Читать книгу Vienna - Nick S. Thomas - Страница 8

Even before she opened her eyes Elspeth fully knew that she was awake, and that the morning had arrived. She stirred and looked about her. She had never before seen Frances asleep, and was struck by the resemblance between mother and son; both slept on their backs, maintaining the same expression of grumpy boredom through the night. Herbert was different, lying half on one side, brow furrowed, mouth open a little, but perfectly still. After a moment she remembered what it was that he evoked; the crusader killed in battle, preserved in stone above his own tomb in the English church where she was married. She must remember to write that down.

As quietly as she could, Elspeth slipped from her overcoat and let herself out of the compartment. No one else seemed to be moving yet, although the day was shockingly bright. The train was moving slowly, easing, perhaps, into its last stop before Vienna. Soon the adventure would begin in earnest. She decided to go to the end of the carriage for some fresh air, and found she wanted to skip along the corridor, giggling with childish excitement. This was nothing to be ashamed of; she laughed affectionately at herself, and walked, trailing her hands along the wall and the window sills, ready to laugh again at anything that happened next.

By the time she reached the plated joint between the carriages the train had almost stopped, and there, standing at the open door, ready to step off, was a figure she would have hoped to see, if she could have imagined him. She gasped, and felt a little thrill of gratitude for this perfect sight to begin the day.

He was tall and dark and young, and wore a moustache. His uniform was topped by a long blue cape, with a braided collar and epaulettes, and a peaked cap. Beneath the cape were two perfectly polished black riding-boots. Soldier? Band-leader? Elspeth didn’t care. He stood on the step, looking eagerly toward the station, proud and happy, unconscious of the anachronism of his appearance, though not of its splendour. He smiled at her, with his eyes narrowed against the wind, a flirtatious smile of contentment with his smartness and his health and the freshness of the early morning, and Elspeth smiled back.

ln a moment they stopped, and the blue uniform flourished and disappeared, leaving her standing with her heart beating fast, the beat of a little girl with a crush. And she knew that she would never forget that brilliant snapshot, framed so perfectly in the doorway of her first European train.