Love's Portrait

by Anna Larner

  Molly grimaced and rubbed her forehead. “I was tempted not to. I have the hangover from hell. Thank God I did go in though. Evelyn pounced on me for a meeting with her before I’d even gotten through the door. Honestly I have so much news to tell you.”

  “Excellent. Although I’ve never found you lacking in that department.”

  “I aim to please. Item one—Edith’s painting will hang in the Wright room after the temporary display has finished.”

  “Molly, that’s wonderful. So which Wright threatened Evelyn into that decision?”

  “Lydia.”

  “Goodness. I love it. Next item please.”

  “Do you remember I spent New Year’s in London with Georgina at a party held by the Oberons?”

  “How could I forget.”

  “Yes, anyway, the Oberons are important patrons—think the Wright Foundation but much, much bigger. It turns out Estelle Oberon is funding a project here at the museum aimed at helping young women engage with their history.”

  “That’s excellent. Was this something you’d been hoping for?”

  “No, that’s just it—it was a complete surprise. I do remember chatting with Estelle over a glass of wine, and her asking me what my next project was. I said that I wanted to keep developing a diverse museum where every visitor could see themselves reflected. I also mentioned our aspirations for extending our outreach work. It obviously struck a chord with her.”

  “I take it Evelyn is pleased.”

  “She smiled at me.”

  “No? Now that is news.”

  They both laughed. Molly gave a whimper of pain and clutched at her forehead.

  “I’m never drinking again. The last thing I remember clearly was arriving back with Georgina to her father’s house and sliding down George Wright’s banister.”

  “Molly Goode. That’s original woodwork.” Fran’s scolding words did not match her amused expression. “And Georgina? How was she this morning?”

  “She could barely open her eyes.”

  “Aha. Very telling. I see the for sale sign’s gone. Don’t tell me you’re responsible for that too?”

  “What? It has?” Molly shielded her eyes, straining to look for the board. “Georgina didn’t say anything. You know, I could have sworn I narrowly collided with it first thing. It must have been taken down this morning at some point.”

  Molly looked at Fran, who just shrugged.

  “Come to think of it, Georgina let slip only this morning that she’d had offers.” Molly bit forlornly into her sandwich.

  Fran frowned. “Except wouldn’t they just put up a sold subject to contract banner over the for sale notice? Maybe Georgina’s decided not to sell after all.”

  Molly shook her head. “I don’t think so. She told me that she literally has nightmares about what happened in that house.”

  “Well you know her best. It’s just…”

  “What?”

  “What puzzles me is if she hates the house so much, why do you both spend so much time there?”

  Molly shrugged. “It’s convenient for my work and the train station.”

  “It’s practically empty. Trust me, there’s nothing convenient or comfortable about that house. Want an apple?” Molly shook her head. Fran continued, while rooting round in her bag, “My sense is that it means a lot for Georgina to be there, whether she would admit it to herself or not.”

  Could Fran be right? But then what if it was Evelyn who was right? And London was all that Georgina had in mind. Maybe it was a private sale that had just gone through and that was that. No more beautiful sitting room to admire, no more stairs to want to dance down, no more coffee in the glamorous kitchen, and no more bedroom where the morning light fell upon the bed where she woke in Georgina’s arms.

  “You okay?” Fran stared at Molly with an expression of concern.

  “Yes. I was just thinking how much I’ll miss the house.”

  “But then you have the girl to compensate, eh?”

  “She honestly means everything to me. My work also means the world to me, and I will never stop doing what I do and caring about what I care about but…I know this is going to sound terrible, but I just want to be with her wherever that is, wherever she needs me to go. Is that really weak of me to put her first?”

  “No. It’s not weakness.” Fran put her arm around Molly and gave her a squeeze. “It’s love.”

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Sunday arrived with merciful speed. They’d ended their Saturday evening call with Georgina saying that she was still on schedule for six the next day and that she couldn’t wait to see her. She sounded excited—not that she could be more excited than Molly herself. And now it was time to meet again, and as she stood at Georgina’s door, she thought she might burst.

  “Georgina. Hi, it’s me.” Had Georgina intended to leave the door ajar?

  Stepping gingerly inside, Molly’s feet caught at a newly laid mat. Her gaze tripped along the length of the hallway, resting on a vase of sunflowers placed on George Wright’s console table. What? How could that be? The house was empty. Wasn’t it?

  The house smelled warm and full of life rather than its usual sense of emptiness which had always clung like grief to its floors and walls.

  “Is anyone there?” Molly pushed the sitting room door to slowly open and peeked inside. “No way.” She turned in a slow circle, staring in wonder at each familiar piece of furniture. There was the sideboard decorated with another vase of flowers, this time yellow roses. And then there was the leather armchair by the fireplace with its soft material so familiar to her touch. She looked at the mirror rehung, to find her breath catch by the items framed in its reflection.

  She turned sharply to face the wall behind her where the family portraits once hung, to find in their place a series of three framed pictures.

  “Wow.” Molly moved to them. The first image she recognized immediately as the view from the restaurant of the National Portrait Gallery. She touched the edge of the frame. It was their first kiss.

  Molly held her hand against her heart at the sight of the next picture, a photo of the Christmas star she had made for Georgina that magical morning.

  And then the last image, so familiar, so evocative of everything, Edith’s portrait of Josephine.

  “It’s a print, obviously.” Georgina stood at the sitting room door.

  Molly brushed away tears. “You’ve done all this? Does it mean…?”

  Georgina moved to Molly and took her hand in hers. “The last time we were together, we’d come back here the night before from a wonderful evening, and I’d watched you skip from lamp post to lamp post down the promenade. It felt so right. And then in the morning everything felt so wrong. We were talking about how the new owners would make the garden their own, and you were leaving, and then when your hand slipped from mine, I knew in that instant what to do. It became so clear what I wanted…” Georgina’s voice caught.

  “You wanted?”

  “I wanted to come home, here, to you, every day, forever. Could this be our home, do you think? We can replace the furniture of course.”

  Molly squeezed Georgina’s hands tightly. “Yes. Yes, please. I love you so much. And I love this house and everything in it—you know I do. I couldn’t imagine anything more perfect. Except you, perhaps. There is nothing more perfect than you.”

  Georgina kissed Molly. It was a passionate, complete kiss that filled every space in Molly’s heart and soul. It was a kiss that spoke of the memories they shared. And a kiss that spoke of the memories they would make and of the thrill of their future, full of joy and love, unhidden, for all to see.

  About the Author

  Anna is an English literature graduate with a passion for LGBT heritage. She has Master’s degrees in museum studies and the word and the visual imagination and has written and curated a permanent exhibition of LGBT voices and memorabilia, based at Leicester’s LGBT Centre.

  Anna’s debut novel, Highland Fling, was
a finalist in the 2018 Golden Crown Literary Society Awards and was recommended as one of the Top Ten Summer Reads of 2017 by AfterEllen. Her short story “Hooper Street” can be found in the BSB anthology Girls Next Door. Her poems have been published with Paradise Press and the University of Leicester’s Centre for New Writing.

  www.annalarner.com

  Facebook: @anna.larner.writer

  Twitter: @annalarnerbooks

  Instagram: @anna.larner.writer

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