Raised By Wolves Volume four- Wolves (89 page)

wigs. “Truly, we do not,”I assured him.

“Would you allow me to do the honor of sending some potentialservants to you, then?”Winger asked.
“How many valets do you feelwe willrequire?” I asked. “We share a room and all things, and it is not as if we cannot oftenassist one another.”
One ofhis youngassistants frowned and abruptlylooked awaywitha rosyflush.
Mister Winger either was not surprised or did not choose to acknowledge my implication. “One experienced man should be able to maintain both your wardrobes, then; as long as he would not be needed to draw baths and maintain the hearth and the other chamber duties.”
“Nay, we
should
have other servants to do that,” I said witha frownand a shrug.
“Then I will send you Mister Wickham. He has been with me for several years. His eyes are not what they once were for sewing at all hours of the night, but he knows the business of makinga manand his attire look verygood indeed.”
I decided to be blunt. “Willhe object to working for two sodomites? I will not spend my days around someone with pursed lips and a frowningdisposition.”
Mister Winger smiled genially. “My Lord, Mister Wickhamis a sodomite—as amI. Truly, what other man would

care so verymuchhow menappear?”he asked breezily.

care so verymuchhow menappear?”he asked breezily. His boys were now grinningwithembarrassment. I chuckled. “Forgive me for beingso blunt, then,”I said. He smiled. “Actually, it is something ofa reliefto be able

to speak ofit at all.”
“I understand. We are used to livingina place where it is
not so shocking; and it is a thing… Well, if we cannot be
accepted here as we are, we willreturnfromwhence we came.” He smiled. “That, mylord, I trulyenvyyou.”He frowned
a little. “Am I to understand that many of the men in this
household…”
“Aye,” I said. “Though there are some who will live with
us who are not.” Another thing occurred to me. “And we will
need clothes—possiblynot so grand as necessaryfor court—but
appropriate clothingnonetheless, for manyofthem.” “Ofcourse, I amat your disposal,”Winger said. “And… You would not perhaps be able to suggest a
dressmaker for our wives, would you?”
“So it is true that youare bothmarried?”he asked. “Aye, but…”I sighed.
“They are as much a couple as we, so it seemed
convenient,”Gastonsaid.
Mister Winger’s eyebrows crawled into the bangs of
carefully coiffed wig. “Oh my, well, in that case, I know a
seamstress who would be delighted to serve them. She is
working for another household now, but I amsure she can easily
be lured away for the promise of a position where she need not
be so verydiscreet withwhomshe entertains…”
“Ah,” I said. “As long as she is not so very attractive or “Ah,” I said. “As long as she is not so very attractive or
ambitious as to cause dissensionamongst the wives…” He laughed with delight. “Oh my, nay, I feel that is not
the case. But truly, my lords, if you let it be known that you
welcome those like us, you can have a house full of agreeable
servants, believe me.”
“Then let that be known, as we seem to have had to
dismiss many ofmy father’s people,” I said. “And we willhave a
larger residence soon—here in the city or close by, if all goes
well—withquite the household.”
“Then my lords, I will do what I can to see that you are
wellserved,”he said.
We ushered him and his still-grinning boys out the door
and went in search of Rachel. We found her in the dining hall
with Theodore and Liam. She was examining the silverware in
the sideboard. The men were drinking tea. They all exclaimed
happily at our appearance, claiming we looked to be changed

men. I stifled my annoyance and quickly explained my

 

conversationwithMister Winger.

Rachel appeared greatly relieved. “That will make it a thousand times easier.”
“Well, that will be good,” Liam said. “If we get enough here ofour persuasion, I might find someone ofinterest.”
There had been a thing about Liamnagging quietly at my thoughts since we first saw him here. Now that I was no longer distressed over events, I listened to it—or rather, him. “Liam, your Englishis now as fine as your French.”
Theodore and Rachellaughed.
Theodore and Rachellaughed.
Liam grimaced. “Blame Rucker. You should hear Bones.” He brightened. “Oh, and speaking of other arrangements youmight have interest in:Hannahand Bones.”
“Nay!”I said withamusement.
“Oh aye,” Rachel said with glee. “Now that she is a free woman, she has decided she is free to seek a marriage.”
“And she chose Bones?”I asked.
Theynodded and chuckled.
“He wasn’t going to argue with her,” Liam said. “He’s quite taken with her now that he sees he has a chance to actually be with a woman. He told me that he didn’t pursue women before because theyseemed to be too muchtrouble; but Hannah reminds himof his mother somewhat…” He shrugged at that, as if it were a thing he found uncomfortable, “And she’s the first womanto actuallypayhimheed.”
“That is wonderful,” Gaston said. “We will all be a large happyfamily.”
I was recalling other things Liamhad said, other than his swearing off women. “Liam, I know you do not wish to be a servant…”
He shook his head quickly. “No more than you wish to be a lord.” He grinned. “But here we are. I’ll do whatever we need me to do.”
I sighed with relief. “Good. As for that… I would have youmanage the household; but whenPete finallyarrives, I would have himperformJenkins’ duties—ifhe is willing.”
“Thank the Gods,”Liamsaid quickly. “That is not a thing I wish…”He stopped at the look ofsurprise onmyface.
“Did you know Mister Rucker graduated from Trinity College?”Theodore asked.
I turned to frownat him. “And what does that have to do withthe Gods?”
Liam chuckled. “Well… We learned he was trained to be an English priest when we all sat about discussing religious matters while sailingto Rotterdam.”
Theodore was tryinghard to suppress his amusement. At my frown he said, “I still consider myself to be a member of the ChurchofEngland.”
“And I am still Catholic,” the Marquis said from the

doorway.“And you are Jewish,” I said to Rachel before turning to

 

Liamwithanarched brow.

He shrugged. “Well, several of us are of the opinion that your Gods have never disappointed us. They surely protect you.”

“In light of our lack of religious homogeny,” Theodore said, “we thought it fortunate we had a man such as Rucker among us who could pretend to minister to our spiritual needs in anorthodoxfashion. Seeinghow things are now progressing, it is possible we could have Rucker become ordained, and then he could become the pastor for the parish on whatever estate we choose to live on.”

I was delighted, and Gaston and I exchanged happy smiles. “And here you were making dour pronouncements about my need to belong to the Church of England,” I chided Theodore withamusement.

“You willneed to attend formalceremonies on occasion, and tithe, and in all ways pretend to be a man of faith—of
that
religion,”he said firmly.

“Aye, but our children can be instructed in traditional spiritualmatters bythe same seditionist who taught me.”
“I shudder to think ofthat, but aye, that is what willlikely occur,” Theodore said. He sighed. “I will likely have a daughter who wishes to conduct business and studylaw.”
“Does that trulytrouble you?”I asked.
“Only in that she will not be able to, and thus might be unhappy,”he said.
“The Gods move in mysterious ways,” I said. “Who knows what the future willhold?”
“Maybe she can serve the family as you do,” Gaston said. “Withno one outside the wiser.”
“I would see that,”Rachelsaid quietly.
Her husband smiled at her. “I think I would, too.” He sighed and looked back to me. “We will be an island of… rebellion.”
“Freedom,” I said. “Right under the noses of the dragons.”
“Dragons?”Liamasked.
“Kingand Churches,”I said.
“Ah, I suppose we are ever in their shadows,” Theodore said with a furrowed brow. “I will be happy if we are not betweentheir teeth.”
I would be happy if we did not need to skulk about in those shadows to live as we wished.
Whyse arrived soon after, to hear more of our adventures. He assessed our new boots and clothes with pleasure. “Youlook your stationnow, mylords.”
“Well, we would not want anyone to think we are commonpirates whenwe meet the king,”I said.
The Earl grinned. “Nay, of course not; and speaking of that, what are youdoingthis eve?”
I took a steadyingbreath. “Meetingthe king?”
His grin widened. “There is a birthday fete for a
close friend
ofthe king. It willbe aninformaloccasion.”
“All the better,” I said sincerely. I surely did not feel prepared for the rigors of a formal audience with a monarch. I looked to Gaston and found him pale. I smiled reassuringly and decided to change the subject.
“Before that, however…”I began.
“I have little to do this afternoon but to allow you to further regale me with your adventures,” Whyse said with a flourished bow.
“And I will be delighted to oblige, but first, there is a thing I would ask you,” I said, wondering what else he was so keen on learning: though our meeting yesterday had been curtailed, I felt I had beenquite thoroughinmytale telling.
“I live to oblige,”Whyse replied inkind.
“You would not happen to be aware of any residences for sale, would you?” I asked, and earned my matelot’s relieved sigh. “Something just outside London, within an easy ride of Parliament and wherever the king is inclined to hold Court throughout the year.”
“Is there something wrong with this house or your estates?”Whyse asked.
“This one is too small. We wish for the children to live

withus.”“In the name of God, why?” he exclaimed. “Is this some

new colonialcustom?”
“Perhaps,” I said with a thin smile. “It is more that we
are stubbornand eccentric.”
He laughed. “Oh do tell…” He frowned with thought. “I
know of several properties—all in town. But wait… Aye, I
believe I know of an estate—up the river. Would you like to
take the time to see it now? We can speak of other matters as
we drive.”
“Aye, I amveryinterested,”I said.
Gastonappeared ecstactic.
We collected the Marquis and Theodore and boarded
Whyse’s carriage.
“It is less thananhour fromtownup the river,”he told us
as we pulled out. “It is on the river, so one can travel to London
byboat or carriage—or horseback.”
“And it is for sale?”I asked.
He smiled slyly. “Aye and nay, it is now the king’s to
grant or sell. It is a smalltitled estate. Its former lord died without
an heir; and those distant members of the family who might step
forward to claimit were not in Our Majesty’s good graces. So it
has sat vacant for over a year now. I have only seen it the once,
so I will not attempt to extol its virtues or expound upon its
vices.”
Our conversation shifted to talk of privateering and
adventures at sea; and to my surprise, I realized Whyse did not
wish to interrogate me on matters of Morgan or the Spanish, but
to hear tales of things he perhaps no longer dreamed of doing.
Thus the short journey passed quickly and pleasantly as we
followed the winding of the Thames upriver to the west and
south, until we were in the countryside of peaceful hamlets,
farms, and estates. When we at last rode through a large gate, I
assessed the distance we had come, and thought it would be a
pleasant dailyride as longas the weather was not inclement. And then I saw the house and grounds and decided I
would happily ride twice as far every day if it would be bring me
home to such a place. The manor itself was designed by some
madman trying to recreate the structures of ancient Rome. There
seemed to be columns and colonnades everywhere; and overall,
there was a low openness to the structure. Though two stories
tall, it was not a forbiddingmanse toweringover its surroundings,
but a flowing expanse that seemed wedded to a garden the like
of which was now the fashion for the palaces of France, Italy,
and Austria. Whoever had owned this home had beenquite keen
to follow trends fromthe Continent.
“I believe there are actuallyseveralhouses; and a chapel;
and, of course, the stable; as well as a glass-walled house for
growing flowers in the winter, and many other garden buildings
—oh, and a boathouse and small wharf,” Whyse said as we
disembarked and beganto wander about.
He sent one of his men to find the caretaker as we
walked into the gardens. It being early summer, they were a

glorious riot of color and aroma. We followed one of the

glorious riot of color and aroma. We followed one of the colonnaded and trellised paths toward a fountain we could only hear. At last we turned a corner, and there She was: Venus, in exquisitely-sculpted marble, presiding over a court of cherubs amidst the splash of water within a columned circle that was more temple thangardenretreat. Her smile was knowing.

“We want it,”Gastontold Whyse. “Whatever it costs.” “We haven’t seenthe interior, yet,”Theodore said. “We will either make do with whatever we find there, or

change it to suit our needs,”I said.
Whyse chuckled. “Thenask the king.”
His man returned with the caretaker and the gardener.

Whyse, Theodore, and the Marquis went to see the interior. Gastonand I remained standinginthe presence ofVenus. “The Gods have brought us home,”mymansaid. I wished to believe it: just as I wished to have absolute
faith in the beneficence of the Gods and be done with my fear
that the cost the Dragon would exact would be more than I
could bear.
The interior of the house also proved to contain
everything we might desire. With every roomI imagined children
playing, Agnes drawing, Rucker teaching, Liam and Bones
playing cards, Theodore working, and Pete prowling about; until
it seemed we already lived here, and the chambers were only
emptybecause everyone was busyelsewhere.
On the ride back to London, I paid little attention to
Whyse and the Marquis discussing the latest news fromFrance.
I was discussing a great deal with my Horse. How much were

we willing to bend in the name of happiness for our loved ones?

we willing to bend in the name of happiness for our loved ones? By the time we reached the town house, I had determined what lines I could not cross in my heart or soul to appease even a dragon. I had also determined that there was more ground I was willingto give awaythanI had originallythought.