Gemotions

The flickering gaslight cast elongated shadows across the bookshop. Elias ran a gloved hand along the spines, the leather smooth under his fingertips. He found the book he was looking for: a first edition of Tennyson's poems. Inside, pressed between "The Lady of Shalott" and "Morte d'Arthur," was a letter. It detailed a complex and dangerous love affair. The writer, apparently a gentleman, had penned the words to a society dame he knew very well.

He felt a curious lightness as he read it. He knew the recipient; he knew her reputation. He knew the secrets she kept buried beneath her polished exterior. With a precise movement, he took a small, sharp knife from his pocket. He then slit the pages around the letter, carefully removing it. He also sliced through the book’s spine, creating a clean break, a silent act of destruction.

He would take the letter to her house, but not hand it to her directly. He would leave it on her doorstep. He would watch her through the windows, observing her reaction when she saw it.