‘William, I have spent the last three summers at a most prestigious lycée of the arts in Marseilles. In fact, I only just returned from France three weeks ago, so rest assured, you will not be the first unclothed male I have laid my eyes upon. We painted the nude form, both male and female, in a tremendous variety of poses.’
‘But Aurora you, I mean I … I cannae see you in the, I mean, wi’out clothes…’
She held a finger up to her lips to silence him, her dimples deepening into a teasing grin.
‘Hush now and have another cup of wine. Mm, yes, wine! I developed quite a taste for it in Marseilles, you know. After a few glasses I am able to half-believe in the illusion of freedom, for a short time at least. It is quite a wondrous liquid, is it not?’ She paused here to drink deeply of her own wine before continuing. ‘I posed nude for the masters’ painting class at the lycée as well, you see. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you? I posed for the masters, William, the greatest painters in all of France! And I cannot fully describe how empowering and liberating an experience it was. I felt delightfully wicked, but also … free, utterly free for the first time in my life. Of course, my stuffy old father knows nothing about it, and I’m sure I’d be locked in the tower for the rest of my life if he did. But really, there’s no need whatsoever for the stifling conservative morality that is so characteristic of the clime of this grey island. It’s so suffocating, so crushing and hypocritical! Things are so much more progressive on the continent, so very much more progressive!’ Aurora seemed to be aflame with a frenzied passion, and the words poured from her lips like gushing molten metal, sparking and hissing from a foundry crucible. ‘I have the soul of an eagle William! I’ve felt it, yes, I have, deep within my bones ever since I was a little girl. Freedom William, freedom! It’s the one and only thing that I actually desire with all of my heart … and the one thing that I cannot have. My father, with his estate and his title, with all of his money and prestige and power, he buys me dresses, jewellery, horses, artworks … and yet I couldn’t care a fig for any of that humbug. Freedom, William, freedom. That is the most precious jewel anyone could ever give me.’
William nodded, and the intense look that burned in his eyes – a look possessed of deep compassion and raw sincerity – spoke of the plain truth of both his feelings and the words they birthed.
‘If it were my gift to give thee, I’d give it a thousand times over, Aurora. If I could give all tha’ I have, an’ all tha’ I am tae gain you your freedom, I wouldnae hesitate tae dae it. No’ fir one second.’
Aurora gazed into his eyes, and her own topaz gems glistened with a thin rim of tears.
‘You can … and you have, William. You’re giving it to me right now, and you have been giving it to me since first we met. You do not expect anything from me, you do not tell me what to do or how to act, you do not criticise me nor chastise me nor tell me that my behaviour and attitude are “unladylike”, or anything of the sort. You do not flatter me with false praise and empty, clichéd compliments, and you do not act, like so many other men do, as if my title and my looks are the only things about me that are of any consequence. You simply accept me as I am, as I wish to be. And that is the greatest gift that anyone has ever given me.’
William could not hide the immensity of emotion boiling and frothing in his own eyes, but he managed to steady his voice and speak with a calm clarity.
‘I didnae realise tha’ I’ve done so much fir you, but I’m glad tha’ I’ve been able tae dae so. More glad ay tha’ fact than ay anything else I’ve otherwise accomplished in life. I’ll drink tae tha’.’
William poured himself a cup of wine, and refilled Aurora’s as well.
‘Tae freedom,’ he said, raising his cup.
‘To freedom.’
Both of them quaffed the wine quickly, and neither could take their eyes off the other as they did. William finished his cup first and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
‘‘Tis good wine, m’lady,’ he remarked, hesitating and blushing self-consciously before he continued. ‘At least I think it is. I’m more accustomed tae drinking tavern ale with the lads.’
Aurora laughed.
‘It’s a fine vintage, from France,’ she said.
The pair of them continued to drink in silence for a while. After Aurora emptied her cup she smiled at William. The inner rim of her lips was stained purple, and somehow this made her mouth seem even more delectable to him. He did not know if she could see how painfully his desire was crackling in his eyes, but he was almost certain that he could detect more than a mere hint of it in hers; those bright irises seemed to glow like fanned coals against the ash-pale hue of her skin. She, however, broke the spell of the moment by turning to face the waterfall again.
‘We must hurry, because the sight I wish you to see cannot be seen again, at least not until this very date next year. See, the sun is about to shine on the exact spot.’
William’s blood was afire with both Dutch courage from the alcohol and the inferno of his desire.
‘Aye. Let’s
