Necropolis by Christopher Nuttall

Author:Christopher Nuttall
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: FIC009030 FICTION / Fantasy / Historical, Action & Adventure, FIC0002000 FICTION / Action & Adventure, Fiction, Fantasy, 3JH, FIC040000 FICTION / Alternative History, Historical, FM Fantasy, FJH Historical adventure, General, Alternative History
ISBN: 9781908168726
Publisher: Elsewhen Press
Published: 2014-08-08T15:48:58.685000+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Gwen!” Lady Standish snapped. “What is the meaning of this?”

Gwen jumped back from Sir Sidney, schooling her features into fear. If she’d been a normal maid in London, she would have been blamed for everything, even if Sir Sidney had forced himself on her. It was yet another problem she knew she would have to try to fix, somehow, even though she wasn’t sure where to begin. The upper classes found it so much easier to blame everything from wanton behaviour to outright rape on the lower classes.

“Get away from him,” Lady Standish snapped. “You utter ...”

“You will have to excuse her,” Sir Sidney drawled, in his best aristocratic manner. “The fault was mine.”

Lady Standish rounded on him. “My husband will be hearing about this,” she thundered, angrily. “Luring young ladies into lives of sin!”

She caught Gwen’s arm and swung her round. “You represent my household,” she added, then lifted a hand and slapped Gwen across the face. “Your actions bring shame upon me!”

Gwen glared at her, feeling magic pulsing under her skin. It would be easy, so easy, to kill the woman right there and then. A tiny pinch in Lady Standish’s brain and she’d collapse, leaving no traces of anything to suggest it hadn’t been a natural death. Or she could Charm her into complete and total submission. Or ... she controlled her temper with an effort, running through meditative tricks to make the pain fade away. She couldn’t afford to blow her cover, not yet. But when she did ...

“Come now,” Sir Sidney drawled. “The fault was not hers.”

“Be quiet,” Lady Standish snapped. “You should not lead young women into sin!”

Gwen stayed quiet as Lady Standish told Sir Sidney off in no uncertain manner. It almost seemed comical; Lady Standish was in no position to blight either of their careers, no matter what she reported to High Society when they got home. But if Gwen had been a real maid ... a shiver ran down her body as Lady Standish turned and practically dragged her out of the room. If they’d been in London, a real maid could expect to be turned out onto the streets for disgracing her mistress. Even here ... would Lady Standish try to abandon her, thousands of miles from home?

If she does, Gwen thought, as she was pulled down the corridor towards the rooms that had been assigned to Romulus and Janet, I’ll have to Charm her and take the risk of discovery.

“You spent most of your time in the countryside,” Lady Standish said. She sounded calmer, but the rage had been replaced by cold anger. “You are unaware of the true dangers of the world, particularly those posed by young men. That man would have used you, then discarded you, once you had served your purpose. Do you understand what I am saying to you?”

The hell of it, Gwen realised, was that Lady Standish had a point. If Gwen had been a real maid, pulled into a relationship with a man from the upper classes, it might well have ended badly.

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