A Conspiracy of Alchemists: Book One in the Chronicles of Light and Shadow (21 page)

CHAPTER 36

The dining cart was filled with elegant people all dressed for dinner. Feathers, diamonds and furs abounded as fine ladies in fashionable narrow-cut rail-carriage dresses sipped their drinks. Their companions, dressed in dark dinner suits, stood about, talking. The confines of the train created a strangely intimate atmosphere for what was a fairly formal occasion.

A dark-haired woman sat on her own, perched on one of the high chairs at the bar. She looked up and smiled as Elle and Marsh sat down at one of the tables.

Elle glanced at the woman’s dress. It was unusual, black like midnight, against the pale skin of her exposed décolletage. The hem and sleeves were drawn up with satin ribbons. She looked like a dark angel perched on the chair.

“Loisa!” Marsh said. He smiled at the woman warmly. “What a lovely surprise.”

“Hugh!” The woman held out an elegant gloved hand.

“Delightful to see you.” He bowed over her satin-covered hand.

The woman lifted her chin. “And the same to you, darling.” Her lips curled into a slow smile.

Elle felt an acute stab of jealousy at their familiarity. Perhaps it wasn’t so much that there were no women in the man’s life. Perhaps it was because there were so many that any mention of them would give rise to indiscretion. That would explain things. How disappointing.

“Elle, I’d like to introduce you to a dear friend of mine. May I present the Baroness Belododia. Loisa, may I present Miss Eleanor Chance.”

The lady smiled, revealing a row of perfect white teeth. Her skin was so fine that it was at the point of being translucent. Despite the powder and rouge, two dark blue crescents rested below the woman’s exquisite eyes, which gave her a slightly haunted look. Elle felt a little shudder run up her spine. The baroness was a Nightwalker. She bowed her head. “Your ladyship.”

“Miss Chance, how do you do. I am always pleased to meet a friend of Hugh’s.” She drawled in perfect English, her accent slightly heavy on the “r”s.

Elle wasn’t sure she liked the way the woman used the word friend, but before she could respond, the baroness had moved and was sitting next to her.

“Please, do join us,” Hugh said drily.

“Thank you, darling,” the baroness drawled. “Now, would you be a dear and bring us some drinks, yes?” She cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow at Marsh.

“I am at your service, my lady.”

Elle folded her hands. Even the ancient and the undead were not immune to Marsh’s charms, it seemed.

The baroness smiled at her again in what must have been a warm smile while she was still alive, as if she were expecting Elle to say something.

“So are you traveling all the way to Constantinople?” She didn’t know many Nightwalkers, especially not high born ones, and so she wasn’t quite sure what to say.

The baroness laughed. “Good heavens, no, I am only going as far as Bucharest. I always spend the winter at my uncle’s estate in the Carpathians. You might have heard of my uncle, the count?”

Elle’s eyes grew wide. “You mean?”

The baroness’s smile widened. “Ah yes, I see you have heard of him, then. My uncle Vlad is quite well known in England, I think, no?” She folded her gloved hands primly. “At least since all that terrible business with that lawyer’s wife in Whitby.’ She shook her head and her perfect dark curls bounced. “I don’t know what he was thinking, but then again, men are so predictable, aren’t they?”

Elle felt herself warming to the baroness. “I suppose they are,” she said.

Marsh arrived with a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket. He popped open the cork and poured out three glasses for them. This was much to the consternation of the waiter, who hovered behind him with a tray. Marsh sat down at the table and smiled at them.

“Ladies,” he said.

The baroness reached out and tickled Marsh’s chin. “Such a handsome butler you would make, my darling,” she pouted. “You should come to thee estate for the winter. We Nightwalkers do so love to ski.”

“Oh, you couldn’t afford me,” he said.

The baroness picked up a tiny jug of blood that the waiter had discretely placed on the table next to her. She tipped a drop into the glass and watched the red curl to the bottom, staining her drink pink. She raised her glass and inclined her head. “To friends,” she said.

“To friends,” Marsh echoed. “And a truly lovely friend you are.”

“Oh, darling, you are too kind,” Loisa fluttered her eyelashes gently. On a lesser woman the gesture would have been coquettish, but not on her.

Elle watched the baroness sip from her glass. “Please don’t think me rude, but do you mind me asking? Can Nightwalkers drink champagne?”

The baroness laughed again. “She is so adorable, this one. So fresh and lovely.” She stared at Elle with her glittering dark eyes.

Elle felt the hairs on her arms rise. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend by asking.” She started to offer an apology, but the baroness put her hand on Elle’s arm. She could feel the coolness through the gloves.

“ ‘Of course I don’t mind you asking, my dear. It is sometimes so nice to find frankness among all these rules of protocol, don’t you think, Hugh?”

Hugh gave Loisa a pained smile and took a swig of his champagne.

“Yes, my darling,” the baroness said, turning to Elle. “We can eat and drink. Our bodies are exactly like they were when we were human. But food gives us no nourishment.” She wrinkled her nose. “It tastes like eating cardboard and there is simply no point to it. What we need is the essence. The energy. The pulsing life force that lives in blood.” Elle saw something predatory flicker in Loisa’s eyes. “Alcohol, on the other hand, we can taste. And most of us like it, especially if it is flavored,” she said, tilting her glass and the red blob at the bottom moved. Elle wondered what kind of blood it was.

“But how does the blood work?”

The baroness took another sip of her champagne and smiled. “And clever too. Hugh, I
am
impressed. Your standards are improving.” She spoke without taking her eyes off Elle. “Unfortunately, sweet one, I am an old Nightwalker. I was born a long before our Elders became involved in politics and all of the scientists started analyzing why things work the way they do. So in answer to your question, I honestly don’t know. I never get involved with such matters. They just make me sad.” She laughed, and the sound was like breaking glass.

There was a gentle tinkle of brass bells at the other side of the carriage, announcing that dinner was served.

“Ladies, speaking of sustenance, will you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?” Marsh said. “I for one am curious to see what miracles of gastronomy are about to be served up in the dining cart.”

“But of course, darling. I would love to. How lovely of you to ask.”

The three of them were shepherded into the dining cart and shown to a table.

Marsh seated himself opposite Elle and the baroness who had somehow appeared in the seat next to her. She watched the waiter discreetly remove the silver from the table and replace the knives and forks with ivory-handled steel cutlery. The Orient Express catered to the needs of their Shadow passengers in every way, it seemed.

Dinner involved five courses for Elle and Marsh. The baroness’s meal consisted of five matching liquid courses, served up in crystal goblets. Elle was amazed at how interesting and elaborate the dishes were, considering that they were on a moving train. The kitchen rather quaintly matched the solid and liquid menus for the convenience of guests.

Elle took a bite of her roast breast of pheasant while watching the baroness take a sip of pheasant blood from the gold-rimmed goblet before her.

“Hmm.” Loisa murmured, and pursed her red lips. “Delicious. I do adore pheasant, don’t you?” she said. “Especially this time of year.”

Elle nodded and smiled. To her surprise, the baroness was turning out to be most agreeable company, when she wasn’t flirting with Marsh. Knowing that the baroness was well fed made her seem much less scary.

The baroness, in turn, spent most of the time chatting with Marsh about people and past events that Elle knew nothing about. Marsh flirted back with consummate expertise and it was not long before he had the elegant baroness giggling into her goblet, almost spluttering her dinner over herself and the tablecloth.

How does he do that? Elle wondered with no small measure of annoyance. She found herself feeling annoyed about the fact that she was annoyed. The man was driving her to the brink of insanity.

The corners of his mouth curled up into a little smile and she felt something inside her quicken. It would be so easy to fall in love with a man like him. He was absolutely mesmerizing. But he was a liar and a manipulator too. She pushed the thought firmly out of her mind and concentrated on the baroness’s convoluted tale of how they used to go sledging downhill at night a hundred years ago.

Desserts were tiny slices of dense chocolate cake with cream for her and Marsh and a cup of sweetened mulled pork blood for Loisa, followed by cheese on a board.

Marsh put down his spoon and sat back. He patted his waistcoat and signaled for a cigar. “That was a most excellent dinner. But, ladies, if you would excuse me; I am in dire need of a good cigar, a snifter of brandy and some male banter in the saloon. Loisa, could I perhaps impose on you to amuse my lovely companion while I excuse myself?”

The baroness’s face brightened. “It would be my pleasure. There are many hours till dawn and the train at night can be so dull sometimes. I know Eleanor and I are going to be great friends.” Loisa gave a little moue. Marsh smiled and left the carriage.

Then she turned to Elle and focused her sharp dark gaze on her. “Shall we play some cards?”

Elle felt a small frisson of fear run over her. She didn’t think she could ever become accustomed to the stare of Nightwalkers. Even the non-threatening kind.

“Let’s,” she agreed.

Loisa held her arm and signaled a waiter. “May we have some playing cards, please?”

The waiter returned with a deck of cards on a small wooden tray. The baroness had taken off her gloves. She curled her white fingers, slightly blue at the nails, around the deck and started shuffling the cards, faster than the eye could follow. She cut the deck expertly and placed the cards face down on the table.

She looked at Elle with a conspiratorial smile. “Finally, we are alone. I have been
dying
for him to go for a brandy.”

Elle looked at her with some surprise. She had thought that quite the opposite was true.

“So tell me, darling, what have you done to capture my poor Hughby’s heart like that?”

Elle blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Ah, you didn’t know it, do you?” She gave Elle a sly look.

Elle suddenly felt like a mouse watched by a sleek cat. “Um, viscount Greychester and I are merely good friends. We are travelling on business.”

The baroness snorted and gave her a knowing smile. “Viscount Greychester never does anything unless it is for his pleasure.” She drew a wooden case from her reticule and pulled out a cigarillo.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

Elle did not smoke herself. She failed to see the point and it was a rather smelly habit, but Loisa Belododia made even smoking, the most unladylike of activities, look elegant and sophisticated. She had to admire the woman for that.

Loisa lit the cigarillo and deeply inhaled the smoke. “Most of us smoke, you know. It reminds us of what it felt like to breathe. Some say that cigars poison the lungs.” She shrugged. “Who knows if that is true? Who cares. We are dead anyway.” There was a touch of sadness in her voice. She picked up the deck and started dealing the cards. “Gin rummy?”

Elle nodded. Why not? How many people could claim to have played gin rummy with a highborn Nightwalker—on a train?

Loisa brightened as she looked at her cards. She pulled one out of her hand and placed it on the table before her and picked a card from the deck. She slipped it into the fan of cards in her hand.

“So how long have you known the viscount?” Elle said, trying to sound casual.

Loisa stared at Elle. “Long enough. I am one of the few who has stuck with him regardless of what others were saying at the time. But you are so very young. Too young to know about the gossip,” she said.

“Gossip?” Elle said.

The baroness let out an elaborate sigh and fanned out her cards. “Oh, I am not sure I should tell. It’s never good to drag up old ghosts.”

Elle leaned forward. This sounded important.

The baroness put her fan of cards face down on the table. “Oh, very well, I’ll tell you,” she said. “But you have to promise not to say anything.”

“You have my word,” Elle said.

“You must know by now that Hugh is a high-ranking Warlock, yes?” She arched her carefully shaped eyebrows at Elle.

Elle nodded. “He has mentioned it.”

“But do you know that he is one of the youngest Warlocks ever to be elected to the Council? The Council, as I’m sure you also know, guards and controls the use of Shadow force across the world. Statesmen and kings rely on them to keep the balance in the natural order of the world. It’s their role to keep the Shadow in check so the balance is maintained.”

Elle nodded again. “So I have been told.”

The baroness sat forward, her gaze intense. “Without the Council of Warlocks, the world would be in chaos. Creatures like me would be hunted down and killed by the religious and those who have no tolerance for the Shadow. The world would turn to chaos just as it did in the Dark Ages when the first Council in Rome collapsed. And not only for Nightwalkers, but for all creatures of Shadow.”

She shuddered. “The Dark Ages was a terrible time. Not many of my kind survived. They came after us, armed with iron and fervor, seeking our destruction, no matter what the cost. We were hunted. Then came the inquisitions and the burnings.” She picked up her cards and spread them in front of her face. She gazed at her cards. “We lived in secret, like animals. Always hiding.”

“I’m so sorry,” Elle said, not wanting to offend. “I’m sure that must have been awful for you.”

“We, the immortal ones, have to put our faith in such fragile creatures. And all for the simple fact that they can venture into the sun. I will never understand why some of my kin made pacts with day-dwellers in the way that they did.”