An Elaborate Hoax by Shirley Marks

An Elaborate Hoax by Shirley Marks

Author:Shirley Marks
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-06-02T05:00:00+00:00


Could he survive another bucolic evening in the country?

The idea of another quiet evening after consuming a quiet dinner then retiring to the small parlor where he would sit in quiet with the ladies was far too much solitude and quiet for him.

David sank into one of the chairs, crossed his legs, rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, and planted his jaw in the palm of his hand. How was he to endure the next several hours without dozing off from sheer boredom?

Mrs. Sutton settled in a chair near the hearth. She slid on a pair of reading spectacles and opened her book. To watch the companion pursue this leisurely activity might be worse than doing so himself.

This was intolerable. There was absolutely nothing to do here.

Mrs. Parker entered and passed him, continuing to the opposite end of the room and stopping near the window.

Growing more and more curious, David stood and followed her. She had pulled up a chair near a large sheet of paper she had attached to the wall.

“What exactly is it you’re doing, may I ask?” He watched her set a candle on a tall table next to the chair.

“It is your grandmother’s wish to have your shade cast,” Mrs. Parker informed him.

“Mine?”

“All of ours: yours, mine, the children’s. Theirs are finished.” She motioned to the chair. “Madam will appreciate your cooperation. You do not need to do anything, sir. Just sit there.”

“Very well.” His time was better spent doing this than fighting his continuing twilight battle with Morpheus.

“Your grandmother will be so pleased.”

“You know there is nothing I will not do for her.” David sat in the straight-backed chair and became a cooperative victim.

“Now sit tall.” He felt her press against his spine to straighten his posture. “Rest back against the chair, just relax.” With a gentle pressure on his shoulder, she leaned him back. “Tilt your chin up a bit . . .” Looking away from him, she moved his jaw with her index finger. “There. Perfect. Now don’t move.”

Don’t. Move. This wasn’t exactly painful, but David did not feel quite right.

“How long do I need to stay in this position? It’s dash—” He stopped himself from finishing and substituted another, less coarse word. “Desperately uncomfortable.”

“As long as it takes me to outline your shadow onto this paper,” Mrs. Parker stated calmly, almost as if she were speaking to a child.

She may have placed him where she wanted him to sit, but David could not think he was quite comfortable. He felt a hair, or something, touching the top of his ear and reached up to wipe away whatever it was. Now his upper lip did not feel quite right, a tickle that must be assuaged.

“Now stop, if you please,” she scolded him. “This task will take forever if you continue to move. Honestly, you are a worse fidget than little Davy.”

“I imagine he would also find this extremely tiresome and a dead bore.”

“Davy may be a great deal better behaved than you.



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