Descent Into Dust Read Online Free PDF Page A

wanted to ask about the tree, but I refrained, fearing I would give myself, and my ridiculous fancies, away.
    For dinner, I dressed in a new gown of watered silk, the fitted bodice complimenting my slender figure. As I found myself ready a good hour before the other guests were set to gather in the parlor, I took the opportunity to visit the library, which I’d not yet had a chance to explore. On a whim, I paused outside of the doorway and glanced upward, looking for an inscription.
    “Is the roof leaking?” a man asked. I turned to my left to find a stranger standing beside me. His head was thrown back as he stared above us. He glanced at me and I saw amusement dancing in his eyes. “Or are you appealing to God to give you strength to endure the evening? If so, just say the word and I will leave you to your prayer.” He donned a look of gravity. “You will no doubt need it.”
    The man before me was dressed fashionably in a colorful waistcoat with intricate embroidery. His cravat was tied in a wide, snowy-white bow, above which his smirking countenance regarded me steadily under a cap of light brown curls so carefully arranged they had to be the result of curling papers. His cheeks held a flush like a Renaissance cherub. His skin was too pale, the smooth sort which was achieved through a discreetuse of powder. He was, I saw at once, what used to be known as a dandy.
    But he seemed completely immune to my amazement. “You must be the great and wonderful Cousin Emma.” He held out a pale hand. “Can you guess who I am?”
    I took his hand. It was surprisingly warm and firm. I suddenly knew who he was, for I’d heard him spoken of in tight whispers. “You have to be Sebastian, Roger’s brother.”
    “So you have heard of me,” he purred, holding on to my fingers.
    “Mary mentioned you were to be among the guests. She told me Henrietta was counting on it. The child certainly thinks highly of you, by the way. She has spoken of you in the past in the most glowing terms. As we’ve previously never met, I made a deduction you might be the very guest Henrietta has so eagerly awaited.”
    “What a logical mind you have!” He gave me a sweeping glance, as if reassessing me. “And so diplomatic. You don’t even mention my sister-in-law’s apoplexy when my name is brought up.”
    I laughed and he waved off any denial I might have tried. “Never mind. I am glad we met alone, for I must inform you that I am quite jealous of you.” His nose lifted with an injured air. “I was little Henri’s favorite until she started talking of ‘Cousin Emma’ this and ‘Cousin Emma’ that. She thinks you are quite pretty. Mary doesn’t, you know. I suppose it is because you are so unaffected.” He tapped his finger on his jaw, considering me once again from the top of my coif to the tips of my slippers. “I agree with dear Henrietta. You are fetching.”
    He waved his hand around in the air on the last word. Thenhe stopped, cocked his head, and asked, “As turnabout is only fair play, you must tell what you have heard of me. I suspect there may be rumors—merely ill talk, mind you, nothing I credit—that I have the capacity to grate on one’s nerves. Not all, you see, can tolerate my biting wit.”
    “I see little evidence of any wit, biting or mild.”
    “You have a bit of a bite yourself.” His slow smile was broad and filled with delight. “Ah. We shall get along famously, you and I. Would you happen to require escort to the parlor?”
    “I was going to the library,” I told him. “It is too early for the others to be assembled.”
    “Good thinking. As I never enter a room unless I am most fashionably late, I am in want of a destination. The library it is, though I have never liked the place. Filled with books, you know. Odiously boring things, books. But quite useful for filling up shelves. Think of the dust that would collect if those useful items were not there to take up space.”
    We fell into step