Stephen had rather wanted to talk with Henry Winter at length, if for no other reason than to cement his hopeful deduction that Henry's recent wedding had well and truly laid to rest the remnants of old animosity concerning the woman who was now Mrs. Winter. Unfortunately, there had simply been no time for conversation. Stephen had brought little
(
Read more... )
Having no notion that his own present had not pleased Camilla, he indulged in a brief mental picture prompted by Henry's words, the phrasing conjuring a Camilla with brows furrowed and arms folded, ordering the unfortunate Aztec god out of the castle in no uncertain terms. It made Stephen smile, faintly and wryly.
The smile turned to an outright grin when his thoughts then turned to conjecture how Diana might have reacted to such a monstrosity being housed indoors. It had been bad enough when Stephen had tried to bring skeletons and specimens into the house on Half Moon Street. In the end he'd simply kept his ( ... )
Reply
Reply
He looked at Stephen, curious--he'd wondered if anything would be mentioned of Halloween. "I heard a very little about that," he said. "Camilla and I didn't notice a thing at the time, but Susan mentioned some sort of madness going around."
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
"If it did that to any number of people at all, it's just as well we have the Rule," he said, meditatively. "Was it widespread at all? I've heard nothing of it from anyone else, but then Camilla and I have been either occupied or away from the school entirely since then." Francis would have said something, if he'd been affected (though Henry still didn't know about what had happened to his friend's room), and if Charles had...well, they'd have known.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
"She wanted to share it," he said, after a moment. "And I certainly didn't protest trying it. I think many would want to at least sample the senses of the--not divine, I suppose, but the immortal. Having sampled them, though, I now think most others should not. Also, as I said, if that's indeed how she experiences things all the time, I'm amazed she's got any judgement at all." Some of the things he and Camilla had done--well, they'd always wanted to live without thinking, and for a time they'd most certainly done it.
Reply
The sensory amplification that Susan's experiments sought to confer, though -- that was something Stephen indeed deemed far from horrible. It was something he expected anyone would want, something he himself still wanted, a craving only a series of past lessons in addiction could keep at bay.
"Maddening, yes, but wonderful, did you not find?"
Reply
He shook his head, resting a hand on Xipe Totec's head. "And the dangerous thing about Susan is that I think she would give it again, if any of us asked. I'm certain she won't give it to anybody else, but I'm not so sure she understands either the nature of addiction, or just how very alien her senses truly are to the rest of us."
Reply
"I think she might," said Stephen. "God help me if I should ask her. What she could make of me then I should not like to contemplate."
A pause, then a query he did think it relatively safe to pose:
"What did Camilla think of it?"
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment