by Beth Byers
“Yes. Well.” Lady Eleanor scowled deeply. “Your father seems to think that it would be good for Geoffrey to spend more time with you, Victor, and Jack. Your father wants you to bring Geoffrey with you to the country.”
Violet froze as Isolde pressed her lips together to hold back what was certainly a burst of giggles. “With us?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Lady Eleanor snapped. “I don’t agree. A boy needs his mother.”
Violet blinked rapidly and then cleared her throat before she dared to answer. “I…”
“How long do you expect to leave him with Vi?” Isolde asked, certainly just to give Violet a moment to catch her balance.
“I don’t know, do I? I can’t read your father’s mind, and we certainly don’t agree on this nonsense.”
“Why me?” Violet finally asked flatly.
Lady Eleanor scowled. “Your father says that there isn’t enough money to support the estate and allow Geoffrey the life he deserves. Your father says Geoffrey should spend time with those of our class who also work as we cannot expect you to take inheritance away from your children to leave to your poor brother who does not, I am sure, have the nature to be another….another…working stiff!”
Violet and Isolde glanced at each other. They didn’t look very much alike, with Isolde taking after Lady Eleanor with her blonde hair, lusher figure, and blue eyes. They both, however, had the same shocked, wide eyes as their gazes met and then turned to Lady Eleanor.
She scowled at the two of them. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m sure I don’t know why you couldn’t help your brother. As greatly as you’ve been blessed.”
“Perhaps,” Isolde said rudely to her mother, “because the funds that Violet inherited from her great aunt were not funds that came from our shared side of the family. Perhaps because Violet will certainly have children of her own. Perhaps because Violet owes nothing to a brother she barely knows. Violet and Victor both worked before they inherited from their Aunt Agatha, and there is nothing about Geoffrey that says he should be the prince of this family and get part of what everyone else has.”
Violet gaped at Isolde, who dabbed her eyes as her mother stared in mounting fury.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Isolde snapped. “I am tired of seeing you be mean to Violet and Victor. Treating them as they’re somehow less than the rest of us. They aren’t, you know.”
“Well, I never!”
“You should never.” Isolde threw the words back at her mother. “You know what gives me comfort carrying this baby? That Violet would raise my baby for me with the same love and care she’d give her own children. You didn’t do that for Lady Penelope, and you should have. Thank goodness for Aunt Agatha. Thank goodness for the woman who stepped in when you should have. Your children don’t deserve one single halfpenny from what Agatha earned.”
The door to the parlor opened in that moment and Hargreaves rolled the teacart in slowly. He must have felt the tension in the room as Lady Eleanor and Isolde stared daggers at each other; all the while, Isolde was dabbing her eye with her handkerchief and sniffling.
“Tea, madam,” Hargreaves said smoothly.
“Thank you, Hargreaves,” Violet said as smoothly, “that’ll be all.”
“She didn’t!” Lila stared as Violet nodded. Her secretary, Beatrice, had stopped her usual work to pack for Violet, but Beatrice was staying behind to deal with much of the business that Violet preferred to avoid. Beatrice’s gaze was wide, her expressions flashing, but she kept her eyes on what she was doing while she tried to hide her reactions.
“Isolde said those things?” Lila looked shocked.
“She did,” Violet said. “It ended with Isolde asking me to stand as godmother of the child and Lady Eleanor leaving in a rage that any grandchild of hers would be raised by a good-for-nothing bright young thing who wastes her time writing trashy novels, drinking too many cocktails, and marrying good-for-nothings.”
Lila laughed and leaned forward to pick up her cocktail. Violet shook her head.
“Speaking of,” Violet said meaningfully, “you drink too much.”
Lila gasped.
Violet put her hands on her hips and lifted a brow. “That and chocolate is why Denny is fat. You had better be careful or your clothes won’t fit anymore.”
“Denny also eats fish and chips with the boys, naps daily, and generally tries not to move,” Lila said idly, then slowly added, “I move.”
“You just stop eating when your clothes get tight.”
“I eat,” Lila lied. She thought about it for a moment. “Fruit, greens, sometimes a bit of chicken or fish.”
“Mmm,” Violet said, having noticed that Lila had become a little rounder in the face, which was very rare for her friend. Her loose dress didn’t show a wider bottom, but Violet felt certain Lila had moved into her plump clothes and would be a nightmare in the coming days once she decided to deal with the extra weight. “Which is why Denny always looks scared when you’re slimming.”
Lila grinned wickedly. “It’s better if he appreciates me as I usually am. I don’t want him to take advantage of my good nature.”
“He already says you’re a dangerous creature.”
Lila sniffed and then shot back, “Perhaps. But you’d do well to follow my good example and give Jack reason to fear you.”
Violet laughed. “I don’t think Jack is the kind to fear his wife.”
“Perhaps not,” Lila agreed and then paused as they heard a giggle.
They both turned to Beatrice, who was covering her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” Beatrice gasped. “I’m sorry. It’s just…Mr. Jack…oh!” Her giggles burst out.
Lila grinned. “Get this woman a cocktail. She’s one of us.”
Violet laughed and went through her jewelry, pulling out the pieces they’d have traveling with them. Lila rose and poured another cocktail from the cocktail shaker, handing it to the secretary.
“Oh, I couldn’t,” Beatrice said.
“You could,” Lila insisted.
“You can,” Violet added, “but you don’t have to. Leave her be, Lila.”
Lila scowled and then shrugged. “You’re probably right. Later today, I’ll have a pre-dinner nap, eat dinner, and then go back to bed to rest up for our trip tomorrow. Beatrice, will you be working further?”
“Ah.” Beatrice glanced at Violet. “Well, I am writing some letters for Lady Violet and then I have accounts to balance and I need to read the reports from the auto company to summarize for Lady Vi.”
“Oh!” Lila shuddered. “I will sleep better just thinking about doing all of that.”
Chapter 3
“But why did you say yes?” Jack asked. They were sitting in the auto outside of Carlyle House and Geoffrey had yet to appear.
“To make her stepmother upset,” Denny suggested. He giggled, but it was caught off by a huge yawn.
It was so early that the skies were still dark, but they wanted to hit the early train. They had a family dinner that evening at Grandfather Wakefield’s house. They needed to get there, rest up, and be ready to interact with the family while on their best behavior. Violet was a bit worried about her relationship with Jack’s family. They very rarely came to London, so she’d barely met them. But someday these folks would be her children’s cousins and great uncles. She wanted things to go swimmingly.
Violet lifted her brows and then smiled just enough at Denny to reveal the truth—torturing her stepmother was exactly why she’d said yes about taking Geoffrey. The righteous part of Violet also hoped that Geoffrey wasn’t as much of a wart as he’d seemed and hoped that taking him would reveal a brother she could stand.
She sighed. It was very early and thankfully the servants had taken their things to the train. They only needed to get Geoffrey, and the boy wasn’t coming out. “I’ll go get him.”
Jack shook his head. “If your father wants the influence of other men on Geoffrey, then we’ll have to do th
e dirty work. Come on, Denny.”
Violet watched as Jack and Denny walked inside the house. “Do you think we should go observe?”
“Yes,” Lila said immediately.
The two of them got out of the auto and hurried up the steps just as the door opened, and they both came to a complete stop. It was a sheer cacophony. Jack was carrying a struggling, wailing Geoffrey over his shoulder. Denny was just behind and laughing so hard he had a hard time standing. He clutched at the stair banister, only half-standing. Lady Eleanor, on the other hand, was competing with Geoffrey in her wailing.
The earl looked on from the top of the stairs. He was so far past calm that Violet would have run the other way as a child. Geoffrey—if he even noticed—was clearly entirely unafraid. The fool.
“How could you?” Lady Eleanor shouted, muffling her shrieks with the handkerchief that was fisted into her mouth. She was, Violet saw, legitimately upset. Those were real tears and real bloodshot eyes. Vi would have felt a smidgeon of empathy if she didn’t lay the entirety of this madness at the woman’s feet. “How could you send our baby away?”
The earl didn’t answer. He was breathing in slowly through his mouth, and Violet watched as he held his breath for a moment and then let it slowly out. He noticed her in the doorway, nodded once, and disappeared into the depths of the house. Violet would not be surprised if he was ordering his man to pack his bags for an extended stay at his hunting lodge.
Violet bit down on her bottom lip to hold in her reaction, but Lila had no such compunction. Her giggles were drowned out, however, by Geoffrey shouting, “I said I don’t want to go.”
“Oh my baby!” Lady Eleanor wailed. “My baby, my baby.”
“You’d think we were shanghaiing him,” Violet muttered to Lila. “Or selling him into white slavery in the….I don’t know. Wherever the legends say that happens.”
Jack reached the bottom of the stairs and set Geoffrey down. He immediately tried to run, but Jack grabbed hold of Geoffrey by the back of his shirt. Geoffrey tried to go boneless and slithered half out of his shirt before he was caught by his own clothes. He was, Violet saw, still in his pajamas.
“Enough!” Jack roared. Geoffrey froze and Lady Eleanor’s mouth snapped shut. Even Denny and Lila stopped laughing. “You may choose, boy. To walk out this door on your own feet or to be bound and muzzled. Either way, you will be silent.”
Geoffrey gaped and then stuttered, “Y-y-you can’t treat me like this. My father is an earl.”
“He put you into my care. I assure you, I can. Are you nearly a man or an infant?”
Geoffrey snuffled and wiped his nose on his hand.
“By Jove!” Jack growled. “Lesson one.” He slapped a handkerchief into Geoffrey’s hand. “Use it. Go wash your hands. You have one minute and if you try to flee, I will muzzle you like a rabid dog and drag you through the train station by your ear.”
Geoffrey’s mouth closed slowly, but his bottom lip trembled. His face was flushed with red, whether from anger, embarrassment or sadness, Violet could not tell. Her too pale brother turned to her, pleading silently.
She shook her head in reply to the begging in his gaze. He turned to Lila, who was too glee-filled to provide hope, and then to his mother.
“Mama?”
She wailed.
“Please, Mama,” he begged with a mewling voice.
“Enough,” Jack said. He walked Geoffrey to the bath and watched as the boy washed his hands. “Your face.”
Geoffrey washed his face.
“His coat,” Jack told the butler, who nodded and got it silently.
“He’s not dressed!” Lady Eleanor cried.
“That is the choice he made,” Jack told her flatly. “I suggest you tell your son goodbye, my lady.”
Her gaze narrowed on Jack and she hissed, “You’ll regret this.”
“I already do,” Jack told her flatly.
She spun on her heel and chased up the stairs after her husband. They heard the sound of her pounding on the bedroom door moments later.
Vi met Jack’s gaze and as one they turned for the auto.
“That did get my blood up, Lila darling,” Denny announced. “I feel certain that qualifies as my exercise for the day.”
“Perhaps, laddie, if you were the one hauling him down the stairs. We’re going to miss our train if we don’t hurry.”
Jack took Geoffrey by the arm, and they walked down to the auto. Denny got in first, Jack nudged Geoffrey after, and then took the seat next to him, so Geoffrey was bound in by the two gents. Lila and Violet took the seat opposite.
As the auto started, Jack checked his watch. “It’ll be close. We’ll need to hurry through the station.”
“The train will be late,” Denny said idly. “It always is. We’ll make it.”
Jack huffed, and they all seemed to unitedly decide to pick a window and turn their gaze outside. They weren’t half-way there when the traffic came to a complete stop. Lila groaned and Jack got out to see what the issue was. He returned a few minutes later and said, “A truck full of veg has overturned.”
Violet sighed and Lila simply shrugged and snuggled into the side of the car, closing her eyes. Jack ordered the driver to take the next turn and attempt to go around.
“How upset will your grandfather be if we’re late for the dinner?”
“We’ll have to hurry,” Jack said grimly in answer.
Violet looked at Jack and realized that his grandfather would be very upset indeed. This was Vi’s fault. She shouldn’t have agreed to take Geoffrey. Without him, there would have been no question that they’d arrive in time.
As it was, their time in the country would be colored by Violet’s bothersome wart of a brother. She sighed and glanced back out the window. A few moments later, she slid into sleep while they crawled through London’s streets.
Violet woke when Jack got out of the auto. Denny also got out, and then before Violet could even shift, Geoffrey dove towards Denny and shoved past him to run down the street outside of the train station.
Jack cursed and Violet hurried out of the auto.
“Help!” Geoffrey screamed. “Help! Kidnapping!”
Violet’s jaw dropped as Jack and Geoffrey were swarmed with station attendants and the local bobbies.
“What’s all this now?” one of the bobbies asked. He had his hand on his club, and Violet was about to murder her brother in front of the crowd.
“Help!” Geoffrey cried. “Help me, please.” He gestured to his pajamas covered by his coat. “I’ve been taken from my bedroom while sleeping. Please, my good man. Please.”
Jack held up his hands as the blokes turned on him, and Violet hurried to them. “Stop!” She blocked her husband from the police.
“Vi, you’ll get hurt,” Jack said, placing his hand on her stomach and pulling her against him. No doubt he intended to shove her behind him if things went south.
“She’s in on it!” Geoffrey wept.
“I am,’” Violet said. She paused long enough to get the attention on her instead of Jack. “Lady Violet Carlyle-Wakefield. This spoilt brat is my younger brother. We’re taking his protesting, rotten, ridiculous self to the country to see if we can do something about the snot he’s become. I don’t have a lot of faith in our luck.”
“Isn’t that Detective Wakefield?” one of the bobbies asked.
The other inserted, “Heard he married an earl’s daughter.” That fellow had his hand on his club, but he let it go and relaxed. Violet also relaxed.
She raised her hand. “Me. Earl’s daughter.” She jerked her thumb towards Geoffrey. “Earl’s devil spawn.”
“I’m not! I’ve been kidnapped! My father will have your jobs.”
“Your father,” Violet snapped, turning on her brother, “will have your hide! If”—she grabbed his ear—"you survive that long.”
She glanced at the two bobbies and the station attendants and lifted a brow. “If you’d like to keep him and return him to
the earl, you’re welcome to do so. We are, however, catching our train.”
It was as though she’d set them afire. They jumped back and hurried to their posts. Violet glanced at Geoffrey and then at Jack.
“I’ve got this thing.” She referred to Geoffrey, who tried a whimper.
“He’s a fighter,” Jack warned.
“He doesn’t want to be tackled to the ground by a woman wearing heels, jewelry, and makeup. If I have to teach him a lesson, we’ll find a photographer and send the documentation to Father. Would you like that, pumpkin?”
“Don’t call me that,” Geoffrey snuffled, trying to twist away.
Violet let her fingernails dig into his skin and he yelped.
“Let me go, please,” he begged. “I won’t run.”
“I expect you won’t,” Violet said amiably. “This isn’t to keep you from running. It’s punishment.”
“What did I do?”
Violet yanked him to a stop to breathe in deeply and let it out slowly. She turned her enraged gaze on Geoffrey. “Those bobbies were caressing their billy clubs at my husband.”
Geoffrey shrugged. “He’s fine.”
She twisted his ear and then hissed into his face. “Through no help of yours!”
He tried twisting away again, and she kept hold of his ear with one hand and smacked the back of his head with her other hand.
She took off at a quick pace and Jack hurried beside her, pausing only to take Violet’s satchel for the train ride from Lila. He nodded to their driver and then rushed ahead to lead the way through the train station. By the time they reached their platform, the train had been gone for five minutes.
“It was on time?” Denny gasped to the employee.
The fellow nodded unsympathetically.
“But they’re never on time.”
Violet shoved her brother onto a bench. “If you move a muscle or run, I will ensure that Father cuts off your allowance for the entirety of the next school year.”
