“Immortality. Protection from illness. Power. ” He stood, holding the weapons. “Only a naive boy would believe there was no cost for such a prize. ” Max turned, walking toward the cabinet where the weapons were stored.
Victoria realized that Kritanu had gone, and they were alone. “The way I understand it, the Tutela is more than a match for a naive boy. Mature and learned people like John Polidori have succumbed to their machinations. ”
“Never fear, Victoria. I’ve come to terms with what I did. Why do you think I’ve dedicated my life to hunting the undead? I see no reason to wallow in self-pity or flagellate m
yself. There’s too much work to be done. ” Max lifted one of the swords, fitting it onto its pegs inside the cabinet. He didn’t look at her as he latched it into place. “And I certainly don’t need your sympathy or pity. ”
Victoria opened her mouth to reply, but Max was already out of the room.
Fifteen
Wherein Victoria Breaks a Trust
“We called yesterday,” Lady Melly sniffed, “after we’d heard about that terrible fire. But that Verbena insisted that you were indisposed. ” She glowered at Victoria. “She made us wait here in this room for an hour. Without tea. ”
Victoria thought it was more likely that Lady Melly and her two cronies had refused to budge for that hour, rather than being forced to sit there . . . but then again, Verbena was just as strong-willed. Perhaps it had been a game of who would blink first.
Apparently, the ladies had blinked—or perhaps hunger had won out.
“I wasn’t feeling at all up to visitors yesterday, Mama,” she told her with a placating pat on her hand. In reality, Victoria felt a bit guilty for her mother’s worry— for the lines on her face seemed deeper, and the way she’d gasped upon seeing the scrapes and bruises on her cheeks and chin bespoke her concern. “But Verbena told me that you’d come, and it made me feel much better. ”
“You do look rather worse for the wear,” Lady Melly said, her tone and her face softening. “Fires are terrible things. ”
Victoria nodded and squeezed her fingers around her mother’s wrist. Lady Melly’s father had died in a stable fire when she was a young girl, and she’d often described the terror of the furious blaze and the screams of the horses trapped inside. “But I survived with only a few scars, and all is well. ”
Lady Melly sniffed again, the tip of her nose tinged suspiciously pink. “When your maid wouldn’t allow us to see you—and I must say that I am quite offended that she should disallow your own flesh and blood to visit— we called on Rockley. ” She looked at Victoria, the calculation back in her blue eyes. “It seemed the right thing to do. ”
Victoria smothered a sigh. “Mama, you must understand—”
As if to forestall any declaration of her disinterest in the marquess, Melly interrupted. “He is quite besotted with you, Victoria. There’s no need to feel uncomfortable about it. It’s not as though he and Rockley—your Rockley— were brothers or any such thing. As I hear it, they’re very distantly related and it wouldn’t be odd at all. And then you would be a marchioness. ”
“I’m still a marchioness,” Victoria reminded her dryly. “But, Mama, you really must cease this matchmaking. I’m a widow now, and I haven’t any real desire to marry again. Nor do I need to. ”
Even as she said those words, and registered the bald disapproval in her parent’s face, Victoria felt an odd nudge deep inside. Marriage in the way Society expected of her was most definitely out of the question. But there was the fact that she was the last direct descendant of the Gardella line—as far as she knew. If she died, as Max had said, without issue . . .
And, if she examined things even more deeply, she couldn’t deny that being a Venator, especially Illa Gardella, was a lonely, terribly lonely, life. Even Aunt Eustacia had had a partner, someone to share it with, to sleep next to, to be held by when times became dark and frightening. Someone who understood her, and loved her. After all, Aunt Eustacia had had a brother, who had been Melly’s father, and thus she knew the line wouldn’t die with her. Perhaps it really was time for Victoria to think in that manner, and to stop taking the special potion that kept her from getting with child.
Sebastian flashed into her mind, and she smiled. He had made it more than clear how willing he was to be with her. Intimately. Whether he loved her or not wasn’t clear, but he certainly cared for her.
Unlike Max.
Victoria focused back in on her mother, who had launched into a breathless diatribe about how terrible it was to remain unmarried and alone. She let her go on for a moment longer, then said, “But Mama, you’ve been widowed for more than four years now and I haven’t heard you speak once of wedding Lord Jellington. ”
Lady Melly’s barrage of platitudes abruptly stopped and she blinked at her daughter.
And then, thankfully, before she was able to gather up a full breath to respond, a knock came at the parlor door. Charley opened it and Victoria saw that behind him were not only the ladies Winnie and Nilly, but the tall, rumpled figure of James Lacy.
“Ah,” Lady Melly said, standing. The tea table rattled in her wake. “At last. ”
Victoria realized that the trio of women had implemented a divide-and-conquer campaign. Lady Melly was to ascertain her daughter’s condition, and the two other ladies were to retrieve the prize and deliver him in a timely manner.
“And it was such a frightfully frightening event!” Victoria didn’t know for certain what Lady Nilly was babbling about, but whatever it was, it had been . . . frightening.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. —Lady Rockley,” said James. He smiled warmly at Victoria. “I’m right glad you’re feeling better today. ”
She returned the smile, but without the depth of warmth. How was she going to make her mother understand that James was not going to be her next son by law? “How kind of you to call,” she said a bit stiffly.
“What a pleasure to see you again, Lord Rockley,” crooned Lady Melly. As if she were the hostess, she gestured for him and the others to sit. “Victoria and I were just agreeing that September is a lovely time for a wed— mmph!” She gasped and jerked her leg out of range of Victoria’s pointy slippers.