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an innocent invitation to bathe. Maybe he was doing his old friend an injustice. Sorry, what I mean is that
in addition to finishing my paper, we have a commission a case to investigate and we ll need all our
spare time to do so.
Does that mean you can t help with the play? Jimmy looked disappointed, but whether about the
Bard or the baths he didn t make clear.
Of course not, although I think I ll have to pass up the chance of doing some acting. I m sorry.
Not a problem. As long as we can pick your brains we can find plenty of people to impersonate a tree
or swing a claidheamh mòr. Jimmy held out his hand to shake. Perhaps you ll clear up that mystery and
we can take that dip together one day.
Indeed. Jonty shook the man s hand and watched him depart. One tricky situation had been dealt
with now another had to be tackled. He sighed and began to climb the stairs.
www.samhainpublishing.com 37
Chapter Five
Orlando paced around his room, fuming. You let yourself down again, acting like a petulant little boy
and having tantrums. Jonty had done nothing to deserve his wrath even if Mr. Smarmy Pants had.
Remembering Jimmy, Orlando s sense of outrage overcame the guilt for a while; he d been challenged
directly, not in as many words but the intent was plain. The man was out to steal Jonty from him, that much
was obvious, and it just wasn t cricket. Orlando swung a kick at the fire dogs, immediately regretting the
action when he whacked his toe.
He wished this annoying American with the smooth voice and cocky face was some effeminate
creature, all simpering and mincing gait, the sort of chap Jonty couldn t stand. Jonty had once been invited
to a reception for a theatrical company who put on a show at the university s Amateur Dramatic Club, and
he d dragged his lover along, expecting the affair to be great fun. A preponderance of effeminate men in
attendance had danced about the pair, fawning and making strange comments. Jonty, normally at ease in all
company from royalty down to barrow boys, had been uncomfortable and unhappy. He d confessed
afterwards that the men had reminded him of Timothy Taylor, which had been enough to fill Orlando with
loathing. Taylor had been one of the boys who d abused Jonty at school and had grown into an epicene,
prematurely aged figure.
Anyway, Jonty had always liked real men, masculinity being a trait he prized almost above all
others. As he put it, if I d wanted to kiss a woman, I d have found the real thing and not some poor
substitute.
Which was exactly why Orlando felt so uneasy about his potential rival. He produced the occasional
act of flamboyance or outlandish remark, but generally the man reeked of masculinity. Worse still, he was
just the type whom Jonty fancied, like Richard Marsters had been and Orlando himself was. Tall, dark-
haired, slim. All that Jimmy lacked was the intellectual severity.
Matthew Ainslie was built on the same lines. The previous summer, once Orlando had got over the
enormous shock that the man seemed to fancy him, he d become convinced that Jonty had wanted to get to
know Ainslie better, and it had earned him a punch. His jealousy had been illogical, he knew, and even
when Jonty constantly reassured him he had eyes for no one else, Orlando still found it hard to believe. A
little nagging voice in his cerebral cortex kept telling him Jonty would be bound to leave if he found a more
worthy companion. Those same doubts were re-surfacing now.
Lessons in Temptation
Orlando could see the pair of men in his mind s eye. They d be down in the lounge, laughing,
discussing Shakespeare in a way which he and Jonty never could. Jimmy would have a predatory eye on
the golden-haired creature sitting beside him and a sneer on his face he was sure that the look would be a
sneer for his rightful companion.
Orlando tortured himself over and again with these thoughts, not seeing a word or equation on the
pages of the book he d picked up to distract himself with. Part of him wanted to go downstairs, all smiles
and confidence, and cut Jonty out from under Mr. Fancy Pants s nose, showing him effectively who was
boss. Part of him was too ashamed to face Jonty again, having been reassured so recently that the man had
never, would never, be unfaithful. The other part simply wanted to punch Jimmy on the nose and have done
with.
Orlando sat deep in his thoughts, eyes scanning the pages of his book yet seeing nothing, ears not
registering the very slight noise the door made as it swept over the carpet nor the cat-like tread of
stockinged feet as they made their way up behind him.
His first inklings of the mischief afoot were the strong arms which enfolded him making him leap a
good six inches in the air and the little nose that snuggled into his shoulders, probably having had his
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