Page 12 of Control's Undoing

Colum nodded.“He was in a trinity with Bram Stoker and Florence Balcombe.”

Annie needed a minute to process that too.Oscar Wilde had been in a trinity marriage with the man who wroteDracula.That was a lot of creative power in one trinity.She didn’t recognize the name Florence Balcombe, but the woman was probably a badass of some kind.

“But he didn’t get on with them after Bram decided he would marry Florence, and Oscar would have to play bachelor.”

Xavier leaned back, staring at the ceiling.“It was said that Florence was his first love.That he was heartbroken when she chose his friend over him.Knowing that she was his wife, thanks to the trinity marriage, but he could never acknowledge it in public, was heartbreaking for a romantic like Wilde.Tragic.”

Annie considered herself well-read, but all she really remembered about Oscar Wilde was that he was incredibly witty, wroteThe Picture of Dorian GrayandThe Importance of Being Earnest, and had been gay.Well, apparently, he’d been bi.

“He was disenchanted with his marriage and the secret society.It looks like he wrote this part before going to Oxford.”Colum lifted the papers, and Annie could see Xavier itching to get his hands on them.“It has names, places, dates.Enough information that if it were published, someone could unravel our history.”

The three of them exchanged a grim look, and for the first time, a sense of camaraderie formed.In this, they were united—she might not be a member of the Masters’ Admiralty, but if they were exposed, the Trinity Masters would surely be in danger.This was a high-alert situation.

“The problem is this is only the first part of the story.At the end of this section, he says he’ll keep writing.”

Colum turned the papers around, letting them see the cover sheet, where a handwritten title in elegant cursive sat atop the author’s name.

Control’s Undoing

Oscar Wilde

Her appraiser brain twitched at the sight.Even that one sheet of paper would likely fetch a fair amount if auctioned off.

“You found this several years ago?”Xavier asked.

So much for holding all questions.

Annie figured it had been a pipe dream anyway, given Colum’s stop-and-start style of speaking.He clearly needed the nudges to keep things moving along.

“Yes.But sure there wasn’t any reason to go worrying.The painting and manuscript had been here for decades before I found it, and there’s never been any mention of the other parts of the book surfacing anywhere.Given the way his life went, I thought maybe he never wrote anything more.”Colum sighed.“Until recently.”

Ah, finally, Annie thought.Now they were getting somewhere.

“There was a post on the dark web from someone asking about how much a new Oscar Wilde book would be worth.”

“Someone found the rest of it,” Annie said.

“Or maybe a letter he wrote describing it.The dark-web inquiry used the word ‘menage’ in reference to Bram, Oscar, and Florence.Sure, it’s not great but it wouldn’t be that bad if that’s all this book was, because people already thought he was in one of those…love triangles?”Colum frowned, looking at Annie, who nodded to confirm it was the right term.

“Everyone thought it was a love triangle, and while I think theDraculascholars would enjoy reinterpreting everything if they got ahold of a book that said Bram and Oscar were lovers…” Colum shrugged.

“It’s not just about the three of them,” Xavier summed up, nodding to the papers Colum held.

“We have to find the remainder of this manuscript,” Colum said.“I’ve already been working on this, looking for clues as to where the rest could be.”He smiled as he said it, and God, that was a hell of a smile.His genuine delight at having played detective transformed his face.

Annie grinned back, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xavier’s stunned look as he stared at Colum.

“He would have left a clue,” Xavier said.“He would have enjoyed that.”

Colum nodded his agreement.

“You’re an Oscar Wilde expert?”Annie asked Xavier.

Xavier shrugged.“Not an expert, but I feel an affinity for him.I am, how do you say…a fan.”For the first time, Xavier’s smile was almost self-deprecating.

Colum returned to the table, putting down the manuscript and fetching the painting once more.He brought it over, holding it in front of him.“We went through the text, and though he named places important to our society, none of them felt like a clue.So my colleague and I—another American—looked at the painting itself.”Colum was grinning, speaking faster, and with his accent, Annie had to concentrate on what he was saying.“We think the next part of the manuscript is in New York.”

Now she understood her role in this investigation.

---