Mr. Nullter took a step toward her. “Your attendance would put a much-needed sheen of respectability upon the ball after the…unpleasantness of the past several years. There will be certain expectations put upon the new viscount, and as an American, I do not believe he is prepared for what is required of him. He is not of English soil, does not understand the responsibilities upon the title, nor does he know how many people depend upon the estate for their livelihood. I only wish to begin in the proper place with him, and your assistance would be greatly appreciated in that matter.”
“A sound argument, Mr. Nullter,” Theo said, his gaze directed at the man.
But Violet saw the side-smirk on Theo’s face. A smirk intended for her.
Blasted idiot.
She looked at Mr. Nullter, the serene smile finding its place back on her lips. “You do have a valid point, Mr. Nullter. But I think even more important in welcoming the man to his new position would be for the nearest earl to attend the event as well. Another man with a title available to the new viscount for the many questions he must have. And also to, as you said, put the proper sheen upon the event.” Her sweet smile stretched into glee as she glanced at Theo. “It appears that important responsibility should fall upon Lord Alton, as he is so conveniently close. Don’t you agree, Mr. Nullter?”
Mr. Nullter nodded emphatically, as she guessed he would. “I do, my lady.” His look went to Theo. “Your invitation was delivered a week ago, but as you were not in residence, we did not believe you would be available.”
“Oh, but he is available, I am most assured.” Violet’s smile widened, her gaze going to Theo.
Her words were rewarded with a scowl.
“In fact, I believe the only way I will be able to attend the ball is if Lord Alton is able to join the event as well.”
Mr. Nullter looked between the two of them, confused. “Well, that does not seem necessary, my la—”
“Oh, it is very necessary, Mr. Nullter.” She cut Mr. Nullter off, her look burning into Theo. “I can only attend if Lord Alton does. It is especially important to the business I need to conclude while I am here.”
Theo’s scowl darkened for one long second, and then he snapped out of it, an easy smile overtaking his lips as he looked to Mr. Nullter. “I will attend, Mr. Nullter.”
“Thank you, my lord. As you yourself came into your title unexpectedly, I do believe the American will appreciate your reflections upon the matter.”
Violet’s look whipped to Mr. Nullter. She had never known the man to be anything but respectful, but his comment bordered on rude. One did not point out the fact that a title was inherited only because of unfortunate family tragedies.
Theo’s smile didn’t falter. “You have what you came here for, Mr. Nullter, so you will now be off to Vandestile Manor. With haste.”
Mr. Nullter bowed his head slightly. “Yes, of course, my lord. If I could just stop by your kitchens and—”
“We will see you in two nights, Mr. Nullter. That will be all.”
His weathered face crinkling, Mr. Nullter nodded, quickly turning and lifting himself onto the saddle of the horse. He looked to Violet. “Shall I have a room prepared for you at Vandestile Manor, my lady?”
“That is not necessary, Mr. Nullter. I am here with my maid, and as Lord Alton is an old family friend, he has opened his home to us while we conduct our business.” She said the words with simple authority, leaving no margin for Mr. Nullter to question the propriety of her presence at Glenhaven House. “I do imagine there is already an overabundance of guests at the manor, so we will not add our presence to the mayhem.”
“It is indeed full, my lady. Very good, we shall welcome you back to the manor in two nights, then.” With efficiency, he nudged his horse onto his earlier path across the field. He did not veer toward the main house.
“That was rude.” Forearms clasped over her ribcage, Violet watched the retreating figure.
“It was.”
“I meant you, Theo. The poor man hasn’t eaten since yesterday, and you effectively kicked him off your land with not a bread crumb.”
“So what if I did?”
Her look swung to him. “So you were raised better than that. Your sister would have your head on a platter right now.”
His blue eyes met hers, the cool depths turning frigid. “There are things you don’t know about that man, Vee.”
“And there are a thousand things I don’t know about you, Theo. But what I do know is that Mr. Nullter was always very kind to me.”
“Yes, well, a large fortune always accompanied you.”
“What do you mean?”
He stopped, looking her up and down, and sighed. “Nothing, Vee.”
He swiftly stepped past her, walking toward the stables. “Let us go to the mine.”
{ Chapter 5 }
Violet stared up at the grey sky, now a tiny square of light at the top of the dark shaft of dirt and stone. Her look shifted to the rough ladder she had descended. Twenty-seven rungs. This secondary, exploratory shaft on the far edge of the old tunnels was not terribly deep. But it was still below the earth—well below the surface.
The cool dampness was the first thing she noticed as she moved below ground. A slick layer sticking to her skin, coating her neck. The scent was the second. Dirt, darkness seeping into her lungs, and a slightly sour smell.
What had she been thinking, coming down into a mine? That there would be a gently curved marble staircase to descend down? A hand rail? Lilacs in the air? A nice roaring fire at the bottom?
Her eyes dropped to the rough beaten wood of the rung at eye level. This secondary shaft didn’t even have an intact pulley system in place, much less a wheelhouse.
Just a ladder.
Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep breath.
“I did not think you would actually want to come down into the mine, Violet.” Theo had leaned down behind her, the breath of his words tickling the bare skin of her neck.
She spun to him, poking her finger into his chest. “Then why in the devil did you make me come down here?”
“To annoy you.” The devilish grin was full on his face.
“You have nothing better to do?”
“No. And I was curious to see how far you would come before crying off.” Theo’s low voice echoed around the rock and into the long tunnel behind him.
“Theo, if this whole expedition is a farce, I will have you tied to a spit and—”
“No, Vee, no.” His hands flew up, palms facing her. “This is real. I swear it.”
She looked past his shoulder, eyeing how quickly the dark tunnel descended into deep blackness. Squelching the urge to turn around and climb out of the hole, she motioned toward the dark abyss. “Then let us do this, and do this quickly. I am here, so show me the vein. Make me believe you.”
He gave her one nod, the glint in his eye unreadable. Lifting the Davy lamp, he moved into the darkness, the lantern offering flickering streaks of brightness against the surrounding rock of the tight tunnel.
Theo had to bend over as he moved or risk bumping his head into the rock ceiling every third step. Violet mimicked his posture, even though the top of her head was in no danger of brushing the stone, or even the low wooden beams every six feet. As they moved deeper into the shaft, three splotches of mud landed on her head, dripping through the strands of her hair until the wetness sank onto her scalp. She instantly regretted leaving her bonnet above ground with the horse.
“I am impressed, Vee,” Theo said, not stopping his movement into the tunnel.
“Impressed with what?”
“You never would have done this five years ago—never would have even considered the thought.”
She stared at the wide expanse of his dark jacket. “Why not?”
He glanced back over his shoulder, though his feet kept pace. “You were far too proper. A mine was the last place you would have dared go, especially with your skirts dangling above me on a ladder.”
; “Yes, well, as much as I cling to propriety, propriety has not clung to me. My life, in fact, has conspired greatly against me on the matter in the last years. Being in this mine is the least of what I have sunk to as far as respectability is concerned.”
Her hand went out, touching the slick wall of rock as she shifted to the right to make it through a narrow portion. The dampness of the stone sank through the kidskin of her gloves to soak her fingertips. She cleared her throat. “And may I remind you, you promised to keep your eyes averted as I descended. Tell me you did not break your promise in the first minute of this excursion.”
“I did not. My eyes were properly affixed on stone. Except for the once or twice I had to glance upward to make sure you made your way down the ladder without issue.” The smirk in his voice dangled as bait, but she chose to ignore his teasing for the benefit of getting in and out of this mine as quickly as possible. She could always scold him later—above ground—on the matter.
The tunnel narrowed even more, and Theo’s wide shoulders started to brush the sides of stone with every step.
His body blocked the light from the lantern in front of him, and the darkness of the tunnel began to close in around Violet. Her heart started to speed, every manic thump trying to override the logic in her mind that she was safe. “I don’t like this, Theo. These walls. There is so little room to breathe.”
He lifted the lantern higher, and a few trickles of light fell past his shoulder to her. It helped—marginally. “That feeling is natural the first time down here. Man should not be below ground such as this—yet here we are, nonetheless.”
“No. I truly do not like this, Theo.” Violet could not hold the tremor from her voice.
He glanced back, nodding, but still he forged forth. “Then talk to me, Violet. It helps.”
“About what?”
His shoulders lifted in a shrug that blocked some of her precious light. Light she needed to concentrate on.
“I know,” Theo said. “Tell me what Mr. Nullter meant when he mentioned the ‘recent unpleasantness.’”
The hairs on the back of her neck spiked. She was instantly wary that the one thing that had consumed so much of her life in the last two and a half years had followed her into—of all places—an underground tunnel. She opened and closed her mouth three times, undecided on what to tell Theo. Finally, she settled on simple. “He was referring to the time after my husband died.”
When she didn’t say more, his steps paused for a second and he looked back to her. “Adalia mentioned it was a hard time for you.”
“What did she say?”
He resumed walking. “That it was a difficult situation you were in and there were debts. Nothing more.”
“Yes. Malcolm exhausted my inheritance rather quickly in our marriage and then decided to live on credit. So there were the debts.” Violet inhaled a deep breath, the cool dampness sinking heavy into her lungs. “But not just my husband’s debts. Debts he had somehow managed to sign to my name.”
“Without your consent?”
“Without it.”
Theo nodded, his head creating a bobbing shadow. “So you could not just refer the creditors to the estate for payment—or nonpayment.”
“Exactly.”
“I assume if it was difficult the sums of the debts were staggering.”
“They were.”
“So that is why you took over the gaming house?”
“Yes.” Violet offered the one word with her voice low, threatened, as it always was whenever she dwelled too long on the state in which Malcolm left her.
They veered to the right, branching away from the main shaft into a corridor that was only half the width of the tunnel they had been in. In front of her, Theo had to turn sideways to make it through.
The thumping in her chest grew more frantic.
“You managed to clear all the debt on the estate—not just the ones signed to you—didn’t you, Violet? That is why Mr. Nullter is so enamored with you—fawning over you, even.”
She blinked hard, eyeing the back of Theo’s neck. How had he discerned that in a five-minute conversation? “I did.”
“Why? Those were debts you did not owe.”
“I had to.” She took a steadying breath. Beyond Adalia and Cassandra, no one knew what she had done, much less why. Her friends had fully supported her in the endeavor—even taking over during the times when she had crumpled and not been able to move forward herself. “I had to satisfy the debts signed to my name, but it became more than that. It was about what he did to me—beyond the debts.”
She turned sideways, mimicking Theo as she shuffled through a narrow cut-away in the rock. Dirt and debris fell from the wall as she brushed by.
She looked down into the darkness swirling about her feet. Should the walls of a mine tunnel crumble like that when brushed?
“What did your husband do to you, Vee?”
Violet jumped, looking up to Theo. He’d stopped a few steps in front of her and stood staring at her, his eyes slightly squinting, though the shadows on his face afforded her no clue as to why.
How long had she frozen in place?
She gave a quick shake and started forward. “Malcolm destroyed my world—everything around me, what I was accustomed to, who I socialized with, what I cared about. My life was beautiful once, but it was a carefully crafted illusion. And the worst part is that I didn’t recognize it as such. Not until long after his death. Not until I understood fully all he had done—the betrayals. What he did…it went deeper than the money.” She paused, clucking her tongue.
Theo turned and started moving forward again.
She followed, her words still matter-of-fact. “But when Malcolm was alive, when he was with me, I loved that illusion. I loved my life. I didn’t want to see anything else—acknowledge that life wasn’t beautiful. The paint is cracked on most masterpieces—but I didn’t want to see the cracks…so I just plain didn’t. I glossed over them. That was my mistake. My cowardice to own.”
“Ignorance is not cowardice, Violet.” Theo’s words echoed along the stone, low and measured.
“It is when one clings to the ignorance instead of accepting a reality.” Her toe stubbed on a rock and she had to catch herself on the tunnel wall. “Regardless, after he died, after I could think again—think without my thoughts jumbling and tangling into a rat’s nest in my mind—I decided I was not about to let my late husband determine whether or not my life was destroyed. That would be my own choice. And with the Revelry’s Tempest I discovered I had means. Means to not only pay off the debts that were crushing me, but to also right the wrongs he had wrought on others.”
“If you couldn’t control him in life, you could control him in death?”
Her lips drew inward and she nodded at the back of Theo’s jacket. “Yes. Something akin to that.”
The tunnel came to an abrupt stop and Theo halted, turning back to Violet. “Here, this is it.” He held the lantern up to his right, illuminating a gaping hole in the stone wall she hadn’t even noticed.
She stepped close to the lantern, glancing into the rough hole. It started halfway up the wall, the opening about half as tall as her and only the width of her shoulders wide. Her look darted from Theo’s chest to the hole. He would fit through on his hands and knees if he slithered through, but just barely.
“I am not going to crawl in there, Theo.”
He chuckled. “And I would never ask you to, Vee.” He motioned into the hole with his left hand. “There’s no need to, just look. You can see it from here.” He moved the lantern into the hole, stretching his arm long through the opening. The metal base of the lantern bumped along the bottom of the hole until it reached the other side of the tunnel and illuminated an open chamber. “It’s there, on the far wall. You can see the color variation, the line. The wall of dark orange and the wide swaths of grey, almost black and reflective, running through it. That is the new vein that we found.”
Moving her head close to h
is, Violet peered into the gaping hole in the rock. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim glow of the lantern, and then she saw it. A mass of orange rock cut directly in half with a jagged line of shiny black. “Oh. I see it.”
“Oh? That is all you have to say?”
She looked at him, her forehead bumping into his. “It is underwhelming, Theo. It is rock.” She pointed into the hole, her eyes searching. “Truly? That is what you brought me down here to see? This is it?”
“That rock is the key to the next generation of the Alton line, Violet.” His voice grumbled. “And may I remind you, the key to the collateral you seek.”
“Then why is no one extracting it?”
“I don’t have the funds, Violet. I told you that.”
She stood straight, taking a step back from the hole. “I mean no disrespect, Theo, but this is lost on me. It is rock, rock that I could not discern from the gravel on my garden paths. And you knew that—you knew that I didn’t need to come down into the mine to witness it myself. Except you wanted to drag me down here merely for your own amusement. I can see that quite clearly now.”
“What did you think it was going to be, Violet? A line of glittering stones?”
“I don’t know.” The thundering of her heart exploded into a rapid frenzy, and her hand went flat onto her chest, trying to hold it slow. “But you were insistent, like you always have been, and I have admitted to what little capability I have to say no to you.”
“You think to put this fully upon me?” He drew his arm with the lantern out of the hole, standing straight, annoyance making his every motion a wild jerk.
Free of the hole, the lamp lit the tunnel once more, reminding Violet of how very close the walls were to her. How the rounded stone above her was hovering, near to collapse with the merest breath.
Not that she truly believed Theo would bring her into a tunnel that was about to collapse.
But it was.
She was sure of it.
It was about to crash down onto her head. She leaned back, her body propped up by the stone wall as her palm went to her forehead and she squeezed her eyes shut.
Of Sin & Sanctuary: A Revelry’s Tempest Novel Page 5