He walked to the kitchen door with twelve fillets ready to bake, left them on the counter for the staff and came into the dining room. Marie was just coming down the stairs and ran to him when she saw him, sensing something wrong. He hugged her and wouldn’t let her go.
“What is it, Ian?”
“Ah, Marie; I’ve really done it now.” He related all that had happened at the barn in Lausanne.
“Ian, she is human after all. There’s always a chance that they just can’t accept us when the cold facts are laid out. You might have been able to avoid this if you had sat down with her at some time, but she might still have had the same reaction. So she’ll heed your warning about keeping the subject quiet?”
“Yes. She can’t take the chance of exposing what she saw because she’d taken up with me for nearly four years. That and her son’s doubtful future should his mother become the object of ridicule will keep her quiet. She thinks that I’m some sort of deviant and knows nothing of vampirism.”
“Do you think that she’ll want to dissolve our bank partnership?”
“No. She’s a banker’s wife who has become a banker now herself. She thinks I’m the only one and that I lied to Cosette and everyone else.”
“So you took the brunt of this whole thing?”
“Yes. I thought it best to let her think that. Just in case she did talk, it would only be about me.”
“Oh, Ian! No wonder you’re so crestfallen.”
“There’s more to tell.”
“Let’s walk outside.”
They walked with arms linked, and Ian told her about using his blood to save the life of the maid’s little brother, Andre. Marie gasped and stopped walking when he told her. She faced him and said “I hardly know what to say. You say it cured him of Wasting Disease?”
“Yes. He is the picture of health. He hasn’t gotten as much as a sore throat since then.”
“Then do you think that our blood is a universal cure for disease?”
“That’s my conclusion. I looked at it under that microscope that Henri gave me. I could see my blood doing something to his. I just don’t know enough about anything like that to know what I was seeing, but it looked like his blood benefited from mine. I doubt we have to worry about him crossing over. What chance has he of being bitten?”
“You must have been burdened with this, Ian.”
“I have. It never hit me until my clumsiness caused all of the trouble yesterday.” He stared off into the sky, shaking his head sorrowfully. “Poor Anna! I can’t forget the look on her face. I’ve hurt her badly.” They walked in silence for several minutes.
“Oh, by the way, I did have a long talk with Celeste and she now knows that she’ll have a choice to make one day as an adult. I didn’t share much else with her, but likely she’s guessed much more, and I think she’ll choose to cross over.” The two walked on and Ian caught up on happenings while he had been absent. He felt much better after talking to Marie and once again he realized just how much she meant to him.
The familiarity of coming home was calming, and he loved spending time with the boys. He had tossed them across his shoulders and had run out the back door with them both at one time when they had bragged about how big they were getting.
Trying out Marie’s new piano he had gotten good at playing it and liked it better than the harpsichord. He had left his violin in Lausanne, and the very thought of playing a violin now was painful.
Henri had arrived home and had been apprised of all and concurred that Anna wouldn’t dissolve their working relationship nor try to expose Ian. He felt sorry that Ian alone had taken the brunt of her hostilities, but agreed that was really the best part of a bad situation.
***
Ian had gone to Paris to see Celeste and to do some business there for Henri. Being as he had to go to Luxembourg he took Celeste along. Sixteen now, she was so very pretty and petite, but becoming a woman more every time he saw her. She still wanted him to take her running so when they were traveling to Luxembourg, he changed carriages and rented one that he could drive. With no driver to be around, she and he could change into their running clothes and go on excursions. She still loved it and was thrilled every time they went. It was their special time together and a thing that no one could share but she and him.
She had felt very bad about the situation with Anna. Ian had told her what had happened, thus revealing a bit more about vampirism without using that word.
While in Luxembourg, Ian saw that there was a special singing presentation happening at the Palace. He inquired and was able to get a special invitation by way of the Lafayette connections. Amazingly the coordinator of the presentation had heard of her and agreed to a single song as a prelude to the show. She sang only one song for them and won the whole audience. Some wept at the beauty of her voice. Afterwards she and Ian got to meet the Grand Duchess Maria Theresa herself.
As they traveled back to France, she would giggle when they spoke of it. Ian told her that she would now be in demand after something like that happening. It turned out to be correct because sure enough it was not two months before she was asked to give a special presentation for the French Royal family. She chose three songs and gave the names of them to the royal orchestra conductor who had been ordered to come to Henri’s apartment to interview her. They determined the key she would sing in at that time. The day she sung for the royal family was a commemoration of sorts for Louis XVI. They were spellbound and kept Celeste and Ian at the palace for some time afterward.
Ian sat down with Celeste afterward and said “Celeste, you are maturing and you know that my kind don’t age at all.”
“Yes.”
“You have launched your career and you’ll be asked to perform in Austria because of your performance for the Duchess. She is a Habsburg so that is very likely. You may be asked to perform in Spain now because of your success performing for King Louis. King Charles III of Spain is related to Louis, being as both of them are descendants of the house of Bourbon. The royalty of Europe will tend to follow each other in things like current favorites. You are becoming that now, so we can expect for you to be asked to perform for some of the royal families for some time to come.”
“Ian, how do you know this?”
“You know that I’m but a simple sailor, but I’ve been schooled by Henri, Marie, and by Karl Von Brandt. They’ve educated me on the histories and rivalries of the European rulers, among other things. Let’s just say that they should know about these things if anyone does. From now on, you must appear with Aunt Caryn or Marie as chaperone. The monarchies of Europe don’t relish scandals that their political foes can exploit. You and I appearing alone will begin to look like a couple, and that will cause talk that will be scandalous and harmful to you. Do you understand?”
“Yes. But we are a couple aren’t we?”
“Well, yes, but not a couple such as Anna and I were. And that is how people may see it. You must trust me in this. I’m right. Both Marie and Caryn will confirm this.”
“You’re right. It will be as you say.”
“We can still have our running time, but it may have to be when we’re all at the chateau. I suspect that soon enough you’ll tire of that.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder and said “Ian, I’ll never tire of anything I do with you, ever. There’s nothing that you can reveal about yourself that will disgust me either.”
“You have no idea just how much that means to me, Celeste.” he said as he kissed her forehead.
Chapter 62
Alandra took her seat in the court behind the barrister who had hired her. As she waited to be consulted, she thought back at how she acquired an interest in tax laws after hearing some vendors and traders complaining about their losses due to the big storm just a few years ago. That had prompted her to send away for a copy of pertinent tax laws for that subject. One thing led to another, and with her family recog
nition she now was consulted from time to time by barristers who would pay her for her expertise.
Now she would attend court when a tax case was heard and wait until asked about salient points of tax law concerning the client seeking a favorable ruling. She wasn’t allowed to speak in the court, but must lean forward and whisper her comments and points of law to the barrister who would then speak them aloud to the three judges. She always brought her own copy of the laws of taxation of Spain and always knew exactly where to look for any clarification needed. By now, she’d begun to get a local reputation and it was not unusual to see her in a courtroom in her capacity of tax advisor to the barrister who had hired her. He was no fool and paid her well for her services, as did another one later after she had gained some notoriety.
She was still busy running Barcelona House for children’s medical care. It was common now for her to receive more favorable treatment for everything to do with supplies and needed work. After all, one never knew when the services of an expert in tax law would come in handy.
She always dressed somberly, formally corseted, wearing black as if attending a funeral and always wore her hair in a tight bun in deference to the somber and formal atmosphere of any court proceeding. The three judges of the Barcelona area had a great deal of respect for her even if they kept it to themselves. On the rare occasion that she would happen to see one of them in public, they would always stop and doff their hat as if she were some grand lady of Madrid, and she would always curtsy properly. One would take her for a pretty lady in her late twenties instead of a girl nearing her twenty-second birthday.
Her life had meaning and purpose and for the first time ever, she felt like she had control of her destiny. She was content and her parents were at least happy to see her contentment and that her apparent sorrow had finally passed.
Suitors had approached her father, but he had said that he would neither help nor hinder anyone, or any family desiring to have his daughter as a wife for their son. Not caring if it ended up costing him his position as ambassador to France, he didn’t ever want to do even one more thing to cause her resentment. He was pleased at what she was doing and that no one in Barcelona had a bad thing to say about her. They concluded that they were happy with this type of life if their daughter was.
***
Ian and Celeste returned to Paris. Knowing that Caryn would be busy working he stayed with her the whole day. He had come to the conclusion that he would always try to see to it that she was insulated from most public contact when not performing. Marie would agree and who knew better than she?
They had gone to this shop and that shop, never spending extravagantly because that was not her nature. Later in the day when he was sure that Caryn wouldn’t be so busy, he and Celeste went there to her place of business. As they were entering he met a tall lady with an extremely broad-brimmed hat and long gloves who was carrying a large parasol. He felt the prickly sensation and he noticed that she was wearing a pair of the ivory sun glasses which Henri had made at his facility in Dijon. Inadvertently he’d given birth to an idea which would become the must-have item of the century for vampires; a thought which humored Ian no end
He had just taken his own sun glasses off and was walking into the receiving area when he and Celeste almost literally bumped into Alyssa. He recognized her immediately and stopped dead still in vampire fashion.
She said “Oh! Pardon Monsieur! Pardon Mademoiselle! I’m so clumsy. Oh, Celeste, it’s you.” Then she looked up at Ian the second time and her pretty eyes widened as she smiled in surprise. “Adam! Oh Adam, it is you isn’t it?”
Ian smiled and replied “It is, Alyssa. You’re looking well. I’ve heard many good things about your fashions. It seems that you’ve become very popular.”
Celeste said “Alyssa, this is Ian, not Adam.”
Alyssa looked at Ian questioningly. Ian turned to Celeste and said “You’re both correct. I took the name Adam after I broke that man’s arm in Marseille. Marie thought that I might be hauled into court over that, so she was afraid to tell anyone my real name at the time. He thought a lie, but a harmless one that ought to work.
Alyssa said “What is your real name?”
“Ian McCloud, Mademoiselle Alyssa, at your service. Enchante.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it as any well-bred gentleman would do.
Alyssa blushed and curtsied and then replied “McCloud? I read about you somewhere. It will come to me…yes…you are the pirate fighter then; that’s it!”
“Guilty, Mademoiselle.”
Celeste chimed in then “He fought a big bully who was beating a boy at a tavern in Marseille and broke his arm.” Here she proudly looked up and Ian and wrapped her arm through his. He looked at her and said “Celeste, you’re stirring up things here. I think you should go and see if your aunt has finished that new gown for you. Now run along in there, and I’ll join you in a minute.”
“All right Ian.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and said “Good bye, Alyssa.” as she skipped into the offices of her aunt.
“So you were the one who fought the pirates and returned the Ambassador’s daughter.”
“Well, I and my shipmates did, yes. Actually my uncle returned the Ambassador’s daughter.”
“I didn’t think of you as a sailor. It’s been several years since we’ve seen each other, Adam…. I mean Ian.”
“Well, you’ve certainly made your mark. Congratulations on your success. I have no doubt but that you deserve your recognition. I’m really glad to see you again. I had nearly forgotten just how pretty you are.”
She blushed fetchingly and continued “Thank you Ian, but look at you! I would have taken you for a banker.” At this Ian tipped back his head and laughed heartily. Alyssa smiled questioningly.
“It may be that you should work for the King’s Gendarmes as an inspector, Alyssa. I am a banker, or at least trying to be one. Henri Lafayette has made me a senior officer in all of his banking and trade endeavors.”
“Then you and Celeste Rochelle…….?” She tailed off leaving that hanging.
“Oh. Celeste? I’m a close friend only. She’s only sixteen years old. She is as a daughter to me. Did you know that she sang for both King Louis himself and the Duchess of Luxembourg?
“Really? She’s so young! You know, she is known hereabouts as the French Nightingale.”
About then Celeste came back excitedly, saying “Oh Ian, the gown is so beautiful. Come see!”
“I’ll be right there, Celeste.”
“Oh, come now, please!”
“I promise that I won’t leave this place until I see it.”
“Oh, Ian……”
At this point Ian held up both hands palms down, laughing and making a shooing motion said “Shoo, Celeste. I’ll be along. Shoo now.”
Alyssa’s face changed suddenly in shock and recognition. She gasped and took two steps back, dropping her packages and covering her mouth with both hands. The color drained from her face. Ian looked at her with a puzzled look as Celeste stood there wondering what she might have done. Then Ian remembered that he had made that exact same gesture when he had brought Alyssa home from the vampires’ house. He thought Damn it Ian, you fool!
“Ah, Alyssa; I… I’m so sorry. I never meant harm or to frighten you. Please forgive me. I did it for your own safety.”
“Y…Y… You saved…saved…my life! It was you, Adam…Ian! It was you!”
Celeste stepped forward to face Alyssa and lowering her voice said “Ian saved me from them too, Alyssa. I’d be dead but for him, and I’m guessing that you would too.”
“But who… how… I don’t understand, Ian! No one can run that fast, or fight that fast. Or…. or…. How… how can that be?”
Celeste said “I’ll tell aunt Caryn that we’ll meet her at home.” She turned and ran back toward the offices of her aunt. Alyssa stood there staring at him while Ian bent and picked
up her packages.
Celeste returned as Ian stood up with the packages saying “We three should go sit in the park down the street.” He held the door open and the two went out. They walked then, arms linked with Ian on one side and Celeste on the other. For her part, Alyssa mostly stared at Ian with her mouth hanging open. They sat down on a park bench a few minutes later, Ian and Celeste still flanking Alyssa.
“What would you like to know, Alyssa?”
“Everything, Ian.”
Ian tipped back his head and laughed while Celeste laughed with him. Alyssa looked bewildered. “Ah, lass. Where to begin? Here’s what I’ll do. Celeste knows that it’s a matter of life or death to keep quiet about the existence of my kind.”
“Your kind, Ian?”
“Yes, my kind. There are those of us who would kill you and Celeste with no hesitation if they knew that you were aware that we exist. Simply knowing about us is dangerous beyond anything you can imagine. I can’t stress that enough. I… look Alyssa, whoever you tell about this is in danger of being killed. I’m not exaggerating.”
Celeste said “He isn’t exaggerating, Alyssa. He saved my life and killed two of them.”
“Well, he killed six of them to save me. And how did you shoot them so fast with two pistols at once and then again with two pistols at once? I couldn’t see… couldn’t see your hands move, it was so fast.”
Giddy now with the realization that her good friend knew about Ian and the prospect that she would have someone to talk to about him now, Celeste said “Oh! Lucky you! I would have loved to have seen that!”
“Celeste, you’re supposed to be helping here!”
Celeste lowered her voice and leaned close. “He’s good at killing them, Alyssa.”
“And that running through the dark. The speed! And…. and… the jumping! My God the leaping!”
Celeste giggled. “Ian takes me along on his back and it is sooo fun!”
“Celeste! What am I to do with you? This is how you help?” She giggled and Alyssa started to laugh too. Ian sat shaking his head and then he stood and stepped away from them both and looked down at them with an icy stare, his eyes glowing angrily. They cowed immediately, having never seen this look upon his face and never ever having seen eyes like that! Their laughter choked and died in their throats. Alyssa thought My God; he’s looking right through me!