Pas de Deux

By Alex Brightsmith

“I hear that they’re starting to call her the Hatfield Venus.”
The words were offered as an observation only, with no hint of accusation, and the voice that offered them was as unexceptional as the tone. There was nothing in it, surely, to account for the moment’s frozen tension in the girl who had settled hours earlier on the bench that faced the gallery’s newly acquired Venus Anadyomene. It was indeed beginning to become known as the Hatfield Venus, though that was not the title on the card mounted at its side. She had studied the painting gravely, and she had listened, idly, to the conversations that flowed around her, but she had appeared mainly to be waiting. If she had been waiting, and waiting for the slight, fair man now standing at her shoulder, she gave no sign of it as she turned towards him. Her smile was warm and natural and her greeting full of pleased surprised.
“Pavel Yakovych! I had no idea you were in town.”
He was almost certain that the words were a direct lie, but that was only a useful reminder to him that he was travelling on business, and he answered with equal warmth, and a touch of regret
“Whereas I knew that I would find you here, Katrya Petrivna.”

Catch up with Kathryn Blake and Pavel Tomeckova as they take their places once more in a familiar dance of delicately balanced deceit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alex Brightsmith
• Release date: May 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463020494

Alex Brightsmith

Alex Brightsmith was born and raised in Bedfordshire and defies anyone who was not to point it out on a map. Bedfordshire has been claimed (or rejected) by at least five bordering regions, and its lasting legacies have been a resistance to categorisation and a fondness for sprouts.Alex currently lives in Birmingham, commutes reluctantly, gardens and bakes erratically, and writes emotionally engaging, carefully plotted thrillers, fantasy and flash fiction.

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Pas de Deux

by Alex Brightsmith

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2020 Alex Brightsmith

Also by Alex Brightsmith

Blackthorn series

(featuring Kathryn Blake)

Viennese Waltz

Find the Lady

Blackthorn shorts

Pair of Knaves

Sinister

Hare and Hounds

Pas de Deux

Little Books of Tiny Tales

Lost Loves

Misdeeds & Misdirection

Faded Magics

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Pas de Deux

I hear that they’re starting to call her the Hatfield Venus.

The words were offered as an observation only, with no hint of accusation, and the voice that offered them was as unexceptional as the tone. There was nothing in it, surely, to account for the moment’s frozen tension in the girl who had settled hours earlier on the bench that faced the gallery’s newly acquired Venus Anadyomene. It was indeed beginning to become known as the Hatfield Venus, though that was not the title on the card mounted at its side. She had studied the painting gravely, and she had listened, idly, to the conversations that flowed around her, but she had appeared mainly to be waiting. If she had been waiting, and waiting for the slight, fair man now standing at her shoulder, she gave no sign of it as she turned towards him. Her smile was warm and natural and her greeting full of pleased surprised.

Pavel Yakovych! I had no idea you were in town.

He was almost certain