A Sudden Passing by Blythe Baker

Author:Blythe Baker [Baker, Blythe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-15T05:00:00+00:00

As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I heard a male voice. I was prepared to reach the top of the stairs and see Graham—defiant of Alice’s banishment—standing in the entryway. However, I was met with a man I did not know.

He was a young man who could not be older than his early twenties, and his red hair was combed starkly to one side, emphasizing the square shape of his face. Everything else about him was square, as well. Even his fingers—adjusting the tie around his neck—looked to be squared off on the tips. He shifted nervously from one foot to the other as Aunt Sarah spoke with him.

“You say you met Alice last night at the party?” She asked. “I must not have had the pleasure of meeting you, then.”

“Aunt Sarah,” Alice groaned, tugging on her aunt’s arm. “He has only come for tea.”

“And who is stopping him?” Aunt Sarah asked innocently, raising an eyebrow at the man as she stepped aside and motioned him and her bubbly niece into the sitting room. “There are treats of every kind and more in the kitchen, so eat your fill. I certainly shall.”

The man stepped into the sitting room and Alice pulled her aunt aside. “You aren’t coming with us, are you?”

“It is my home, dear,” Aunt Sarah reminded her sharply.

Alice looked like she wanted to argue, but thought better of it. Just then, she saw me standing at the top of the stairs. Her eyes widened.

“Not you, too,” she begged. “Please.”

Caught out, I moved quickly down the rest of the stairs. “I thought today was for us girls to get together. Men aren’t allowed, remember?”

Aunt Sarah beamed. “I do remember someone saying those very words when it came to the company of a certain Lieutenant.”

“That was—” Alice searched for the words and then groaned. “Different. He is here to see me, and I’m being rude.”

She disappeared into the sitting room, and Aunt Sarah grabbed my hand. “Are you sure you can’t stay? I plan to tease her ruthlessly.”

“As much as I want to see that, I’m afraid I have other business to attend to.”

She waved me on and then walked into the sitting room with an airy grace. “I have many childhood stories about our lovely Alice here. Did she have the opportunity to tell you about the time she lifted her dress above her head and showed my poor deceased husband her undergarments? God rest his soul.”

“I was only a baby,” Alice corrected.

I shut the front door softly, quite ashamed of how much I enjoyed Alice’s torment.

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