Her quarters weren't far. When they arrived, she slid past the door and he followed her through, certain, now, he was somewhere he shouldn't ever be.
He had seen her only as a dim and hazy vision as she hurried him through the shadowed hall. Even then he'd been dazzled by her beauty, by the lightness of her being, by her effortless grace.
Now, she stood before him in the glow of a hundred candles of crimson, tangerine and gold, clad in some pale and vaporous gown, something more a whisper or a mist that circled round her than a garment of any kind.
Finn felt as if his knees would give way. As if, in her presence, he would simply come apart. And, in a corner of his mind, there came a growing specter of shame, guilt, remorse and deep regret. How, he wondered, could he ever make up for the things he hadn't even done? For, in truth, when he faced Letitia again, he would surely stand condemned for his wicked thoughts alone, for the visions that heated his soul when he gazed on DeFloraine-Marie in this candle-scented room.
“Please, Master Finn, you mustn't stare. That is not the proper thing to do.”
“I surely didn't mean to,” he said. “Coming in from the dark, into the light, you see… “
“Yes, I expect that's so. I hope you don't have a fever. I keep it rather warm in here.”
“No, truly, it's very nice, just right for me. Some people like it cooler, I like it-warmer than others do. Not overly warm, you understand, sort of, what it is now… “
“Make yourself at ease, Master Finn. I'll see to some hot spice tea.”
Just what I need, some hot spice tea…
Finn watched her vanish past a veil of fabric fine as spider silk, watched her disappear past another cloudy weave, and another after that, each no more substantial than a lance of morning light.
Watched, and wondered if creatures of the female persuasion were endowed with some fine hydraulic parts, some wondrous gears than made them move like that.
Finn sat.
There were colorful pillows spread about the room. No table, no chairs. Only a sea of soft cushions and walls of airy veils. Some sweet aroma of the East lingered upon the air.
Candles, pillows, rare exotic scents, and a very leggy nymph. What happened, Letitia, is I got lost from Julia, I can explain all this…
"Tell me about yourself, Master Finn. I am so pleased you're here. We never have guests. Father doesn't like anyone, you know.”
She was there, close beside him, before he could blink. She might have drifted in on a breeze. A gnat could sneeze, he thought, and make more noise than DeFloraine-Marie.
“There's not much to tell, truly. I'm just-you know, me. I make lizards, that's about it. Lizards that pick up about the house, lizards that-”
“Tell me about Letitia Louise.”
That threw him off guard, and the smile at the corner of her mouth told him this was clearly her intent.
“I have no idea what it is you want to know. Whatever it is, I feel you should ask her yourself.”
The girl threw back her head and laughed.
“There's no need for that. You've told it all, you see.”
“And what might that be?”
“That she is more than your Mycer servant girl. Not that I'm greatly surprised.”
Finn took a breath. “And if that were so, is it some concern of yours?”
“It might be, Master Finn.” She leaned in close, so close he could breathe the fresh scent of her hair.
“I hope you don't hold human ladies in disdain. Do you find some fault, some blemish in me?”
“Of course I don't. I think you look fine.”
“Indeed?” She slid one hand across her bare shoulder, across her shapely arm. “I fear I don't have any down, any pink and pointy ears… “
Finn felt the color rise to his cheeks and quickly looked away to hide his anger. Here was another, then, one of the great horde who lashed out at others to hide the emptiness in themselves.
“I'm afraid I must pass on the hot spice tea,” Finn said, coming to his feet, “thank you all the same.”
“Doesn't matter, I'm all out of tea.”
“Ah, well then.”
DeFloraine-Marie looked up and held him with her startling blue eyes.
“I hope you don't take me for a fool. You have looked me up and down, you have scarcely missed an inch, and there's little more to see. You find me sweet, you find me fair. I know your desires, yet you dare not loose them, for you know where they would lead.”
She smiled, then, a smile that tantalized, teased, tempted and promised, and all the while was only a mask for her contempt.
“What are you waiting for?” she said, as if she was startled to find him there. “You really must go.”
“As you said, I do find you fair, lady, I am certain that any man would. But you are right, there is nothing for me here.”
He stopped at the door. She was already somewhere a thousand miles away. He turned, and vowed he would not look back at her again…
" I see you found your way back,” Julia said. “You might have let me know you weren't coming, Finn.”
“The King let me out the wrong door, all right? What are you complaining about? You got here by yourself.”
“Interesting scent,” Julia said, lifting her silver snout. “My, a veritable garden of new aromas. Silk. Satin. Candles. A great deal of skin…”
“Go sit somewhere and turn yourself off. It's nearly dawn, I've got to get some sleep.”
“How were the clocks?”
“Loud. Irritating. That's the nature of a mechanical device.”
“I'm sure you don't intend to hurt others with your barbs. I suppose I'll let it pass.”
Finn shed his clothes and sank wearily into bed. Letitia was sound asleep, and he was grateful for that.
Not that I've done anything. Not that I have a thing to regret…
He knew, of course, the truth of the matter was you didn't have to do anything with DeFloraine-Marie to earn a sackful of guilt. Before he'd found true and lasting love with Letitia Louise, Finn had encountered a number of human females of every shape and size, from the loving and the kindly to the outright nasty and mean.
And, within this gender, he had learned there were some who were a race, a tribe, a breed unto themselves. These were females born to haunt men, to drive them to despair-elegant, sloe-eyed creatures who moved with a careless, lazy grace, women and girls with secret smiles and eyes the color of rain. DeFloraine-Marie was such a one as this, and all they had to do was look at a man to cast their deadly spell.
Finn had known a woman once who told him this was not a matter of gender at all. That there was a male of that same cunning species who was the ruination of womankind.
And if he'd been such a man himself? Would he, indeed, have been able to gain such a prize as Letitia Louise?
“Not a chance,” he muttered to himself, just before he fell asleep. “She would have struck me with something heavy, and that would have been the end of that… “
THIRTY-THREE
"I should like to have breakfast, at least,” said Letitia Louise, yawning for the second time in a minute and a half. “They do serve a very fine breakfast here, Finn. I don't see why we can't wait for that.”
“Because, love, I have done what I came to do here, and that was to deliver a clock. He doesn't want it, fine. He can toss the bundle out. In truth, I'm rather pleased it turned out the way it did. That wasn't my greatest work, you know. I made it under extreme duress.”
“I thought it really wasn't all that bad, as a fact.”
“As a fact,” Julia said, “it really wasn't all that good. What it was was a piece of-”
“No one asked you, Julia. Letitia, are you sure you have everything, dear?”
“No, Finn, I don't. I had that red valise you gave me for Winter's Day, but it burned up in that balloon. I really don't have anything at all.”