The Beginning

by Angelica Dawson

  They’d drawn attention and Sophia knew she had to end this now or assure mutual death. “If you try, I’ll do the same to your dick. Yank your balls right off your body. In case you believe I can’t or won’t...” She grabbed his smallest finger and pulled, popping the bone from its socket.

  He screamed again. “Get her out of here! I want her held until I can deal with her.”

  Sophia stepped back, falling in with two other maids, and to all guests, she disappeared. Nicole took the opportunity. “Which one? Surely you will be forgiving today.” Despite dropping her voice, Sophia could hear the words lost to all others. “Pursue her and she will kill you.”

  Charles huffed and turned on his bride. “I will claim you now. Perhaps that will improve my mood.”

  So much for tending her. Charles would strip her to the skin before a maid could be summoned.

  Nicole, flush with wine, paled. Silently, she followed Charles out.

  Seeking Claudette, Sophia discovered Louise dancing with her Lord. His round, rosy cheeks and errant curls gave him a cherub quality. It left no question why the youngest sister had fallen for him. He was young, too, which could hamper turning their infatuation into something more. An older man might have more say in his bride.

  If Claudette got her husband tonight, there was a possibility Louise could live with one of her sisters, as a spinster aunt. That required Sophia help the middle sister succeed in her endeavor.

  Finally, she found them in a foyer, enjoying the cool breeze outdoors. Jean-Pierre held Claudette’s face in his hands. She wouldn’t need help or deception if things continued to progress in this direction. Lurking within view, she watched tentative kisses and light touches shared. Without wine, would he take her bait? Did they need to overcome his hesitation?

  Hours ticked by, and Sophia followed the couple, at a distance, as they danced, snacked, danced again, and found a quiet corner to themselves. It was this last that turned her away. Claudette did not need her and Louise, still dancing, might.

  The youngest sister had a flush to shame the bride, rosy cheeks and bright eyes more a result of her company than the contents of her cup. Sophia came close enough to fill that after watching the young man drain his.

  “Thank you.” He held his mug out and Sophia filled it.

  Bent over Louise’s, she asked, “Has he guessed who you are?”

  “Shall we?” He took Louise’s hand and Sophia understood how she had spent two events with him and talked about nothing at all. Her vampiric nature would allow her to stay up and active all night without being aching in the morning. Louise, however, might not make it out of bed.

  Thinking of beds, she turned a circle, searching for Claudette. Jean-Pierre held her hand and led her up the main staircase. Sophia raced up the back stairs to reach Claudette’s room before them. There would be no deception tonight, but the middle sister might need some help or prompting.

  Light from the hall made a thin stripe along the floor as the door cracked open.

  “Yes, Cherie, you are beautiful.”

  “Please, slowly. I’m not experienced.”

  “I understand, nothing to fear.”

  The swath of light expanded, shadows of the couple stark within it. Sophia hadn’t lit the lamps and wouldn’t now. She did step closer, making her presence known by calling to Claudette.

  “My Lady? Shall I help you out of your gown?”

  Gasping, Claudette held her hand to her chest. If in surprise or modesty, Sophia couldn’t be sure.

  Coming close enough to whisper, she told the other woman. “Relax. This is what you wanted. If he is to be your husband he will have to see you.”

  “Let me help.” Jean-Pierre lifted Claudette’s skirt to roll down her stockings. She let out a little shriek. “Lovely legs, shapely.”

  Sophia tried to work faster, but it seemed Jean-Pierre wasn’t inhibited, hauling the skirt up and over his head. Claudette let out more cries as he enjoyed himself there. Although she couldn’t see it, Sophia was certain he was kissing his way to her sex. That is, if he wasn’t there already.

  “You smell wonderful, Claudette. Do you taste as sweet?”

  Ignoring her squeals, Sophia worked the gown off and took the woman’s chemise with it. She stood in only the stockings caught on her shoes.

  “Ah, yes.” Jean-Pierre took advantage of the exposed skin to cup and kiss Claudette’s breasts. Sophia used her speed to pull pins from the lady’s hair so she wouldn’t need to rise from the bed once she was in it.

  “Are you finished?” he asked. “Can I take her now?”

  “Pardon me. I have finished. Enjoy your night.”

  Slipping out, she headed for the back stairs and found Louise.

  “What are you doing here? You’re dressed like a lady!” Sophia hurried her on. “I guess I’ll need to get you ready for bed too.”

  Louise, swaying as though she’d had too much to drink, waved her off. “I’m exhausted.” She yawned, her jaw cracking.

  “Let’s get you out of here. People will ask questions if they see you.”

  “I don’t care. Oh, Sophia, I think I’m in love!”

  Sophia shook her head. She’d seen enough as a vampire to know that love wasn’t as eternal as some might like to think. “I’m sure you are.” She opened the door to the room they shared but didn’t light a lamp, stripping the woman in moments and ripping pins free.

  “Ow!”

  “Just hold on. I’m nearly done. There. Now go to sleep. In the morning, we’ll peel off that paint and you can be a maid again.”

  Louise pouted, which Sophia could see clearly despite the dark. “I don’t know that I want to be a maid again.”

  “You didn’t bring clothes for anything else.”

  She deflated slightly, eyes drooping. “You’re right. But we’ll be leaving soon.”

  “That’s right. Come now, sleep.”

  She kept a tight grip on Sophia’s hand. “Stay with me?”

  With a small sigh, she pulled free long enough to remove her dress. “You won’t want me tonight. I don’t have the right parts.”

  Louise laughed, ending in a snort that made her laugh harder. “I guess not, but I do want someone to hold, to kiss, and you can do that as well if not better.”

  Sophia scoffed. “Not better. Not if you are in love.”

  Louise’s humor turned abruptly sour. “I haven’t made you jealous, have I?”

  Chuckling, she pulled Louise’s head onto her breast, combing her fingers through her dark hair. “Not of your beau. Perhaps of you and how happy he makes you. I’ve come to a realization tonight.” Louise didn’t answer but calmed, yawning. “I will be heading to Lyon soon. There I can work nights and slake my thirst on the men who are willing to pay for me. I worry about taking too much from you.” Her next breath brought the rich scent of Louise’s perspiration, her blood beneath that, making her mouth water. “You need to sleep tonight. I’ll be taking my share from you tomorrow, though.” Still Louise didn’t answer and as she listened, Sophia recognized the slowness of her breath and pulse. Already asleep, Sophia felt no reason to stop her confession. “I do worry that you won’t find happiness with your love. That you’ll be alone with your less sympathetic sisters. Nicole gave me to her husband and they hurt me. I will never forgive her and can’t properly trust her with your well-being. Please, Louise, look after yourself and don’t let her keep you as her maid. You deserve happiness more than she does.”

  Louise snuffled and started to snore a little. Reluctantly, Sophia eased herself out from under the sleeping woman. The first shots of pink could be seen on the horizon through their bedroom window. She would have to wake Nicole soon. She prayed Charles had gone back to his own room by now.

  The kitchen was quieter than expected, the ovens baking bread with only one cook tending them.

  “What are you doing awake? Didn’t you stay out all night? Everyone else has. I don’t imagine I’ll be serving anything before noon.” The p
ortly woman shook her head.

  Sophia chatted with woman about recipes and the benefits and drawbacks of sleeping during the day. She was chased out when the rest of the kitchen staff arrived.

  Before she left, she asked for Nicole to have tea once it was prepared. Then she hurried off to wake the newlywed.

  Dodging one window and the sunlight coming through it, she hurried on to Nicole’s room and opened the door. She closed it loudly when she didn’t see Charles inside.

  “No! Please! No more!” Nicole started awake and clutched her sheet to her chest. “Charles?”

  “No.” Sophia opened the curtain a crack, just enough to allow Nicole to see her.

  “What are you doing here? Where is Louise? How early is it?”

  Storming the bed, Sophia yanked the sheet off. As expected, Nicole was naked beneath, exactly as Charles had left her. Bright red marks on her ribs and legs writ large the events of the night before. “You must get up. I have tea on the way and then you have to take one of Baron Jean-Pierre’s relatives to Claudette’s room. They went to bed late, but he won’t slumber long.”

  Nicole nodded and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “Yes. I remember now. Will you prepare me?” She approached the vanity and Sophia swept past to bring shift and gown. “Where is Louise?” Nicole asked again. “You said she was hiding.”

  “She was awake late into the night, as late as Claudette.” Once the gown was in place, Nicole sat while Sophia brushed and prepared her hair. She was just refreshing Nicole’s face paint when there came a knock at the door.

  “I have tea?”

  Sophia hurried to the door, opening it and accepting the tray. “Thank you.” The maid scuttled down the hall and back to the servants’ stairs. She carried the tray to the vanity and set it before Nicole.

  “Hmm.” Nicole didn’t pick up the biscuit sitting beside the teapot and cup, pouring for herself instead. She pushed it farther away as she sipped the amber liquid.

  “Do you need anything else?” Sophia itched to get out of the room and away from the eldest sister.

  She set the cup down with a clink. “Yes. I need to know if either Baroness Jacqueline or Priscilla are up and about. I don’t want to wake anyone.”

  Sophia nodded understanding. “I will return when I know.” In the hall, she had to dart around to avoid the sunlight that filled more and more of the corridors as morning progressed. Eventually she found another maid. “Can you show me to Baroness Jacqueline’s room?”

  “I can.” She turned and headed back down the hall, making Sophia run the gauntlet again. The maid pointed. “This one. Good day.”

  “Good day,” Sophia murmured to the woman’s back. Opening the door a crack, she peeked in. Baroness Jacqueline sat at her vanity and Priscilla, her daughter, lounged on the bed in her chemise.

  “Yes?” the Baroness asked.

  Sophia entered the room completely, closing the door behind her. Holding her head high, she delivered her message. “Lady Nicole would like to speak with you this morning. Can I tell her when you are available?”

  “You may. I’ll be with her shortly. In one of the parlors?”

  Bobbing a curtsy, Sophia assented. “The one in the west wing. We will await you there. Thank you, Madame.”

  She slipped out the door and nearly ran to Nicole. “She will meet you in the west parlor.” Turning to walk away, Nicole tapped her elbow to stop her.

  “You are still a maid, Sophia. I owe you much, but you can’t merely dismiss me like that.”

  Her brow and lips both drew and tight in a grimace, and she looked over her shoulder at the woman who would hand her to a rapist. Nicole’s expression startled her and she cocked her head to the side. Rather than disdain, coldness or haughtiness, she found the woman regarded her as she would any other lady of the house. “I understand. Is there anything else you require?”

  Nicole’s lips quirked on one side in an expression Sophia not only recognized but feared. “Yes. Linger outside Claudette’s room. Try to keep them from waking.”

  Sophia’s own face mirrored Nicole’s, now that she could recognize it for merriment rather than mischief. “That I will. Excuse me.”

  Claudette’s room wasn’t far, but Sophia had trouble finding a reason to stand around in the corridor. It also became more difficult as the sun through the windows lengthened to cover more and more of the floor.

  “I’m looking for the woman I met last night. I must know who she is.” The masculine voice came from the bottom of the staircase on Sophia’s right and she tiptoed closer to hear a little better through the bustling that was picking up with the morning. “Has anyone left yet this morning?”

  “Only the Marquis, sir.”

  “Good. I will be in the foyer to bid farewell to the guests. Please ask the Duke to meet me there.” Her keen ears allowed Sophia to hear him walk away, in the direction of the main staircase and entrance. Turning her attention that way, she saw the approach of Nicole with Jacqueline and Priscilla alongside. She nodded once to Nicole before tucking herself farther out of the way in a corner of the hall.

  Nicole didn’t knock before opening the door. “Claudette! I know you had an interest in—” She cut off in a gasp that was echoed by the two ladies.

  “Mother!” Jean-Pierre shouted and Sophia moved to a spot where she could peek in. He clutched the covers to his crotch even as Claudette tried to bury herself beneath them.

  Jacqueline released a long sigh. “You have sealed yourself, boy. I hope your bride proves as dignified as her sister. She certainly can’t get much less dignified than she is now.” She turned to Nicole. “I apologize, my dear. We will take our tea in the parlor until your sister is ready to join us.”

  “That would be lovely. Would you give me a moment with her?”

  The two women nodded to one another and left the room. Jean-Pierre seized his pants and stuffed his legs back into them. Claudette was bright pink down to her chest with tears watering her eyes.

  “Sophia, close the door, please.”

  Stepping inside, she complied, going to Claudette.

  “There is no point in rushing now,” Nicole told Jean-Pierre. “Take a breath, give her another kiss, and then go.”

  He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yes.” He turned to Claudette, slowly peeling the blanket out of her fingers. “Fear not, my love. This will pass, and I’ll be with you again.” He put his lips to her forehead and Claudette seemed to melt. The color drained from her face, leaving its usual pallor, and the tension disappeared.

  “I eagerly await that.”

  He cupped her cheek. “And next time, I promise, there will be no pain.” Sealing his lips to hers, he pulled her to his chest and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Nicole cleared her throat.

  “Yes,” Jean-Pierre agreed. “You must hurry. Maman hates to wait.”

  Stealing away from the room, Nicole waited until the door shut again before laughing.

  “Oh, my dear, you have done marvelously!” Nicole sat on the edge of the bed and hugged Claudette.

  “I did? What?” She looked over her Nicole’s shoulder at Sophia who nodded.

  “You are sealed. You’ll be wed to Jean-Pierre. It will have to wait until our return and the funeral, but it will come, I’m certain of it. Now only Louise is left on the precipice. How are you? Did it hurt very much?”

  Pink filled Claudette’s cheeks again as she shook her head. “No, not very much. He...was eager to make amends for it.” The color progressed up and down her face with her embarrassment.

  This time Sophia laughed. “Then you’ve found better than she did.”

  Nicole scowled at both of them. “This wouldn’t be happening if I hadn’t. I will pay for this every night I share his bed, so you might show some gratitude.”

  Sophia put her hands on her hips. “She can be grateful. I have not received any compensation. Come, Claudette, let’s get you ready.”

  The eldest siste
r rose, smoothed her skirts and turned to the door. “I’ll leave you to it and try to keep the ladies entertained until you arrive.”

  Claudette grabbed her sister’s hands. “Thank you, Nicole.”

  Nicole’s expression softened. “You’ve made this happen. I just gave you the social opportunity. I never expected you to do something so...brazen.”

  “Come,” Sophia said again, clicking her tongue.

  “Yes, yes. We need to hurry.”

  By the time Claudette was on her way to the parlor, the sun filled the main corridors, leaving Sophia stuck in the back stairwells. Once again, she heard a man asking after those departing. She descended to the kitchen, his voice coming more clearly as she did.

  “You’re sure that’s everyone?”

  “I can only tell you what I know. Surely there are those upstairs that are more informed than me.”

  Peeking around the banister, Sophia recognized the man running his fingers through already unruly hair.

  “They can’t help me. If she hasn’t left, she will be at dinner tonight, I presume.”

  Alas, he wouldn’t. Louise would eat here with the rest of the staff.

  The servant’s shoulders dropped and he nodded. “Yes, m’lord. I have several guests staying the night and leaving tomorrow. Your lady will be among them, I’m sure.”

  Climbing the stairs as silently as she descended, Sophia headed to the room she shared with Louise.

  Louise roused when Sophia closed the door. “Hm? Morning?”

  “Barely,” Sophia said rolling her eyes. “It’s nearly noon. You have missed much, sleepy-head.”

  Yawning, Louise stretched. “Should I hurry? Does Nicole need me?”

  “I have no idea. She and Claudette were taking tea with Jean-Pierre’s mother and sister.”

  “Jean-Pierre?” Louise found her maid’s dress and pulled it over her head.

  “Ah, yes, you were preoccupied with Daniel. He’s the one she lured into her bed where they were discovered.”

  Louise had been yawning but it turned into a gasp. “Really? I mean, you’d mentioned it, but I never thought she’d go through with it.”

  “She did, and my guess is that they will be betrothed before leaving, and we’ll have another wedding after the funeral.”