This choice: To take a bath, turn to page 27 • Go Back...Chapter #26To take a bath, turn to page 27 by: Seuzz   The tap gives out only tepid water, so you don't linger in the tub. You don't mind; you only looked to remove the grime from your walk. You are soon in fresh clothes, and Mrs. McDonald is leading you downstairs.
The Professor has prepared a light meal for you, and you eat as you talk. He is pleased that you are pleased with what he has shown you, but you try to keep your enthusiasm in check; the press has a tight budget, and you don't want the Professor thinking he can extract an exorbitant amount of money for his work. It is a pleasant conversation, however, even if you cannot feel at ease with the man, but you soon plead exhaustion and return to your bedroom.
Emily has unpacked while you were with the Professor and there are easels and canvases everywhere. "I'm glad you found something to amuse you while I was downstairs," you say dryly. "I'm afraid this trip is going to be taxing for you."
"Don't worry about me," she says. "In the morning I will paint the garden."
"If it doesn't rain," you say. "The housekeeper mentioned rain earlier."
"She didn't say anything about it to me."
"It was a pleasantry only, I suppose."
You look out the window. It is, perhaps, slightly darker than it had been earlier, but it's not going to get much dimmer. You feel irritation as you look at the hedge maze below. It would certainly be impossible for the wedding party to find their way to the center of that, you think. In fact, you cannot even see a center from where you stand.
"I don't know what your mother was thinking," you say.
"She's sentimental. She grew up here, remember."
"With that cold fish of an uncle downstairs, too."
"He's my great-uncle, and she barely knew him," she says mildly. Apparently she is not going to be provoked into a quarrel. "Anyway, it is in the nature of great-uncles to be cold fish."
"How do you figure?"
"As relations they are close enough that they feel they have to be familiar. But they are far enough that they rarely know you well. It makes meetings with them clammy."
"But he's not my relation. Not yet, anyway. And then it will only be by marriage, not blood."
"The principle is still the same, if only by anticipation."
You shrug and say nothing. She takes a warm bath and is soon in bed. You disrobe and crawl under the sheets beside her. Her light and regular breathing is relaxing, but the insistent tic-tok of a clock in the next room over disturbs you, as do thoughts of the upcoming wedding. You are still awake when it chimes two in the morning.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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