Love at Dawn

14.Raphael Confides

Edith knocked on the door of the Saint-Clemonts. Facing frustration, her first reaction was to seek comfort from her friend Charlene.

It was Raphael who opened the door. He was in a daze on seeing her. "Charlene went to visit Madame Percy," he explained.

It seemed that Charlene was also concerned about her at the news and went straight to her house. Edith smiled resignedly and was about to turn around to leave.

Raphael stopped her. "If you leave now, you may likely miss her on the way again. Why not stay here for a while?" he suggested.

Edith only hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside.

She sat down quietly in the armchair by the window, as Raphael neurotically paced around the narrow room.

She felt that he was somehow different today.

Until he stopped by the shelving, picked up a glass of liquor, and drank it with a toss of his head and a hard gulp, did she realise, stunned and then annoyed, what was going on.

His shirt collar was wide open, his eyes slightly wandering, appearing that dissolute air once more.

"I thought you had quit drinking," she sneered.

He did not answer, just approached her and abruptly asked,"You are with Andre Quenet?"

Feeling low, she merely responded coldly, "I think you have no right to ask."

"Sure, I am not qualified to ask," Raphael said with a despairing smile, making his poet-like face look almost grim.

"If before 1789, everyone would believe that Quenet and I were not comparable at all; if you choose him and give up on me, give up the noble Comte de Saint-Clemont, everybody will say you have lost your mind! That's why I abhor the revolution! It calls black white and distorts everything!"

His voice scarcely faded, a crisp slap landed on his left cheek.

It seemed that Edith also realised what she had done only after she had withdrawn her hand, and there was some guilt in her tone: "I didn't mean to hit you... I just can't tolerate blasphemy of the revolution."

The former nobleman tilted his head and covered the half of his face that was hit with his hand, showing no surprise or resentment in his eyes.

After a while, he put down his arm and stumbled towards the front door.

Edith watched his desperate back and felt for an instant that if she let him go like this, she would lose him forever.

Raphael stopped one step away from the doorknob.

A pair of slender yet powerful arms wrapped around his waist from behind. He felt a soft, warm cheek hit his back.

His hands hesitated to grab the two hands pressed against his abdomen and did not move for a long time.

He knew clearly that it was just a moment of compassion overwhelming her heart.

Raphael took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. He pulled her arms down, turned around, and sat back at the table.

Edith relaxed a little. At least the young man in front of her no longer exuded the aura of resolve he had just now.

She silently sat back in her chair. Raphael supported his head with one hand, leaving his back for her.

After a while, she was surprised to see the edge of the table he was supporting, which was full of cracks, vibrating slightly, his shoulders shaking violently.

He was wailing, yet never made a sound.

Edith's lips moved a few times, but failed to say a thing to this poor man.