Funk-N-Fiction

Our next story fits into Celeste Barclay‘s regency world, and the setting will appeal to all of our reader hearts… a library. And be sure to check out the gift Celeste is offering to all of you at the end!!

A Presence In The Library
by Celeste Barclay

Cynthia juggled the mountain of books she’d most recently borrowed from Huntley Manor. The late earl had paid little attention to what she borrowed. He’d mocked her when she’d asked permission as a child, assuming that a girl couldn’t read. He was a man who refused to acknowledge her noble lineage, adamant that it didn’t count for foreigners. He’d uttered horrid comments that still lingered in her mind. It had only made her more determined. Louise often suggested books, and they would share recommendations.

For all the dead earl’s pomposity, he’d collected Indian books that explicitly illustrated various intimate scenarios for two or more partners. It had tickled the girls’ imagination when they were eleven, but it hadn’t been much later that Cynthia transitioned into womanhood, and her mother inadvertently explained much of what the girls had—studied. She never confessed to her mother about what she’d secretly devoured, but she’d absorbed her mother’s guidance about the marvels of being with a devoted husband and how to elude characters without morals or the intent to maintain her honor.

Inquisitiveness drew the girls to the books over and over, and the pictures remained embedded in Cynthia’s memory. The contortions had replayed out in her mind’s eye nightly for the past month. Every dream featured Nathan as her companion as they enacted her erotic longings. They enticed her to return to the books as she now slipped into the library. She’d spied Nathan on astride his massive steed early that day. He often rode at dawn, his chestnut locks flying behind him the breeze lifted them from his broad shoulders. He appeared at peace, at one with the beast.

As she returned the second volume, she rebuked herself for her wayward thoughts. She felt remorseful that she longed for her late best friend’s brother. She’d read Louise’s diary more than once, and she knew Louise had unresolved emotions toward her brother. Cynthia wasn’t confident Louise would endorse a relationship between her best friend and brother. Cynthia finished reshelving literary works she’d pilfered before she perused for ones she hadn’t yet devoured. She glided the ladder along the rails at the top and middle of the full-length bookshelves that lined three walls. She’d speculated many times about who’d amassed the incredible assortment of tomes. It easily took generations and centuries, but it made her wonder if it was the product of one person more than many.

“Lou, what should I pick? I don’t know that there’s much that leaves me curious. I have no desire to study agriculture or animal husbandry. I’m disinclined to any of the husbandry my father continues to point in my direction. None draw me to them. Have you noticed the most recent ones? What are your thoughts? None compel me. Ah. Here’s something.”

Cynthia drew a book she’d missed until then. She examined all sides before focusing on the front cover.

Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships

Her eyebrows drew together as she attempted to recall the tale, but her memory was blank. She scanned the other books near it and noticed ones she’d read.

“Candide is too accurate for something satirical. Voltaire is also a little stark. Mama might overlook me returning with Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but I doubt Papa would. That’s why I read it in the apple tree. Did you read this Gulliver and his travels, Lou? I need something light after the secrets you told me. I failed you on both accounts. I vowed revenge. Now I learn it was monumentally worse, and they’d already burning in Hell. I never got the justice you deserve. Is that why linger here? They’re gone, but you remain. What do I do?”

Cynthia leaned her forehead against the shelf and shut her eyes. Tears slid from beneath her lids, just as they had daily since she’d finished Louise’s journal. Much of it Cynthia already knew, but her heart fractured to uncover what her best friend had hidden, even from her. There’d been a moment of pain that Louise refused to confide all to her. Yet she knew those secrets were hers to lock away in her mind but not hers to share with the world. It was Louise’s decision what she shared.

A draft wafted around her, making her straighten and look around.

Louise?

A shiver passed through her as she looked around. Nothing stirred, but the air suddenly grew cold. She no longer felt alone, but she was certain she was.

“Lou, are you there?”

Cynthia waited, but nothing in the room changed. Yet she sensed someone or something standing beside her. She glanced down when something brushed against her hand. Her sleeve hadn’t shifted. Something drew her toward the settee. She didn’t fight the urge to sit, the book she held now resting on her lap.

“Lou, I want to believe it’s you not your father. Not those men.”

Nothing about the presence stirred fear or disgust. She wasn’t calm, but she felt no need to bolt from the library. She rested her head against the sofa’s back. The cool draft enveloped her as though it were an invisible shawl. But instead of bringing back another shiver, she felt warmer. It felt the way it always had when she and Louise embraced. She took comfort in it.

“Are you telling me that you forgive me for not following through with my pledge? That I didn’t act before your father died? Before your assailant met his demise?”

The air felt heavier as though someone or something pressed around her. As though Louise’s embrace tightened.

“Can you find peace? Can you leave this realm and allow your spirit to go to Heaven? Is there more that I must do?”

A draft wafted around her ankles again. When her eyes opened, it wasn’t her friend she spied. Nathan was within arm’s reach by the time her gaze cleared enough to see him. He said nothing but pulled her into his embrace. She stiffened, but when he encouraged her head to rest against his shoulder, her body went lax. She felt at ease for the first time in—she couldn’t even recall. His physical mass shielded her from the world, but his entire presence made her feel untouchable, protected, and cherished. She knew her father would always safeguard her, but Nathan’s embrace couldn’t differ more from the paternal ones Harry offered.

“Cyn, what happened? What did you mean just now?” Nathan held her, but she tried to jerk away. He would have released her if she tried harder, but as much as she wished to avoid those questions, neither did she want to leave his arms. These were questions she hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud. Every moment of self-denial pooled in her belly her and threatened to consume her. She wanted to revel in being next to Nathan.

“I can’t divulge that, Nathan. Please don’t press. I don’t want to lie.”

“Do you really believe you must hide from me? Do you believe I would betray you?” It gutted Nathan to believe she so distrusted him, despite how she burrowed into his embrace again. Her actions contradicted her words.

“They aren’t my stories to divulge. She didn’t even reveal them to me until after she passed away.”

“Do you honestly believe Louise haunts us?”

“Haunts seems so ominous, but I sense her presence. I feel superstitious admitting it, but I’m certain of it. She is not at rest, and I don’t know what to do.”

“And you won’t let me help you.”

Cynthia canted her head to look up at him. Her anguished mien matched his. She gulped, forcing herself to remain silent when she longed to divulge her deepest, darkest thoughts. She dipped her chin as more tears flooded her cheeks. Nathan swept them away with the pad of his thumb. He pressed a kiss to each cheek, then her forehead. She sighed.

“I feel so stuck,” she murmured.

“Cry if that’s what you need. Whatever’s happened recently has caused you fresh grief.”

“I wish I weren’t—”

“Whatever is about to spill from your lips, don’t. I won’t think less of you.” Cynthia finally swiped at her eyes and sat up. She twisted to gaze at Nathan, his empathy gripping her heart. She cupped his jaw and leaned forward, nervous at first. When he didn’t withdraw, she initiated the kiss.

Celeste is offering ALL of our readers a free download of The Maharaja’s Daughters, a Regency novella that’s a prequel to this short story.

You can check out all of her books on her website: HERE. 🙂