Illusions of Fate
Page 26
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The door to the parlor opens. We look up to see Finn, cane in hand and none too pleased. Mr. Carlisle is next to him. “Lord Ackerly here to see you, milady. He said it was urgent.” Carlisle bows and backs away, closing the door.
“Lord Ackerly!” Eleanor stands, dropping a slight curtsy. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Spying again, were you?” I glare at him.
Eleanor follows my scowl to where it meets Finn’s, and then back, as though watching a game of tennis. The silence is a heavy thing, as electric as the overhead chandelier. She frowns, clearly puzzled, then looks down at the floor at my feet and bursts out with a sharp laugh. “Oh, dear spirits below, this is the best thing that I have ever been privy to. Lord Ackerly shadowed a commoner from the colonies!”
“That’s enough,” Finn snaps.
She leans in to me conspiratorially. “You must tell me your secret. There isn’t a girl out in society who hasn’t tried to catch his eye, and here you are with the greatest prize of them all.”
He is not amused. “You will kindly bite your tongue, Eleanor.”
“Or you will bite it for me?”
He taps his cane once on the tiles, and Eleanor sits as though her legs have been knocked out from beneath her.
“I may well at that,” he says.
She smiles, delight undampened. “This explains Lord Downpike’s interest in Jessamin. You know, he’s been trying to get you on his side for so long. It would be such a coup for his anti-Iverian cause. Everyone’s been too afraid of you to really support him. I am beside myself with nerves! This changes everything. Lord Ackerly is no longer untouchable in the infernal machinations and subtleties of political blackmail and extortion. How will it all play out?”
“Without your aid,” Finn says, tone dismissive. “Now.” He sits near me on the couch, takes off his hat, and leans in, carrying with him a whiff of clove and something richer, darker, something that reminds me of heady velvet nights of a year ago, when I would sneak out of my house at night and run like a wild thing through the trees with my friends. I am pulled to his eyes. They seem to be larger than before, depthless, with flecks of gold dancing in them, and I have never seen anything so beautiful.
My hand is in his before I realize it. “We’ll be going then,” he says, and I nod. Of course I will go with him. He’s pretty, so very, very pretty, and I would be a fool to say no to anything he asks of me.
I blink. No, I think. And then I manage to say it out loud. “No.”
He sits back with an angry huff, now exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. It’s as though a fog has been lifted from my brain. Magic! He tried to use magic on me! And I realize it is not the first time. “If you ever try that again,” I say, taking a sip of chocolate to wet my suddenly parched throat, “I will beat you silly with your own cane.”
“This is the best day of my life,” Eleanor says.
I cannot agree with her.
Fourteen
“I’LL SEND FOR UNCLE. HE MUST HEAR ABOUT THIS.” Eleanor paces, her hands flying at such a rate as she talks I am nearly dizzy watching them.
“You will do no such thing,” Finn says, all ice to Eleanor’s flame.
“But he’ll want to hear the details of what Lord Downpike did. He can help you! Alliances, how I adore alliances. And weddings. Which are really the same thing.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Is that so?” She leans toward him and bats her eyelashes. “Because that charm spell you were working was so strong I was ready to pack my trunk and elope with you, and yet your intended target threw it off. It seems to me that Lord Downpike is not the only issue here.”
“It is none of your concern, Eleanor. All I need from you is a promise that you will keep this information to yourself.”
“Lord Ackerly, if you asked me to deliver you the moon on a platter, I should think my odds of success slightly higher.”
“I can make it worth your while, of course. Or, if you prefer, I can simply make you.”
“Now we’re dealing in threats! I feel so important. I wish you had done this last week. Aunt Agatha was in town, and I thought I would die from boredom.”
The creak of the door gives me away. They both look up, surprised to remember that I am still in the room, and perhaps more surprised to find me leaving.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Finn says at the same time Eleanor says, “Oh, please don’t leave!”
“I do not care to be talked around. Call it a defect of my common breeding.”
Eleanor rushes to my side, taking my hands in hers. “No, no, I’m sorry. Of course. Please, sit. You’ve clearly been through so much. I insist you stay here with me.”
“You can’t keep her safe,” Finn says.
“I can! Well, no. I probably can’t. But Ernest is here. And Uncle! Yes, Jessamin and I will go to stay at Uncle’s. Lord Downpike wouldn’t dare cross him, and Uncle is ever so powerful.”
Finn slams his cane against the table. “I will not have her under the earl’s thumb, nor have her leveraged against me. Not by Downpike, and not by your family. She should be somewhere away from all of this. It’s nothing to do with her.”
“You made it to do with her, though, didn’t you?” Eleanor looks pointedly at the ground where my shadow pools at my feet. “Can I see it? Wiggle around or something. I’ve never actually seen someone shadowed before! It’s so romantic!”
“Lord Ackerly!” Eleanor stands, dropping a slight curtsy. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Spying again, were you?” I glare at him.
Eleanor follows my scowl to where it meets Finn’s, and then back, as though watching a game of tennis. The silence is a heavy thing, as electric as the overhead chandelier. She frowns, clearly puzzled, then looks down at the floor at my feet and bursts out with a sharp laugh. “Oh, dear spirits below, this is the best thing that I have ever been privy to. Lord Ackerly shadowed a commoner from the colonies!”
“That’s enough,” Finn snaps.
She leans in to me conspiratorially. “You must tell me your secret. There isn’t a girl out in society who hasn’t tried to catch his eye, and here you are with the greatest prize of them all.”
He is not amused. “You will kindly bite your tongue, Eleanor.”
“Or you will bite it for me?”
He taps his cane once on the tiles, and Eleanor sits as though her legs have been knocked out from beneath her.
“I may well at that,” he says.
She smiles, delight undampened. “This explains Lord Downpike’s interest in Jessamin. You know, he’s been trying to get you on his side for so long. It would be such a coup for his anti-Iverian cause. Everyone’s been too afraid of you to really support him. I am beside myself with nerves! This changes everything. Lord Ackerly is no longer untouchable in the infernal machinations and subtleties of political blackmail and extortion. How will it all play out?”
“Without your aid,” Finn says, tone dismissive. “Now.” He sits near me on the couch, takes off his hat, and leans in, carrying with him a whiff of clove and something richer, darker, something that reminds me of heady velvet nights of a year ago, when I would sneak out of my house at night and run like a wild thing through the trees with my friends. I am pulled to his eyes. They seem to be larger than before, depthless, with flecks of gold dancing in them, and I have never seen anything so beautiful.
My hand is in his before I realize it. “We’ll be going then,” he says, and I nod. Of course I will go with him. He’s pretty, so very, very pretty, and I would be a fool to say no to anything he asks of me.
I blink. No, I think. And then I manage to say it out loud. “No.”
He sits back with an angry huff, now exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. It’s as though a fog has been lifted from my brain. Magic! He tried to use magic on me! And I realize it is not the first time. “If you ever try that again,” I say, taking a sip of chocolate to wet my suddenly parched throat, “I will beat you silly with your own cane.”
“This is the best day of my life,” Eleanor says.
I cannot agree with her.
Fourteen
“I’LL SEND FOR UNCLE. HE MUST HEAR ABOUT THIS.” Eleanor paces, her hands flying at such a rate as she talks I am nearly dizzy watching them.
“You will do no such thing,” Finn says, all ice to Eleanor’s flame.
“But he’ll want to hear the details of what Lord Downpike did. He can help you! Alliances, how I adore alliances. And weddings. Which are really the same thing.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Is that so?” She leans toward him and bats her eyelashes. “Because that charm spell you were working was so strong I was ready to pack my trunk and elope with you, and yet your intended target threw it off. It seems to me that Lord Downpike is not the only issue here.”
“It is none of your concern, Eleanor. All I need from you is a promise that you will keep this information to yourself.”
“Lord Ackerly, if you asked me to deliver you the moon on a platter, I should think my odds of success slightly higher.”
“I can make it worth your while, of course. Or, if you prefer, I can simply make you.”
“Now we’re dealing in threats! I feel so important. I wish you had done this last week. Aunt Agatha was in town, and I thought I would die from boredom.”
The creak of the door gives me away. They both look up, surprised to remember that I am still in the room, and perhaps more surprised to find me leaving.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Finn says at the same time Eleanor says, “Oh, please don’t leave!”
“I do not care to be talked around. Call it a defect of my common breeding.”
Eleanor rushes to my side, taking my hands in hers. “No, no, I’m sorry. Of course. Please, sit. You’ve clearly been through so much. I insist you stay here with me.”
“You can’t keep her safe,” Finn says.
“I can! Well, no. I probably can’t. But Ernest is here. And Uncle! Yes, Jessamin and I will go to stay at Uncle’s. Lord Downpike wouldn’t dare cross him, and Uncle is ever so powerful.”
Finn slams his cane against the table. “I will not have her under the earl’s thumb, nor have her leveraged against me. Not by Downpike, and not by your family. She should be somewhere away from all of this. It’s nothing to do with her.”
“You made it to do with her, though, didn’t you?” Eleanor looks pointedly at the ground where my shadow pools at my feet. “Can I see it? Wiggle around or something. I’ve never actually seen someone shadowed before! It’s so romantic!”
