Tremble in the Dark: A Gwen Farris Novel (6 page)

"May
I help you?"

Gwen
nearly froze then, since her only idea had been to get there. The rest was
supposed to magically take care of itself, wasn't it? That was the rule, but no
words came for a second, until she remembered why they were really there.

"Ah,
right. I'd like to talk to Christophe, and Bethany here needs to be shown to
where Lisa Wendell is, as quickly as possible. Don't warn her that Miss
Westmorland is coming. It's a surprise."

The
man's expression deepened, making him seem very, very baffled, but he didn't
say anything to indicate it. Instead he simply looked at her and nodded once, very
formally.

"The
Duke receives guests at invitation only. Perhaps if I gave you a Telestator
contact card you could arrange something?" He said it in a pretty friendly
way, clearly not wanting to insult her, which was very nice of him.

She
just didn't have time for that, and was about to break his right leg at the
knee with a kick, when Bethany moved to the front, her face firm.

"We're
required, due to a matter of honor, not to speak of why we're here. It's
imperative
that we see Miss Wendell, right now. The visit to see Duke Aubry is a polite
fiction, to give us a reason to be here, without leading to embarrassment for
others. Gwen is his former fiancé, and is seeking to remain friends, so perhaps
a word could be put in?" She gave the fellow a cool look that
should
have made him freeze, but the man bowed slightly instead.

"I
understand. I'll see to that. Your name ma'am?" He indicated her by
looking at her directly, still seeming rather slow moving and polite. Hopefully
Lisa would be as well. It would be a horrible time for her to hurry.

"Gwen
Farris." She nearly asked the man to please hurry, but he turned and
walked away at a good speed, clearly getting the idea. It wasn't a sprint, but
a few minutes later he was back, with several guards. One of them looked at
Bethany, and then nodded.

"This
is one of the Westmorlands. I recognize her from the funeral and when they were
detailed here a few months back. This other is Katherine Vernor. You know that
story."

The
butler nodded.

"Very
well then. Gentlemen, this has been given to me as a matter of honor, so please
escort Miss Westmorland to see Miss Wendell. She should be in her office at
this hour."

Beth
shook her head.

"She's
in her chambers. She might have... Taken ill, due to unknown causes. That or
she's about to. I believe I can prevent that."

There
was no indication that they understood, but they all moved off at a walk that
was even faster than what the butler, whatever his name was, had used. That
meant a lot then. Somewhere in what Beth had said, she'd told them what was up,
without ever saying the words.

It
meant that she was left standing there, not even really certain if Christophe
would ever want to see her again at all. She was dressed nicely enough, but
hadn't come to visit really, and it was nearing dinner time. If it saved a life
though, she could stand there all night for all she cared. Her feet would hurt,
and she'd get tired and bored, but that was a small price to pay, if it got
Beth into the right room in time to stop something wretched.

She
smiled, looking at the man in front of her, not trying to impose at all. To her
surprise he bowed again and gestured toward the inner hallway with his right
hand. It was a big thing, and looked practiced, but a bit too theatrical
really. Like he was in a show as an extra, playing the part of a butler, and
was really trying to sell the whole thing with every move, hoping to be
noticed.

Walking
into the place wasn't exactly new to her, since she'd been there a few times, and
it didn't seem to have changed a lot in the last few months. Not here in the
front foyer. No place else at all either, as far as she could tell. Places like
this probably didn't. Why mess with what had already worked for six
generations, right?

They
ended at a sitting room, but it was an empty thing, near the far left side of
the building. The colors of the space were all dark green and beige carpet, and
while it was clearly tasteful, it had the feeling of a place where business was
done. Along one wall there were three desks, and a Telestator was on a large
table in the right corner. This wasn't a sitting room at all, but a home
office. She was probably supposed to be insulted or something, not being
treated as a guest, but the butler had made a good point. You didn't just walk
in and expect a Duke to receive you because you knocked on his door.

So,
when Christophe walked in, looking just as young and cute as ever, being only
nineteen, or possibly twenty now, but more somber than she remembered him being,
she was startled. Less lost looking too, which was good to see. She stood
looking at him for a moment, and he did the same, but recovered first.

So,
point to him? Was that a thing here? Social points like that? Well, if not, she
could start it.

"Gwen?
I wasn't expecting you. Is there trouble? The Vernors?" He was asking if
they'd finally come to their senses and tossed her out. It was a reasonable
thought, if you didn't realize that they were actually good people.

"They're
doing well, except for the fact that as time goes on things seem to be getting
worse for them, socially, rather than better. I was actually hoping I could
talk to you about that?" She waited and only got a curious look in
exchange. Four months before he would have asked what she wanted, and seemed
hesitant to make a promise. Now he simply seemed relaxed and ready to say no,
regardless of what she said.

That
was how it seemed at least.

"Really,
what I'm doing here is, how did Bethany put it? We're here on a matter of
honor
,
and it really doesn't have much to do with you in a negative manner at this
time. If that changes, I promise to tell you, but we actually came to talk to
Lisa Wendell, or at least Beth did. That's the real reason we're here. For my
part, I was wondering if I might be allowed to send you a party invitation? I
don't want you to feel awkward or anything. There will be other Dukes there for
you to play with though. We're inviting Ferdinand and the Marduk too, I think.
Plus a bunch of Westmorlands that can rift. It's important to show people that
we're not afraid of them. Especially now."
They
hadn't destroyed
the Capital, but try and tell that to the average man on the street. Or worse a
Newsie hidden in their studio, safe from accountability for their words.

She
expected a simple no, or perhaps for the man to make polite excuse, or even
just to say that he was feeling too uncomfortable to do any such thing. It fit
his face at the moment, until he broke into a familiar grin.

"As
your date? That would be nice, I think. Unless you already have someone lined
up?" He seemed interested, but she shook her head.

"Not
really, I
was
going to ask Mr. Grimes, our family Solicitor, but haven't
yet. He's very nice." She meant it, but his face fell, even if she thought
that her words had been pretty clear that she was still free for the thing.

"I
see. Is he a handsome man then? Wealthy? Though I gather that wouldn't sway you
at all, would it? Humorous perhaps?" His look was getting almost comically
hangdog.

Gwen
nodded anyway. After all, as far as she could tell most of that was just true.
The humor part was subjective of course.

"
Very
dashing, and gallant too. Also about fifty, or a little older. Actually, I
think you'd like him, if you met. He's very honest and willing to actually
explain things to me. Really, I should probably date him just for that, or at
least make certain we have him over for tea more regularly. But I haven't
asked, and you seem to be hinting that an invitation wouldn't simply be burnt
to get rid of the cooties?" She paused, ready to explain the concept, but
he smiled back at her.

"Ah,
you've learned of the dreaded cootie. They're said to positively infest young
girls I hear. You seem old enough for them to have died down by now however.
I'd check you for them, but that wouldn't be proper." He didn't move, and
his expression didn't change at all.

 She
felt her face go warm and realized it was probably a blush.

"If
we weren't going to be interrupted at any time, I might invite you to check
anyway, improper or not. I don't want to be walking around with them and not
know it, after all." Shaking her head she moved closer to him, by about
three steps. They weren't in touching distance at all, until he took a step
toward her as well. There was meaning in it, but she didn't really know what,
until he held out his hand to her.

"I
treated you unfairly, Gwen. I thought, after that horror with my father... I
figured that it would be easier on you to not see me again. You came to the
funeral, out of duty, and I failed to protect you there as well. It was you and
your Westmorland friends that had to protect us. For a time I'd even wondered
if Doctor Debussey had used her power to make me do those things. I guess she
felt I was worth more to her as a living pawn than dead, however. On the good
side, my stutter has stayed away. Hopefully for good." Then, letting go of
her hand he stood back and looked away. It was an awkward thing, and made her
feel uncomfortable.

Too
much so for a simple conversation, but not like an attack at all.

"I've
been thinking though. You're from a different world, and certain allowances
will need to be made for that, since I don't know your ways, and I'm not all
that magically inclined, which is a large failing here, but if you can see past
that, if the memory of my father passing in your arms isn't too much to bear,
could, I know that I'm about to look the fool, but-" Then he stopped,
since Beth walked into the room, with Lisa in tow. The woman was about
twenty-five or six, so about Beth's age, but there the similarity ended.

She
had what a compassionate person would call a
sturdy
build. It wasn't
fat, but she looked like she could at least try out for a major league football
team. She was short too, which wasn't that bad, being slightly over five feet
tall, but her face was simply unpleasant. Not ugly, really, but she had a frown
on it and seemed ready to fight for her man right then and there.

It
was a shame, because she was almost certain that Christophe had been about to
ask if they could date or something. Be friends at least. That made sense to
her at any rate, given the buildup.

He
had something different in mind however and asked anyway, in front of the new
witnesses.

"I
was wondering if we could, kind of forget that I undid our arrangement? Will
you marry me, Gwen Farris?"

She'd
been asked before, and the answer as far as she was concerned was the same. After
all, it had never really seemed real to her, but she wasn't going to miss the
chance to even play at it. Her entire life she'd known that no one would ever
love her. No man would want to be with her, much less marry.

After
a second she smiled and let herself nod a bit.

"Yes.
But we still need to get to know each other better. I mean, what if you find
out that I'm a horrible person in two months? You'll be glad you took the time
then, won't you?" The words flowed a lot more smoothly than she thought
they would, and she realized it was that thing again, attached to her
precognition somehow. The pressure was there at least.

That
explained why, even though she didn't see Lisa running at her, she was able to
simply take a few steps to the side, letting the woman pass through her old
position in her rage. The angry lady didn't fall down, and turned, ready to do
it again.

"
Stop
!"
This came from Beth, who looked at the now red faced woman calmly for all that
she'd just been shouting.

It
worked too, and everyone stopped where they were, except the guards that ran
into the room who moved to grab people. They tried for everyone but Chris, who
was standing there, fighting to look old and wise, instead of in mild shock.
Gwen however just let the two men take her arms, not worried about being hurt
in particular. If she had to, she could probably fight their way out of the
room, even in a dress. People here, even the guards, didn't handle hand to hand
that well. Plus, she could fire off decently powerful energy blasts and no one
else had a weapon out.

Lisa
struggled, but didn't get away at all, and broke down in tears.

For
some reason everyone turned and looked at the young Duke, as if
he'd
know what to do about all of this. It was the job, but not really fair, given
everything.

Gwen
just looked at him and started to spout nice sounding BS.

"It's
that matter of honor that I mentioned a bit ago. A thing that involved Bethany,
Lisa and I. Lisa was just informed, and may feel that she has a right to beat
me for it. Or at least try to. It isn't a big deal. We can forget about
it." To her mind it was settled, and Bethany nodded, speaking softly.

"That
will suit, I think. Given everything, perhaps Miss Wendell will be more
comfortable out of your presence, Gwen?" It made it sound like she'd
actually wronged the woman, but, hadn't she, in a real way? If Lisa really
loved Christophe, then Gwen coming back and him asking if they might restart
the engagement... That was a pretty big deal.