Tempted by Curiosity

by Angeleke Kaldis

  Did Alexander know the officer?

  Grahams twisted towards Alexander, “Thank you for your opinion Westbrook, but we’re not in school anymore. You may speak to me with decorum. Understood?”

  Alexander chuckled, “You haven’t changed a bit George. How’s the family?”

  Officer Grahams relaxed and smiled nonchalantly, “Julia’s with child, again. The boys are excited, hopefully, this one’s a little girl.”

  Alexander was laughing with Grahams until he saw Marcella’s shocked face

  He then apologized quickly, “Sorry love, Officer George Grahams and I had classes together at Oxford. He’s the best Officer that the Metropolitan Police have right now. He’ll figure this all out.”

  Marcella believed him, which made her a little worried. If Officer Grahams was the best of the best, then they should all be worried. Would he trust them if they told him the truth about Lord Graves’s murder?

  She looked directly at Officer Grahams and asked him outright, “You promise me that you’ll find the man who did this?”

  He dutifully nodded, “Of course my lady, I promise. Now that I know that you’re a close friend of Westbrook’s I’ll be putting this case at the top of my list.”

  Andrew asked, “How long is that list of yours exactly Grahams?”

  Grahams looked to Andrew with a serious demeanor, “Not very long. A body was found at the Graves’s townhome in Marylebone today. The whole scene is a peculiar one in my honest opinion.”

  Marcella felt as if she was going to be sick on the carpet, as did Louisa.

  Andrew asked, “Was it a mistress?”

  Grahams became serious as he shook his head, “I’m afraid to say that Lord Archibald Graves is dead. I inspected the body myself, and I can tell you with a good conscience that he did not die of natural causes.”

  Marcella gasped, “Do you mean what I think you mean officer?”

  He looked at her and nodded, “No doubt in my mind Lady Marcella. Lord Archibald Graves has been murdered.”

  Alexander asked, “How George?”

  The officer looked at them all and said, “This stays between the people in this room. If I hear a word of what I’m about to say get out, I’ll know it was someone in here and I will find you. You don’t want to know what happens if you cross me.”

  Everyone nodded in unison, prompting the officer to continue, “Good. The body has been tampered with tremendously. He has stab wounds all over his body, and the body is also swollen from what we believe to be water. There was also poison left on his lips, but he did not die from poison. Someone, or a group of someone’s, stabbed him to death. Whoever they are tried to cover up his murder with other deadly scenarios.”

  Andrew shook his head, “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone want to kill Graves? This is Archie we’re talking about here.”

  Grahams shrugged as he coolly said, “That’s what I have to find out. I’d not be surprised if we have a group of killers on the loose. With this attempt on Lady Marcella’s life, we at the Metropolitan Police are going to have to increase security all around the city. It could be a random crime against the ton, or it could also be premeditated. It’s my job to find out which it was.”

  Grahams surveyed the room once more and wrote down some notes as he said, “A bomb attached to a brick, I can’t believe this. It’s like something out of a mystery novel. I hope it’s not the Irish.”

  With that said, he shook hands with the men and bowed to the ladies, “Thank you all for your time. I’ll start the investigation the second I get back to the office. If anything happens to you, or anyone you know, please do not hesitate to come to me or request my immediate presence.”

  “Thank you Officer Grahams, your reassurance makes me feel much safer. I truly appreciate your services here today.” Marcella spoke in all seriousness.

  The officer smirked, “The pleasure is all mine Lady Marcella. If I were you, I’d keep Westbrook and these men close by. They’ll keep you safe, I’m very sure of that.”

  With that said, Officer Grahams left the house and mounted his trusty police steed.

  With the Metropolitan Police on their side, they could easily thwart any further blackmail that might come their way.

  Officer Grahams was now in charge of the Graves murder case, and that meant that Marcella, as well as her friends, weren’t seen as suspects. At least, that’s what Marcella hoped.

  They’d all left the bedroom once the men and Officer Grahams boarded up the window in Marcella’s guest room. The maids were now packing her things up to be moved.

  Their group then congregated by the staircase below. Andrew queried, “Where’s Rachel in the commotion? I thought I had dropped her off earlier tonight with you ladies.”

  Marcella looked to Louisa, who mildly replied, “She’s asleep, why do you ask?”

  Andrew rolled his eyes, “I highly doubt that’s she a deep-sleeper Louisa. I wouldn’t be surprised if Robert’s in this house right now with her.”

  “There’s no way that they’re together right now Andrew. They would’ve heard the bomb go off outside.” Marcella stated.

  Andrew gave her a look, “Are you sure big red? Certain activities, such as sexual intercourse, can leave one heedless of booming situations going on around them.”

  Marcella threw him an exasperated look. Zachary, on the other hands, was amused, “I’m curious to find out if my big sister is fast asleep or in fact fornicating with a lord.”

  Louisa nudged him, “That’s your sister that you’re talking about Zachary.”

  Zachary shrugged and then ran up the stairs at full force towards Rachel’s room, Andrew and Louisa were hot on his heels.

  Marcella sighed, “I think we should follow them.”

  “You want to know too, don’t you?” Alexander said to her with a sideways grin.

  Marcella rolled her eyes at him as she murmured lowly, “You know me too well already my lord.”

  Louisa came running back down the stairs, “Get up here quick!”

  Alexander shouted, “What happened?”

  Louisa hastily said, “Just hurry before they break down the bloody door.”

  Large thuds were heard from above.

  Louisa ran back up the stairs with Alexander and Marcella following behind her. As the trio made it upstairs they were shocked to see that Andrew and Zachary were hurdling their bodies against Rachel’s bedroom door.

  Marcella yelled with a motherly tone, “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

  The two men stopped and looked at Marcella, and then shrugged innocently.

  Louisa answered Marcella’s question instead, “Rachel hasn’t answered the door, so these two imbeciles thought the wisest plan was to break the down the door.”

  Alexander’s eyebrows shot up as he asked, “Did they try turning the doorknob?”

  They shook their heads, so Marcella walked up to Rachel’s door, put her hand on the doorknob, and opened it.

  She looked at Alexander and smiled brightly, “You were right my darling.”

  Louisa then pushed the door open, and Rachel was seen beneath her duvet, sound asleep. Louisa then closed the door slowly and spun around, pointing her right pointer finger at both Andrew and Zachary in an accusatory way, “You two are barmy.”

  Alexander looked up and down the hallway as he asked, “Is this the second floor where you two will be taking up rooms?”

  Louisa nodded, “It is, the rooms don’t face the front of the house. I’ll take the room down to the right, and Marcella can take the room down to the left.”

  Marcella asked, “May I go and examine my new room?”

  Louisa smiled, “Of course, go ahead.”

  Marcella made her way down the hall, Alexander coming up beside her moments later .

  He then said, “I hope you don’t mind me joining you. I’d like to take a look at the room, for your safety of course.”

  Marcella replied coyly, “Of course. What about
the others?”

  Alexander smirked as he replied, “I may or may not have made them want to secure Louisa’s new room. You know, make sure the windows are locked, and that the hearth is safe enough to start a fire.”

  Marcella spoke sarcastically, “Oh yes, you wouldn’t want to be catching a cold in the Pinkerton’s house.”

  Her tone made him laugh, and she really liked that sound. It was a joyous sound that she wanted to hear over and over again for the rest of her life.

  They made it to her new bedroom door, and Alexander opened it for her. She thanked him with a funny little bow, and then she walked on inside.

  The room had a fantastically woodsy feeling to it. It was truly the epitome of the autumn season. The room was completely decorated in warm reds, bright oranges, dark forest greens, and some golden browns. The overall room had a calm essence. It truly felt more like home to Marcella than her guest bedroom had downstairs on the first floor.

  They then both went to the window and saw that there was no way anyone could access this window from outside the house.

  With that great relief, Marcella fell back on her new bed, and Alexander joined her.

  She stared up at the ceiling and awed with delight as she saw that it had golden stars painted on it.

  It was a magical sight to behold.

  Marcella turned her head to look at Alexander, “Before we go any further, I want to make something very clear to you. My family sent me here to find a wealthy husband, because of my father’s gambling habit. I’m their only hope, and I wouldn’t want to trap you into a family, or a marriage, that you’d come to regret in the future.”

  Alexander stared into her eyes, Marcella blushed and tried to turn her away from him, but he caught her head with his left hand.

  “Please don’t turn away from me, I’m glad you told me that.” He kindly replied.

  In return Marcella put her right hand gently on his face as she whispered, “I wish I was good enough for you, you deserve so much more than a girl from Hertfordshire.”

  He closed his eyes and sighed, “That’s where you’re very wrong Marcella. My mother grew up in Hertfordshire, not too far from Cambridge. That’s where she met my father, and I happen to like Hertfordshire.”

  “You like Hertfordshire?” Marcella questioned him.

  He opened his eyes and looked amused, “I do, in fact when I was younger my mother used to take me there quite a bit. There was this manor house that she loved to stroll by on our walks.”

  Marcella whispered, “Manor House?”

  He nodded, “If I recall correctly, the front door was painted red. The house was made of red brick, with vines growing up the front, and there was this older Lord who used to wave to us as we walked on by.”

  Marcella’s eyes began to water, he was describing her childhood home, and if she was not mistaken, her dear late grandfather.

  Alexander looked perplexed, “Have I said something wrong?”

  Marcella wept, “Oh no, you’ve said everything right. That manor house with the red door, and the vines on the red brick is my family home.”

  Alexander looked stunned, “That would mean the old man was your grandfather?”

  Marcella nodded happily, “Yes, he loved people. What a coincidence!”

  There was a look in his eyes that made her feel even more emotional, and then in a blink of an eye he had climbed on top of her.

  Marcella’s heart was racing, but she knew how to respond to the fervent vigor that was radiating from him. She pulled his down head to hers with strength and kissed him with her own carnal passion.

  At first, she could tell that he had been shocked by her hot-blooded reaction to him, but then his desire took over him as well, and he kissed her back with even more fervidness than before. He bit her bottom lip, then suckled at it, causing Marcella to moan and arch her body right up into his.

  Alexander pulled back to press kisses down Marcella’s neck. His hands went searching for the belt on Marcella’s robe in order to loosen it open, but before he could do that he heard footsteps running down the hallway.

  He sprang up from the bed, motioned for Marcella to fix her robe, and hastened his way to the bedroom door.

  Marcella pulled her robe back on and then went to the vanity mirror to tame her hair. She glanced in his direction, and saw that he was smirking at her.

  She rolled her eyes, “What?”

  He crossed his arms, “Nothing, I’m just enjoying the view.”

  His arrogant, but lovely, smile faded as he heard something at the door. He put a finger to his lips as Marcella snuck up behind him. They could hear talking, but it didn’t sound like Andrew, Louisa, or even Zachary.

  There were two rather distinct voices whispering down the hallway. Alexander inched closer to the bedroom door and then Marcella looked through the wedge in the door. She almost gasped, but thankfully Alexander put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

  She looked up, pulling his hand away to mouth to him, “Robert and Rachel?”

  He nodded and then they looked back out the door together to see Robert and Rachel running down the hallway to the servant’s stairs.

  Robert was trying to put his coat on while Rachel was helping him tuck his shirt back into his trousers. A door screeched open from the end of the hallway, which caused Rachel to spin around quickly with fear in her eyes.

  Rachel looked back to Robert and whispered loudly, “You have to go before someone sees you. Goodnight my love.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Robert kissed her back before he pulled away and said, “I love you.”

  She replied, “I love you too. Now go.”

  Robert then went down the back stairs, and Rachel rushed back up the hallway.

  Alexander opened Marcella’s bedroom door and looked down the hallway as he said, “All clear. I wasn’t expecting that.”

  Marcella stated, “Though I was say that I am not surprised by it either. Andrew was right after all.”

  She started laughing to herself, and he laughed along with her as they walked down the hallway. When Marcella was around him, she felt alive. Everything that she experienced with Alexander felt right.

  Before they could reach Louisa’s room, Marcella stopped walking. She then took Alexander by the arm and said, “I know what I’m about to say might be too forward, but I’m going to say it anyway. I want you to…”

  “To what?” Alexander asked eagerly.

  “To stay here with me tonight, I want you to be with me. If that’s what you want as well.”

  Marcella felt uncertain as she spoke, but it was her turn to be tempted by curiosity and to take a gamble on love.

  She hoped it would pay off.

  There was a moment where Marcella wasn’t sure if Alexander would even answer her advance, but he surprised her. He took her hand and kissed it.

  “I would love to, but how are we going to do this? I’ll have to leave the house.”

  “I can sneak you back in. I don’t want to spend another night alone Alexander.”

  He understood how she felt, “We shall find a way. I promise.”

  Just as their conversation ended, Andrew emerged from the room with the two younger Pinkerton siblings behind him.

  “Well, I’m headed off. Do you think that you could possibly stay on here to talk with both Lord and Lady Pinkerton about the incident?”

  Westbrook agreed, “I’d be glad to.”

  Chapter 16

  Andrew left, and fifteen minutes later Lord and Lady Pinkerton returned home from their romantic excursion. They were surprised to see Lord Westbrook, but once he explained what had occurred in their home hours earlier they understood the importance of his presence.

  They knew the gist of it all. Alexander had also made his intentions towards Lady Marcella clear. To that, the Pinkerton’s thanked him, and allowed him a chance to court Marcella properly. Thanking her host guardians for their permission, he bowed to them all,
and then left the house.

  What the Pinkerton’s didn’t know was that once everyone had gone upstairs to his or her rooms, a plan was put into motion.

  Marcella snuck downstairs to help Alexander sneak into the house through the parlor window on the ground floor. They then crept their way back up to Marcella’s new bedroom, and once they were both inside they locked the door and settled a chair underneath the doorknob.

  Marcella walked over to her new bed, beckoning Alexander with her glowing green eyes. He came to her whilst he unbuttoned his coat jacket.

  Once they were face to face, she pushed the coat off of his large masculine frame. He admired her quick hands, and for that he leaned forward and kissed her graciously.

  As he kissed her he maneuvered them towards the edge of the bed. He was just as quick with his hands as she was with hers.

  When her robe flew open, and slid down her arms, she gasped as she felt his skilled fingers skimming down her arms. Bringing an enjoyable sensation all over her body.

  He looked at her with candor in his eyes as he asked in a low heavy whisper, “We don’t have to rush into this, we don’t have to anything that you don’t want.”

  Marcella stepped away from him and settled herself down on the bed, she then looked up at Alexander and said, “We’re not rushing into anything. You and I both want this, it’s consensual my darling. Now, take off your clothes for me .”

  Alexander looked down at her with hungry eyes. Marcella was reclining on the bed like a scrumptious strawberry tart that he wanted to devour immediately.

  “As you wish my lady.” He gallantly said to her as he took off his vest.

  Followed by his shirt, then he was about to take off his trousers in one full swoop, but he’d caught her smirking at him and asked with a furrowed brow, “What are you smirking at my lady?”

  She pointed to herself with a hint of sarcasm, “Who me?”

  “Yes, you.” He crossed his muscular arms over his silky smooth chest.

  “Oh nothing, I’m just enjoying the view from down here.” She grinned.

  He grinned back at her with grand enthusiasm before jumping on the bed, settling himself on top of her. She laughed, splaying her hands on his bare chest. Her gentle touch did wonders for him. Especially his heart, it was thawed out now. It was no longer cold or alone. It was burning hot and filled with love.