Page 17 of Love, Will

“My Lord, supper is ready whenever the earl commands,” a maid made her way to the open door to announce.

He did not seem to acknowledge her message, so the girl lingered for a few seconds until I took the courage to reply, “What a great idea, let’s make our way into the dining room and then the Earl and I can discuss further.” It was very bold of me to do that. Even if I was Henry’s guest, I had absolutely no right to give commands in his household since my rank was equal to the servants, none of us noble and if he wished so, Henry could have me removed immediately to never step foot inside his house again.

“Alright,” he only managed to say as he stood and I trailed after him towards the dining room, the table set so full that it could nourish at least twenty people.

I could never get used to the abundance of food the Earl was served every time. If he wished, he could eat one of the dishes on the table each time and not finish tasting them all in a month, but he seemed to be extremely used to it or too troubled to notice that his favourite dish, wild boar, was splayed on a quarter of the table. An attempt from the staff and servants to cheer their lord up.

He took a seat at his usual place, head of the table, while I occupied mine, sitting on his left side. It was the arrangement that worked best for us in all the late-night conversations we had in the last few weeks. As per usual, as soon as we sat, our glasses were filled at once.

We had a server each, who would constantly sit behind us and bring whatever necessities we might have during the meal. After taking a big sip of wine, Henry calmed himself enough to tell me what had happened.

“Remember when I invited you the first time, and I asked about marriage?”

“Of course, that is when I told you about my wife and children. I remember clearly,” I replied.

“I was so scared of what I thought would happen, that I did not realize it was already a ship that left port long ago.” He looked at me, expecting understanding.

“Are we talking about marriage?”

“Yes we are, Will.” He sighed. I remained silent, waiting for more details.

“My guardian is in talks with grandfather and mother for me to wed his granddaughter,” he sighed, trying to inhale as much air as he could at once, as though it would somehow clear out his head and help him reach a solution.

For any commoner, the sentence sounded normal, but as I came to know the Earl and his history, I became aware of who these nobles were. His guardian was none other than William Cecil, the Lord Burghley, his grandfather, Anthony Browne, the Viscount Montague, and his mother was Mary Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton. People in the presence of whom I would have to bow for the rest of my life. Along with all my theatre friends.

“Are you referring to Miss Elizabeth DeVere?” I had seen most nobility at court when we were invited to perform for the Queen and heard she was one of the more beautiful young ladies.

“Yes,” Henry sighed.

I remained quiet for a moment, assessing his facial movements. Was it the partner that upset him or the idea of marriage? I could not figure it out.

“She is very beautiful,” I added, and waited for his reaction.

Henry slammed his hand on the table and made the maid behind him jump.

“That is not the issue, Will. She can be as beautiful as Helen of Troy for all I care.”

So it was the marriage.

“You are young, my Earl, it is true, but the union could bring both houses joy.”

We all knew how nobility worked, not only from writing and acting in plays, but weddings and affairs were the only thing London was interested in. During our time at court, we became aware of which Lord was wetting his prick in which fair maiden and so forth, but the one thing we all knew, was that nobility always married nobility and the families were the ones to arrange the match, not love or desire.

“Will, out of all people, I expected you to understand!” He raised his voice at me, upset, disbelief on his features from my lack of compassion.

“Me, my lord? Understand marriage?” I was as surprised as he was.

“No, Will, not marriage. Freedom!”

The way he bared his soul into my eyes made my stomach fall and my cock twitch. His wide green eyes looked deeper than the sea and his long eyelashes were the winds that could carry one to infinity. The way he blinked, slowly and effortlessly, shutting his eyes halfway and then allowing the lashes to fall onto each other, weaving together like a long embrace, had been my inspiration for many characters.

The soft skin, pale under his eyes but rosy towards his cheeks, like the desert met the sea on his complexion had always made me assume the Earl to be descending from the Greek gods and only put here in this day and age to remind us all what a deity of the Sun would look like.

Henry continued talking about his dreams of seeing the world, about his passion for war and how he loved to train in archery and sword fighting, about travels and maps, regions in the unseen that he wanted to explore but I could only think of his mouth and how perfect it was placed under his nose, how form fitting his profile and how beautiful his entire appearance.

His lips moved but I could not hear the words. I saw the shapes and colours his lips emitted, how gently they moved like in a dance, an invitation for me to get closer and taste them, taunting me for a bite. For me to bear into them and caress them with mine until both Henry and I would create an eternal joining.

Though I knew I could never tire of kissing this man, I would have to be dead to do so. Dead. My mind froze. What was I thinking? How could I even think that? Kissing an Earl? A man? I would be hanged for the thought alone and burn in the greatest fires of hell. I’d always been able to appreciate a man’s beauty, but this felt different entirely. I sensed passion rising in me, passion as if he were a woman. I felt in my insides that I desired him; I wanted to kiss him and ...more.

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