Maps to Nowhere by Marie Brennan

Author:Marie Brennan [Brennan, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Letter Found in a Chest Belonging to the Marquis de Montseraille Following the Death of That Worthy Individual

My dearest darling Madallaine,

It is presumptuous of me, you must be thinking, to use such terms of affection in addressing you, for we are at best passing acquaintances, such as would nod and mouth an empty greeting were we to find ourselves at the opera together. I pray you, have patience with me, for the purpose of this letter, which I write knowing that the sickness now resident in my lungs will soon kill me, is to explain to you why it is that we know each other so poorly—and why such a thing should matter to you. In doing so, I hope I will make it clear why I have begun in so familiar a fashion.

Think back, if you will, to a ball you attended in your sixteenth year. I imagine the intervening time, filled with so very many balls, has blurred the memory, but this one was particularly splendid; it was at this ball that the Duc de Corsevois exhibited the tame lions he had recently acquired. The event lingers in my mind for other reasons, though; on that evening, I first had the pleasure of your acquaintance.

Remember that meeting, if you can. It is burned forever into my memory. You wore a gown of the palest rose silk, embroidered down the sleeves with seed pearls; this was the first time you had been permitted anything so fine, you later confided to me, and I told you that you outshone every lady there, and even the moon in the sky. But the evening was not all pretty compliments and dancing; later that night, I drew you aside in a corner and gave to you a small package, which I begged you to deliver to the Duc. I dared not do so myself, but in our conversation you had impressed me not only with your beauty, but also with your quick wit and level head.

Please, do not dismiss this as the ramblings of an elderly man whose senses have been fogged by illness. I know that you have no recollection of such an encounter, no matter how you search your memory for one. This, too, I shall explain, if you will but read on.

You took the package and saw it safely into the Duc’s keeping. And because of that deed, he soon left the country, and by doing so escaped the headsman’s block. You were not aware until later that your efforts had saved his life, but I made certain he knew, and he was grateful.

We saw much of each other after that. I confess, I had been in love before, and from my experiences I knew that, within a short while, such heady bliss would fade; soon your presence would cease to light up the room, and a single smile from you would no longer cause my heart to falter. Except that you, my darling, were different; your radiance did not fade.

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