Page 42 of Infamous

‘Oh,’ said Eddie. ‘Well. It’s not quite ready yet.’

‘Nonsense, Edie. I can hardly write to my editor without knowing what I’m recommending. I’m sure it will be marvellous already. Let me have a peek, when we get back.’

‘No,’ Eddie said quickly. Shehadthought that things were going rather well, but the prospect of Nash as a reader made her feel as if she ought to pitch everything into the fire and begin anew. She took a breath, and found herself able to be slightly more reasonable. It probably wasn’t a total disaster. It might even be quite good. ‘Well. All right. Tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow, aha! Then I shall be scrupulous in my nagging.’

‘Areyoufinding time to write?’ Eddie said tentatively.

Unless he was doing it somewhere between the hours of two o’clock in the morning and midday, she thought she already knew the answer.

‘Here and there,’ Nash said, shrugging. ‘I’m in my reading phase. Just devouring everything, pulping it for nourishment, hoping inspiration blooms. I’m feeling very Homeric at the moment – you know at Harrow I was quite the little Greek scholar, really just a complete bore about the whole thing .?.?.’

As they emerged from the trees near the house, Nash giving some meandering speech about the many potential meanings of the wordpolytropos, Eddie gazed out over the lake and spotted something on the far shore.

‘What’s that?’ she said, shielding her eyes and pointing. ‘In the water.’

Nash tried to follow her gaze, frowning, and then arranged himself very close to her so that he might see from her perspective. His cheek briefly brushed against hers, a quick rasp of stubble and warm skin, and Eddie flinched, immediately feeling foolish when he didn’t react at all.

He smelled rather nice. Pepper and musk. Eddie hoped that her face was already ruddy enough from the wind that he wouldn’t notice any additional blushing.

‘Kingdom Animalia, class Mammalia, species .?.?.Persona loci. They live in one of the nearby villages. I suppose it’s one of the last sensible days for swimming.’

Eddie watched as the pinkish shapes splashed about in the shallows, and then realised with a start what she was looking at.

‘Are theynaked?’

‘I certainly hope so,’ said Nash. ‘You know, they make a good point – we should swim soon, before the rain comes in.’

‘Naked?’ Eddie said, before she could stop herself, sounding prudish and horrified.

‘Youmay do as you like, you rapscallion – I shall avert my eyes like a proper gentleman. Ah, here come the strollers – let’s get inside and have some tea, and then we can enlighten everybody with our proposition. Don’t tell them you wish to do it in the nude, though, Edie – best to ease them in gently, in my experience.’

Eddie was still red and choking out denials as they walked into the South Parlour, where Rose now seemed to be sitting for Kitty, who was making a sketch. Liza was in an armchair by the fire; she frowned when she saw Nash and Eddie enter, closing her book in quite a pointed way.

‘You’ve been gone a while,’ she said, but Nash ignored her entirely, shrugging off his jacket and patting down his pockets.

‘Kitty, have you got much in the way of snuff? I find myself at a loss.’

‘In the drawing room,’ Kitty said, not looking up from her work. ‘Behind the candelabra.’

‘Why do you never askmeto sit for you? Miss Li has been here for five minutes and you have already talked her onto your stool.’

Kitty rolled her eyes. ‘You know I would dearly love to paint you. I always say that a subject in turmoil makes for the most exquisite art, and there is nobodyeverin more turmoil than you – but alas, you are incapable of sitting still.’

Nash turned to pull a face at her from halfway through the door.

‘Oh, fetch a candle,’ called Eddie.

‘Whatever for?’

‘The eggs!’

‘Oh, Christ.’ He picked up his jacket, which he had tossed unceremoniously onto the side table, rummaged in the pocket and then grimaced. ‘Well. Just ham for us, perhaps, next time we’re stranded.’

He held out a hand to show Eddie the sad remains of the eggs: one entirely broken, the contents drained away, and the other stoven in at the top, leaking a single blood-pink tear into his palm.

*