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Cheval would declare that whether he was seen as sinner or saint, demon or angel, he was a man. To him women of all sizes and shapes held each a beauty he savoured. From the youngest being near to a loud eighteen and the eldest a slightly bent sixty, they came to him. It was, they claimed, for the benediction of his presence, and then there were some that whispered they came for the length of his kiss.
Regardless of why they came Cheval welcomed each one across his hearth.
Yet, as beautiful as each and every woman was, they were all creatures of frailty and he was helpless to watch as some faded like parched roses, and others became like ash. One would succumb to the orders of a maiden aunt, and for this one Cheval had allowed himself the amusement of the girl's plight and stepped back when she, of all, walked away without ever tasting his peculiar wine.
Elena, his timeless rose, his ethereal creature, never once minded her lover's diversions for in truth she, too, saw the allure of their individuality that charmed her lover. She would walk amongst them wraith-like, her truth known only to herself as they speculated. She wanted to embrace each woman, to lie beside her with her in her arms so that she could listen to each of their stories. Yet, many rebuffed her, some were afraid, and some worried that she might take an innocence from them in her touch, or a forbidden kiss.
For this Elena wept in silence, her tears later to be gently lifted away by Cheval's gentle kisses. He would draw his lover to him and as he kissed each tear he would revel in the warmth of her skin, the beat of her heart, the song of her blood as it flowed through the spidery network of her veins.
In each other's eyes they were a beauty unearthly, unending, unchanging, immortal. The women were a fascination, a treasured breath that became memories far too quickly.
Elena would eternally forgive Cheval for the wandering of his eye for she knew his heart belonged to her. She would indulge his tastes for any kisses he might bestow as it was to her arms that he came.