by Beth Byers
“Just stretching a bit, Lady Eleanor.” Victor had tucked Kate under his arm, and they’d turned to watch the countess flash with anger. She despised that the twins refused to call her Mother.
“Father,” Violet said, kissing his cheek without letting go of Jack. “You remember Jack, of course, as well as Denny and Lila.”
“Of course I do,” Father said. He accepted Violet’s kiss with a snuffle. “You said you were bringing three more. Where are they? Who are they? We have quite a full house. Your mother invited Sir Rosens, son, and daughter. Oh, and Bennet Nelson’s sons. Some other fellow who hasn’t bothered to show or send his regrets. If I’d known we were going to be swimming in guests, I’d have delayed asking you to come home. Let alone with Devonsly here as well. The most that can be said of him is that he carries cigars. The man’s an out and out fool, and I don’t care if our families are linked back to time immemorial.”
Violet’s brows lifted. She hid her satisfaction that Father, at least, was not involved in the plot to oust Jack and replace him with some well-born beggar. “You’ll be delighted to know, Father, that our extra guests are a surprise. It’s Gerald, Isolde, and our friend, St. Marks. They’ve come home.”
Her father turned to his wife. “Isolde’s home, darling. Since Geoffrey’s been sent down already, we’ll have the children home at once. Don’t think that’s happened in many a year.”
Lady Eleanor’s narrowed gaze transformed into actual joy. Violet, on the other hand, smoothed her reaction to an even expression. Having them all together hadn’t happened because when the others were home, the twins had been sent to Aunt Agatha. Violet’s dead brothers were more strangers than mentors, and her memories of them were few.
Violet wondered just what Geoffrey had done to get sent down from school so early in the year. How old was he now? Violet glanced at Isolde who had just turned twenty years old. That must make Geoffrey about sixteen years old.
“What good luck for you, love,” Father said under his breath. “She’s been practicing her lecture. Maybe Isolde coming back with that rich friend of yours will distract her. She’s a dog with a bone about the fortune you inherited. As if I have any power of it or you. Not like Agatha left it to me. She knew you didn’t need a keeper. Your mother shouldn’t have foisted you off on other people if she wanted influence with you.” He shook his head as Violet hid her reaction at Lady Eleanor being called her mother. “I told her she reaped what she sowed when she told me of this party of hers,” he continued. “As if you’re going to throw your Jack over for one of these poor fools. Ellie stopped speaking to me until the guests arrived. By Jove, girl, marry the fellow, travel for a while, and maybe she’ll give me a little peace.”
Violet gasped while Victor laughed evilly. Denny glanced between the two of them and then grinned so widely at his wife that she elbowed him.
“I knew this would be absolutely fabulous,” he whispered so loudly that even Lady Eleanor from her place at the top of the stairs heard him.
Thankfully, Violet thought, Stepmother hadn’t heard Father. Violet wasn’t sure her father had ever been more rebellious.
Denny continued, little caring that everyone heard him. “This is going to be almost as good as when we went home and found Martha had engaged herself to that traveling salesman.”
“Contain yourself, my lad,” Lila told him. “You’ll give yourself a brain fever.”
Before they reached the top of the steps, Tomas’s auto arrived with the maids, Isolde, and Gerald. He leapt out of the car, revealing how much better he was feeling. A mere moment later, Tomas handed out Isolde and Gerald followed.
“That is how you exit an auto,” Lady Eleanor said to the twins. “Lingering is rude.”
“Ah,” Victor said in a snide tone but neither of the twins replied. Lady Eleanor didn’t even acknowledge Kate or Jack, let alone Lila and Denny, when she called, “Isolde!”
Reaching out her hands, their stepmother darted down the stairs.
“I can see why you don’t call her Mother,” Denny said under his breath. “Rather a different reception, isn’t it? Let alone how she snubbed my lovely self.”
“Don’t worry, laddie,” Violet told Denny, “and quit feeling bad for little Violet and Victor. I assure you that, although Aunt Agatha didn’t throw herself down the stairs or weep at our arrival, she made sure we knew she was happy to see us.”
“I always liked Aunt Agatha, Vi.” Denny’s defense of the child-Violet made her pat him on the cheek.
“You’ve a good heart under all that chocolate and gin, Denny. Who’s ready to see the lads Lady Eleanor brought in for me?”
“Let’s have them strut around like horses at Tattersalls,” Denny suggested. “Put them through their paces, so to speak, before letting them down hard and vicious. Never appreciated a fortune hunter. Female or male, quite ruins one’s faith in humanity.”
“That does sound like fun,” Victor said. “Seeing as how you and I would get to sit back and watch.”
“Bit like a good opera,” Denny said, rubbing his hands together, “without the caterwauling.”
Victor snorted. “No doubt, Violet will sink into one of those books she’s the greater writer of and avoid the boys. We’ll have to draw her out, so to speak. Drag her in for the performances before she fictionally murders them all. Seeing as how I only…ah…help to a lesser extent with our invaluable fiction.”
“Not invaluable,” Violet corrected. “Fiction of unaccountable value. Quite different, lesser twin.”
Kate grinned at Violet with a sneaky wink before speaking smoothly to Victor. “Miss Allen only made you the lesser twin in that article because she knew you’d quote it. I’m certain she took your measure. Tell the truth. You love being the lesser twin.”
“She took all of our measures,” Victor said.
“Leave Violet be,” Kate suggested, squeezing his arm. “You wouldn’t love it if my mother brought around more-approved lads to sway me from you. Jack doesn’t care for it, and Violet doesn’t want to be the symbol of money bags for hard-pressed lads.”
“But it’s fun,” Victor whined.
“Look,” Denny told Lila, “Kate saw how well Isolde has Tomas in hand and realized she’d fallen behind the young ‘uns.” He whispered with a conspiratorial tone in that too-loud voice. “I’m still excited to see Lady Eleanor go on the attack. I do hope she’ll go after Jack. If she does, our fun won’t be ruined even if Victor and Jack oust the money grubbers.”
They turned as one to see if anyone heard them, but Lady Eleanor and the earl were encompassed with the other children. They all watched Father and Gerald shake hands and Isolde press a kiss on their father’s cheek.
Lila glanced at the others before turning back to the scene of the happy family. “Denny was almost poetic on the road. I felt certain he’d break into a sonnet at any moment, but it turns out he was only discussing your torment and not a fresh box of Belgium chocolate.”
“You wound me, wife.”
“One can only hope,” she shot back, winking at Violet. “You know Vi is my favourite.”
Chapter Four
“Those boys are intended for you,” Victor told Violet with a little glee.
The twins were standing together on the balcony they shared between their bedrooms. Lady Eleanor had tried to separate them once upon a time, but the twins had taught her the error of her ways. Since then they had neighboring rooms with the balcony, so Lady Eleanor could pretend they’d gone to bed like good children when really they were flitting in between each other’s rooms with the balcony as their highway.
“They’re all youngish and well-connected. If Theo makes it, he, at least, could claim handsome. Well…” Victor grinned evilly. “He’d have been able to before his recent mishap. But Devonsly does look like he got hit with a brick in his formative years, and the younger of those Nelson brothers is so homely, it’s remarkable.”
Violet glanced up at him and then away. They watched as,
below them, Lord Devonsly said something to the other three men. Between both Bennet Nelson’s sons, Lord Devonsly of the bankrupt estate, and Sir Maxwell Rosens’s son, Lady Eleanor had provided Violet four options to Jack. If you included that one-time bruiser of arms, Theo, she’d have scored well for the five most unpalatable of hard-up men England had to offer.
“As opposed to the rich, but not rich enough, Jack Wakefield.” Violet’s feeling on the matter was clear with her snarl. “Why Lady Eleanor thinks she gets to vote or be involved in any way, I have no idea. Even if I wasn’t in love with Jack, I’d never, ever consider one of these fellows.”
“There, there.” Victor’s voice had too much humour for Violet to believe that false attempt at soothing.
Violet turned, leaning her back against the balustrade. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I think the only thing that surprised me,” her twin admitted, “is that we didn’t expect and prepare for it. If Algie hadn’t clued us in, we’d have been caught entirely blind-sided. Who knew we could be grateful to the wart?” Victor joined her in leaning with his legs crossed at the ankle as hers were. “Thank goodness Ginny is at school and not here to witness both Lady Eleanor’s nature and our idiocy.”
“We’re fools,” Violet agreed, running her fingers through her bob. It was time to get her hair trimmed again. If only her life were so simple as to whether her hair was how she wanted it and the trauma of her new shoes pinching her feet.
“You’ll have to cling to Jack like glue. Him or me. They’ll be throwing themselves at you. You’re the golden calf, love. Whatever it takes—”
“Well,” Violet told him with a bit of a smile, “I am delightful.”
“You’re rich, love. And clever. If they’re smart enough to want that.”
Jack and Kate appeared on the edge of the balcony from Victor’s bedroom. Their heads were tilted to the same angle as they examined the twins.
“I suppose we’ll have to get used to finding them like this.” Kate’s smile faded when she saw who was in the garden below.
“I suppose so.” Jack didn’t sound as though he minded finding the twins together, but his expression turned cold as he followed Kate’s gaze past the twins.
Victor held out his hand to Kate and she crossed to him, tangling their fingers together. Victor pressed a kiss on the top of Kate’s head. “Tell her, my love.”
Kate grinned at Violet. “What am I telling her?” she asked.
“She’s rich.”
“You’re rich, Vi,” Kate said immediately, her eyes glinting with humour.
“Are we stating random facts?” Jack took the spot next to Violet. “You’re beautiful, Vi.”
Violet chuckled under her breath while Victor moaned.
“Below us,” Victor said as though conducting a tour, “Lord Devonsly. I assume he’s favoured because of the title. Near-bankrupt but nice enough. Went to school with him. He’s excellent at cricket. Beside him you’ll see the two Nelson sons. Not broke, but they’ll eventually have to find work. They’ve avoided it thus far. There was once some connections between the wealthy Wanda Greene and both lads, but it all came to naught.”
“Uh-oh,” Kate said. “Having lost one heiress in the wild, they’ll be all the more determined to acquire the one in semi-captivity.”
“Indeed.” Victor wrapped his arm around Kate’s shoulders. “Your mind is a wonder.”
“And the other?”
“Mrs. Rosens is a crony of our stepmother. Her second son isn’t exactly a pauper, but he’d be approved simply for not being you, Jack. He’s also not swimming in money like Violet. I’m sure he’d like to paddle through the bouillon with the belle of our ball.”
Jack’s face was still, even and cold. He stared down at the four men. “They’ve seen us,” he told the other three, who had turned their backs on the garden. “Shall I look demonic? Take them aside and threaten the lads? Put on a dog-in-the-manger attitude?”
Violet’s lips twitched. “Alas, I fear we will further drive Stepmother mad no matter what we do. I think it should be Victor and I who torment the interlopers since we should like Stepmother to eventually—well, she’ll never love you.”
Jack pressed his hand over his heart, but his cold smile told Violet exactly how much he minded.
“While discussing facts,” Violet mused, “we should have discussed our stupidity and lack of foresight. Mine and Victor’s of course. You two are excused for not having spent the entirety of your life dealing with these…”
“Shenanigans,” Victor filled in.
Violet shook her head.
“Manipulations?” Kate suggested, leaning her head on Victor’s shoulder. “I find I am quite grateful that she’s not as angry with you. I am utterly terrified of her.”
“Well, love, I suspect she’s reserving judgement. They say you’re clever, don’t you know? Lady Eleanor is probably grateful you aren’t a dancer.”
Violet’s snort of laughter made her choke, and she leaned over, coughing into her hand before she straightened. “Oh, dear. This will be an adventure.”
“We should recover in Cuba,” Victor declared. “I know I just got a restock of my rum, but I could stand buying some in person.”
“No,” Jack said. “We’re not running. We visit. We leave. We go back about our lives. If we run, she’ll think she can keep manipulating things. She’ll think she scared us off.”
Victor gasped, holding a hand to his chest and fluttering his lashes at Jack. “You, sir! You, sir, are brainy indeed. It’s…it’s…I feel as though I could light my cigarette off the flames of your wit.”
“Stop it,” Kate told him, elbowing him lightly in the side.
Victor immediately cleared his throat. “Anything for you, love.” He glanced at Violet. “After seeing how well Isolde has Tomas trained, I thought I had better obey better until after I’ve got Kate lassoed with the old ball and chain.”
“You’re mixing your metaphors,” Kate told him. “Though, I suppose you know that since you did it on purpose.”
“Indeed,” Victor said. “Darling Vi, we must start our new story while we’re here. No longer are we the secret V.V. Twinnings. If we’re going to keep writing our unaccountable nonsense, we are going to do it with bells on. I was thinking of a short piece about an earl who marries and whose wife—the villainess—tries to murder his children.”
“Seems just the thing,” Violet said with a rare seriousness.
“Let’s go meet them,” Kate said. “I promised Denny we’d knock on his door before we go down. He says watching Violet be cornered by money grubbers is worth the cost of his nap, but he may snooze through any and all activities to make up for it.”
Violet glanced down at her wrinkled travel dress and said, “I’ll just change and meet you in the hall, shall I?”
Denny had the sort of glee-filled expression that only seemed to cross his face when Lila was wearing something particularly scandalous or when he opened a new box of chocolates. Violet took one look at him, hooked her arm through Lila’s, and said, “I think we should move ahead before I accidentally push your beloved down the stairs.”
Lila patted Violet’s hand. “It’s hard being the fox, darling. You’re so good at being the hound. Especially since people look at you and see a rabbit.”
“There are too many animals in that statement,” Violet said. “I feel certain that we should be visiting a menagerie rather than wandering the house a bit before we dress for dinner. Let’s hurry before Jack and Victor step out and try to be protective.”
They moved ahead with Denny following closely behind so as not to, “miss any of the dramatic portrayals.”
Violet was looking back at Denny, scowling, when someone said, “Lady Vi,” with a charming, deep voice.
Violet tensed, and Lila squeezed her hand. Together they turned with Denny giggling like a drunkard behind them.
“Hello there. May I make myself known to you? I am Leopold Nels
on.” The grin was wide and a bit snake-like. The way his eyes raked over her told Violet that he had come for the money but her looks would make do. He seemed ready to disconnect his jaw and swallow her whole. She tried for a charming smile but was certain she failed miserably.
“Get your head in the game, Vi,” Denny whispered in his mocking tone that carried across the entirety of the house.
Violet gave Denny a chilling expression that promised retribution. She didn’t hold out her hand to Leopold, but she did slap on enough of a smile to pass muster and introduced Lila and Denny.
“Pleasure,” Denny said, shaking Leopold Nelson’s hand enthusiastically. “I’m just so glad you’re here. It’s a true joy. Just a true joy.” Denny’s grin was so infectious that Leopold Nelson was smiling back with trepidation in his gaze, wondering why Denny was so happy to see him.
“And this is your wife?” Leopold asked. It was clear he was ensuring that Denny had no claims on Violet.
Denny laughed outright and nodded.
“You’re acting a fool, lad,” Lila told her husband lazily. “We’ve come down with Victor, along with other friends—Kate Lancaster and Jack Wakefield. We’re all good friends—” Lila shot Violet an apologetic look before she clarified, “of Victor. Violet too, of course, but of Victor.”
Violet pressed her lips tightly together as she saw the gleam of satisfaction in Leopold Nelson’s gaze. Her betraying, horrible, soon-to-be revenged upon friends had lumped Jack with Victor to give these fortune hunters hopes.
“I love you, wife!” Denny told her in his stage-whisper.
She grinned at him, winked, and using his same too-loud whisper-said, “Happy Anniversary, darling.”
Violet unlinked herself from Lila, her gaze caught by a young man in the doorway of the billiards room. It took her a moment to recognize the sallow lad as her brother, Geoffrey.
“Excuse me,” Violet told the others, leaving before they could stop her and moving towards her little brother. She couldn’t remember when she’d last seen the boy, and what memories she had weren’t fond, but he was her brother. There had been a time, Vi reminded herself, when she hadn’t been that large of a fan of Isolde as well.
