Chapter Thirteen

“Your top candidate, I recall,” Mira said and, without thinking, offered him her hand. It was Violet’s muscle memory again, coming to Mira’s rescue, and when Colvin placed a gentle kiss on the back of her palm Mira got a vague recollection of what the gesture meant; an invitation to be friendly rather than formal. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Adelram. I’m sorry that you saw how badly I am in need of your assistance so soon.”

“Please, call me by my name,” Colvin said as he straightened up. “Lady Vesper briefed me on your circumstances earlier. Given the nature of my duties, we have agreed that it would be best if I am introduced to others as your companion.”

Mira frowned over at her older sister. “Is it usual for young women to have male companions?” she asked.

“Not generally,” Vesper replied. She glanced at Colvin and Cecily. “Would you two mind giving Violet and I a moment of privacy? I have something to discuss with her. Cecily, could you ask Nanny to bring up refreshments for Mister Adelram? I’m afraid I haven’t given him the opportunity to eat since breakfast.”

“Of course,” Cecily replied and stood immediately. “Mister Adelram, please let me show you to the private sitting room. There’s a speaking crystal and dumbwaiter there. We can have a plate sent up directly.”

“Thank you, Miss…” Colvin paused on the name.

“Forgive me, I’ve been rude. Mister Adelram, this is my younger sister,” Vesper said and patted Cecily on the shoulder apologetically. “Lady Cecily Coventry.”

Colvin paused and there was something different about his tone when he spoke, a distant and steely glint in his eye that hadn’t been there previously, “It is my pleasure to meet you, Miss Coventry. I’ve heard much about you, although I was unaware that you were a Coventry.”

“Oh,” Cecily squeaked and flushed a brilliant shade of pink. It made Mira wonder what the newspapers were saying about her, since she was a prominent figure in the drama of Prince Andrei’s broken engagement. “I… no, sir, it’s a recent discovery. My sisters have been kind enough to make me welcome with them and I am very grateful to know them now. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mister Adelram. Thank you for agreeing to look after my older sister.”

“We will leave you ladies to your discussion,” Colvin told Vesper. “Will you join us in the other room when you’re finished?”

“Yes, thank you, Mister Adelram,” Vesper said and waited until the door closed behind them to address Mira. “Forgive me, Violet, I have a major request to make of you and I cannot explain my reasons yet. Will you hear me out?”

Oh, Mira did not like hearing that.

“I’ll listen, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll agree,” she replied.

“Thank you, dear,” Vesper said and dabbed at her throat again. There was a faint sheen of sweat all over her face and neck. How busy had she been since she left the hotel? “You are correct that it’s not usual for a young woman to have a male paid companion. Older unmarried women do sometimes, but they are usually understood to be either that lady’s bodyguard–or her lover. That leads me to my unreasonable request.”

“The request you can’t explain to me,” Mira clarified, liking this even less and less.

“Yet,” Vesper stressed the word. “I will be able to explain it all to you within a few months. I am not asking for your faith on an infinite basis, just for a short while.”

“What is it that you need from me?” Mira asked and silently prayed that it wasn’t another engagement. She didn’t think that was likely, but recent events had proven to her that the game only covered so much of reality here. There were many things going on out of sight that the player wasn’t privy to.

“I need you to promise that you will not agree to marry anyone,” Vesper told her, very seriously. “You cannot enter into an engagement or understanding, either, for at least the next year. This could possibly go on longer, but if it does then you will know why and will have a chance to make an informed decision then.”

At first Mira thought Vesper was trying to keep her available for another arranged marriage, but the second half of Vesper’s request suddenly made that seem less likely.

“I hadn’t planned on marriage at all,” she confessed. “Nanny explained my finances to me. I’m able to support myself in comfort and I don’t have anyone I like right now.”

Vesper’s tense shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch with relief as Mira explained her feelings. “That is good,” she said. “That’s very good. I was concerned that you would feel obligated, but—you don’t remember your upbringing now, do you?” She cocked her head at Mira quizzically.

“I remember bits,” Mira hedged. “Mostly about you, because I’ve seen you. I remember Madame’s face and that we have two other siblings. I might remember more later, but right now? No, I don’t.”

The author’s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Vesper considered her for a while, looking a bit sad. “You don’t need to remember,” she said at last, quietly. “It wasn’t a happy household and we were kept separate. Madame directed your education with the goal that you would be a prince’s consort. If mana testing wasn’t mandated by the Crown, then you might never have even gone to the academy.”

‘So Violet was raised to be a housewife by a woman who didn’t like her,’ Mira interpreted in the privacy of her own head. No wonder two failed arrangements sent her into a fatal shock and she had no idea about her own resources. Having your planned future evaporate in front of you not once, but twice in short order wasn’t an easy ordeal on top of having latent epilepsy.