Chapter Fifteen

Mira woke the next morning to a preview of what the rest of this life might be like until she moved on to the next.

Anna came to help her dress and put up her hair. Then Mira took breakfast with her sisters. Cecily showed up in another long sleeved autumn-weight morning dress with a tall collar, so she was still taking her time to make up her mind about the bruises. At this rate, they’d heal on their own before she ever came to a decision.

After breakfast, Mira was herded into the sitting room where Colvin presented a report on the current state of her personal properties. All told, her affairs were in order. Nanny hadn’t had the sole physical care of Violet in ages, since she’d been in school, so she’d had more time to focus on her charge’s financial affairs and not much escaped her notice. The millinery’s roof would need replacement in the next year or so and one of her tenants was getting old enough that they’d likely move out soon to be with their children. None of those were immediate problems, but they were things that Mira couldn’t have learned from her box of deeds or bank deposits.

It hadn’t occurred to Mira that, even if she was in good health, she might never be at liberty to handle these sorts of things on her own. She was too notorious now.

‘Isn’t it good, then, that I have a trustworthy agent?’ she thought to herself and smiled at Colvin. Yesterday, he’d been dressed down in a severe black suit that at least had the virtue of being well cut. Today he was dressed a little better in a sage green summer suit with the jacket off and a cream colored vest on instead over his light white shirt. Mira had noticed yesterday that Reginald Duvall wore no tie. Colvin had left his tie off today as well, although he’d been wearing one when they first met. Instead of a tie, his collar was fixed in place with a long and narrow gold bar with a chain on one side that connected into a little square cut walking crystal that he kept in his vest’s right breast pocket.

Men’s fashion here still ran to suits, but slim fitting ones and Colvin’s attire showed her they had options when it came to dressing down.

“Thank you for surveying my properties, Colvin,” Mira said and meant it. “It’s reassuring to know the exact state of my affairs and Nanny has been busy arranging the townhouse.”

“Matron Byrde told me that one of your first questions was if you’d be able to support yourself,” Colvin explained. He organized his papers back into his slick black portfolio as he spoke and Mira noticed that he was wearing a set of thin ivory colored half-palm gloves. The material looked very light, but still—he was wearing gloves in high summer.

There had to be a reason for it, but given the reasons why Mira had to wear her hair the way she did, she didn’t quite feel ready to ask.

“I understand that your independence is important to you, but you aren’t at liberty to move around as you like,” he continued with a gentle half-smile. “A brief audit seemed like the logical place to start my duties, since you were occupied with Miss Cecily yesterday. I thought that we might review your expectations and needs further today.”

“Did Vesper tell you about my seizure?” Mira asked.

Colvin nodded. “She said it was an unanticipated complication of an old head injury.”

“I was thrown from a pony when I was a child,” she explained. “I had similar seizures for a while afterwards, but they stopped. I suffered a bad shock a few days ago and relapsed. My doctor has an aggressive treatment plan for me, but it’s likely that I will always need to be accompanied by someone. My little sister is a Negentropy mage and will stay close to me during the summer until I can undergo treatment, after that you’ll be splitting that duty with Anna.”

“Understood, miss.” Colvin took a small memo book out of his vest pocket and began jotting down short notes. “May I consult with Miss Cecily regarding the matter? Matron Byrde told me she has a medical certification that is relevant.”

“Yes, I think she’ll be happy to talk with you about it,” Mira said. Just that, though. Cecily didn’t seem comfortable with him otherwise and Mira wasn’t sure of the degree to which Colvin would go out of his way to set her at ease. She’d need to observe them for a bit longer. “She’s very knowledgeable.” She took a moment to think about how to phrase her next request. “Has Vesper told you about the request she had for me?”

“I’m aware that you’ve agreed to refrain from any discussion of marriage for the foreseeable future. She made it clear to me that part of my responsibilities will be running off any future Reginald Duvalls by whatever means necessary,” Colvin replied.

Thank heaven. Mira didn’t have to explain that he needed to pretend to be her boy toy in public.

“Then I must apologize in advance,” Mira sighed with relief. “This post will disrupt your personal life.”

“I don’t have one to disrupt, miss,” Colvin assured her. There was a look in his heavy-lidded eyes that Mira found difficult to interpret. “Please do not be concerned on my behalf. I accepted this role in full awareness of the demands that will be placed on my time and attention.”

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“If that changes, please let me know,” Mira insisted. “I can make accommodations.”

“You’re very solicitous of your employees, miss,” Colvin observed, rather than agreeing with her. “It’s admirable.”

Was he trying to deflect her question? Mira crinkled her nose in confusion. Why?

She’d never gotten the impression, during gameplay, that Colvin had romantic feelings for Violet. He was professional and protective, but not possessive of her. Even if his game counterpart did have feelings for Violet, he and Mira hadn’t known each other long enough yet for him to develop any.

Well, some people did make their jobs their entire life. Maybe Colvin was that type.

“Thank you for saying so,” she said. “I will rely on you and Anna heavily in the future. Know that I am aware of the value of your service.”