Steam & Sorcery (9 page)

The one and only good thing that had come from his highness’s occupation was that even the disapproving Mrs. Granger had thawed slightly toward Caroline and the children. Mr. Berry had criticized her menus one too many times it seemed, so now the housekeeper, who still crossed herself whenever she was in the children’s presence, had become a reluctant ally against the new arrival.

Lessons without their ringleader had become particularly difficult. Wink was angry, Piers jealous and Nell, listless. Jamie simply sulked. Caroline had never been prone to headaches before, but she was rapidly developing the tendency.

“Jamie.” She moved around the table to stand beside him. “You
must
master your sums. This is not a choice, but a requirement. I know you’re capable, but you need to apply yourself to the equations for more than two minutes at a time. There will be no games until after you complete your work.”

“Wanna go outside.” For the third day in a row, the freezing rain had curtailed their outing, and all of them, even Caroline, were feeling restless.

“Finish your lessons,” she instructed, rather more sharply than she’d have liked. “And perhaps after luncheon, we’ll find some way to take some exercise.”

“Yes, Miss Caro.” Yet another thing Mr. Berry had loudly disapproved of was the rapid slide into informality that had occurred in the household.
Uptight prig
. No one had called her Caro since her mother died, and Caroline found she liked it very much indeed.

She managed to keep control over them for another hour until their meal was served, with Miss Dorothy as a special guest. Since the advent of Mr. Berry, the children had not been invited to dine with the family. Caroline approached Dorothy about her concerns and received permission to use the ballroom for some games. “After all,” Dorothy said, “it’s not like we ever use it for entertaining.”

Caroline had noticed. While Sir Merrick and Dorothy both went out on a regular basis, there never seemed to be gatherings here at Hadrian House. While it was a trifle unexpected, it suited Caroline fine, and besides, it was truly none of her business. With a smile of relief, she accepted the offer.

Shortly thereafter, Caroline led her jubilant students down to the ballroom. The vast space with its shining parquet floor, gilt paneling and soaring ceiling was nearly empty of furnishings, just a few chairs shrouded in dust sheets clustered in the corners and on a musicians’ dais at one end. Gathering her students into a circle in the center of the room, Caroline pulled an oversized handkerchief from her pocket and initiated a game of Blindman’s Bluff. Corner boundaries to the field of play were marked with their discarded shoes. Within minutes, their grudges were forgotten as they darted and laughed, sliding in their stocking feet on the slick floor. Even Caroline was convinced to take a turn, and she laughed along with the children as she twisted and lunged, trying to find them by their giggles.

“Over here, miss,” Jamie called from some distance to Caroline’s left.

“No, over here.” That was Wink, who was so graceful, Caroline couldn’t have heard her steps even if she’d had shoes on.

“But I’m over here,” Nell’s musical voice called out.

Piers whistled as he ran from one side of Caroline to the other.

Caroline spun, reaching for Piers, and slipped, landing on her fanny in a froth of petticoats. Her laughter must have convinced the children she was unharmed, so instead of coming to her aid, they simply stopped moving and giggled as well.

“What is the meaning of this?” The sharp rap of a brass-tipped ebony stick on the floor instantly dried up all the laughter in the room.

Caroline slowly peeled the blindfold from her face and turned toward the sound of Mr. Berry’s outraged voice. The tutor and Tommy stood at the far end of the room, dressed in fencing gear. She dipped her head as she rose somewhat clumsily to her feet, her skirts tangling around her ankles. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Would you care to join our game?”

“We most certainly would not.” Berry looked down his pointed nose, which wriggled, making him look remarkably like an irritated badger. “Please vacate this room at once. Master Thomas must practice his swordsmanship.”

“Swords?” The hopeful cry went up from all of them, particularly Wink and Jamie. A sinking feeling filled the pit of Caroline’s stomach as she remembered that all of these children were experienced in combat, and had, in fact, defeated monsters, both alive and undead.

“We want to practice too,” Wink called, running over to Tommy with the others on her heels.

“Yes, please,” Piers chimed in. “It’s been forever since we’ve gotten to do any fighting. We’re like to forget how.”

With his good hand, Jamie reached for one of the epees Tommy carried. Nell just stared wide-eyed at Tommy.

“Leave this room at once.”
Crack!

The hard wooden cane smacked down on Jamie’s hand.

The lad howled and pulled back, shoving his fingers into his mouth, which only partially muffled his cries.

Tommy dropped the practice swords and turned on his tutor while Wink raised her arm for a punch, but checked her swing at the last moment.

“Mr. Berry!” Caroline rushed forward and gathered Jamie close to her hip. “Kindly control your temper, sir. There is no call for that kind of behavior.” To keep herself from striking the man, she knelt beside Jamie and eased his hand from his mouth. “Come, love, let me see your fingers.” She studied them carefully, but could detect no broken bones or swelling, though the poor boy would undoubtedly be bruised.

“You’ve been told to leave. Now, be gone, before I report this outrage to Sir Merrick.” The tutor sniffed loudly. “Master Thomas, you shall do an extra page of Latin conjugations as punishment for mishandling the fencing equipment.”

“Rest assured, you may report whatever you like,” Caroline said. Tommy ignored his tutor to reach out a hand and assist her to her feet, before he bent to retrieve the fallen epees. “I shall be making a report of my own. And Mr. Berry? I’ve a little warning for you. If you ever,
ever
, lay hand or stick on one of my charges in the future? I will personally deal you three blows for every one you land on a child. And I will be sure to use a large, heavy object when I do so.”

His already-erect spine stiffened even further. “
Miss
Bristol,” he began with a sneer, “I sincerely doubt you have the physical capability to do me an injury. Furthermore, it is clear you are also lacking in mental capacity, even more so than most of your sex. I shall certainly report this to Sir Merrick, if only to prevent you from causing further harm to his wards.”

The entire room took on a red sheen as Caroline ground her teeth and clenched her fists to keep from lunging at the man. Instead, she swallowed hard and looked at Tommy, who’d been intently studying the ground. “Please visit us in the nursery now and then, Tommy. Your family misses you.” Ignoring Berry, she turned and marched from the room, the children behind her. It was only when they reached the stairs that she remembered they’d left their shoes behind.

Like a coward, she sent Johnson to fetch them while she and the children scurried back to the safety of the nursery.

Merrick sighed when Edwin Berry marched into his study on a rainy afternoon. In the two days the man had been in residence, he’d managed to find innumerable flaws in the household, each of which seemed to require Merrick’s direct involvement. While Merrick avoided as much of the domestic discord as he could, Edwin had no qualms about barging in with his litany of complaints about this unorthodox situation.

“The governess must go.” The tutor braced both hands on Merrick’s desk and leaned forward, fire blazing in his pale blue eyes. “At once.”

“What did she do this time, Edwin?” The older man’s fervent dislike of Miss Bristol had been evident from the beginning, and frankly, Merrick was getting tired of it. Why couldn’t the two of them simply do their jobs without involving him? He leaned forward, forcing Edwin back so he no longer loomed.

“She threatened me with violence.” Edwin shuddered as he obeyed Merrick’s gesture and took a seat in the single armchair facing the desk. “Frankly, I believe the woman is not quite sane. She maintains no control whatsoever among those street urchins you rescued. Honestly, Sir Merrick, there are better places for their sort than in the home of a baronet—and a Knight of the Order at that. I could suggest a respectable orphanage.”

Merrick rubbed his temples, which were already beginning to ache—something that had never happened before the advent of his new wards. “The children stay, Edwin. And with that comes the necessity of a governess. They are actually far better behaved now than they were before Miss Bristol’s arrival. I see no reason to doubt her capability.”

“But—they represent a threat to the Order, Sir Merrick.” Edwin’s face pinched as he spat the words. Edwin’s devotion to the Knights was well known, and part of the reason this second son of one Knight and brother to a current leader of the Order was the most sought after tutor for budding members. “It’s all I can do to keep Thomas away from those ruffians and focused on his studies. And that Bristol woman is nosy. It will be impossible to keep the secret from them if you don’t send them away. Perhaps they could retire to Hadrian Hall?”

Merrick weighed the impact of Edwin’s words, which weren’t without merit. “Tommy’s one consideration for coming here was that the others, his family, so to speak, be kept beside him. I will not go back on my word, and I will not abandon a potential Knight.” He leaned back in his chair and fiddled with the chain of his pocket watch. “Answer me this. In the households of Knights with multiple children—yours for example—are the other children kept in the dark about the Order, or are they raised with the same knowledge as the ones who show true potential?” Since Edwin himself obviously knew about the Order, the question was purely rhetorical.

“This situation is hardly the same.” Edwin drummed his fingers on one bony knee. “You cannot count on the discretion of a group of street rats.”

“Gifted street rats, by the by. Nearly all of them.” Merrick stopped toying with the chain and laid his hands flat on the table. “I’m convinced they may all be of use to the Order one of these days. So tell me why Miss Bristol felt the need to threaten violence? I thought you were studiously avoiding one another.”

“She refused to vacate the ballroom when it was time for Thomas’s fencing lesson. One of those brats had the audacity to reach for one of the weapons. I merely knocked his hand away, and she erupted. Honestly, you’d think I’d maimed the child.”

The short hairs at the back of Merrick’s neck stood on end. “I see. Edwin, did I not specify when you were hired that there was to be no corporal punishment whatsoever?”

The tutor shrugged. “Absurd though the idea is, Sir Merrick, you did. And I have found additional lessons to be an adequate deterrent for young Thomas.”

“And yet you took it upon yourself to lay hands on one of the younger children, one who is not even under your aegis?” Oh, this was not good. No wonder Miss Bristol had threatened to roast the man’s balls. And of course they’d all wanted to use the swords—up until a week or two ago, daily combat had been part of their lives. Merrick could have kicked himself for not realizing they’d be desperate to practice.

Again, Edwin shrugged. “As I said, I just knocked his hand away from the epee. The boy could have done himself or one of the others far greater damage if he’d gotten his hands on the weapon.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Edwin.” With a sigh, Merrick recounted the story behind his discovery of the children and his unexpected guardianship, including his unorthodox vow that none of them would be hit.

Edwin listened, his thin lips drawn into a disapproving frown. “I see. Very well, I will refrain from physical contact. Still, you must really find a more appropriate governess.”

“We shall see.” Dorothy would have his head in a basket if he tried. “Meanwhile, I implore you to make an effort to either get along or avoid them. It is not unreasonable for children to play in the ballroom on a rainy day.”

“I suppose not.” It was a huge concession from Edwin, and Merrick knew it was the best he was going to get. “However, you must make her aware that some things, such as swords, are entirely off limits.”

“On the contrary, Edwin. I’ve just told you these children lived on the streets fighting vampyres. I wish you to include each of them in your sparring matches. I think you’ll find it very rewarding.”

Edwin glared. “Fine. If I must, I shall include the two younger boys in the lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They may be delivered to the ballroom, properly clad, at eleven.”

“And the girls.” Merrick suppressed a grin at the other man’s horror. Ah, his suffragist aunt would be proud of him now.

“No.” The single syllable was clipped and firm. “Absolutely not.”

A cough from the doorway indicated Dorothy’s presence. “Let him go, Merrick, he’d only hamper their skills. I’ll tutor the girls myself. We shall have the ballroom and the epees on Mondays and Wednesdays, then. Capital.” With a triumphant smile, she strode into the room and waved away the tutor. “Run along, now, Edwin. My nephew and I have business to discuss.”

“Lord, what a toad.” When Edwin fled, Dorothy lowered herself into his vacated chair and rolled her eyes. “I suppose you’ve begun inquiries into Tommy’s parentage? His father was almost certainly a Knight.”

“Of course.” The power was most frequently passed down from father to son, though a few historical incidences of ‘new’ families had occurred. Well, there was also the fact that some daughters were clearly gifted as well, though the Order tried to claim otherwise, much to Dorothy’s disgust. The Knights’ distrust of gifted females went way, way back, to the original Morgan le Fay. Everyone in England knew how much trouble
that
woman had caused—even if most of them believed it was all no more than a legend. “I suspect Malcolm Devere. I know he was sowing his wild oats in London some sixteen years ago, and the look around the eyes is about right.”