Tempted by Curiosity

by Angeleke Kaldis

  Gabriel earnestly looked at him, “Do you mind…that is…would you come with me? I could really use some of your help. We both know what Emilia’s going through. She needs to tell him the whole truth, but she’s just so stubborn.”

  They looked over at Vincent together.

  He was slouched in his chair.

  Alexander acquiesced, “I know Gabriel, I know. If we leave now we can still make it there before the poor young bloke playing against her ends up buck-naked.”

  “Good idea.” The Marquess agreed.

  Gabriel then spoke to the rest of the room, “I’m on my way out boys. Westbrook and I are heading over to Circe’s Palace. You are more than welcome to join us there, or we’ll all simply meet up at Stanton’s. It’s your choice.”

  Andrew must have had a change of thought about how he wanted his night to go, because for once he agreed with his brother. The twins actually chose to head on home to Mayfair together and decided to forego the whole trip to Circe’s palace.

  Some minutes after the twins had left, Thomas also decided to leave Starling’s for his own home in Mayfair, and Christopher then promptly took his leave as well.

  Only three of them were left.

  Alexander, Gabriel, and Vincent.

  Gabriel went over to the Earl by the fire and spoke to him in a calm and collective manner, “Vincent, brother. Do you want to go on home?”

  Vincent looked at him and shook his head with gloom in his blue eyes, “Home? No, after the fire last year the house is still being remodeled and I don’t feel like going into that mausoleum of broken dreams. Plus, the apartment’s quite lonely next-door.”

  Well, that was a dark statement.

  A fire, due to a tipped over candlestick, had caused much damage to the Earl’s residence in Belgravia. No one was hurt in the fire, but there were two hearts that were broken in the process.

  Vincent was currently residing in an apartment that was connected to the Hamill’s Belgravia residence, all thanks to the Duke of Oxford’s insistence that the young Earl stay close by to watch his most treasured object.

  Gabriel looked to Alexander for some help on this matter. Alexander knew what he had to do to get Vincent out of this place.

  “Vincent, we’re headed over to Circe’s Palace. Emilia is there, and she needs our help. Would you like to come?”

  Vincent’s eyes grew bright, “What’s happened, is she alright?”

  Alexander simply said, “We don’t know yet, that’s why we have to leave here right now. Are you coming or not?”

  Vincent stood up with no hesitation and put the glass in his hand down on the small table beside his chair.

  “Of course, I’m coming with you both. Emilia needs us, all of us. Let’s go.”

  The Earl spoke with a clear, and steady voice. As Gabriel headed for the door, Vincent trailed behind him, but Alexander took a moment to stop and smell the remnants of Vincent’s glass on the table.

  There was no smell of alcohol at all.

  This was most definitely cold tea.

  Alexander shook his head in utter bewilderment as he put the glass down and followed his friends out of Starling’s.

  They entered Gabriel’s massive carriage one by one, and then with a thud on the roof by his heavy hand they were all headed off to see what was going on at Circe’s Palace.

  Alexander sat back, tipping his hat strategically over one eye as he bizarrely looked at Vincent. The man wasn’t drunk after all, he look worried and fully awake.

  Alexander wanted to goad him a bit because the Earl deserved it, “What were you drinking tonight Vincent?”

  Vincent took his eyes away from the carriage window and looked at Alexander with a sharp look.

  Gabriel absently commented, “We had some really good scotch, and two bottles of that Greek wine. You know, the one that we had for Greek Easter in May.”

  “Did Vincent have some of that wine?” Alexander asked Gabriel nosily.

  The curly golden-haired Marquess shrugged indifferently, “Most likely, we did poor five glasses, but that was some hours before you showed up with Thomas.”

  “No worries Gabriel, I had some scotch. I just wished that I could’ve had some tea. Right Vin?”

  Vincent glared at Alexander, “Don’t call me that Alex.”

  “Alright, don’t get so defensive. I just want you to know that I know absolutely everything, and that I’m watching you.”

  Gabriel looked back and forth from Vincent to Alexander. The Marquess then looked right back outside the carriage window at the dark streets that surrounded them. There was so much tension in this carriage. The Marquess of Lyon hoped to God that they’d arrive quickly before a bout of fisticuffs ensued in his newly furnished carriage. Luckily for them all, the carriage slowed down, and then stopped abruptly.

  The door was thrown open and a man with a thick Greek accent spoke directly to them, “What is your purpose here tonight?”

  Gabriel sat forward on his bench and said in a relaxed manner, “Geia sou Mr. Kosta. Viktor is waiting for us inside.”

  The big burly Greek man’s frown turned into a huge grin, “Lord Gabriel! Good to see you agori mou, ela mesa! Your cousin is upstairs, and your adelfí…well she’s a big próvlima.”

  Mr. Kosta spoke with some worry in his voice, and that alone gave them all an acute sense of paranoia. They’d all decided to take on Greek as a language at Oxford. Some were better at it than others, but they all comprehended enough of the language.

  Both Alexander and Vincent understood that ela mesa meant come on in, and that adelfí meant sister. Próvlima was problem, but that was an easy one for them to get.

  Gabriel stepped down and out of the carriage, he followed Mr. Kosta right up and into the establishment.

  Alexander and Vincent followed behind them, but Vincent pulled Alexander close to him as they walked in.

  “You say that you know everything, but what exactly is it that you know that I don’t?” Vincent harshly whispered into Alexander’s ear.

  “I know so much my friend, but I’m sworn to secrecy. I’ll not break my promise to them because of you. When you see her in there tonight, don’t cause a scene. No matter what, behave yourself.”

  “I wouldn’t do that to her Alex. Even if she won’t let me anywhere near her, I would never cause a scene just to spite her like that. That’s not me.” Vincent spoke with cast-iron certainty.

  Alexander held his tongue so that he wouldn’t say another word aloud. Vincent didn’t know about a lot of things that had happened since last season. If he did know than he would be overjoyed with happiness, and most importantly Emilia would be too.

  As they entered into Circe’s Palace they were ushered into a private chamber where they were offered numerous disguises.

  There was an array of masks, scandalous dresses for the women, richly designed coats for the men, as well as loads of wigs in all shapes, colors, and sizes for everyone.

  Any materialistic good that could be used in order to alter ones appearance was available here at Circe’s Palace. Including expensive make-up. That included Egyptian kohl for the eyes, face paints and powders from India, Russian ruby-crushed rouge for the cheeks, and special lipsticks from China.

  The men chose to put simple black masks on because they weren’t here to stay and play. They were here on a mission.

  Retrieve the rogue heiress, and get her out of here without being spotted by anyone.

  Gabriel was putting on a black curly wig when Alexander asked him, “Do I have to wear one of these things?”

  Gabriel shrugged, “It’s your choice.”

  Vincent put on a blonde wig as he said, “If I were you Westbrook, I’d put a wig on. You wouldn’t want Lady Marcella knowing that were in a place like this.”

  The man made an extremely valid point, so Alexander went with a short blond wig.

  Gabriel looked amused with his friend’s final decision, “Blond?”

  “Which wig would have you
picked instead?” Alexander felt a bit slighted.

  Vincent threw an auburn red wig at Alexander, and then he and Gabriel started laughing.

  “Ha! Very funny boys, I’ll stick with the blond wig.” Alexander said with a smirk.

  With masks and wigs on the three gentlemen followed Mr. Kosta through a few hallways, across two gambling rooms, and up into a parlor room that was fashioned to look like an armory. On the other side of the room there was a wall-to-wall two-way glass window that overlooked several rooms below it.

  A tall, lean, and muscular man with his shirtsleeves rolled up past his elbows was in front of the window. He had a shaved head, with a slight beard coming in, and the look in his piercing blue eyes indicated that he was on the verge of killing someone.

  Alexander knew who this man was.

  Mr. Kosta walked right up to the man and said, “Your cousin is here Mr. Viktor.”

  Viktor grunted, “Thank you Mr. Kosta. You may leave us now.”

  Once Mr. Kosta left the room, Gabriel walked up to where his cousin was standing and asked him, “Is she down there?”

  There was silence for a long moment, but then Viktor answered with a severe tone, “Second table on the right, long black wig, ruby diadem, and sheer red-laced dress.”

  When the word sheer was mentioned, Vincent pounced to the window and began looking for Emilia. When he saw her he went very pale, “Good lord above, what is she wearing?”

  Alexander walked over to the window and spotted Emilia right away. That was not the little girl that he had grown up around. They needed to get her out of that den of lions down there quickly.

  Ambling over to Viktor, Alexander hesitantly asked, “Who’s the boy?”

  Viktor took his glance away from the window and smirked at Alexander, “Out of all of my cousins friends, I’ve always liked you the best. You’re loyal, loyalty goes a long way in my book.”

  Alexander gave him a scathing look, “I said, who is the boy, Viktor?”

  Viktor grunted back, “Lord Zachary Pinkerton, Lord Gerard Pinkerton’s son.”

  Gabriel groaned, “Really? You let that little mischievous wanker in here?”

  Viktor looked at his cousin, “I do not discriminate when it comes to whom my customers are. If they have the money, they get in. Money far is more important to me then all of those titled bastards down there.”

  Gabriel rolled his eyes, “Regardless, you know that kid is trouble Viktor.”

  Viktor wickedly laughed and then said, “The money talks brat. By the time Emilia is finished with that kid downstairs, he’ll never bring his heavy pockets back to my establishments, and I can’t have that happen. Understand? Every shilling counts to me.”

  Viktor turned away from Gabriel and then caught sight of Vincent. He instantly became enraged, as he then turned to his cousin Gabriel and started speaking in Russian with a snarl on his face.

  “Chto etot chelovek delayet zdes’?”

  Alexander looked at Vincent who’d in return turned just as angry with Viktor. The Earl of Sweeting was not one to hold back, so he replied to the mad Russian prince of darkness, “I’m here to make sure that Emilia doesn’t get hurt. That’s why this man, as you call me, is here.”

  Viktor walked right up to Vincent, coming almost chest-to-chest with him as he said, “Since when do you care whether or not she gets hurt? Where’ve you been this last year mate?”

  Vincent came right back at Viktor with no fear in his voice, “Don’t you ever dare insinuate that I don’t care about her. I’ve tried, but she’s refused me over and over again.”

  “If you truly loved her, then you would have tried harder Earl. When the truth finally comes out, and it will, I’ll be here grinning wide from ear to ear because I will know that I was the one who saved both of your reputations.”

  Vincent pushed Viktor with frustration, but before Viktor could retaliate, Alexander stepped in between them, and shoved them apart from each other yelling, “This has nothing to do with either of you! We came here for Emilia. Now, can we behave like civilized men and find a way to get her out of here?”

  Viktor surrendered his hands in Alexander’s face, and then backed away to roll down his sleeves.

  As he was readying himself, Viktor voiced his plan, “I’m as civilized as the rest of you. Now, here’s how this is going to go. I’ve placed my four horsemen at each main door of this building. We shall approach Emilia with ease, then two of us will flank her. If you speak to her do it in a very low voice. She’s disguised as Princess Marina of Russia. There are actually quite a few of those already in this world, so everyone down there believes her to be one of them.”

  Gabriel heaved a sigh, “She has a big imagination, but a princess of Russia? If I have daughters one day they’re all going to be just like her, aren’t they?”

  Viktor shrugged as he put his cravat on, “I would say that any of us would be damned lucky enough to have a daughter like Emilia. Wouldn’t you agree Vincent?”

  Vincent looked taken aback by the question, “Of course, I would Viktor.”

  Viktor leered at him, “Good. Anyways, back to my plan.”

  A few minutes later, the plan was set, and they were all taking their places. Gabriel went to stand by the exit door with one of Viktor’s horsemen, a tall Punjabi Indian man by the name of Dev Singh.

  As one of the head doormen at Circe’s Palace, Mr. Kosta stood by the Marquess of Lyon with a black cape in his hands. They were prepared to wrap up Lord Zachary and send him back to Kensington.

  Viktor slyly snuck into a chair right next to the young lord, who looked at him with a good sense of caution. Alexander then sat on Emilia’s left, and Vincent sat on her right.

  She was surrounded, but she was safe. Emilia looked at Alexander first, she tried not to look alarmed by his presence.

  She then whispered in her husky voice to him, “Why are you here?”

  Alexander whispered back, “The real question is, why are you here?”

  She faked a large dazzling smile as she whispered back, “Because I can be.”

  Emilia moved one of her ivory chess pieces and spoke with a Russian accent, “It’s your turn my Lord.”

  The young lord laughed nervously, and then moved a black chess piece. Seconds later, Emilia had seized more than half of Lord Zachary’s pieces, and a good majority of his clothing.

  All that was left were his trousers.

  The plan was working.

  She was about to make her last move when Vincent whispered into her ear, “I miss you, please come home to me.”

  She went rigid, looked up at him, and moved her piece to the wrong square.

  Lord Zachary gladly took the white chess piece, but before he could name an article of Emilia’s clothing Viktor interfered.

  “What a ring! Lord Zachary have you ever seen such a ring before?” Viktor said.

  The young man shook his head a bit confused as he asked aloud, “The ring?”

  Emilia was thankful for her cousin’s genius move. She took the ring off and placed it on the chess table before her.

  “The ring is off, what an interesting choice Lord Zachary. I thought you would have asked me for my dress. You English men are so unpredictable.”

  Lord Zachary stared at her, he was completely speechless, so Emilia took advantage of the moment and made the last move of the game.

  “Checkmate Lord Zachary, you know what to do.” She said with great satisfaction.

  The young lad gulped, but then he took his trousers off in full swoop.

  Emilia didn’t have a chance to see the boy’s nakedness before her because she was too preoccupied by Vincent. The second the boy’s trousers had come off he was quickly maneuvered out of the room by Viktor.

  She then froze in place as she focused on Vincent putting the ring back on her finger.

  “This ring is special, never take it off again. Promise me that.” Vincent said.

  “Promise you what?” Emilia asked.

&nbs
p; “Promise me, that you’ll keep that ring safe. No matter what.”

  She nodded, “I promise Vin.”

  Vincent gave her a glorious smile, but there were tears in his eyes as he got up and bowed deeply. He then left the game room.

  Emilia turned to Alexander and whispered, “Please get me out of here.”

  He obediently nodded, and escorted her out of the game room and back up into the armory parlor. Once inside the armory parlor, Emilia took the ruby diadem off her head, and then threw the wig on the table.

  “Blasted thing, it’s so damn itchy.”

  Alexander agreed as he too took off his own wig. Emilia then sat down at the table, Alexander also chose to sit down, but across from her with his arms neatly folded over his torso.

  “Don’t look at me like that Alex. I already know the lecture that I’m going to receive once my relations walk through that door.” Emilia pointed towards the main parlor door.

  He replied to her by putting his hands up in surrender, “It’s not my place to say anything, but you’re like family. So I’ll tell you this, someone could have taken advantage of you down there tonight.”

  “Viktor would’ve never allowed such a thing to happen.” Emilia said harshly.

  “Regardless Emilia, you need to be far more careful. You have another being who depends on you now.”

  Emilia nodded in agreement. She then looked back down at the unique ring on her finger. Vincent had made it for her, he had even carved her profile into it and everything.

  Alexander wanted to say something to ease her, but then the door opened.

  Viktor walked in with Gabriel, who then tossed Emilia’s dress over to her and said, “Go into the washroom over there and put this on please.”

  She did as was asked of her, and then Emilia came back to them dressed in a simple embroidered paisley burgundy walking dress with a conservative neckline, and long flowing sleeves.

  She smiled at them, with no false pretenses at all and said, “I’m sorry.”

  They knew that she meant it, for apologizing was not easy for Emilia to do.

  Viktor kissed his cousin’s forehead with brotherly affection, “If your father knew that you came in here tonight, dressed like that…he’d have my head Emilia.”