Rainbow Snippets: A Midwinter Night’s Magic

I’m so pleased to be part of the FB Rainbow Snippets group, where every Saturday, authors are encouraged to post a few lines of one of their stories both on their blog and by linking back to the group post.

I love this idea and meant to do join in last week, and in the flurry of trying to roughly finish my current story, it completely went out of my head!

My lines are chosen from my recent Christmas story, A Midwinter Night’s Magic, which might seem unseasonal. However, the story is set around rehearsals for a reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at a Regency country house party, so that seemed appropriate for mid-June!

The context is that Matthew Lewis, an unwilling guest, is not only trapped at the house party and into taking a role in the play but is also faced with the presence of his former lover, Crispin Marley, who left him with no explanation four years previously. This is their first confrontation…

“I have nothing to say to you,” Matthew spat out, finding his voice, incensed by Crispin’s presumption.

“We have not seen each other for a long while and I thought…” Crispin began.

Matthew’s temper began to build. “What? You thought that I would oblige you by making amends? You thought that enough time had passed so I was sure to have absolved you for walking out on me without a word?”

The expression on Crispin’s face froze. “I wanted to explain…”

“Now?” Matthew’s voice almost rose to a shout.