Liberty and Other Stories by Alexis Hall
Author:Alexis Hall [Hall, Alexis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2014-10-29T16:00:00+00:00
A couple of days later, Lord Wolframâs daughter found me in the library. It was after the rest of the household had retired, and as I had long since believed my nocturnal rebellions to be my own (and perhaps my only) secret, to say I was displeased to see her does not quite do justice to the vast mess of confusion, terror, hostility, and betrayal that rose monstrously from the depths of my heart.
She came inside, closed the door, and stood with her back against it, studying me with eyes as cold as our fatherâs. âIâm not supposed to talk to you,â she began.
I was not inclined, just then, to be civil. âThen donât.â
We regarded each other in silence. On the mantel above the unlit fire, the Ormolu clock ticked its heavy tick.
Lord Wolframâs daughterâRosamond, she was calledâtilted her head inquisitively. It was a charming gesture, harmless, artless, clearly practiced. âAre you truly half-Celestial? My mother says your mother was a demon whore.â
I didnât answer. I wasnât sure I was required to.
âYouâre very beautiful.â She came a few steps farther into the room. âI thought men were supposed to be handsome.â
I stared at her, lost, anticipating cruelty, entirely uncertain what was expected of me.
âLord Ironâs son came to visit me today,â she continued. âHe is handsome. I hoped he was coming as a suitor, for his family are very rich and quite powerful, but he told me he would not make a proper husband for me. Which I took to mean he had sodomitical tendencies. Do you know what a sodomite is?â
âI . . .â
She drifted past me, her nightgown flaring in the draughts that rattled down the chimney flue. âIt is a man who practices intimacies with other men. We were all lesbians at Miss Githersâs Finishing School. I believe between practicing deportment and memorising family trees, we would have all run mad had we not been fucking each other senseless. My motherâs a laudanum addict, you know.â
I opened my mouth, had no idea what I was supposed to say, and closed it again.
âDo you actually speak English? Or are you too stupid and foreign?â
âI can speak English as well as you can. You just havenât given me any opportunity.â
âOh, I suppose I havenât. But I donât often have opportunity to say things either, so when I do, they all come out at once.â She wore her hair in a long yellow braid, and now she tugged it over one shoulder and began twisting it back and forth between the fingers of one hand. âA lady says âyesâ and âno,â and âI am sure you are right,â and âHow terribly clever,â and âI am having a lovely time,â and âCertainly you may have this dance,â and âI would be delighted,â and âI do hope it wonât rain.ââ
âBut,â I asked, a little dizzily, âwhy are you telling all this to me?â
She laughed, showing small, white teeth thatâin the light from my single phlogiston lampâseemed somewhat pointed. âWhy, because I can, of course.
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