Free Iron Chamber of Memory by John C. Wright

me, you will remember. Also, write down
Golf on Wednesday the 27th
.” She smiled, showing her dimples, her eyelids half-lowered, as she scribbled in her own little pink-leather notebook.
    Henry said, “How is this going to work for us? There is no way Outside Me would buy a diamond necklace as a present for his best friend’s fiancée. For one thing, how can I afford it?”
    But Laureline said, “If I tell you the whole plan, that might drive the memory too close to the forbidden memory of love, and you will forget it. But if you don’t know the details, well, you might recall just enough to do as I say. Trust me. We only have two months. I have written myself notes of very natural things for my Otherself do to, that will ensure you and I can meet here again.”
    Henry said, “How is it that this lamp was lit, just in this one room, and you have the key to it?”
    Laureline said, “I arranged it. Last time we were here together, I wrote myself a reminder note to ask Manfred to let me see to moving the furniture out of this chamber.”
    “Out of the house?” asked Henry.
    “The lawyers are forcing us to move materials left behind into storage until the ownership questions are cleared up. Naturally, every time I stepped into it intending to pack a box, I remembered myself, and left everything as it is. I was here earlier today, looking for Manfred. When I came in here, I remembered myself again, and lit the lamp, hoping it would lure us back in, once we found the house empty. I even arranged for this!”
    And with a grin, she danced over to one of the hanging silk drapes, and pulled it aside. Here was an ice bucket and bottles of champagne. She smiled a most luxurious smile. “Why don’t you pry open one of these stubborn corks, while I slip into something more comfortable? I tricked myself into bringing something for an overnight stay. Nice in a naughty way.”
    Like a man walking into the teeth of an arctic wind, Henry forced himself to turn away, and, step by leaden step, he walked toward the door behind which the upward stair waited.
    She said, “Wait! What are you doing? There is no other place to sleep.”
    “But with you?” He hefted the flashlight in his hand. He would be able to find his way back to the one inn on the island, with that light.
    Her lips trembled, but she said nothing.
    Henry gritted his teeth and turned his face away, knowing one look at her would shatter his resolve. “My love, I adore you. Believe that. That means I love you too much to be selfish, to demean you.”
    She rushed up behind him, put her arms around him, put her cheek against his back. “I want to be demeaned, if it is by you. You may do what you’d like to me.”
    “Don’t talk that way!”
    “How else can I prove to you that nothing else matters, but us?”
    Henry shook his head. “I will have you as an honest woman, or not at all. In the sunlight, not in the shadows. I will not betray Manfred.”
    “But what if his life outside is as meaningless to him as ours are to us? To whom are you
really
being loyal?”
    He turned, and with some difficulty, disentangled himself from her. “One day the spell will break. We will be wed. I promise it! One day, your happiness and mine will be complete. You will belong to me and you will own me. On that day, I will not look back and regret that I did not love you strongly enough. You are worth the wait.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You go out into that oblivion and you will forget your promise the moment your heart passes over that threshold. And I will stay here all night, alone, knowing that you walked away from me.”
    He kissed her roughly, intending it to be goodbye, but she pulled him with her small hands back toward the center of the chamber, toward the divan, toward the champagne. He took one step in that direction with her, then a second, and a third.
    But then he firmly, but gently, put her aside, and turned, and walked out the door.

4. Tales of Ancient Water