The Silent Love Read Free

with a nod of his head, David gave a short bark of laughter. "Writes me a note asking if I want to increase my allowance and, if so, open the next packet."
     "I think perhaps your father's sense of humor is misplaced at times, but the next letter will explain all. Please read on." Mr. Maguire smiled that officious, irritating smile again, and handing him the next packet, turned his eyes to the window.
     "Good God! Is he mad?" David read the first few lines again and sank back in his chair. "Do you know what he is proposing?"
    At the solicitors' serene nod, David returned his gaze to the page and continued to read, mouth open and eyes wide with astonishment.
    "Outrageous! No other way to put it. I could not... hello... " he raised his eyes to the other man once more and whispered reverently, "A thousand pounds a month? That's... four thousand pounds a quarter."
     "Three thousand, actually David." Mr. Maguire tapped the next packet with a delicate finger, his face clenching in his usual simile of a grin. "Have the contract right here."
    David loosened his already loose cravat and looked around wildly, as though the whole thing were a dream and he simply needed to awaken, only he didn't really want to wake up. "I... I don't know what to say. I mean... it's not the thing... surely a law against it. I mean, it's adultery, of course."
    He looked a question at the attorney, his eyes boring into the others. "You condone this?"
     "Can't say I do, and can't say I don't. Not my place to condone or not to condone."
    The solicitor, heaving a somnolent sigh, showed every evidence of having grown weary of the younger man's procrastination, and drove home his point by picking up the next packet and tossing it across the table where it landed with a dull thwack. "Look in there."
    David opened the packet and fingered the pound notes within. "Oh my. I shall just have a faint," he quipped in excellent imitation of a dandy as the four hundred pounds fell onto the table.
    "I've died and gone to... " he stopped suddenly and grabbed up the money, replacing it in the envelope and shoving it back across the table. "No... I cannot. It is not right. No and no again."
     "Not sure it's wise to refuse, my boy. Your father is quite serious about this, and would not look kindly on such an action... if you get my meaning."
     "What? Will he cut me off then?"
     "Well, let's just say that you would do well not to find out."
     "I see. So it's bugger for the old devil or die of starvation. That's prostitution! Of a sort... "
     "I don't see it quite like that."  The solicitor pursed his mouth in an irritating show of distaste that belied his words. Clearing his throat, he continued, "... and while it may not be exactly the done thing, it would certainly behoove you to consider carefully before you refuse."
    David sat pondering for a moment, his fine dark eyes going darker with his self-loathing. "I accept. Frankly, I cannot allow my scruples to get between me and this opportunity."
    Knowing himself to be spineless and amoral, and hating his lack of principles, he sighed deeply, then spoke again. "Been down and out too long, as you well know."
    As he spoke, David pulled the envelope back and withdrew the notes, placing them in his wallet.
    "Well done." Mr. Maguire pulled the contract from its envelope and indicated the inkwell be brought from the small desk against the wall. "You'll just need sign this. Then I'll arrange a carriage to pick you up at half past one. Best use the time you've got to make yourself more presentable. What have you been up to? Gambling all night?"
     "Wenching, old fellow. Wenching." David glanced hastily through the closely written document, mumbling, "Legal mumbo jumbo... can't make sense of it," then signed with a flourish. "There, all done."
    The solicitor gave a hearty laugh—not his usual fare—and packed up his briefcase. Turning back just as he reached the door, he admonished David, "You had best remember that you have