Page 105 of From the Ashes
"Eating without me?" Seth said, strolling in. He stopped short when he spotted Alice. "A guest! Charlie, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you've been in Lincoln's room and I'm banished from there. How is he?"
He waved a hand. "Forget him. We have a guest. Lord Vickers," he said, bowing over Alice's hand. "At your service."
"Alice Everheart. Pleased to me you, my lord."
"Bloody hell," Gus muttered with a shake of his head. "Call him Seth or he'll get too big for his boots."
Alice smiled. Seth beamed back and flicked his hair off his forehead with a jerk of his head.
Lady Vickers cleared her throat. "Come sit by me, Son," she said, patting the seat beside her.
"I'd rather sit near Miss Everheart," he said, not taking his gaze off Alice.
Lady Vickers looked as if she would order him, but must have thought better of it. She knew her son wouldn't obey, no matter how much of a scene she made. "We were just asking Miss Everheart about her family and connections."
No one countered her lie. Alice was an extremely unflappable girl and quite capable of navigating the treacherous waters of social politeness. She could cope with concerned mothers of bachelors better than me.
"I'm from Dorset," she said.
"Fascinating." Seth topped up her glass of wine from the carafe. "Go on."
"There's not much to tell. My father is a businessman. He's in cloth, mostly, but trades in other commodities from time to time." She picked up her glass and smiled over the top of it at a horrified Lady Vickers.
I smothered my own smile with my hand. Poor Lady Vickers. She loathed talk of trade and business, particularly at the dinner table. She probably hated even more that her son couldn't take his eyes off the daughter of a merchant.
"Fascinating," Seth said again. "Isn't it, Mother?" he added with a hard edge.
Lady Vickers set down her fork. "Your father sounds very astute, Miss Everheart. I imagine he's quite successful."
Gus and I exchanged glances. We both knew where this was heading. If Alice's father were rich, Lady Vickers would forgive him for being involved in something as 'vulgar' as trade.
"You would think so," Alice said. "But he's much too conservative to take risks and it's really only the risk takers who do well in business. And those who marry off their daughters to more successful men than themselves, of course," she said for what I suspected was my benefit. Her father had tried to do precisely that, until her supernatural affliction presented itself.
"What a shame," Lady Vickers said with genuine sympathy.
Seth glared at his mother.
"Even more of a shame that my parents have disowned me." Alice picked up her glass and sipped elegantly.
I bit my lip to hide my smile. She had taken only a few minutes to get the measure of both Seth and his mother. It was going to be a pleasant diversion watching her settle into our household.
* * *
Lincoln still did not emergethe next morning. According to Doyle he slept off and on, and finally managed to keep down some broth that Cook had prepared using a rescued cast iron pot and the hot coals of the dining room fireplace.
"Can I see him yet?" I asked.
"No," Doyle said without looking at me.
"Why not, if he's feeling better?"
"Sorry, Charlie, he specifically said you weren't to be allowed in."
I thrust my hands on my hips, but there was nothing I could do about it. If Lincoln didn't want me in there, I had to accept his wishes. It wasn't easy, however, and by lunch time, I decided to accost Seth and see if he had a different answer. He'd spent most of the morning with Lincoln, giving Alice some much needed breathing space.
"Why not go for a walk?" Alice asked gently as we sat in the sitting room, alone. "It's cool outside, but not raining."
