Later that morning Elsie took Mary McCloud aside and told her everything. The two of them accompanied by Angus and Armando came to see Ian and Alandra privately for a little while later on that afternoon. They strolled about beyond the barn where they couldn’t be overheard. Ian had answered questions that Mary had posed, leaving out any mention of the Supreme Council and of any details of any raids on vampire covens. Elsie had a couple of questions too and they were answered. Ian said “I’m going to tell you something this once, and I’ll never bring it up again. If any or all of you desire to become as I am, I will see to it that it happens. It will be done at some time when you’re here, if you choose to go through with it. This place is ideal for that process. I do want to offer that to Stu as well when he’s a few years older.” He looked at Alandra and pulling her close he said “This has been an open offer to Alandra too, as she knows. For now, I suppose it’s best that Stuart doesn’t know, unless you want to tell him now while you’re here?”
They looked at each other then, and decided not to tell Stuart at the present time.
“I hate that it happened the way it did, but I’m relieved not to have to keep up the pretense. It has been a burden on me and it has been a burden on Uncle Angus and Armando too. Now at least you four can talk about it from time to time among yourselves only of course. I won’t speak of it anymore except to tell you one last time how vital it is for the sake of all of us to keep my secret to yourselves.”
They all nodded agreement then and lapsed into silence for a bit. Mary spoke then, taking Elsie’s hand and saying “I for one am glad it’s out in the open within our family. We’re strong, and we are stronger together. It’s a good thing that we know of this and can share it among ourselves. I’m content Ian, and I can see how happy you two are. If Alandra can live with it who are we to question her? What can anyone say against that?”
Chapter 93
All too soon the long visit ended. Tearful goodbyes were said at the port of Marseille. Ian told everyone that he and the others would be coming to London soon, and at least he and Alandra would be traveling overland to Edinburg for a visit. Ian and the others watched the longboats carry their loved ones and friends to Elsie’s Cloud. They watched her weigh anchor, unfurl sails and make her way gracefully toward the horizon.
No sooner had they gotten back to the chateau that Marie came into the parlor with her latest dispatches from a courier. “Alyssa is getting married and we’re all invited to their wedding.” Plans were made to depart for Paris immediately. They went as a caravan up the Rhone valley through Lyon and on to Paris. It took eleven days, but they arrived at Paris with three days to spare and all went to the Lafayette’s spacious suite on the Champs Elysees. There was scarcely room for them, so Henri gave Ian the key to his new suite of rooms in the name of the Laforges only three blocks away. Ian, Alandra, Aimee, Li, and Sophia went there and there was room aplenty for everyone at both places then.
The three days passed quickly with sightseeing and a scenic boat ride on the Seine one day. Some necessary bank business was taken care of while they were there, with Mustafa and Louis doing it.
***
The day of Alyssa’s wedding came and every one of the Lafayette family was resplendent in their very best clothing. They all sported their sun glasses and the ladies had large matching ornate parasols which they had opened due to the sunshine that day. All wore long gloves and simple but elegantly styled broad-brimmed hats as well, which were not thought to be fashionable wear in that era.
Caryn performed the formal introductions between the two groups outside of the cathedral. Alyssa was cloistered and had sent for Marie to calm her nerves and stay with her. With the exception of Henri and Marie, they all took their seats in the very front row of the side where Alyssa’s people sat, opposite the Groom’s family. Shortly the pipe organ began to thunder as the doors opened. Alyssa appeared holding Henri’s arm and came down the aisle. She was radiant in a dress of her own design and her smile lit the cathedral even through the wedding veil.
The ceremony was perfect, with both bride and groom smiling, exuding happiness. At last it was over and the guests stood and applauded the newlyweds. There was a long line of well-wishers and when Ian came to them, he politely kissed the hand of the bride and shook the hand of the groom. He introduced Alyssa and Alandra to each other and then he said “Congratulations to you both. I wish you all of the happiness you deserve and may you have that for all of your days.” Alyssa demurely thanked him and embraced Alandra who also wished them well, and told Alyssa how beautiful she looked.
At the celebration, there was a table set that was fit for any king. A small musical ensemble consisting of a violin, cello, oboe, bassoon, and piano provided music. There were near to eighty guests to serve. The hosts were just able to fit everyone comfortably into their large dining hall, and had rented tables and chairs to do this. The meal was magnificent. Many toasts were proposed and drank during and after dinner. The workers from Caryn and Alyssa’s shops were a bit out of place, but very well behaved. All but two were young women who tended to stay in a group by themselves. Ian noticed and asked one to dance with him. Not too long thereafter many men began to ask the workers from Caryn’s place to dance so that they were not standing on the sidelines.
Alyssa definitely noticed and later when Ian was dancing a minuet with her, she thanked him. “I saw what you did in asking mine and Caryn’s workers to dance, Ian. I’m grateful that you thought of them. I just didn’t consider that when I invited them all here. Thank you again.”
“Please Alyssa. No thanks are necessary. I just want this to be a perfect night for you. I’m truly enjoying myself tonight. Have you noticed little Aimee? It seems she has stolen the heart of Damien’s little brother.”
“It does that, Ian. She is just a perfect little lady and what a vivacious personality! She has such poise too, more than most adults. I saw her dancing. What theater! I am so very impressed by her.”
“It may be that when the musicians tire, some of us chateau dancers can play some livelier music. That will serve as a distraction so that you and Damien may slip away unseen” he said with a wink as he allowed his eyes to glow ever so slightly.
Alyssa threw back her head laughing and said “I already arranged for a horse and carriage to be at the kitchen door. I only needed a plan for us to get away. What a delicious idea! Leave it to you to have a perfect plan!”
“Hah! No doubt Damien knows nothing about this. I wonder if he knows what he’s gotten himself into marrying you?” he said jokingly.
Alyssa smiled then and said “I’m grateful to you. Don’t think that I’ll ever forget that I wouldn’t be alive to see this night but for you, mon cheri.”
“Alyssa, other than that one time, I’ve never failed to be happy when with you. May you always be this happy.”
Later the musicians did take a break. Ian approached the violinist and asked if he could borrow his violin. He handed the man a leather pouch with enough gold in it to buy the instruments ten times over. “I forfeit this if we so much as scratch one of your instruments, gentlemen. If not, you may still keep ten Francs. May we?”
The man and his fellow musicians agreed. Ian sent Mustafa and Louis for some accessories and played some lively favorites familiar to people of France.
Soon they returned with the items Ian asked them to bring and Ian had his rhythm section. Mustafa and Louis struck up the BOOM-ticky rhythm and he launched into a medley of lively Gaelic music. The effect was to galvanize the guests who had been standing on the sidelines and maybe half of them joined in and filled the floor. Many were taken by the heart-pounding beat of the music.
In some twenty minutes they finished and turned the instruments back to the musicians and again danced to whatever tunes they would play. Ian saw that Alyssa and Damien were nowhere to be seen. He thought may God keep you both, Alyssa.
Th
e host and hostess came to the four and thanked them for their part in making the celebration such a success. Ian liked the couple and congratulated them on the marriage of their son. He presented a pair of the sun glasses for each of them and a pair for the newlyweds as well. The group departed in three carriages and all agreed that it was a really fun-filled night. Aimee was riding with Ian, Alandra, Marie, and Henri. They praised her for her perfect performance before she fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.
***
The next day saw them departing for the coast in three carriages. In the carriage ride to Calais, Ian had begun to review the techniques of Chi Na with Aimee. Alandra was most interested in this as an effective defense for a woman against a stronger assailant. She followed the moves and practiced them with Aimee as the miles wore on in the carriage. There was little to do on the ride anyway so they whiled away the hours learning the various hand techniques and practicing them, along with various pressure points. After some two hours, Aimee asked him how to defend herself from a vampire.
“Sweetheart, you can’t defend yourself against a mature vampire. You should hide yourself or pretend to be human. That’s your only defense against one of us.”
The passage across the channel was uneventful as it was quite smooth that morning. It was quite overcast too, so everyone left their hats off and strolled around the deck. They had three hours before the packet ship departed for London so they rented three carriages and drove to a vantage point atop the cliffs where they could just make out France in the distance. The view was spectacular, and it was far windier there than at sea level. They caught the packet ship then and sailed south for London.
They arrived late the next day and went to a fine hotel and booked a suite of rooms all on the same floor.
Aimee was taught how to fidget as a part of her training to appear human to vampires, and was given a short review on things she had been taught about self-defense since they were in a foreign country.
Ian drew to the end of his counseling saying “Here is another thing to remember. If you’re ever alone and around people you don’t know, pretend to know only one language.”
“Why?”
“If you know the language they’re speaking, pretend that you don’t know it. Ask them a question in another language. That way they’ll talk openly in your presence and you’ll know what they don’t want you to know. That is very important.”
“I’ll remember.”
Kissing her forehead he said “I know you will. You may never need it, but it’s good for both of you to know. That’s enough of this for now. Come sit with us and we’ll read together until your bedtime.
Chapter 94
In a seedy part of London a young tavern wench finally finished her evening. It had been the usual night of good-natured but bawdy behavior by the usual crowd of ship builders, fitters, riggers, fishermen, seamen, and millwrights. Jennifer Stewart was a favorite at the Hungry Eye Tavern. She was hard-working and had a good sense of humor, knowing how to charm an obnoxious drunkard so as not to offend him and lose a tip. Knowing every regular by name she would always greet them and bring them their favorite drink or food without them waiting to place an order.
Jennifer was a very pretty girl of twenty one years, with wavy light sandy-colored hair that had natural blonde highlights near her forehead. She had bright blue eyes and a pert little nose that was very slightly turned up at its tip. A very few tiny freckles might appear on either side of it if she was in sunlight a lot. Her mouth had the barest hint of a pout unless she was smiling, which was most often the case. She was very clean and fastidious in her appearance but had no nice clothing of any kind save for one dress which she wore only to church. The owner of the place rated her as his very best tavern wench. He let her live rent-free above a small general repair shop which he owned that was around a quarter mile west of the tavern. She’d readily agreed, being grateful to have a place so close to her work.
The owner liked her and wanted to keep her, so he didn’t care that the upstairs part of his repair shop wasn’t bringing in any income. The place had been abysmal when he’d given her the key, but it afforded a view of the docks and the Thames River. It had a small wood-burning stove and she had made the place cozy by salvaging all manner of articles daily, scavenging with a borrowed cart in better neighborhoods for what would be useful when she wasn’t at work. They would be added to the odd collection of worn out furniture that was there already. She’d even insulated it and made it wind proof and had taken the time to wash the one window she had so that it was always clean.
A good customer by the name of Thomas Lawrence had come over to make the door more secure. He was a kind middle-aged man who she liked better than any of her customers. A few times he’d returned with odds and ends for her to use and to help her to insulate it with old blankets or anything else which would work. She had worked tirelessly to make it as clean and cheery as it could be, and never invited anyone to it other than Tom. He often came over to walk her to the little church she attended not far from the waterfront area and had often walked her home after the tavern closed.
She had ample opportunities to take up with any number of young men, but always politely refused to do so. Tom thought of her as a daughter and would have taken her in if he thought that she needed a place. He was the closest thing that Jennifer had to family in the whole world. She had been an orphan and had come through the world in a hard way, but her natural cheerfulness and can-do spirit had always carried her through the hardest times of her life. She had determined early on not to go into a life of prostitution and resolved to work hard and to be the best at whatever honest living she could eke out for herself.
This evening had been troublesome for her. There had been two sinister looking characters coming to the place every night that week. There was something about them that Jennifer didn’t like. They always tipped her well and never said a thing that was out of line, which was a lot more than could be said about some of the customers of the Hungry Eye. Nonetheless, there was something unsettling about them. One was bald and had a tattoo of a mermaid on his forearm. The other had regular features, dark eyes, and dark hair pulled to the back and gathered there, a style quite commonly seen. It was his eyes and the way he could sit so still in spite of what was going on around him that was unnatural.
She was still mindful of the time she had seen him sitting so very still and gazing off across the smoky room toward the dart board. She was very near to his table at the time. Someone at an adjacent table had spilled his drink and pushed himself back from the table to avoid it running in his lap. He had bumped her so that she had dropped her tray and the tankard of ale that was on it. She had happened to be looking down at the strange man when that happened. Even though he was looking away across the room his hand shot out and caught the tray. It happened so fast that she couldn’t even see his hand move. Only then did he turn his gaze away from the dart board across the room and look at her. He raised the tray so that she could take it back without a word but he did smile although his smile didn’t seem to include his eyes. His companion sat there with no expression whatsoever on his face. She thanked the strange man, but he said nothing, only watching her as she went on to the next table. She’d never forgotten the incident and had pointed the man and his companion out to Tom afterward.
Her feet were hurting as they always did after her work night ended. Tom had just come in so they set out for her home. He’d recently gotten a job doing some extensive repairs to a carriage house in a fashionable part of London so he hadn’t come as often recently. His new employer owned a bank or brokerage or some such thing.
“Jennifer, I have enough room at my place for you to stay there too. I wouldn’t want rent and you’d have all of the privacy you want. It wouldn’t be a bother for me and I wouldn’t trouble you at all.”
“Oh Tom, thank you for the offer. But I pay no rent and I’m so clos
e to my work. I’ve worked hard to make my room as nice as I can and thanks to you, it’s pretty nice compared to other places I’ve lived. I’ll stay at my place, thank you. If you need to, you can stay there too, or if you get sick and need someone you can stay there with me.”
“Jennifer, you’re a stubborn and independent one. I worry about you in this place and I mean that. I worry all of the time.”
“That’s sweet of you, but I can manage. Really I can. Did you notice that those same two men were there tonight again?”
“I saw them when I came in. They look off somehow, but I can’t put my finger on what it is about them.”
They were about three-quarters of the way to her home when she realized that they were being followed. She turned and could see a shadowy figure behind them some sixty feet away walking the same direction. They approached a dim light at a corner when suddenly she heard Tom exhale violently and she was snatched off of her feet, her arms pinned to her sides as if in steel bands. She knew that Tom had been knocked down and was aware of being carried at an unbelievable rate of speed. Screaming as loud as she could, she was immediately thrown down and in an instant was gagged and snatched up and carried onward at the same unbelievable rate of speed.
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