Faint Heart/Fair Maids
A William Fiction
By Jody E.
These characters don't belong to me..well, actually most of them DO! But William and Cecily are borrowed from Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I merely toy with them for my own amusement.
I have also shamelessly stolen a scene or two from Fool for Love…you will know it when you see it.
Chapter 2
William approached the crowd with some trepidation. Had they witnessed his shameful performance on the ice? A tall man with wavy brown hair and an impressive mustache skated over to them.
"Bethy! There you are. We all thought you had fallen in!" He noticed William, "I say, aren't you the champion bowler, knocking over Vicars left and right like ten pins?"
Well, William thought, there was the answer to that question. He blushed, but attempted to keep his head.
"That was I, I'm afraid. Your, er, sister, was kind enough to lend me a helping hand."
Cecily came up to them, "I do believe he was trying to launch Mrs. Harrington out to sea."
"She does rather resemble a battle ship." Elisabeth quipped. "The HMS Harrington!"
"More like a battle axe!" Replied John. He looked at William. "Come have a drink. We always appreciate somebody who can take the Vicar down a peg or two. Maybe you knocked a bit of the fire and brimstone out of him, and he will go a bit easier on us poor sinners tomorrow."
Waverly didn't seem to recognize him from school, which was rather to the good, William thought. He held out his hand. "Thank you. William Atherton."
John shook his hand. "John Waverly here. My friends call me Wavy, because of my hair." He led William over to the men who were passing around a flask. He called out to them. "Listen up. This is Will Atherton, a very dangerous man. He's the one who sent Vicar Harrington and the missus for a spin. Oh, and stay out of his way when he has a cricket ball in his hand."
A chorus of laughter and applause greeted William, and he flushed with pleasure. Apparently the cricket ball incident had been remembered but forgiven. Someone handed him the flask. It was warm to his touch and contained a hot toddy of some sort. Not cocoa, which the ladies were having. William was quite unused to strong drink, but he took a gulp, and felt the heat sear down his throat. He was immediately warm all the way down to his toes. He handed the flask back.
"And what do you do, old chap?" asked one of the other gentlemen, introduced as Michael.
"I manage a book store for my uncle. The Mighty Pen, in Bloomsbury, perhaps you've heard of it? It will be mine eventually."
Another chap spoke up, "Of course. I bought most of my books there when I was at Kings. You were there as well? You look familiar."
"Yes. I did a course in Liberal Arts."
"Oh yes, I recall. You wrote poetry, did you not?"
"Occasionally. Not very well, I fear."
"Oh nonsense…your verses were legendary. Were they not, James?"
The fellow named James, with ginger hair and mustaches, just laughed. William laughed also. He was amazed at how easily he seemed to blend in with this sophisticated crowd. Just then Elizabeth came over and said to the group, "Come, gentlemen…we need some masculine opinions. We are discussing the Twelfth Night ball. It is barely a week away, and we need a theme for the fancy dress."
The ladies were sitting on the benches, removing their skates, as the short day would soon be ending. William was amazed at how much time had passed. Guiltily he looked around for Amanda, whom he had quite forgotten, but she was still happily talking with her friends. William joined the men on the benches.
"We need a fresh idea. Something daring and original." Said Elizabeth, looking at William.
"Why do you need a theme?" asked William, "If it's to be a masquerade?"
"Because, without a theme, all of the ladies tend to show up dressed as Cleopatra, and the men as pirates. It's quite dreadful." Cecily remarked.
"We had quite an amusing ball for the Queen's Golden Jubilee last June. We did famous couples from history." This from a sprightly blonde, " Michael and I went as The Mad Hatter and Alice!"
Cecily raised her eyebrows, "Not that they were exactly a couple, Felicity. But the costumes were well done."
James remarked, "William, here, owns a bookshop. Perhaps he can suggest something new."
"I-I don't actually own the shop as yet." William temporized.
"Oh, come now, don't be modest, William. Give us your ideas." Elizabeth regarded him with sparkling eyes.
William would have rather liked to see Cecily as Cleopatra...It would suit her dark hair and eyes. But he tried to think of an original idea for a masked ball.
"How about famous characters from Shakespeare? It certainly suits Twelfth Night." He could imagine Cecily as Juliet. But would he dare Romeo?
'Sorry. We did that one last Hallow E'en." Cecily replied. "It was quite tiresome, actually. All those heavy velvets and brocade. Though the men did look jolly in tights."
"Please not that again, "laughed Michael.
"Greek gods and goddesses, " suggested Felicity. "I would adore to be Aphrodite."
"But then everybody would look the same, all togas and laurel wreaths."
"Well, there's always Tarts and Vicars," suggested Elizabeth with a twinkle.
"No, no no!" Exclaimed John, "No more cassocks!"
Everybody laughed.
"Given up the priesthood for good, have you, Wavy, old chap? Then watch out for the Devil! He will be after you next." Michael pretended to prod John with an imaginary pitchfork.
"Actually that has become rather a popular topic at the bookshop," William spoke up suddenly, quite surprising himself.
"What's that?" asked Cecily.
Emboldened by her interest, William explained, "W-why the occult and the supernatural. We have an entire section of it, which has become quite popular lately. Uh…Speaking of the devil, that is."
"The Supernatural," said Elizabeth, her eyes alight. "You are referring to ghosts and goblins and witches, are you not?"
"And Wizards. And Frankenstein's monster." Added Felicity, "What fun that would be!"
"Surely that would be more appropriate to Hallow E'en, "Said Cecily dismissively.
"But that is months and months off," complained Elizabeth, "I'd like to do it now!"
"We could get my cousin Daphne to dress as a Gypsy and tell fortunes!" Exclaimed a thin redhead.
Elizabeth laughed and explained to William, "Melanie has a cousin who is convinced she has the second sight. We call her Daftne, because she is as daft as a loon. Would she do it?"
"Of course, if it means getting invited to the ball. It will be great fun."
Cecily was at last convinced, and everybody started chattering excitedly. William looked up and saw Amanda approaching. He stood reluctantly, and began to bid his new friends goodbye.
"You will come to the ball, won't you?" It was Elizabeth asking. "Let me give you our address." She removed a card from her reticule and wrote upon it with a small gold pencil, and gave it to William with a smile. "It begins at half eight."
William smiled. "I should be delighted. Thank you, and it was a pleasure making your acquaintance. And Miss Cecily's also."
Cecily smiled coolly. "Goodbye."
William and Amanda returned to the bench on which they had left their boots. Hastily, they removed their skates and headed for home. It was growing dark, and they would be late for Tea, which would irritate Mother. William was silent on the walk home. Half listening to Amanda's excited chatter, his heart was too full to speak of what had happened, but the thought of seeing Cecily again and perhaps dancing with her at a ball, was overwhelming.
That night, unable to sleep, William arose. Sitting down at his escritoire in his dressing gown, he began to write; the image of the dark eyed beauty in her skating costume, demanding expression. At King's, William had begun writing poetry, but when he had haltingly read it in front of the class, they had laughed. One student had even accused him of murdering the iambic pentameter, leading to a nickname, William the Bloody, which even now filled him with shame. So he had given up the attempt. But now, in the soft glow of the gaslight, William realized that what he had been lacking was inspiration! He would write of Cecily, though never by name. Let her be, like the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's sonnets, a mystery.
The Ormolu clock on the mantle in William's room had just struck one, when there was a fearsome pounding at the front door. There were no servants in the house, and Mother must not be disturbed, so William dashed downstairs, grabbing a poker from the fireplace as a weapon, if necessary. An unfamiliar middle aged man stood at the door, a distraught expression on his face. He apologized profusely for the lateness of the hour, and introduced himself as George Fellows, father of Rosalind, one of Amanda's friends. William invited him in at once, but he remained in the doorway. He said that Rosalind had never come home from skating that afternoon. They hadn't realized it at first, because she had planned to visit another friend for the evening. It was only when he had gone 'round to pick her up that he discovered that she had never arrived at the friend's house. He had been canvassing the neighbourhood, and all of Rosalind's friends for some clue as to where she could have gone. William bade him come in while he fetched Amanda, which he did, as quietly as possible. At the sight of her in her wrapper, long brown braid hanging down her back, William was almost overcome with the thought of losing her, and being forced to call on her friends in the dead of night. He vowed to himself that he would protect her, come what may.
Once downstairs, a frightened Amanda told Mr. Fellows that she had seen Rosalind on the ice, but that they had left as it was getting dark, and she had not seen her since. As Mr. Fellows left, no happier then when he had arrived, Amanda burst into tears. William comforted her as best he could. The Police would take care of it on the morrow. Rosalind would be found and all would be well. But just in case there were ruffians about, or white slavers, Amanda must promise him to go nowhere unaccompanied. London was no fit place for a young girl, William thought. He was most anxious for the new school term to begin, so that Amanda would be safely away in Surrey. William fixed Amanda some warm milk and added a dollop of brandy, which they kept for medicinal purposes, and she at long last fell asleep. William himself remained awake for the rest of the night.
TBC