by Beth Byers
Vi hadn’t bothered to read the sign, but she was certain that it had said something about this being the Ladies Area all the same.
Violet tucked the lush bathrobe about her more tightly and rose to peek through the crack in the curtains. On the other side, she found Fanny weeping in Michael’s arms.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded, a low level rage burning hot enough to make even Vi uncomfortable.
“What was I supposed to say?” Fanny whispered brokenly. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Tell me!”
“I—” Fanny shook her head. “He’s your best friend. Since your earliest days. How many times have you told me that you are closer than brothers? That you rely upon him?”
The words seemed to be a dagger wound with each syllable. “Fanny,” his voice was a breath of agony. “There is nothing that I love more than you.”
It was clear the words weren’t a comfort to Fanny. There was a rustle behind Violet that had her turning. A woman stepped into the curtained area, observed Violet eavesdropping and then lifted a brow.
“Mrs. Wakefield?” the woman asked.
Her voice was sufficient to have Michael Browne cursing and leaving his weeping wife behind. The harsh word had the masseuse gasping and she spun, leaving Violet alone in the partitioned room.
Violet heard the ruckus as the masseuse called, “There can be no gentlemen in this part of the baths! You must leave at once!”
Violet heard another curse and the sound of heavy footsteps moving along the tiles. The masseuse returned a moment later. “Did you see who it was?”
Violet shook her head. Michael Browne was no Peeping Tom trying to get a glance at naked ladies. He was a man having an intense interaction with his wife. They had, the both of them, seemed heartbroken.
What had happened? What had caused that break? They weren’t even angry with each other. That much was clear. They’d been hurt, yes. They’d been at an impasse. They’d been tortured by whatever their break had been, but their love had been palpable.
It had felt, Violet thought, similar to what she and Jack would experience if they’d had a truly awful break. Violet winced at the idea and was struck by a flash of sympathy she hadn’t been feeling for Fanny.
That comment…Violet slid onto the massage table at the direction of the masseuse and lay face down while the masseuse worked. That comment…the one about being closer than brothers. Had Fanny been keeping something from Michael about Lyle?
Vi winced.
“You must relax,” the masseuse said. “I won’t hurt you.”
Violet took a deep breath in and then tried to release it slowly. It wasn’t helping. The masseuse’s own deep breath followed, but Violet ignored it and tried to think relaxing thoughts.
After a half hour, she told the masseuse, “I think that’s all for now. I’m not going to be able to relax enough for you to do any good, so I’d best not waste your time any longer.”
Violet rose after the masseuse left. She dressed and then left, hurrying back to the suite. Had enough time passed for Jack to return? She found her way to their room and waited until he did, alternating between pacing and sitting.
He came back before tea and as he opened the door, Violet rose, staring at him.
“Vi?”
She answered by rushing across the room and jumping at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed a fervent kiss on his cheek and then another on his lips. Jack finished the kiss by kissing her once again and then a time after that.
“Are you all right, Vi?” His concern was evident by the way he was studying her.
She pulled back from his face. “I overhead Michael and Fanny speaking to each other.”
“Another fierce spousal argument?” Some of his concern abated.
Vi shook her head. “It was heartbreaking. You could feel their love, but the pain was worse, and it made me think…we could be there someday.”
Jack frowned at her, his brows dropping low as he tilted her face towards his. “Did they step out on each other?”
“I don’t think so. It was like she’d been keeping something from him and he found out.”
Jack brushed a kiss along her forehead. “Then don’t keep anything from me that would hurt me. And I won’t either. We’ll just learn from them, shall we?”
Violet pressed her face into his chest and breathed him in. The scent of him and the beat of his heart gave her a comfort like little else did. Her nightmares had extended to an unholy degree after the death of his uncle. Jack and his uncle had the same eyes, and watching the light leave those eyes had haunted her every single dream since. When you added in the recent risk to Violet’s twin nieces, it was as if the world had conspired with her already-fervent imagination to make sleep impossible.
Jack let his chin rest against her head as he often did, and Violet said, “I promise. Even if it’s horrible, I’ll tell you.”
“We’re stronger together, Vi. Just like you and Victor. The reason our friends are family instead of near-enemies like Jovie’s is that we put each other first.”
Jack still held her off the ground from where she’d thrown herself at him, and he carried her to one of the sofas in the room. They sat for a long while holding each other. There was something about reveling in not being Fanny and Michael. In not having made the same mistakes that they had.
Jack’s hand pressed against Violet’s back, and they were murmuring together about the most random of things. The most recent book they’d both read. The dinner they’d had the previous evening where the beef and mushrooms had been cooked in the most divine of red wine sauces. The color of little Vi Junior’s eyes changing from blue to deep brown like Violet’s own. The way that little Agatha watched Kate with a preternatural awareness of the whereabouts of her mother, but the way both girls lit up when Victor spoke.
“Do you think that they heard him while they were still within Kate? That his voice was something that they found comforting before they even joined us?”
“Possibly,” Jack said. “Just in case, when we decide to have a baby, I shall have to talk to him or her often, so my voice will work as magically as Victor’s does on the twins.”
He spoke of other bits of information he’d learned about the area, and the murmur of Jack’s voice was sufficient to allow her to relax enough to slip into oblivion, which rarely happened when it was actually time to sleep. So it was that they lingered far past the dinner gong with Violet sleeping without dreams. The moon rose high when she finally woke.
“I’ve been thinking,” Jack said as though she hadn’t just slept hours in his arms, “we really should have gone sailing. A yacht would have let us avoid this pack of fools.”
“We could control who entered our environment,” Violet agreed as she pushed back from his chest and glanced up at him. She pressed her hand to her mouth and found she’d been slobbering a bit. “Oh, my. I’m sorry.”
Jack’s laughter had her grinning.
“How late is it?”
“Rather late. We’ve missed dinner and then the time for dancing after. I fear the kitchens are closed if you’re hungry.”
Violet was hungry. Her eyes glinted with mischief. “We could do a little breaking and entering.”
Jack’s eyes brightened with an echo of her mischief. “Perhaps a midnight picnic by the pool?”
“Yes,” Violet said instantly. “Yes, of course. No better idea has ever been uttered.”
Chapter 8
They changed into bathing costumes, topped themselves with the luxurious robes the lodge had provided, and left their bedroom. The lights were low in the hallway with every door closed. No sign or sound of any of their friends said they were doing anything other than sleeping.
Jack led the way, pausing at the intersections of the hallways as though they were doing something illicit. Violet followed silently in his wake through the halls, bypassing the main desk where a uniformed man was at the ready to assist anyone in the n
ighttime hours. Jack just lifted a hand to the man and kept going.
The hallway down to the kitchens shifted from the overt luxury of the guest area to the utilitarian cleanliness of the staff areas. The kitchens were not locked, and it took only a few minutes to locate biscuits, bread, cheese, and wine. They took their booty and hurried out the back door before they were caught.
Vi was laughing as the dark grounds of the lodge rolled out before them. “I haven’t been to the pool yet. Have you?”
Jack shook his head but said, “I walked past it yesterday with Ham. He gave me a message for you on our ramble today.”
“Did he?” Vi asked as they stepped onto the path leading from the lodge. It was dark, but the lodge had left a few of their gas lamps burning.
The pool itself was inspiring. It had been built as though by the Romans, with columns and statues and even a pouring fountain in the center. The columns were lit by more gas lights that reflected off the still water.
“Oh, it is lovely. Look, Jack!”
“It’s even better now that it’s not crowded with others.”
Violet sat on the edge and stuck her toes in. The chilly night air combined with the cool pool water would make this a quick swim if they didn’t move fast enough to heat themselves up.
“We need one like this. With a theme. More than just a hole in the ground with water. Something that is lovely in and of itself.”
Jack sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Do you want to hear the message?”
Vi looked up, distracted from the water. “Yes, of course.”
“He said to tell Rita in your next letter that he regrets everything except the last thing he said.”
Vi gasped and twisted towards Jack. “Does that mean what I think it does?”
His eyes moved over her face with enough weight that it felt almost as though he were trailing his finger over her skin. “I think so.”
“Do you think…”
“Do I think that he loves her, regrets not taking her in his arms, and kissing her senseless?”
Violet nodded.
Jack’s answer was to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.
When they could both breathe again, he said, “I told him that the biggest regret of my life was not telling you I loved you sooner.”
Violet hadn’t known that such a simple statement, one that she already knew to be true, could bring her to tears, but it did. They welled up in her eyes and she kissed him to fight their escape.
“What’s all this then?” Denny asked from behind them. “Romantic getaways. Affection in public. These bright young things, Lila. They have no respect. No understanding of modern values.”
“True,” Lila said idly as she stepped into the light. “I have never been so disgusted. Animals. Someone call a vicar and make these amoral creatures listen to the good word of the Lord.”
She crossed to their pile of pilfered goods and added to them. “We’ve brought chocolates, tinned biscuits, and champagne.”
“I want some of that dinner we had yesterday,” Violet said, pulling away from Jack. “I’m going to eat such a mountain of breakfast tomorrow.”
They sliced the bread and cheese and followed it with wine and chocolate and then Violet was the first to drop her robe and dive into the water. A quick secondary splash told her that Jack had joined. Lila’s high-pitched gasp and Denny’s squeak said she and Jack weren’t alone. Vi quickly wrapped her legs around Jack’s waist from behind, crawling up his back to dive upon Denny and pull him under.
They played like children until Jack said, “Vi, your teeth are chattering.”
Lila’s laugh cut off with its own chattering, and Denny hopped out of the pool with his entire body shivering. “Why aren’t you freezing, Jack? Are you impervious to the cold?”
“Yes, well, you know us heroic types. We don’t feel the heat or the cold.”
Violet wrapped the robe around her wet bathing costume and wrapped a towel around her hair. Both the thick robe and fluffy towel warmed her at once. She threw Jack’s robe to him and noticed the shiver as he wrapped himself. “What time is it?”
“At least 3:00 a.m. Maybe 4:00.”
“You know what that means, don’t you?” she asked.
He shook his head at her as he slid his feet into his shoes. They gathered up the remnants of their stolen feast as she added, “Breakfast, hot coffee, tea, chocolate. Something warm. We’ll want something cold later to keep us confused.”
“Summer is the worst,” Denny announced. His arm was wrapped around Lila and he pressed a kiss against her forehead. “This was fun. You definitely need a pool. Then we can do this without all these extraneous guests.”
“I know,” Violet said. “We are spoiled.”
“I prefer things that way,” Denny admitted. “This lodge is great. That old couple, the ones you talked with, Vi, they’re great. I want to be them when I grow up.”
“But they were going out for a ramble,” Violet pointed out. “Surely by then, Lila will have lost her battle against your bulge, and you’ll be unable to walk farther than the dining room.”
“Vi!” Denny moaned. “Is that what you think?”
He was at the forefront of their little group, leading the way towards the lodge from the pool that wound through the more sculpted part of the garden. He spun around to Violet, walking backwards as he asked, “Vi? Really?”
“Denny,” Lila told him sweetly, “your dad is quite large and you have the same bad habits.”
“Bloody hell,” he muttered, coming to a halt.
“Just move,” Jack told Denny. “It’s not that difficult. Go for a swim, do some rowing, play tennis. Find one activity you hate least and do that more.”
“Really?” Denny asked. He slowly began walking backwards again. “My father is quite large. He can’t walk without losing his breath.”
“Yes, exactly,” Lila said dryly.
“I can, however, walk backwards without losing my breath.” He grinned then twisted to face forward and stumbled, hitting the ground hard.
Jack laughed while Lila gasped and Violet winced. Lila stepped over to Denny, hesitated, and the scream that followed was horrifying.
Jack pulled Violet back as he rushed forward, but Violet was a breath away from him as she followed.
“Holy madness,” Denny groaned, trying to get his knees under him. “What was that?”
“A body,” Lila said, breathless. She gingerly stepped around the prone shape and dropped down next to Denny. “Are you all right?” Her concern was readily apparent, a strong reminder of the love she and Denny shared that not everyone noticed past their playful idleness.
Violet stepped around Jack, avoiding the body to give Denny a hand up. He pulled Lila up with him and the two of them looked down while Violet very carefully looked away. She had no desire to add to her nightmares.
“Dead or hurt?” Vi asked cautiously.
“Dead.” Jack’s grim voice told Violet more than she wanted to know.
“Ham?”
“Please. Not alone.”
Vi glanced at the others and Lila took Vi’s hand. “We’ve got this.”
They took off at a run and Lila kept pace with a speed Vi was surprised she was capable of. They reached the lodge and Violet called to the man at the desk, “Call for a doctor. Immediately.” She didn’t wait to hear his reply, and with Lila next to her, she ran up the stairs, bypassing the lift to rush down the hall towards Ham’s room and bang on the door. He opened the door a minute later and took in her expression.
“Bad?”
“I didn’t look.”
“Yes,” Lila said, resolutely.
“Murder?”
“Yes,” Violet and Lila said in unison.
“Damn it,” Hamilton replied. He kissed Vi on the cheek and said, “Stay with Lila.” Lila got a kiss on the cheek and an order to stay with Vi. Then he shut his door to exchange his pajamas for a suit. When his door opened again, t
hey were across the hall in Jack and Vi’s room with the door opened to watch for him.
“We told the deskman to call for a doctor,” Violet said as he shut his door.
“He should call the local constables as well.”
“So tell him to,” Lila told him.
Ham grinned at them, then sobered. “Lock the door.” Before he made it three steps, Jovie’s door opened. He studied her, then nodded toward Lila and Violet. “Stay with them. Lock the door. Don’t open it until Denny gets back here and then stay together.”
Lila nodded. Jovie hurried across the hall with Ham’s order spurring her on without question. Those would inevitably come. Violet closed the door behind Jovie and locked it. She leaned her face against the wood as Lila cursed and crossed to the decanter in the corner. Vi heard the clink of the glass and called, “Pour me one.”
“Oh, we’re all getting one.”
Violet slowly turned to face the baffled Jovie and the ghostly-white Lila, who handed Violet a glass with a shaking hand. Vi took it and crossed to the window, looking down to see an auto pulling up. Several staff members had been called outside, and then Vi noted the constable’s auto moving up the long drive.
“Those poor fools,” Violet said. The nearest town had to be tiny. These constables were prepared to deal with noise complaints and drunks. If they were smart, they and their commander would ask for Scotland Yard and Ham would be assigned. “We’re never going to get a real vacation.”
“We’re cursed,” Lila added as she sipped her drink. “Jack only smokes cigars now?”
Vi nodded.
“I want a cigarette.”
“We’re not leaving the room.”
“What,” Jovie asked in exasperation, “is going on?”
“Body,” Violet said. “On the path.”
“Are they all right?” Jovie demanded.
“Oh, the poor lamb,” Lila muttered.
Violet would have laughed, but it wasn’t funny. None of this was funny. The body on the path. The way they kept tripping over dead people. The terrible things that people do to each other. Always for some terrible reason. Money or because they loved the same woman or their parent more than the other. Greed when things were given fairly and the eldest wanted more than the fair share. The desire for the same promotion. To keep the child you loved trapped at home. Better dead than with their unapproved lover.
