“You will be most welcome,” he agreed, while secretly hoping it would be many years from the present.
“I hope I will be welcome, too,” Ivan said, standing up. “For brothers we shall always be, whatever the stars have to say on the subject.”
“Ivan, you will be welcome most of all,” he said, embracing him. “Take care of yourself. Write me; write us both. We will be happy to hear your adventures.”
“With all my heart,” he agreed. “Please tell Mary that I…that I wish her all possible happiness. I hope she can learn to forgive what I’ve done. If there’s anything I can do—”
“Ivan, please, it’s not worth mentioning…”
Many words in a similar vein were shared on both sides until Blackbeard, realizing that neither would give way, took Ivan’s arm and hauled him out of the apartment. A final good-bye for both and they vanished, leaving Leopold with a slight ache in his heart. Would he ever see them again? And how different might they all be in a few years, once time flowed between them and effaced the past?
“Finally!” a voice said, as arms grabbed him from behind.
“Mary?”
“Zounds! Your aunt is remarkably impressed with herself,” she laughed, spinning him around. “Wanted to know about my education, my reading habits, my thoughts on women’s emancipation (I’d scarcely even heard of the word)! And all the time, I could only think about you, about tonight and the following day and all the days and nights to come…” she trailed off, pulling him close.
“Ah, you just missed Blackbeard and Ivan. They said they had urgent business.”
“Oh? Well, I wish them well, wherever they’re going. However, I have no further business with them…only with you. Can we take a walk? A very long and private walk where no one can find us?”
“With all my heart,” he agreed—and sneezed. One sneezed followed by an even more dramatic second and third. He held his nose in alarm, then laughed.
“A sneeze! I haven’t done that in…I don’t know how long!”
“Naturally, catching a cold when I have most need of you. Say, if you get a cold, does that mean I will, too? Since we share the same…life and death?”
“I have no idea,” he said, with a slight laugh. “Should I run after Blackbeard and ask him?”
“Don’t trouble him. We’ll conduct our own experiments,” she said, entwining her arm in his. “Now quickly, I mean to abduct you. You’re mine, solely mine, and even she can’t have you. Oh—there’s her voice now! Let’s go!”
Without another word they stole off, leaving Lucas to drain his final glass in private. Emotions and sensations from the past few days ran over him, making him feel a thousand times the man he was. He had been a hero? Had his actions, however modest, juggled the dice of Fate? Yes, he believed they had. His fateful carriage ride would be remembered in ballads and broadsheets, and if someone had an exceptionally poetic mind, even on the Royal Stage. He lost himself in these and even more fantastic daydreams until Leopold’s aunt, having sized him up as a wastrel, grabbed his ear and made him account for himself. Finding himself gloriously tongue-tied, she set him to work cleaning dishes, catching rats, and other menial tasks unbefitting the protagonist of our wondrous tale. For so he persisted in believing himself to the end of his days, telling the story—in his slightly skewed, embellished manner—to his children and grand-children, until they, too, could recite it verbatim. A pity no one bothered to record it.
THE END
About the Author
Joshua Grasso is a professor of English at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. from Miami University, specializing in British Literature from the long eighteenth century. As both a writer and teacher, he uses the past—whether its literature, art, music, or simply ideas—to help us see ourselves through the ‘mirror’ of time. Even with the passing of centuries, our reflection is remarkably consistent—if sometimes troubling. The Count of the Living Death is his first novel.
Contact the Author Online
Email: Joshua Grasso
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
The Count of the Living Death (The Chronicles of Hildigrim Blackbeard) Page 22
