Vow of Deception (The Ministry of Curiosities #9)(44)

"It comes with having done it twice, I suppose. Speaking of the old dear, I must say that her association with you hasn't harmed your reputation a bit."

"I wasn't aware I had a reputation," I said as we descended the stairs.

"Oh yes. You're quite the topic of discussion at all the garden parties this summer. You secured Lincoln, you see, and he created a sensation when he was on the market. All the women were aflutter over him."

"So I heard."

"It seems Lady Vickers's reputation has risen too. She's almost an accepted member of society again. If she plays her cards right she ought to secure a good match for Seth."

"I'm not sure Seth agrees with his mother's idea of a good match."

"He ought to listen to her. Dalliances are all well and good, but there comes a time when a gentleman must marry and marry well. A solid marriage is not all about love, you know. Just because you are fortunate in that regard, doesn't mean everyone is."

I watched her husband walking ahead with Lincoln. Side by side, the physical difference between them was never more pronounced. "No, I suppose not."

She followed my gaze. "Oh, we're happy enough now, but it has taken time and some very big changes. Despite some resistance at first, he's quite content for me to have my way now."

"And you like getting your own way more?"

She winked. "I certainly do."



* * *



Lincoln went out in the afternoon but wouldn't tell me why. He simply gave vague responses to my questions, but since he promised not to confront Swinburn or any of his pack, I didn't worry too much.

I assisted Gus and Seth a little as they checked the guns in the weapon room, then went in search of Lady Vickers and Alice. I found them both in Lady Vickers' bedroom, changing the linen. The room smelled like wood polish.

"Let me help you," I said, taking a corner of the sheet and tucking it under the mattress.

"There's no need," Alice said. "We have it in hand. We make quite the team."

"We do," Lady Vickers said. "Although I am glad this is the last room."

"We ought to dust the drawing room and library at the very least, in case there are more visitors. And I noticed scuff marks on the entrance tiles. The porch is a little dusty too."

Lady Vickers plopped down on the bed with a groan. Her hair had come loose from its arrangement and strands fell across her shiny face. She swept them aside with the back of her hand. "Housework is for youngsters."

"Mrs. Cotchin isn't young," I said.

"She doesn't do any housework, she merely orders the girls to do it." She rubbed her shoulder and tilted her head to the side, stretching her neck.

"You've done a lot today," Alice said. "Why not lie down for a while."

"And you? You haven't stopped."

Alice massaged Lady Vickers's shoulder and the older woman groaned in relief. "I need to keep busy or I'll go mad," Alice said.

"I thought you'd be assisting Cook, Lady V," I said with a wicked smile.

She didn't notice it, however. "He seems to have everything under control, and kitchen work is even more exhausting than housework. It's so hot in there! I don't know how he does it every day."

"The warmth is inviting in the winter." I'd spent many a morning or evening in the kitchen, warming icy hands by the stove. After living in a derelict tenement or on the streets for several years, coming home to a warm kitchen was like stepping into heaven.

"That feels nice, Alice." Lady Vickers closed her eyes and yawned.

"Why not lie down for a little while," Alice said. "Charlie and I can cope on our own."

"Perhaps I will. Just for ten minutes."

Alice and I left her and headed downstairs to the kitchen to make tea. The crunch of wheels on the gravel diverted us when we reached the base of the staircase, however. It couldn't be Lincoln. He would have driven around to the coach house out the back. This conveyance stopped.

I opened the door just as a middle-aged man alighted from the hackney. He was short with dark hair and a set of bushy eyebrows that almost connected in the middle as he gave me a stern appraisal. Since he was studying me so closely, he did not notice the other passenger emerge and so did not offer assistance. She was even shorter than he, reaching only his shoulder, and quite broad in hip and bosom. A wide brown hat perched on her head, matching the plain gown she wore. Neither hat nor gown sported so much as an inch of lace, embroidery or other embellishment.

"Charlie? Who is it?" Alice asked from behind me. She peered over my shoulder and gasped. "Oh no."

"You know them?" I whispered.

"Yes."

"Who are they?"

"My parents."





Chapter 9





Alice had once told me she looked nothing like her parents, and now that they drew closer, I could see why she thought she might not be their daughter. Alice had a natural grace and elegance that came with her tall, willowy figure. Her parents were both short and their gait as they stomped up the front steps was anything but graceful. Where Alice had fair hair, her father's was dark and her mother's red. Their features were unalike too, and although her mother had blue eyes, they were steely, whereas Alice's were the color of a summer sky. Not even Mrs. Everheart's anger could alter their shade that much. And she was very angry.