Page 68 of The Highwayman's Bite

“Well I most certainly see it as a concern!” Aldric tossed back a hearty swallow of brandy, even knowing it would give him a devil of a bellyache later. “Especially now that he has been alone with my niece for the past two nights and days. You yourself said she is in danger.”

“Yes, but from her own heart and desires.” Madame Renarde sipped her brandy with more delicacy than he had. “I also observed the way she looks at him. How she smiled when they conversed and the sparks between them when they practiced fencing.”

Aldric blinked in disbelief. “He is fencing with her?”

“Yes. He sparred with me as well. Something to bide the time, I suppose. However, with them, it was like a dance. Both share a deep passion for swordplay.” Madame Renarde sighed and took another drink. “They also read together. They’re utterly captivated with a serial story in the papers and discuss it as if they are trying to decipher the chapter of Revelations.” Renarde sighed and took a deeper drink. “The point I am trying to make is that Rhys did not act the villain with us. He has been very kind. Furthermore, while I was treated as an honored guest, he treated Vivian as if they were the best of friends, something she’s never experienced from a man in her entire life. And from what I’ve learned about her life before I came along, she’d been very lonely and never had a friend until I came into her father’s employment.”

Horror twisted Aldric’s gut as he grasped her meaning. “You think she is falling in love with him?”

“I do,” Renarde said levelly. “There is a tangible spark between them. There is something else you must know. Rhys was the highwayman who robbed us on our way to your estate. The reason he did not steal her necklace was because he stole a kiss instead. She’s fancied him since that night, but now that they’ve had time to become acquainted, I’m afraid her fancy has developed to something more than girlish infatuation.”

“Good God!” Aldric nearly choked on his brandy. Renarde’s tale was worsening every moment. “He was the highwayman?”

When Vivian had told him about their carriage being robbed that first night, he’d reported the theft to the constable, who had told him that there’d been other robberies, but assured him that his officers were closing in on the thief. Aldric hadn’t thought much of Vivian’s robbery since very little had been stolen and Vivian herself hadn’t been particularly alarmed.

Because the whoreson wooed her with a kiss, he raged inwardly.

The incident had been forgotten in the wake of her being abducted and Aldric had been an utter fool not to make the connection. And Vivian had been infatuated with the thief. Madame Renarde was right. His niece was in far worse danger than he’d previously contemplated. If Vivian fell in love with a rogue vampire, she would be tempted to allow him to Change her. “You do not believe he will Change her into a vampire?” he asked.

Renarde shook her head emphatically and sneezed. “From the way he described his life as a rogue vampire, I would say no. He cares for her too much to subject her to a possible death sentence.”

“That is a measure of relief at least.” But what if Vivian convinced him to go through with it? During the short time she’d spent under his roof, Aldric had discovered that she could be very charming. Which of course, led him to another concern, one that he’d already had before he’d learned of Vivian’s feeling towards her captor. He struggled for a delicate way of phrasing his worry. “You think they will act upon their mutual attraction, don’t you?”

“If they haven’t already.” Madame Renarde’s lips thinned into a grim line. “Which is why you should abandon your pride and pay the ransom. Many women form deep emotional attachments to men after they’ve been intimate. The longer you delay, the more attached Vivian will become. Rhys as well. A most untenable situation for the both of them.”

“You sound as if you’re sympathetic to Rhys as well,” Aldric noted with disapproval.

Madame Renarde shrugged. “I am a human with a human’s sense of compassion and empathy. I have not had the benefit of centuries of feeding on the blood of innocents to harden my heart.”

“I do not believe I deserve such talk. After all, my heart is why you remain alive.” Aldric softened his tone even as he writhed with frustration. “But I do not wish to quarrel. Removing my niece from this rogue vampire’s clutches is my utmost concern.” His hands tightened on his empty glass until it cracked. “Why does Rhys want money from me anyway? If he was already making a career as a highwayman, why make the fatal mistake of abducting a Lord Vampire’s niece for a pithy two hundred pounds?”

“Such a sum may be pithy to you, but not to others. That is ten times my yearly allowance.” Madame Renarde eyed him with scorn of the likes Aldric had never been subjected to. “But it can be salvation for others. My understanding is that Rhys wishes to give the money to his mortal relations so that they may pay off a mortgage. Much like Robin Hood.”

“Blast it, no wonder Vivian has romanticized him,” Aldric growled.

Then the companion’s words sank in. Aldric held a few mortgages in Blackpool, but only one that was going to be foreclosed in a week. He had been on the right path to begin with. If he’d only probed further...

His lips curved in a bitter smirk as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “Very well, Madame. I will heed your advice and pay off the scoundrel.”

“Thank God,” Renarde murmured, and quaffed the last of her drink. “I pray that Vivian is safely returned and undamaged from this ordeal. Will you Change her into a vampire when we have her back?”

Aldric’s triumph at coming to a decision deflated as the other dilemma was once more thrust upon him. “I will deal with that matter when she is back under my care. As for you...” He gathered his powers and fixed her with his gaze. “You will forget that the highwayman is a vampire. You will forget that I am a vampire.”

At first, Renarde frowned at him in puzzlement, but then her eyes glazed just like those of the mortals he fed upon. “Forget...” she echoed.

“Yes.” Aldric focused his will on her mind. “Only remember that you and Vivian were taken by a highwayman. Remember that you are concerned that Vivian is infatuated with him. When she returns, your duty will be to convince her to put that cad out of her mind.”

“Yes,” Madame Renarde’s eyelids drooped. “The cad.”

Aldric released his hold on her mind and tried to fight back worry. The longer a human spent in a vampire’s company, and the more they knew of the secrets of his kind, the more difficult it was to banish their memories.

Renarde blinked and rubbed her head. “I apologize. I must have dozed off. What were we speaking about?”

Aldric’s shoulders relaxed slightly. So far, this was the usual reaction. “I’ve agreed to pay the ransom as you’ve advised.”

“Splendid.” Madame Renarde yawned. “I cannot wait until my dear Vivian is home. Poor, sweet girl. I vow to do everything I can to help her forget about the highwayman who abducted her. Such a dreadful affair.”

“Indeed.” Aldric bit back a satisfied smile at her lack of mention of vampires. One problem appeared to be solved. “Now you should take your tonic and rest so that you may be of help to Vivian when I bring her home.”

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