Will’s stare intensified. “I live here, so I see where the household shortcomings are. You also have a cook starting tomorrow.”
Christopher raised his eyebrow. “Hiring staff is a wifely duty.”
Will did not take the bait. “All I want is for Angelika to live comfortably.” The unspoken end to that sentence was when I am gone.
She bristled. “I’ve always been comfortable.”
Will continued answering Christopher. “We don’t rely on rank, and we all contribute. Men and women do things quite equally here.”
“How modern,” Christopher managed. The air between the men was now tense. “What exactly is your acquaintanceship, Angelika?” It was obvious to Christopher that the brother’s colleague label did not fit. When she dithered on a reply, and Will offered nothing, Christopher decided to sidestep the foot soldier and appeal to the general. “I should like to meet your brother.”
Before she could answer, a female voice above them said, “And to think, I’d been worried about the lack of theater in the countryside.”
They all looked up to see Victor and Lizzie both hanging out an open window. He was shirtless, and Lizzie appeared to be wearing bedsheets.
Victor bit into his apple, and said with his mouth full, “So you’re the commander. Jelly has been very coy about you. Handsome blighter,” he added as an aside to Lizzie. “Bloody hell, not a hair out of place, and meanwhile, Jelly looks like she’s waltzed through a hedge.”
“Shut up,” Angelika cursed him. “Lizzie, do I?”
“You look ethereal,” Lizzie assured her. “Moonlight becomes you ever so much.”
“You are truly lovely,” Christopher confirmed.
Will crossed his arms, his face tight with displeasure.
“Hedge,” Victor said again.
Christopher bowed to him. “Lord Frankenstein, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Commander Christopher Keatings.” Meeting a flushed undressed couple, one floor up, did not faze him. “And good evening to you, madam.”
“Hello, I’m Lizzie. Almost-Duchess Lizzie Frankenstein.” This earned her a ravenous love bite on her shoulder, and her husky laugh rang out across the gardens.
Christopher persevered. “I have escorted Angelika home safely. We were enjoying ourselves too much, and afternoon tea became supper.”
“He’d like it to turn into breakfast.” Lizzie’s whispered quip carried beautifully in the night air. “Oh, invite him in, Bear. Let’s all play cards.” Then she whispered something, and Victor whispered back. Then they started kissing.
Angelika huffed at how socially inconsiderate they were. “Did you find that man you were searching for, Vic?”
“I didn’t go out today,” Victor said, after tearing himself away. He did look suitably chagrined. “I was . . . busy.”
“Well, it looks like rain, so well done. He’ll be wet and cold.”
“Perhaps I could be of assistance,” Christopher offered, glancing between the siblings. “Who is it you are looking for?”
Victor hesitated, and then appeared to make a decision. “Come for dinner, Chris, so we can get to know you. We could use some entertainment. Here, Belladonna.” He dropped his apple core into the garden below, which prompted a great deal of rustling and grunting, but Christopher did not blink.
Victor said, “I shall send an invitation to you shortly.”
“I should be delighted,” Christopher said, but his eyes were on Will. “I’d enjoy the chance to get to know you all much better.”
Chapter Thirteen
Shortly after Christopher’s exit, Will had stalked off into the dark, telling Angelika only: “Don’t.”
An afternoon spent drinking had loosened the cork on her emotions, and she desperately needed an ear, but Victor’s bedroom door was closed. Angelika knocked and called softly, “Lizzie?”
“Fuck off, Jelly!” Victor yelled breathlessly from within. “I am showing Lizzie something very, very, very important.”
“Disgusting,” Angelika replied, then cried at various points of the hallway: slumped on the railing, at the top of the stairs, then underneath her mother’s portrait. Receiving absolutely no sympathy there, she slithered snail-like on her trail of salt water to rest against Will’s doorjamb.
The thought of Lizzie becoming mistress of Blackthorne Manor did not specifically bother Angelika. She had no great affection for this house and had spent too much time in it. But Larkspur Lodge was like a forgotten sapphire in a drawer, and the prospect of losing it, even to someone she loved, pricked at her heart.