The Touch of the Outcast_A Gothic Mystery Romance

by Amalia Altman

  As Elise came down the stairs, she went back to her room and sat on the bed. Her body was wound up from the tension between herself and her employer, as well as the burning curiosity that seemed to be eating her alive. She was afraid—the sounds had been ghoulish and unbearable, and she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she solved the mystery of the third floor. It crossed her mind that maybe nothing was up there; it was possible that Julian just went up there alone to let off steam, to scream and bang on the floor when he was frustrated. The thought sickened Elise. She didn’t want to think about him that way, dangerous and mad, but she couldn’t help but to wonder if that was the case. He seemed volatile either way, something that sent warning bells through Elise’s mind despite the fact that she found herself so drawn to him.

  Elise heard footsteps in the hall and got up, carefully opening her door to see that Julian was walking toward his room. The thought hit her that she could go into his office and search for the key. The idea nagged at her until she felt like she had to do it, so she made her way noiselessly down the hall toward his office, slipping the key in the lock and wincing when it clicked open. She froze, looking around to make sure that nobody was coming before she went inside the office, crossing the room to light a lamp.

  Elise started by searching the drawers of his desk, relieved to find that most of them were unlocked. She pulled them out and rifled through them, careful to leave them as perfectly organized as they had been when she’d opened them. She grew increasingly frustrated when she couldn’t find the key, and she finally gave up on the desk after a thorough search. Elise held the lamp up then and circled the walls, looking for a hook or a spot that the key might have been hidden. She saw it then, old and brass, much bigger than any key that she had on her chain. She grabbed it, and was about to turn around when the door to the office opened. Elise froze, holding the lamp, her hand tightening around the key. She looked to see Julian standing in the doorway, his eyebrows raised.

  “Elise,” he said.

  “My lord, I was just—I was doing some cleaning while you weren’t in here. I couldn’t sleep and I thought it was better than waiting until tomorrow.”

  “I see,” he said, taking a step toward her. “And why can’t you sleep?”

  “I have a lot on my mind,” she breathed. He had stepped closer to her, then closer still, and she was frozen in place by the intensity of his gaze. She found herself backed against the wall, trembling as he pinned her in, his hands on either side of her body. He was so close to touching her, his eyes on her lips, and she knew that if he leaned in and kissed her she would see everything that was going through his mind. She was tempted, so tempted, but she kept her hands to her sides and didn’t lean in to kiss him, though their lips were only inches apart.

  “What am I going to do with you, Elise?” he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

  “I don’t know,” she breathed. His eyes were fixed on her face and she could see the temptation there.

  “Do you think you deserve a punishment?”

  “No, my lord,” she said. She had never felt such tension. The room was heavy with it, thick with desire and words unspoken. It unnerved and overwhelmed her, made her whole body feel needy with the desire to be touched. “I think—I think you should let me go to bed.”

  He paused for a moment, then seemed to collect himself. He stepped away from her, letting her pass, her nerves completely on edge.

  “Good night,” she said hurriedly, and left him behind in the room, trying to slow her racing heart as she went back to her bedroom for the night.

  Chapter 7

  Julian didn’t sleep after he caught Elise in the office. He couldn’t sleep. The only thing he could think about was the memory of almost kissing her, something that was completely forbidden to him. Elise was off limits, despite the fact that he couldn’t get her off of his mind no matter how hard he tried. Getting close to her had not been his intention when he’d found her searching the office, but the moment he saw her, he had been overcome with the urge to get close.

  He was exhausted and having trouble clearing his mind by the time the morning came. He had been dreading it all night. In the rare moment he wasn’t thinking about Elise, he had been thinking about the inspector coming and what that might mean for him. He tried not to linger on the thought for too long, knowing there was nothing he could truly do to prepare himself for the interview. He’d just have to answer the questions as best he could as they came without looking suspicious in front of the inspector.

  Julian saw Elise at breakfast, but only exchanged a glance with her before she disappeared upstairs to begin her duties. He hadn’t been able to read her expression and he wondered what she was thinking about last night, if it was as heavy on her mind as it was on his.

  The inspector showed up around midday, and Julian answered the door himself. He didn’t want the inspector involved with his household—there had been a time when he’d been a regular presence there, in and out with endless questions for Julian that he never seemed to be able to answer honestly.

  “Hello, inspector,” Julian said, welcoming the man inside. The inspector was a harsh-looking person, incredibly thin and angular with sharp features and even sharper eyes. Julian had always felt like the man was capable of looking through him, which had been extremely disconcerting during the investigation.

  “Hello, my lord,” the inspector said, giving a small bow. He was a formal man, stiff and strict. Julian led him up to his office, where the man had a seat in the chair across from his desk and peered at him intently.

  “Do you know why I’m here?” he asked.

  “There was another murder,” Julian said. “Elizabeth Mosley.”

  “Indeed,” said the inspector. “I wanted to know what you know about that.”

  Julian shrugged. “Not much. The last time I saw her was at an event on Lord Richardson’s estate. That was almost two years ago.”

  “How did you know about the murders? It hasn’t been in the papers. We’re still keeping things quiet for now.”

  “Word gets around,” was all Julian said. The inspector raised his eyebrows at him.

  “I’m going to ask you again. What else do you know about Lady Mosley’s murder?

  Julian kept his face and his voice calm, though his heart was pounding in his chest.

  “All I know is that she was stabbed several times like the others while Lord Mosley was out,” Julian said. “Her body was found at her estate.”

  The inspector stared at Julian, holding his eye.

  “You know why I have to ask these questions, don’t you?”

  Julian’s jaw went tense. “No, actually. I don’t.”

  “People are already asking questions about you, my lord. I’ve heard that you had relations with at least two of the previous victims. Now I know you probably didn’t do this—“

  “I didn’t,” Julian said firmly.

  “—but I’m afraid I have to ask,” the inspector finished, his voice just as hard. “I also have to warn you that you will be investigated further.”

  “There is no proof that I had anything to do with this, Sam,” Julian said in exasperation.

  “Everybody knows your history,” the inspector said, staring Julian down. “Tell me about your involvement with Lady Mosley and the Duchess Wyatt.”

  “I courted them both very briefly,” Julian said.

  “You courted them?” the inspector said. “What does that mean?”

  “It means we fucked,” Julian said dryly. “Is that what you want to hear?”

  “I just want to hear the truth,” the inspector said. He hadn’t flinched when Julian said the word, but was looking at him calmly.

  “The truth is that I barely knew either one of them.”

  The inspector rubbed his hand over his mouth.

  “How is your uncle?”

  Julian’s body tensed even further at the m
ention of his uncle. Every time Julian thought about him, he grew enraged, especially after what had happened the last time Julian had visited with him.

  “He’s well,” Julian said shortly. “Do you have any other questions for me right now?”

  “No,” said the inspector. “But I will in the future, my lord. I will be seeing you soon.”

  Julian didn’t say a word as the man left. He couldn’t say anything. He got up and began to pace in his office, knowing that the whole situation was probably going to get worse. He looked at the clock to see that it was almost time for dinner and decided that he would eat in his office. He went downstairs to the kitchen to see if anything had been prepared and found Elise eating at the small table where the servants preferred to sit when he wasn’t eating with them. She glanced at him with a coy look, and he felt some of the tension in his body relax when he met her eye. It was replaced by a different kind of tension, a heat that spread inside of him every time he looked at her beautiful face. Her features were delicate, her lips the color and fullness of rosebuds, her nose dainty and soft. Her eyes, too, were captivating, such a gorgeous shade of green that sometimes he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from them.

  “I’m sorry for eating early, my lord,” she said. “I usually wait until after you’re finished, but—“

  “Don’t apologize for that,” Julian said, sitting at the table next to her. She bit her lip when their faces were level, and he distinctly saw her glance at his mouth. It made his body stir uncomfortably and he found himself shifting in his chair with his eyes on hers.

  “Are you going to eat with me?” she asked.

  “May I?”

  She smiled at him. “Unless you’re still angry with me.”

  “I am still angry with you. I’m very upset with you,” he said, but he couldn’t suppress the smile that came to his face when he spoke to her. She seemed to naturally relax him at the same time she wound him up.

  “You’ll get over it,” she said casually. Julian laughed as the cook brought a plate over to him and set it on the table.

  “How did you become so unruly?” he asked. “Have you always been this way?”

  “I am not unruly,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “How dare you say such a thing?”

  “Fine. You’re a wild thing. You never do what you’re told. You have a foul mouth—“

  “That was an accident,” she protested, though she gave a sly grin .

  “—and you ask too many questions,” he finished.

  “You’d prefer your servants be more docile,” she said.

  “Generally speaking, yes,” he replied.

  “That’s just not who I am.”

  “I’m coming to realize that,” he said. “It is a problem.”

  She stared at him, her eyes sparkling. “I’ll try to behave myself, my lord, if it means that much to you.”

  “It does,” he said. “Because next time, I’ll have no choice but to punish you.”

  She blushed, her cheeks going pink in a way that was so lovely it made Julian ache. He wondered what was going through her mind and wanted to ask her, but knew that it couldn’t be anything appropriate, not with that look on her face.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “I was thinking I would take tomorrow off. I’d like to go into town.”

  “Of course,” he said. “Take your horse.”

  “I will. Thank you, my lord.”

  “I would ask that you check with Nikola and find out if there’s anything she needs. It will save her a trip. Sometimes, she has trouble on the horse.”

  “Yes,” she said, “I will.”

  She stood up then, looking down at me for a moment.

  “I should go to bed,” she said almost regrettably.

  “Will you leave in the morning?” he asked her, feeling concerned in a way that surprised him.

  “Yes,” she said, then told him good night, leaving him in the kitchen with those thoughts of her that he was beginning to think would never cease or slow down.

  Chapter 8

  Elise leaned down to stroke Lovely, petting her behind the ears as the graceful beast carried her into town. Elise had been nervous at first that the horse would be too shy to let her ride, but she found that it was easy after she had spent a few minutes stroking Lovely’s mane, getting the horse to trust her so that she could mount and ride her.

  She got to town about an hour later, tying her horse up at one of the posts outside of the brothel. She took a deep breath before she went in—this wasn’t a place that she had ever expected to come back to, but Elise knew the women there were shameless gossips, and it was the only place she could think of to go to learn more about Julian and his estate. She knew that Nikola wasn’t going to answer her questions, and Julian himself certainly wasn’t, so she was going to take any route she could to get answers.

  Madam Svarosky greeted Elise when she walked in.

  “Don’t tell me he sent you away?” the woman said, frowning.

  “No,” said Elise. “I just came here to speak to Polly. Is she around?”

  “She was upstairs with a john, last I checked. But she might be finished with him by now,” the madam said.

  “I’ll look for her,” Elise said, and Madam Svarosky nodded, sweeping away to greet a client who had just walked in the door. Elise looked around, her eyes scanning the room for any sight of Polly. Some of the girls greeted her as she walked by, but for the most part, as usual, she was ignored.

  She found Polly sitting in the lounge by herself reading a book. It was a surprising sight—Elise had never taken Polly for educated, but she seemed engrossed as Elise approached her. The girl looked up, a look of surprise on her face.

  “Hi, Elise,” she said. “What are you doing here? Did you get kicked out of your lord’s house?”

  “No,” said Elise. “I was just wondering if—if you knew anything else about Lord Ashton. He’s the one I’m working for.”

  Polly’s eyes went wide, gaping at Elise.

  “You were chosen by Lord Ashton as a maid?”

  “Yes,” said Elise. “And I still don’t know anything about him. It’s driving me mad.”

  “I don’t know much about him, either,” said Polly, and disappointment passed through Elise. “But Veronica might. She was always his favorite.”

  Elise felt something unpleasant flutter through her when she thought of Julian and Veronica together. It was a feeling that annoyed her, and she tried to suppress it.

  “Do you think she would tell me about him?”

  “Oh, yes,” Polly said. “She absolutely loves to gossip. And she’s practically in love with Lord Ashton. She’s probably dying to talk about him with somebody else who knows him.”

  “Great,” said Elise, although she didn’t quite mean it. She didn’t want to hear Veronica gush about the things she had done with Julian, but she knew this was her only chance to learn more about him.

  Polly got up to fetch Veronica, who came into the room with that smile on her face, the one that made her the most in-demand whore in the brothel.

  “Hi, Elise,” she said warmly, although Veronica had barely spoken to Elise in the few days she’d been at the brothel. “I heard you’re working for Lord Ashton now.”

  “I am,” said Elise.

  “And you’re wondering about the mystery man?”

  “Yes,” said Elise. Veronica sat down on the divan then, stretching her long, shapely legs forward and leaning back, lounging like a cat as she always did.

  “What have you heard from the other girls?”

  “Only that it’s a secret what he does with most of them,” Elise said.

  Veronica laughed. “That’s because they don’t do anything with him, honey.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means he just takes most of the girls out, talks to them, shows them a good time. There
are only a few of us he’s ever actually fucked.”

  Elise blushed at the word, her face growing warm. “Oh,” she said.

  “Have you done it yet?” Veronica asked, looking at her curiously.

  “No,” Elise said. “We—I don’t plan on it. I’m not interested in Lord Ashton.”

  Veronica snorted. “And yet you’re here, desperate to know more about him.”

  Elise didn’t respond. She had no comeback for that; there was nothing to say.

  Veronica waved her off then. “I don’t care if you’re in love with him. Everybody’s in love with him. What do you want to know?”

  “Everything,” Elise blurted.

  A smirk passed over Veronica’s face. “You should really go to bed with him, you know. He’s—I’ve never had a man use his mouth like that. His cock, either.”

  Elise squirmed in her seat, not wanting to picture that but having trouble keeping her mind from going there. “I’m not interested,” she repeated.

  “Well, there’s not much else to know about him. He had a wife once. He was young. She died a few years ago.”

  “How did she die?” Elise asked.

  “She fell down the stairs, I believe,” Veronica said casually. “Terrible accident. He didn’t leave his estate for weeks after that.”

  “Did he tell you all this?”

  “God, no,” Veronica said. “You won’t get any information out of that man. Don’t even try.”

  “So I noticed,” Elise grumbled.

  “That’s really all I know about him. He’s private and keeps to himself. The only reason I know this about him is because I’ve heard rumors in other places.”

  “Like where?” Elise asked.

  “Taverns, inns, anywhere with people. The common folk love to gossip about our lords.”

  “What are some other things people say?”

  “I’ve heard someone say he’s mad,” Polly said. Elise looked at her.