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 3
When William had told his new acquaintances that he managed The Mighty Pen, he had been exaggerating somewhat. True, his unmarried uncle had made William, the only nephew, his heir. But Charles Atherton was only forty-five years old, and had no intention of giving up the ghost for many years to come, and he also had no intention of giving control of his successful shop to some young college whippersnapper. So he had brought William in at the bottom, as an assistant clerk, whose duties mostly consisted of cataloguing and arranging stock. Shy William actually preferred not dealing with the customers, and rather enjoyed working with the books that he loved. Plus, the quiet of the stockroom gave him privacy to read and to write his poetry, though he was not doing that now. Instead he was staring numbly off into space. That morning he had escorted Amanda to the funeral of Amanda's friend Rosalind. Her pale, lifeless body had been found near a hole in the ice, in the very pond upon which they had all skated so merrily the day before. The police surmised that she must have gone back to skate by herself, and had fallen in where the ice was thin. She must also have somehow cut her neck on the jagged ice, for her throat was torn, and her body curiously bloodless. At any rate her death was quickly ruled, "Death by mischance," and the case closed. Poor Amanda had been grief stricken. Rosalind had not been one of her dearest friends, but a friend non-the less. At least the fear of kidnapers and white slavers had abated, and William felt a bit easier. Still the funeral of a young person is never a happy occasion, and William's tender heart was anguished at the thought of such a thing happening to his precious Amanda.
He was started from his gloomy thoughts by the sound of the bell at the shop door. Uncles Charles and the two head clerks had gone out to lunch, leaving William in charge in charge of the shop, since the holiday traffic was light. William dashed into the main room, only to find Elizabeth Waverly and Cecily Addams looking about.
Truth to tell, William had put his dreams of Cecily at the back of his mind in his worry over Amanda, but now seeing her here, in his shop, caused his heart to beat furiously, and a blush to rise in his cheeks. The Twelfth Night ball was mere days away, and he had not even considered his costume. He must remedy that situation immediately. He bowed to the ladies.
"Good afternoon, Miss Waverly, Miss Addams. I trust you had a happy New Year?"
Elizabeth laughed. "Miss Waverly? You make me feel quite elderly, William. Please call me Beth, and I'm sure Miss Addams will be heartbroken if you don't call her Cecily. "
"Heartbroken, " echoed Cecily absently, as she looked about the shop.
"Our New Years was quite pleasant. Did you attend the fireworks over the Thames? They were magnificent."
"Ah no," William replied, " My sister was unwell, and my Mother finds that sort of thing rather too stimulating." He didn't feel up to explaining about Rosalind; it was too upsetting.
"Pity," said Cecily, still looking about. "Ah! This is what I told you about, Beth." She went over to a window display of tabloid magazines, also known as "penny dreadfuls," for their lurid stories and illustrations.
"Oh my goodness, " said William, blushing furiously, "Those really aren't suitable reading matter for ladies such as yourselves."
"Nonsense," said Cecily, "We are merely doing research for our costumes. Look, Beth, 'The Mummy's Curse!'
Elizabeth picked up another. "'The Kiss of the Vampyre!' Sounds positively dreadful. But look at the illustration." A gruesome fanged creature of the night was embracing a fainting woman, with a rather startling décolletage. "Are there female vampires, do you think?" She asked William.
"Well, er, actually we do have a book, Carmilla, by Sheridan Le Fanu, about a female vampire, but it is extremely unsuitable. I would instead recommend Varney the Vampire by…."
"Oh, we don't have time to read entire books. Our seamstresses await inspiration as we speak." She gathered up an assortment of penny dreadfuls, " These will do just fine." Cecily handed over a few pence, and she and Elizabeth prepared to leave.
"Have you given any thought to your costume, William? "Asked Elizabeth.
"Oh, I cannot possibly give away my secret, " said William, hoping that he sounded convincing.
Elizabeth laughed, "Well, then we shall all be in for a surprise. Until then, Au Revoir."
"I will see you then. Goodbye, Beth, Cecily."
William went into small occult section of the bookshop. Another fact that William hadn't mentioned at the skating party was that he himself never read such literature. He had read Frankenstein, years ago, and the story had so filled him with horror, that it had given him nightmares for days. William hated violence and had no love for the supernatural. The other clerks had smirked over Carmilla, but mainly because of the shocking scenes of lust between two women. William blushed at the thought of even mentioning such a work to innocents such as Elizabeth and Cecily. What had possessed him? And what, pray tell, had possessed him to mention the subject of the supernatural at the party discussion in the first place? Now he was committed to dressing as one of these creatures, and he had no idea where to begin. He looked through the volumes on Witchcraft, Magick and a volume of short tales by the American author, Edgar Allen Poe. Finally, he chose a slim novelette, The Vampyre by John Poilidori. He leafed through it but there were no illustrations. What did a vampyre even look like? William sat down with the book and began to read, looking for some description of the mysterious evil Lord Ruthven. Apparently he looked fairly human but with dead grey eyes and pale skin, untouched by blush of human emotion. He was even considered quite handsome and was rather a ladies man. Vexation! Well, perhaps much could be achieved by makeup, William decided. Perhaps fangs made of wax. Would it work? Perhaps he would do better with wizard's robes. Or a ghostly shroud. And what of his spectacles? As soon as he arrived home this evening, he would ransack the attic. Amanda would help him. It would amuse her and take her mind off her loss. He thought of Cecily. What would she wear? Ah...if only he could somehow find a costume that would compliment hers, like Alice and the Mad Hatter. Alas, that was unlikely. William was still musing when Uncle Charles and the two clerks came bustling into the shop, laughing merrily from wine at lunch. William replaced the book on the shelf and retreated to his stockroom.