Edmund replied. “And I would be pleased to make another, as a gin of Your Ladyship.”

“That is not our desire,” she said coolly. “In fact, we have other matters in mind.

The archduke and his seneschal have discussed certain tasks that you might profitably carry out.

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