The Hyacinth House Pt. 02

"Oh yes," Bonnard replied. "A tall, slender young man; a swimmer too. He loved water."

Maddy caught up. She could picture that, the tall slim frame of a swimmer, taut muscles not unlike her own. "Goodness me, Jills. That's quite the picture, isn't it? And you've known him ever since, Bonnard?"

"Ever since, yes indeed." He looked at the two women, and they could see him slowly returning to the present. "You asked what he was like, Miss Jillian. A kind, gentle man. Adam cared, even back then. It didn't matter that I was gay; we got on well together, and he was a good friend."

"Did you ever..." Jilly was so curious, she had to ask.

"Sleep with Adam? Oh my dears, don't be silly. He adored women, only women. Men bored him, even then. His closest friends in that college, they were all women."

"Was he a player?" Maddy was curious, too.

"A player? No, he wasn't. Not at all. In that first year I knew him, I think Adam might have had a favourite girl each term, and he was only with one girl the whole next year. And for years after. Very loyal, was Adam."

"Was that Rosie, who he writes about in those stories? Was she the one girl?" Jilly was remembering her favourite chapter from that series.

"I didn't know her as Rosie, but yes, that's clearly her, the young woman with the pre-Raphaelite hair. They were together a long time. He left her for the woman he married, a lot later."

"And Clio?"

"No, I didn't know Clio. She must have been in his first year, before I met him."

"My God," said Maddy. "Who on earth was Clio then, that he writes about her the way he does in those chapters?" She'd read the Memory and Loss chapters now, and could feel Adam's ache for the girl he called Clio. "Who was Clio? And Adam, he must have been so young!"

"He was," replied Bonnard. "But I never knew the girl he's called Clio. The love of his life, it would seem."

Jilly made a point to read that series again, if she was to better understand Adam. She'd read the second chapter several times, and wanted what Adam gave Rosie. But Maddy and Bonnard were both suggesting something deeper being told, something of primal importance. Something she needed to comprehend, and touch lightly, if she was to know Adam really well.

"But, goodness me, enough of this chatter, this trip down memory lane."

Bonnard broke the moment before the world stopped entirely. "We've got work to do, my lovelies. Bonnard has been summoned, called to attention, roused from his sleep to make dreams. We must progress, with this bit of lace and that bit of silk, satin for ribbons and leather for bows."

As he returned to his business, Bonnard's flamboyance settled down into a calmer state. He'd had his amusement, and now it was Jillian's turn to be pampered and perfumed, dressed up so that Adam could undress her.

Lucky Maddy, she'd get to see her lover dressed, and later undressed. She looked around, and sure enough, just as Adam had described it, Maddy saw a luxurious chair. "I shall observe," she said, channeling something of Madelyn, and she sat.

"Well, I'm not that little minx, Juliette," said Jilly. "I'm Jillian Jones, and I'll be enough for one man." She touched Bonnard on the arm. "With the help of this man, of course."

She stood in the centre of the carpet and stretched her arms out wide. "Do your magic, Monsieur Bonnard. Consider me your doll. Your walking, talking, living doll."

"Oh Jilly, do shut up," said Maddy. "Let the man do his work."

Jilly pouted, then winked at Bonnard. "You're allowed to touch. I won't mind at all."

"Oh, Miss Jillian, I touch only the silks and satin. Your skin, so soft I am certain, that delicacy is for finer fingers than mine. All my work is done by eye, the tape measure is merely a prop! Within five moments of your arrival here, I knew your sizes, both of you, and the shelves where the boxes will come down from." He studied the young woman, his head slightly tilted. "The trick, you see, is to closely observe, and to keep it all up here." He tapped a temple with a forefinger.

"Our Mister Cain, in his description of young Juliette, he got it mostly right. His suggestion though, that I crave the perfume of a young lady's pheremonal scent - how crass! Next time I see him, I shall demand a retraction, the cad."

"It'll do you no good," said Maddy. "He'll just raise that eyebrow of his, but won't say a word."

"Ah ha!" Bonnard replied. "I see you know him quite well. Sometimes I... I just want to smack him!"

"Now there's a thought," said Jilly.

"On the wrist, my dear, the slap of an outraged queen, on the wrist!" Bonnard replied, with a mischievous grin.

Miss Jillian, he thought, might well do better commanding Adam. Bonnard liked a woman with spirit, and Jilly impressed him already. He decided right then he would get her lingerie down from the highest shelf, where he kept his rarest pieces. He liked Adam too, and would treat the man to the finest clothes. He looked across at Madeleine, and had an idea or two for her.

Not much escaped Bonnard's eye, least of all a woman in love.

"Let us begin," he said. "Miss Jillian, let me choose some colours."

.../ to be continued.