His visit had shaken her more than she wished to admit, but her meeting with Pent Zamakis had had more of an effect on her. As she drew writing papers and pencil towards her, she reflected on what he had asked - told, demanded - that she do. She had not expected to have had to re-enter the lion’s den; well, yes she had, but on that occasion she thought she would have with her a lion of her own (well, some beast anyway) who, while he might not actually protect her, would at least be able to draw the fangs of the other, rendering it impotent and unable to harm her. Now she learned that she must brave the dangerous place once again, alone, and literally blood the beast in its very lair if she wanted to be successful. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of what she must do, but she knew there was no alternative.
Taking a pad from the drawer of the bureau, she smiled faintly at the legend it bore at its head, in beautifully scripted characters of gold and silver: From the Pen of Lord and Lady Wetherwood of Clandon Hall. How long more would she be able to use such stationery? She wished she had her own personal paper, but Nathan would not allow it; after her own “indiscretions”, he had had her supply removed and disposed of, so that now, if she wished to write to a paramour, the name of her husband would always be there on the top of the paper, metaphorically glaring down at whatever she wrote.
But to Hell with him, she thought: this had to be official. She couldn’t write a legal document on plain paper, so Zamakis would just have to do with this. She thought for a moment of scratching out Lord Wetherwood’s name, but realised that not only was this a childish thing to contemplate, it would send the wrong signals. The Calathenian businessman was, to her knowledge, unaware of her marital difficulties, and she had no wish to apprise him of them. She could have spilled ink over the masthead, but that would look careless and unprofessional, and Pent Zamakis might indeed read something into that which she did not want him to consider. So she contented herself with frowning at the words and began to write.
When she finished, she took one of the house’s envelopes, sealed it up, wrote his address on the back and rang the bell. The servant who entered was charged to take the letter and place it with the day’s outgoing post. She would have preferred to have had it sent separately, but she knew Nathan had his spies all over the house, and such an action would be sure to raise suspicions in her husband. However she wrote many letters, and so one more, to an anonymous person in a hotel of whose existence Nathan was unaware should not set off any alarms. Lord Wetherwood might well wonder who the addressee was, but he would probably conclude that she was setting her own legal affairs in order, which in a way was exactly what she was doing. The letter should go unremarked, as it was crucial that it did. She knew Nathan still fancied himself a gentleman, and would not stoop so low as to have her post opened. At least, she hoped so.
There was nothing left to do then but contemplate her return to that awful place, so she rang the bell again and requested a bath be run for her. After associating with Pent Zamakis and his mute guardian giants, she felt the need to be as clean as it was possible to be.
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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