A Steady Situation 2, Part 8

She had the space about as dark as she could make it, but she was constantly having to push the wardrobe across to manage that. She knew they wouldn’t approve. Speaking of which, a very vigorous knock on the door resounded.

Your brother’s home. Come down.

The drawing room was especially luxuriant, and stacked with all kinds of things of indigenous origins. Taking a seat out, she carefully sat down and examined their visitor. He had a slight smile, and was twiddling his thumbs. Most people never saw how he acted when it was just family or confidants he was talking to.

So, he was pleased with himself. He was the kind of person who thoroughly enjoyed finding obstacles and surmounting them, because there were responsibilities he could never live up to that accounted for most of his suffering, that he would never shirk. He’d made a good deal, perhaps.

Yes, that was it, it turned out. Double speak. Cunning, ingenuity. Cruelty. Very generous to the right people. Vigorous, ebullient. She looked at him. In the pit of his eyes was a kind of dull resignation, that merely awaited spiteful retribution.

But, in the end, he was just another wayward person, caught in a maelstrom he couldn’t navigate his way out of. Maybe, one day, fate would lend him a hand and he’d find someone who would actually love him, for all his flaws.

She continued to muse.