“Claire. How is it possible she is engaging in pleasure? No one is courting her. No one comes to visit. And while she does leave the house, I have never had reason to doubt she goes where she says, for she always comes back in a reasonable length of time with the appropriate goods in hand.”
“Perhaps not always…?”
“Yes, but Claire claimed she would make a better sleuth than me. She said I have no clue as to what occurs in my own house.”
“Interesting. Tell me about your male staff.”
“It wouldn’t be a servant. Claire would never! How can you even suggest such a thing?”
“Settle your quills, little porcupine. I am only doing what any rational investigator does. I am probing for clues. Now describe all the males in your household.”
“Well there’s Gregory…”
“Yes, you may skip him.”
“A good investigator would probe every possible connection,” Vic threw back.
“He sees himself as a father figure for the both of you. Who else resides in the house?”
“Two footmen, my man servant in training—”
“You require a manservant?”
“I do not require one; Gregory foisted him upon me. He says the fellow is to step in as butler when we drive him to an early death.”
Xavier laughed and requested to know more about the manservant.
“Well, he’s not completely dense, for he knows I don’t want him touching my things or fussing over me, so he stays entirely out of my way. To be honest, I’m not certain why he remains on the staff.”
“Describe him?”
“He’s tall like our butler, with dark, piercing eyes. Actually, I believe he is a nephew of Gregory’s, for I remember Claire remarking the family must have a predisposition for good looks.”
“You find Gregory appealing?”
Vic shrugged. “I like a face with more character, but Aunt Maddy always declared Gregory to be the handsomest man she knew.”
Xavier made a satisfied grunt and breathed in deep as his arm slipped off the back of the seat and settled on her shoulder. His fingers absently curled and uncurled against her arm. “Invite me to dinner tonight.”
“Pardon?”
“Invite me to dinner,” he demanded with clear irritation. “I’ve wasted my whole day repairing your lack of skills; the least you could do is provide me with some sustenance in return.”
“Of course, what was I thinking?” Vic smiled up at him. Xavier wanted to discover Claire’s secret. The advantage of him doing it was Claire could not hold her responsible for his actions. She could try to hold Xavier responsible, but it was a losing battle. In Xavier’s mind, if he did something, it couldn’t possibly have been wrong.
“You do lack common civility at times,” Xavier chided.
“Ha! And what would you know about common civility?”
“I can be as gracious as the next person, when I choose.”
“Ah, the critical words ‘when I choose’. Clearly, you do not choose often. And just so you are warned, Gregory and Claire have both complained your bad manners are rubbing off on me, so do not be surprised if I say something rude, it will be you who bears the glares of disapproval.”
“The hell you say! I’m not taking the responsibility or blame for your behavior. You do exactly as you damn well please. My attempts to curb your impertinence and cheekiness have all gone for naught.”
Vic sighed with contentment. “Still, I am the finest secretary you have ever had.”
“Yes, you are.”
“And a damn good shot.”
“Shame you died in the shooting. You would have made a hell of a partner one day.”
His words surprised her. “You’d really make me your partner?”
“When you learn more about the business, such as not shooting people in the stomach, there’s a possibility I might.”
She smiled and snuggled deeper against him. What a perfect moment. Shame it cannot always be like this. But their desire would eventually tear them apart. “Lest you fire me first,” she added with great sadness.
He kissed the top of her head. “After all the pain I have gone through to train you, don’t count on it.”
Chapter 15
While Gregory did not appear pleased by the sudden addition of one for dinner, he took the news in stride.
Xavier found it odd he wished to train his replacement so early. The man couldn’t be more than fifty and should have a good many years left.
Yet, a butler-in-training did exist. The young man took on the butler’s role during the serving of the evening meal. While Xavier did not think Gregory particularly handsome, his eventual replacement was undeniably so. By the admiration and pleasure the fellow’s mere presence brought to Claire, he knew he had found her lover. While he had solved the basic mystery, there remained some disturbing questions.
Why would Gregory go to such effort to protect Victor from him, while allowing Claire and his nephew to enjoy the pleasures of sex in this very house? Xavier thought it deuced unfair.
He had little time to mull over the injustice, since Claire took on the role of hostess with gusto. She interrogated him non-stop from the first serving through the main course. Finally, he begged off. “Were you an investigator and I a criminal, I would have revealed all my misdeeds by now,” he teased. “For I swear there is nothing of my past you have not extracted and examined at this point.”
Rather than being insulted, Claire arched her eyebrows in challenge to his claim. “You should be very glad I am not a man, Mr. Thorn, for I might become your competition. No, it is very fortunate for both you and Victor, that I am a woman.”
Choking, Victor glared at her sister.
She blanched. “Victor, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything…”
Victor stabbed his prime rib as if the poor beast still required slaughter. “Yes, we are all very sorry. Now make no more about it!”
In quiet retaliation for the outburst, Gregory removed Victor’s plate.
“I was not done!”
Gregory’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline and his eyes drilled into the boy’s. “You are done.”
Giving way to Gregory’s impressive glare, Victor poured himself a full glass of wine and consumed his dessert in silence.
Xavier stored the incident away in his mind for further consideration.
After dinner, Victor invited Xavier to the library for a drink. Claire excused herself, declaring she desired some night air, and asked the butler-in-training to accompany her with a blanket should she get a chill. Xavier was stunned when Victor did not react. Even now, he failed to see the truth.
Victor led him to the library, poured them both drinks, and sat down across from him. “I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time. I realize now Claire is not seeing anyone. She just wanted to ruffle my feathers.”
He suspected the boy desperately wished him to agree, but Xavier had lived a life of honesty and he did not see the current charade as a reason to falter. “I have not reached a conclusion on the matter quite yet. If I could slip upstairs and peruse your sister’s bedroom, I would be more confident with my decision.”
“Well, go now. She rarely stays in the garden more than a half hour. .”
The young man’s blind spot concerned Xavier. Why did Vic refuse to see what was before his eyes, even when he supposedly sought the answer.
After a half-hearted search of Claire’s boudoir, he glanced at his watch, wondering how long she intended to remain in the damn garden. He wished to get this matter settled.
“I believe you are in the wrong room, Mr. Thorn. Victor’s is next door.” Claire entered and closed the door behind her. The corner of her mouth tugged upward.
Her eyes danced with amusement, yet he sensed no flirtation, thank God.
She smiled and leaned against the dresser. “You were also mistaken when you said I had asked you every possible question. The questions I actually wished to ask could not be voiced at t
he table.”
“By all means, ask them now,” he said.
“What are your feelings concerning Victor?”
Xavier paused uncertain how he should reply. “I think him the finest young man I’ve ever known. My feelings for him are very strong.”
“May I presume you would never purposely cause him harm?”
“Under no circumstances.” Xavier frowned. “Why would you think I might?”
She nervously fingered the frame of a photograph on the dressing table, but the gesture struck him as an artificial behavior, given he had never met a woman more in control of her environment.
Xavier sighed. “Let me be completely honest with you, more so than I have even been with Victor. I am in love with him, and this is no mild infatuation, for I am not inclined to such emotions. Yet something stands between us, and it is not the obvious.”
Claire smiled and stared down at the picture. “By obvious, you refer to the fact you are both men?”
He nodded.
“Have you ever loved a woman or is your preference decided?” she asked, once again playing with the damn picture.
“That is a most personal question. Are you certain you are not French?”
She smiled. “It is shamefully intrusive, but I hope you answer it all the same.”
“I will, if you agree to answer a question in return.”
She studied him a moment and nodded.
“When I was a very young man, I fancied myself in love with a young lady, but she married another, and I buried myself in my work to survive the grief.”
“I am sorry,” Claire said.
“Not I. My diligence led me to my current occupation, and I‘ve been pleased with my situation and believed, until I met Victor, I had everything I could want. I now discover there is an entirely new level I’ve never experienced, and with anyone else I would be forced to choose between my current life and this new strata, but with Victor, I am convinced we can share both our love for our occupation and each other and the new layer will add greatly to my happiness and contentment.”
“Precisely,” Claire said with great excitement. “It is the same for me. You must explain the matter to Victor, so he can understand. You must make him see I have chosen a love that allows me to live as I wish. A husband would take control. I want to be my own master. However, I do not wish to deny myself the kind of love you have recently discovered. Will you help me make him understand?”
“Will you tell me what stands between your brother and I?”
She sighed and stroked the frame. “I cannot. It is Victor’s secret to reveal, not mine.”
Xavier wanted to yell at her to stop playing with the damn picture and help him, but Claire was not a woman to order about. She was a woman in control, so like Maddy. Too controlled for nervous habits...
He focused in on the photograph in her hands. She set it down and stepped away.
Wasting no time, he retrieved it. Two little girls and a younger version of Maddy smiled up at him. Vic’s penetrating eyes peered from beneath the elder girl’s bonnet.
He shook his head in disgust. Gads! He was as blind as Victor. He should have seen it from the start. Her delicate features, the lack of facial hair. Yet, Maddy had always called Vic her nephew, and the scamp’s behaviors were so convincingly masculine, he’d never questioned the anomalies.
“After your first failed love with a woman, were you never tempted to try again?” Claire asked. “Is your preference for men set in stone?”
He almost laughed at her question now that he understood her purpose.
“There have been no men, or women, since. Like a priest, I have focused entirely on my life’s calling. My preference is Victor, not his gender.”
She smiled. “I wish you the best of luck in persuading him of that. May I suggest you tell my brother about me first and give him time to adjust before revealing you have deduced his secret, as I warned him you were bound to do.”
“Thank you, Claire, for the excellent advice, and I wish you success in filling out your life as well.”
“My layers are quite full and have been for some time,” she assured him. “But I would prefer to express myself more freely in my own home. I presently fear Vic will come upon us and kill Jonas in a moment of rage. And now you’ve taught him how to shoot, the danger is far more serious.”
“Is that why Gregory did not wish me to take Victor to the lodge?”
“Yes, but we could think of no reason why we could rightfully object, so I told Gregory to accuse you of taking him up to the lodge for more lurid intentions.”
“Which he did, but Victor does need to carry a gun, so I ignored his protest.”
“Given the commotion in the hall, I would hardly say you ignored him, but you certainly did not retreat. I wish we had managed to speak before. I find you a most agreeable and cooperative fellow, and a cut above in intelligence. You knew before you even arrived tonight that my lover resided in the household.”
“I had him picked out as well. A butler-in-training for a butler in his early fifties…most improbable. Now if you will excuse me, I need to return to Victor before he drinks himself into oblivion”
When Xavier returned to the library, Victor lay on the settee sound asleep. By the empty glass and the smell of alcohol on his breath, Xavier accepted the pup had managed to avoid the truth one day more. He carried his apprentice to bed.
Claire stood at the top of the stairs. With one whiff, she shook her head and led him down the hall. She opened a door and stepped back so Xavier could enter. “I’ll take care of him once you’ve left,” she promised and walked Xavier downstairs where she bid him a safe journey home.
Chapter 16
Vic woke with the first hangover of her life. When Gregory arrived, she opened her eyes. “Gads, call the doctor, I think I’m dying.”
“I think not.” He placed a tray on the dresser top.
She grabbed her head and groaned in pain. “On second thought, call the mortician. It will be more efficient.”
Gregory handed her a glass filled with a thick yellow substance.
Vic shook her head. “My stomach is in no condition for whatever that is.”
“It is a remedy to soothe the throbbing heads of young gentlemen who foolishly drink too much.”
“I only had one drink,” Vic muttered, but swallowed the contents all the same. “Gads! Does it have to taste so horrid, or is it thus to punish young men who imbibe?”
“Well, we wouldn’t want you to be tempted to do such a foolhardy thing again.” Gregory retrieved the empty glass. “And it appears you were expected at work.” He handed her a note that read: YOU ARE LATE!
“But it’s Sunday. It still is Sunday, isn’t it?” Had she slept through the weekend?
“Yes, and your sister went to church without you. She will let everyone know you are unwell. Speaking of unwell, there is a driver with a dreadful cold sitting outside on his carriage, waiting to take you to work. Poor fellow might drop dead any moment.”
Vic jumped up then grabbed her head to prevent it from breaking apart. “When does your foul concoction start to work?”
“Should be dampening the pain by the time you finish dressing. Would you like Jonas to assist you?”
“No!” She groaned from the pain her loud voice caused. “Tell Davy to return without me. I cannot go to work today.”
“I attempted to do so already. His master has ordered he remain outside until you come to work.”
“Well, at least have him come in.”
“His master specifically forbids him to come in or receive any hot drinks, food, or medicinal remedies until you come to work. I see what the fellow is about, but truly Vic, if you do not get dressed in the next ten minutes I fear you and Mr. Thorn may inadvertently kill the poor man.”
“Damn him!” Vic cursed and pulled on her gentleman’s retiring robe. She stormed downstairs, ignoring Gregory’s protest she could not go out in her robe. Rushing from the house
, she winced as her bare feet stepped on loose rocks on her journey to the carriage. The moment she climbed in, the carriage moved forward. Vic couldn’t wait to see Xavier’s face when she arrived in her robe and promptly confiscated his bed for more sleep.
He deprived her of a grand entrance, since he did not come to the door. Thus, Davy had to unlock it with his key. At this point, she was too angry to dare confront Xavier. Instead, she ordered Davy to the kitchen. “Make yourself some mint tea, and find someplace to sleep.”
Xavier stood at the door of his office. The corner of his lip twitched as if he wished to laugh. Fortunately, for him, he proved to possess a sense of survival. Had he said one word to her she would have killed him.
Upon marching upstairs, Vic stormed into his room, and climbed into bed. She closed her eyes, and waited for her aching head to quiet. Xavier’s scent, still strong on his pillow, encompassed her. All her muscles relaxed, her pulse slowed and with amazing ease, she fell off to sleep.
***
Xavier smiled as he watched his temperamental pup sleep in his bed. His little chameleon had arrived without her padded undershirt today and even had he not deduced the truth with Claire’s not-so-subtle assistance last night, he would know it now, for the robe had loosened and the shape of a breast with a firm nipple pushed against the sleeping gown beneath. Despite her short hair, his apprentice was all woman at the moment. Amazing, how well she normally disguised her gender.
Her reveal had to be a good sign. Clearly, a part of her wanted him to know, even though she feared he would reject her once he discovered her gender. First, he needed to fulfill his promise to Claire. And now he was certain Vic’s bridge could be crossed, he did not mind a bit of torture before ending it; just as long as the one being tortured was his saucy, impudent pup.
He went to check on Davy who sat in his bed, drinking mint tea.
“Sorry for sending you out in a drizzle,” Xavier said, “but it was a critical mission.”
Davy frowned at him.
“Truly, Davy, life and death.”
“I know who’s near death, but whose life is supposed to be getting better with all this nonsense?” he asked in a surly tone.
The Troublesome Apprentice (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 1) Page 10