The Troublesome Apprentice (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 1)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Deliver these notes directly to each man and buy us lunch at Pippy’s.”

  Davy smiled at the last order. He liked that particular change she had brought to their working environment. She found it unconscionable Xavier had made poor Davy go hungry simply because her boss could survive on one meal a day.

  As Davy left on his mission, she followed him to the door. The nosy scamp had disappeared. She took the opportunity to sprinkle the ground beside the steps with a chemical mix Claire had developed in her basement laboratory.

  When Davy returned with the food, she cleaned off a portion of her desk, and he shared old cases Xavier had solved as they ate lunch. Vic suspected he dressed the stories up a bit, but she had to admit they were just as exciting as any Sherlock Holmes story she had read.

  When he reached the grand conclusion of the third story, a loud steady clap erupted behind them. “A fine tale, Davy,” Xavier said. “Doyle couldn’t have done better himself.” His eyebrows lowered in a scowl. “So this is what happens when I attempt to shut myself off so I can get a moment’s time to think? My staff takes a holiday?”

  “We are enjoying lunch,” Vic said.

  “Which is a habit I planned to break you of, only you’ve corrupted Davy as well.”

  “Yes, I have, and now it is two against one, and you must give up any foolish notion we can survive on nothing but hot air and ill temper as…” She stopped, sensing she was perilously close to overstepping her bounds. “As I have proven to have when I’ve not eaten,” she said, proud of her quick save.

  Xavier grinned and gave her a nod.

  “Well, we certainly don’t want you full of hot air and ill temper; you are trying enough when fed. And why the bloody blazes were you banging on my door when I told you most precisely I was not to be disturbed.”

  “Determining the sincerity of your request,” she replied. “A messenger had arrived with an urgent message, and he would not give me the letter until he heard your frightening response to my knock.”

  “An urgent message? And you sit here eating? Why have you not delivered the letter to me?”

  Vic handed him the note.

  “It’s been opened!” he bellowed.

  “I had no choice, since you would not allow me to interrupt you. I had to determine its content so I could use my excellent judgment as to whether you must be interrupted against your very loud orders.”

  “It’s from Aaron. Damn it, he says it’s urgent! And you chose to do nothing? Very bad judgment indeed,” Xavier shook his head and focused on his driver. “Davy, find a Mr. Aaron Hart at the Savoy and tell him I will see him first thing tomorrow.”

  “I have already sent Davy with a message both to Mr. Hart and Mr. Black. They have an appointment at one.”

  “The devil you say!” Xavier exclaimed. “It’s bad enough you opened a private letter, but you answered it as well?”

  “I did, and I will do so the next time you lock yourself in your room and demand to be left alone. Your office must continue to operate, Xavier, even if you choose to sneak out the window and go wandering off.”

  Xavier smiled. “And pray, what gives you the idea I was not in my private office, perhaps sleeping all this time?”

  “Your shoes have fresh blades of grass on them and smell as if you’ve stepped in horse dung.”

  “Well done, Victor.”

  “May I presume you are working a case without me?”

  “I never said you’d be involved with every assignment I receive. You should consider yourself lucky I allow such a young, untrained pup to be involved with any of them.”

  “I am very grateful, sir, and it is perfectly reasonable some situations will not require both of our minds to solve.”

  “You should have told me you intended to be so reasonable about this, Victor. Climbing out the window was damn inconvenient.”

  “I am a very reasonable fellow. I cannot imagine why you would think otherwise,” Vic cringed, expecting an outburst. She knew he’d become most frustrated with their slow progress on personal matters, claiming her position most unreasonable.

  His kisses had left her so undone the first night that she refused to kiss him anymore, since she was certain her intentions to take matters slowly would be swept away in a rush of passion. She wanted to enter this new phase of her life in control of her mind and emotions and, thus far, she couldn’t.

  He grasped her shoulder and squeezed gently. “Perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but I will concede you’re not entirely without reason…in matters of business. And your timing of this appointment is impeccable, so I will not fault you for the presumptions of reading and answering my mail as well as placing an appointment outside of my rules.”

  “The appointment was made within your rules,” she reminded him. “For the rule was modified to include exceptions decided by my good judgment.”

  He tightened his squeeze upon her shoulder.

  “Lucky for you, you made a wise decision in the matter,” he growled. “I will be in my office getting ready for the meeting. Do you have the file?”

  “No, it is locked in your office,” she reminded him.

  “Sloppy…but I’ll overlook this stumble,” he said. “I suppose you wish to partake in the meeting?”

  “Actually, I cannot.”

  He turned and stared at her in surprise. “And what will you be doing?”

  “I am working on another case.”

  “What case?”

  “One of my own,” she said. “And it no more requires your assistance than yours did mine this morning.”

  “The devil you say!” he exclaimed. His eyes narrowed. “Ah, so you did mind, after all.”

  “No, sir. I understood entirely, for just as you did not wish my involvement in your task, I do not wish yours, in mine.”

  “And why not?”

  “To be honest, sir, you would muck it up.”

  Xavier was about to reply in what promised to be a vigorous objection to her comment, but Winston Black’s arrival saved her. After a steely glare at Vic, he invited Winston into his office and closed the door rather decidedly behind him.

  Davy shook his head and sighed.

  She walked to the window and peeked outside, smiling when she saw the boy standing precisely where she had sprinkled the chemical dust.

  “Is the boy out there again?” Davy asked.

  “He is, but let him remain,” she said and watched a handsome man in his early thirties step out of a hired cab. She opened the door and invited him in.

  “Mr. Hart, good to see you, sir. Mr. Thorn is with another client at the moment, but if you will follow me, I’ll take you to the library.”

  Victor led him to Xavier’s office where he and Winston awaited him.

  Xavier glanced at his pocket watch and scowled. “You are late by one minute.” His glare turned to Vic.

  “An eavesdropper hung about the door, sir. I did not want him to connect Mr. Hart with Mr. Winston.”

  Xavier scowled at his secretary. “Why did you not just run the scamp off?”

  “I did so yesterday, but the fellow came back. So, today, I placed a chemical on the stone where the imp hides and, this evening, when he leaves, I will follow at my leisure and discover for whom he works.”

  Xavier smiled. “Very clever of you, Victor. However, do not proceed with your plan unless Davy or I accompany you. You are all too like Mrs. Gate’s tiny poodle, which has the soul of a giant beast and will attack a dog twenty times its size.”

  Victor glared at Xavier. “Give me more credit than the poodle, sir. I did not intend to go unarmed, and a gun is a remarkable leveler of size. I dare say, if Mrs. Gates could teach the poodle to shoot a gun as well as I, the little fellow could take on any dog in England.”

  “If Mrs. Gates ever teaches the vicious little whelp to shoot a gun, the whole of England will be in grave danger,” Xavier conceded with a laugh. His eyes softened. “I was wrong to liken you to Mrs. Gates’ poodle, but please ad
here to my request. I am, after all, your master…”

  “Employer,” Victor growled and stormed from the room.

  Chapter 28

  Xavier rubbed his temple. God only knew what Aaron and Winston must make of their conversation. “Good help is hard to get. Excellent help, such as Victor, quite impossible to find and, when you do, they take full advantage of the fact they are irreplaceable.”

  Aaron laughed and glanced at his steward. “I understand your problem completely.”

  Winston, whose current assignment was to impersonate his employer, spoke in his “Marquis” voice. “Really? I have a fabulous man, myself, and he is most obliging.”

  “I hope to meet him someday.” Aaron flashed a grin before he sobered. “Is everything ready to proceed?”

  “Yes.” Much had occurred since Winston’s prior visit. Aaron had obtained a membership to Lady Anne’s club two weeks ago so he could investigate matters as Aaron Hart. During his stay at Lady Anne’s estate, he discovered her history was far bleaker and horrific than previously imagined.

  Gerard Candor had not presented himself as the Marquis’s proxy during the marriage ceremony, rather, he’d led Anne to believe he was the Marquis. After brutally beating and raping the young girl on her honeymoon, he returned every month with “friends” to enjoy her body. If she didn’t resist, he would give her a monthly stipend of a hundred pounds. If she resisted, he’d keep the money and force her.

  Even when she acceded to Candor’s wishes, the money he provided was insufficient to keep the estate running. In desperation, she reached out to her best friend, Lord Chesterfield, for help. He convinced her to open her estate as a club and offer herself as the prize to win.

  For the last five years, Chesterfield had held tight rein over Lady Anne and her club members. And many of the former members were now being blackmailed. Aaron did not believe Lady Anne knew anything of the extortion. Xavier remained uncertain. Like many before him, by the end of Aaron’s short two-week stay at the estate, he had fallen for Lady Anne.

  Xavier handed Aaron a slip of paper. “This is the Earl of Carlington’s address, as you requested. According to my sources, he normally wakes in the afternoon, makes no social calls, attends no balls or dinners. He leaves the house late at night, if he can escape the servants set to watch him. When he does, he heads to the gambling hells, where he has racked up substantial losses over the last few weeks. If he continues in this manner, he may deplete his family’s impressive wealth within a year.”

  “This doesn’t sound like the man Anne described. She said he was reliable and could be trusted to help us with our plan to bring down Conrad,” Aaron said.

  Xavier sighed. “Since banished from the club, the Earl has taken a decided turn for the worse. While he gambled before, it was always in moderation, as was his drinking. Now both are completely out of control. His family is very concerned. They have closed ranks…thus getting in to see him might be difficult. And even if you manage, I doubt such a troubled man can be of help to you.”

  “Still, I must try. He is the only one with the power and influence to help,” Aaron said.

  “I agree…but, Aaron, he doesn’t know you. How will you make contact? He won’t see you if you don’t tell him you come with a message from Anne, and his family will send you off if you claim any connection to the woman they blame for his downfall.”

  “I’ll find a way,” Aaron assured them and glanced at Winston. “When will you arrive at Lady Anne’s estate declaring yourself to be the Marquis?”

  “Tonight,” Winston replied.

  “There’s a problem. Anne put the horses into her stepbrother David’s name so my father could not claim them. Unfortunately, Lord Chesterfield convinced David to sign the bill of sale over to him.”

  “Does Anne know this?” Xavier asked.

  “No. David only confessed it when I explained I would have to get the horses to safety before we rescue Anne or they would be used to hold her in her current situation.”

  Xavier frowned. “Are you certain the young lady would refuse to leave a life of hell because of a stable of horses?”

  “You have not seen the horses, Xavier. She will not leave without them,” Aaron assured him.

  “Perhaps she’s not so miserable with her life after all,” Winston challenged.

  Aaron’s angry glare silenced him.

  Xavier spoke up before Winston got himself fired. “We can work around this. However, it means we will require the assistance of the French government in protecting your rights as a marquis. And it could possibly cost you the hundred thousand pounds remaining in Candor’s account.”

  “My connections in the French government are solid,” Aaron assured him.

  “And the money?”

  “If that is what it costs me to save Anne, I will gladly pay it.”

  Xavier hated to see Aaron so besotted. A hundred thousand pounds would assist his dreams of creating the finest horse ranch in America. Yet, in fairness, if Vic was in danger, he would move heaven and earth to see her safe.

  He smiled with compassion at his friend. “We’ll need to make a few changes, given this new information, but as long as the French Government will protect your assets, I recommend we remove the horses immediately to France before Lord Chesterfield has a chance to react.”

  Aaron sighed. “It’s too early. Anne will think I’ve betrayed her.”

  Rapping his pipe on the desk in agitation, he snapped, “Confound it, Aaron. It is not you who sold her damn horses….just tell her.”

  “I cannot. She doesn’t know David and Chesterfield are lovers. She would not understand how he managed to coerce her brother into signing the horses over. She is far more innocent than you would think possible.”

  Winston threw his hands into the air. “Aaron…I’ve met the lady. She is far from innocent.”

  “You are wrong. You were there for an hour and you met a façade she uses to protect herself. Winston, promise me, when you arrive at the estate and establish yourself as the Marquis, you will do what you can to ease her loss.”

  With a heavy sigh, Winston glanced at Xavier. “I should be going now.”

  “Head out to the estate today. Make no notice or reference to the horses. I’ll send men to assist you in removing them,” Xavier advised.

  “How will I know they are your men?”

  He described the lead man. “Jacko’s appearance and manners will give you little confidence you’ll ever see the horses again, but I trust him more than most men.”

  When Winston left the room, Xavier turned his intimidating stare upon Aaron. “You are lucky to have a man like Winston. You should rely on his instincts in this matter. He is not emotionally involved.”

  “You think my feelings for Anne are impacting my judgment?”

  Xavier answered without hesitation. “Yes, I am quite convinced of it.” He sighed and leaned back. “Anne Rothchild is clearly a beguiling woman. Her influence on the Earl of Carlington…and you…is clear proof of her seductive powers.”

  “It is clear proof she is a woman deserving a life far better than the one she has endured!” Aaron snapped. “If you do not wish to assist me, Xavier, tell me. Otherwise, remain quiet about matters you cannot possibly understand.”

  His remarked offended Xavier on several levels. “Do you think me devoid of all human emotions?”

  “Let us not play games. You have emotions, and they are more than obvious when your secretary is in the room. I do not condemn your preference, nor do I insinuate it impedes your ability to think in a rational manner. I only request you offer me the same courtesy.”

  Xavier laughed beneath his breath. “My dear friend…I hardly know what to say to such a declaration.”

  “There is nothing to be said. The direction of your heart is not mine to judge. You are my friend, regardless. I only ask the same in return.”

  “And you have it,” Xavier said. “But Aaron, do not expect me to agree with every thought that come
s from your inferior mind. I have never done so before, and it’s highly unlikely I will do so in the future.”

  Aaron sighed and gave him a slight smile. “It is lucky for you that your intelligence almost matches your vanity, or you would be most impossible to bear.”

  They flushed out further details of the plan Aaron had devised. While Xavier made a few modifications and tweaks, overall he was impressed with the strategy.

  “If I did not know your steward, I would declare this plan foolish, for it depends greatly on Winston’s ability to pass himself off as the Marquis. But in truth, he’s a far more convincing marquis than you shall ever be.”

  Upon seeing Aaron off, he motioned for Davy to accompany him into his office. With the door closed, he led him to the far side of the room.

  “Victor is planning to do a bit of unsupervised sleuthing,” he whispered. “I am going to allow it, but you must keep him safe. If he will let you accompany him, go with him, if not, follow him discreetly, but within close enough distance to come to his aid. Do you understand?”

  “Aye,” Davy replied. “Would it not be wiser simply to forbid the boy to do this?”

  “No. It’s time for him to be humbled a bit. He’s had far too many compliments and not enough failures. He now believes himself fully trained and no doubt thinks tracking a simple task. He needs to discover he has skills yet to learn.”

  ***

  Precisely at six p.m., Vic straightened her desk, grabbed her box, and headed out.

  “Do you wish a ride home?” Davy asked as he fell in behind her.

  “No, thank you. I’m going to follow the little sneak.”

  Davy frowned. “How? He left fifteen minutes ago?”

  “With my box, hopefully.” She patted the metal box, she carried. “It is something a professor of mine developed at Oxford.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, inside is a sealed metal tube containing a gas that acts as a carrier of electrodes.”

  Davy’s frown deepened. “What’s an electrode?”

  “It’s…well it’s not really important. By cranking the handle, I create a current that runs through a wire. When the tube is in the presence of the dust now on the boy’s shoes, the gas becomes ionized and the current is able to travel from one end to the other, causing a mechanism to strike a metal plate, which creates an audible click.”