Free The Winter Folly by Lulu Taylor Page A

too. Congratulations on behalf of us all, I’m sure.’ She watched with a knowing smile as
they walked up the stairs.
    Alexandra stared at herself in the mirror. She’d come along the hall to the shared bathroom, with her night things over one arm. The idea of changing in front of Laurence
was horrifying and she had no wish to see him begin to take off all the things that civilised him and made him a gentleman – his jacket, waistcoat, shirt and cufflinks, his belt and trousers
and then . . . what would he reveal underneath? She felt appalled at the idea that he would humble himself by undressing in front of her. She wasn’t sure if he’d be vulnerable beneath,
a kind of helpless child, or reveal an animal maleness, like a bull or a stallion with its shameless, swinging organs – a strong and strident difference that she would have to contend with as
best she could. It didn’t seem right, not at all.
    Her face was pale and her eyes frightened. She combed out her dark hair so that it fell long over her shoulders. She stared at her high-necked nightdress and, after a moment, undid two of the
buttons at the top. Then she quickly did them up again.
    ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she said to herself. Her cheeks looked hollow with fear. What was she doing here, in this strange place with this strange man? And what was about to
happen?
    There was no help for it. She couldn’t stay here forever. Other guests might be waiting. And besides, it would look odd if she were too long. She picked up the pile of her clothes and
shoes, her washbag and hairbrush and made her way back along the hall. To her relief, Laurence had already changed into his pyjamas and cleaned his teeth in the room’s washbasin. Now he was
in one of the beds, a newspaper resting on the blanket.
    ‘Hello,’ he said, smiling as she came in. ‘I took this one, is that all right?’
    ‘Of course.’ She turned back the covers of her bed and slipped between them. They were chilly and she rubbed her feet to warm them up, as she did at home.
    ‘Are you all right?’ Laurence was watching her.
    ‘Yes, thank you.’ It was disconcerting. Her bedroom had always been a private place before now. The only person who had ever come in was her mother. Alexandra could still remember
her mother’s weight as she sat on the bed, one hand stroking Alexandra’s hair, the other holding her hand as they talked about the events of the day. Then, a gentle kiss, the footsteps,
the pause in the doorway as she turned to smile, and the sudden change from a person to a silhouette as the light went out. Since the accident, no one had come to turn out the light – she had
to go to the switch herself and scamper back over the cold floor to her bed. There were no bedtime kisses and no gentle words. Until now, perhaps.
    She lay down and closed her eyes. Events of the day scudded through her head and before she knew it, she began to sink into sleep. A click made her eyes open wide to blackness; Laurence had
turned off the lamp. Her heart began to pound beneath her nightgown, thudding against her chest.
    Nothing happened for a while and then she heard him get quietly out of his bed and walk around to hers.
    ‘Alexandra?’
    She said nothing but squeezed her eyes shut, lying as still as she could.
    ‘Are you awake?’
    Honesty had been drummed into her since girlhood. ‘Yes.’
    ‘May I . . . I’d like to . . . join you.’ His voice was low, almost pleading.
    ‘Of course.’ She did nothing to help him, though, lying stock still, one fist clenched with tension. She felt the blanket and sheet lift, and cold air waft in. He climbed in behind
her, squeezing onto the narrow mattress, pressing his body to hers.
    She was holding her breath, she realised, and she released it slowly, pulling in another as quietly as she could. Laurence wrapped one arm around her, tucking his legs up under hers. He began to
nuzzle at her neck. She stayed utterly still, her eyes open wide