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Edwin smirked. “Nor had you been planning on giving the photograph to your lover afterward.”

“I thought we were going to pretend that never happened!” Agnes complained through a scoff.

“You and Andrew were going to pretend. I will remember it forever.”

Agnes leveled a look.

“You’re horrible, Edwin. And I’m only barely resisting the urge to hit you right now.”

Edwin reeled back, feigning shock.

“But what would your sweetheart think?” he asked.

She smacked his chest but began laughing, and then Edwin started chuckling too.

“Stop that! William and I are only friends!” she exclaimed.

Edwin continued to poke fun at her about William for the next several minutes. Both he and Agnes were still pretend-bickering when Andrew came back out into the room carrying something. Edwin stretched out his neck to see what it was.

“I have the negative here. And the print paper is resting on top of it. All that’s left for me to do is to expose them to sunlight for a while.” Andrew looked up at the sky and then moved to place the negative plate and paper on his worktable where the light was shining. “It’s plenty sunny today so probably seven or eight minutes will be fine.”

Edwin nodded thoughtfully. It was impressive how knowledgeable Andrew was.

Everyone stood around awkwardly while the negative and print were exposed to the sunlight. Edwin and Agnes lingered by the coats. Andrew stayed across the room, cleaning up his worktable (or pretending to). After what felt like forever (but must not have been more than the amount of time Andrew had said), Andrew removed both the paper and the negative plate from his table and went back into his closet darkroom. He emerged a while later with a smile and the photograph.

“Does it look all right?” Agnes asked, her brows upturned.

Wordlessly, Andrew showed her the print, which was resting atop a metal pan. He looked nothing less than proud of the result. When Agnes peered down at the photograph, a smile split her face. Red slowly colored her cheeks as she studied it while biting her bottom lip.

“You were right about the veil,” she said. “It’s a wonderful touch.”

“I think so, too,” Andrew replied warmly.

Andrew looked over at Edwin, and when the two men locked eyes, Andrew’s smile widened a little. And, oh, that smile—it was hesitant and reserved and lovely and perfect. And it made Edwin want things. Things he simply was not permitted to want.

Despite this, Edwin’s heart still knocked against his rib cage. Seconds passed. Or perhaps even an entire minute. Neither he nor Andrew broke eye contact. Gradually, Edwin’s entire body flushed, his skin becoming ablaze with a fiery want. Sweat began to collect in the middle of his chest beneath the binding he wore. If only he could fix the fabric somehow. But he stayed frozen, his body ice amidst the flames. One more long, long second passed. And then Agnes strode between them, breaking them both out of their dazes.

“Should we still do the other one?” she asked.

Andrew blinked a few times.

“I—Yes.” He started back over to the camera. “Sorry. Yes.”

“Standing?” she tried to confirm.

“Yes, let’s try that next,” he said.

After Andrew placed the photograph back on his worktable, though in a location that was shielded from sunlight, he positioned Agnes next to the sofa, helping her find a stance that was comfortable but still looked plenty sophisticated, so that she could hold it while he focused the lens. Once that was done, the next few minutes unfolded very much the same as the ones that had preceded the first photograph being taken, only this time, Edwin didn’t feel so nervous, and instead, he found himself completely entranced by the man next to the camera, impressed by the confident and precise nature of Andrew’s movements. It was a wondrous thing to see Andrew like this—knowledgeable and poised and focused. And it made Edwin like him even more.

Damn.

When it was over and Andrew returned from the closet with the newest print, Edwin smoothed his hands over the fabric of his coat and kept his eyes on his sister, refusing to let himself become lost in Andrew anymore. He watched Agnes pay Andrew what he was owed for the prints, which she’d have to pick up later in the week. Afterward, Edwin assumed she would come meet him near the door, but instead, Agnes paused by Andrew’s worktable and studied the first photograph for a while.

“I’ve heard that color can be added to these,” she said. “Is that true?”

“It is,” Andrew confirmed. “I can do that for you, if it’s something you’re interested in.”

“Really?! How much would you charge?”