Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (4 page)

‘
Your employer? I did not think you were employed by anybody.
I thought you were your own man.’

‘
In a way I am. But, I do not have the wealth to do as I
please. Our family is reliant on the patronage of the rich. It is
not a thing I care to advertise and it is not something I wished
you to know. But now, because of your actions, you
need
to know our
precarious situation.’

Alexandre
suddenly had the shock realisation his family weren’t exactly who
he thought they were. They were not the carefree members of the
wealthy upper classes who could travel through life without a
thought for anything.

‘
But our house … everything we do speaks of money.’

‘
Yes, the house is ours and we are fortunate that we have
enough. But ‘enough’ is not an endless supply.’

With a
sickening lurch in his stomach, Alexandre understood things were
not as they seemed and his selfish actions really may have had
serious consequences for his family. He had known going out on to
the terrace unaccompanied with Lily Bouvier was against the rules,
and the kiss was completely unacceptable. But he had not
anticipated that to break these rules could mean his father’s
career might suffer and, in turn, his whole family’s fortunes. He
hung his head again, but this time it was with real shame.

‘
Papa, I did not realise and I will never do anything like
this again. I am ashamed ... I will make it up to you.’

‘
Pah!’ his father replied. ‘You are too handsome for your own
good.’ He turned back to Maman. ‘This boy’s good looks are
from
your
side of
the family. It is entirely your fault we have this
problem.’

Alexandre and
his mother both chanced a wary smile. Papa’s anger was always
short-lived; he could never be cross with any of his family for too
long. He loved them all too much.

*

On Monday
morning, Alexandre paced around the drawing room, imagining the
worst. Cold spring rain splattered against the windows and gusting
wind rattled the misted panes.

‘
For goodness sake, Alexandre. Do sit down. We shall hear back
soon enough,’ his mother snapped.

Papa was
currently visiting the offices of Monsieur Bouvier to apologise for
his son’s behaviour. Alexandre was terribly worried. Would Papa
lose his funding? Would Monsieur Bouvier expect Alexandre to be
given a serious punishment?

His parents
had thought it best if Alexandre did not accompany his father. They
said the mere sight of his handsome face could further provoke high
feelings and that was the last thing they wanted.

A few hours
later, and several hundred more circuits around the drawing room,
Alexandre took a deep breath as he heard the front door slam.

The door to
the drawing room flew open and his father strode in, removing his
hat and coat and tossing them onto a side table. His cheeks were
flushed and his eyes glittered.

‘
Goodness, it is foul weather out there. Blowing a gale. Where
are the others? Can you call them in, Marie?’

Alexandre’s
mother swept out of the room, gathering up her husband’s hat and
coat on the way. Alexandre couldn’t work out what sort of mood his
father was in. He appeared agitated, but not entirely angry. He
ignored his eldest son and stood looking out of the window, his
hands clasped behind his back.

Moments later,
Marie-Louise returned, the twins following her into the drawing
room with expectant expressions. Jacques raised a quizzical eyebrow
at his brother. Alexandre shrugged in reply.

‘
Well, Didier?’ Marie-Louise asked. ‘Are you going to put this
boy out of his misery and tell him what his punishment is to
be?’

‘
Lily Bouvier is to be engaged!’ Didier announced.

Alexandre felt
his stomach sink down to his boots.

‘
I am to … to … marry?’

‘
Ha ha!’ Didier roared with laughter. ‘Not you! You, marry?
Ha! You can barely take care of yourself.’

Alexandre’s
stomach inched back up to where it should’ve been. His mother gave
a half-smile, half-frown in his father’s direction.

‘
No, no. No marriage for you just yet,’ his father continued.
‘But, Lily is to be wed and Monsieur Bouvier is worried your little
scandal has the potential to damage his daughter’s
reputation.’

Alexandre
realised his punishment would be harsh. He had kissed someone
else’s fiancée. He lowered his eyes and waited for his father’s
pronouncement.

‘
Monsieur Bouvier has decided the only course of action is for
you to accompany us to Turkey on the dig. If we are all out of the
country, the gossip may eventually die down.’

Alexandre
thought he had heard wrong.

‘
Well? Have you nothing to say?’ The corners of Papa’s mouth
curled upwards.

‘
Is this true?’ Alexandre could not believe it. ‘I am to come
with you?’

‘
That’s not fair …’ Jacques began.

‘
Not just you, Alexandre,’ Papa said. ‘We are all to go. All
five of us.’

‘
But this is amazing!’ Jacques almost leapt around the
room.

‘
No!’ Isobel exclaimed. ‘I do not wish to go!’

‘
Incredible,’ Maman said, ignoring her daughter’s distress for
the moment. ‘He is funding the whole family?’ Her dawning smile
encompassed them all.

‘
Yes!’ Papa also allowed his smile to break
through.

Alexandre had
been fully prepared to knuckle down and spend a gloomy year at his
books and yet instead he was now to accompany his parents across
the ocean to Turkey, to adventure and excitement. What excellent
fortune.

‘
I shall miss the whole season! I shall miss my friends and
everyone will be talking about us, saying we have been sent away
like criminals.’ Isobel all but stamped her foot. ‘Alexandre, this
is your doing.’

‘
I am sorry for your disappointment, Isobel, but come now, do
you not think we shall all have such fun travelling together?’
Alexandre replied, his eyes alight as the reality sank
in.

‘
Belle! How can you not want to go?’ Jacques asked. ‘You are
so boring.’

‘
Jacques,’ his mother reprimanded. ‘Do not be rude to your
sister. She has different priorities to you and it is a lot for her
to take in.’

She turned to
Isobel who sat down heavily at the piano, looking most upset.
‘Isobel, my child, do not distress yourself. What Papa omitted to
say, is that we shall be travelling First Class and there will be
wonderful parties aboard our steamship. Think of the glamorous
stories you shall tell your friends when we return.’

‘
Well, that is something I suppose. But, Maman, will I not
need some new gowns if we are to travel First Class?’

‘
This one does not miss a trick,’ Papa said. ‘Very well. New
gowns for Isobel and, to be fair, new gowns for Maman.’

‘
Oh, Papa, I love you!’ Isobel jumped up from the piano stool,
ran across the room and threw her arms around her
father.

‘
Oh you’re such a girl, Isobel,’ Jacques said. ‘Who cares
about dresses and dances when we shall be travelling on the ocean
and visiting foreign shores? It will be wonderful.’

Later that night, as Alexandre lay in bed unable to sleep, he
thought about his sudden good fortune.
Thank you Lily. That kiss has changed the course of my
life
. After years of begging to come and
being denied the opportunity, he could now accompany his parents on
one of their infamous digs.

It was uncanny
that he had landed himself in such trouble, and yet from it had
come something so unexpected and wonderful. Turkey! What was it
like? What would the people be like? The women? No ... better not
go down that avenue too soon, or his parents would ship him
straight back to Paris.

Maybe his life would now take on some meaningful direction
and he could find something he really wanted to do. At present he
was studying Engineering at the
Académie Camillo. But it wasn’t his
passion, just a subject he was good at and at this moment he felt
nothing but enormous relief that he could escape it. In his heart,
he hoped another opportunity would present itself and he would
never have to resume his dull studies.

How would he ever fall asleep
tonight? Too many things danced through his mind. The journey
overland would be long and arduous, possibly even dangerous and he
would have to be armed. It was almost too exciting to
contemplate
.

The departure date had been
brought forward and their tickets now bore the date March
12
^th
1881, only two weeks from now. Hardly any time at all to
get properly prepared for a nine-month expedition in a strange
land.

Chapter
Three

*

Madison and
her foster parents reached a kind of compromise, a way to keep the
peace and try to get back to normal. Angie arranged for Maddy to
spend her week’s suspension from school, working with her in the
supermarket.

It meant Maddy
could keep out of Trevor’s way, stay out of trouble and, at the
same time, contribute to the dwindling household income. Angie was
happy with the arrangement, Madison less so and Ben was relieved
Maddy wouldn’t be sent away. Trevor hadn’t made his feelings known;
he’d just grunted.

Madison had
been stacking shelves, sweeping floors, cleaning toilets and
flattening cardboard boxes for a couple of days now. She and Angie
were on the eight-till-four shift, with forty five minutes for
lunch. Each day was long and monotonous and Madison was bored out
of her skull.

Nobody
interesting or good looking worked there and she was mortified
every time anyone from school came in, mainly because she had to
wear a blouse and skirt so revolting they induced violent feelings
of nausea. To complete this humiliating ensemble, was a blue nylon
overall which generated so much static, she renamed herself
Electro-Girl, whose only superpower was to give off shocks barely
strong enough to irritate a wasp.

Maddy knew her
foster mum enjoyed having her there. They had their tea breaks and
lunch together and Angie kept trying to initiate cosy chats, trying
to draw her into all the work gossip. But Maddy wasn’t interested
in the faulty till on checkout number three or how bad the
manager’s new hairpiece looked.

Home life
wasn’t much better, with Trevor ignoring her and Ben constantly
asking if she was okay. Each evening, when she got home from the
supermarket, there was a shed load of schoolwork waiting. She was
fed up and exhausted. Nothing felt good. To top it all off,
tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday and she had nothing planned.
She didn’t even know if anyone would remember.

The following
morning dawned grey and bland. A nothingy day – damp and dull. But
when Madison came down to breakfast, she saw two wrapped presents
on the table.

‘
Happy birthday, love,’ Angie smiled and kissed her cheek.
‘Your brother reminded us. What with all that’s been going on, we
almost forgot. Sweet sixteen and never been kissed.’

‘
Hmphh.’

‘
Trevor! Don’t be such a misery guts. It’s the girl’s
birthday. You don’t turn sixteen every day.’

‘
Happy Birthday,’ he finally said. ‘Well, don’t just stand
there, sit down and have some breakfast. Angie’s done us a fry
up.’

Ben flew into
the kitchen. ‘Happy Birthday, Mads! I got you a present.’ He handed
her a small, badly wrapped parcel.

‘
Oh, Ben, you didn’t have to! Thanks.’

‘
Open it then.’

‘
Give us a chance.’ She tore at the wrapping, secured with
yards and yards of sellotape. ‘God, Ben, did you use the whole
roll?’ She finally managed to prise the gift free of its bonds and
out of a small squashed cardboard box fell a silver bracelet with a
single charm attached. It was a small bird with its wings
outstretched.

‘
It’s not real silver or anything, but I’ve seen you with that
seagull book all the time and the charm looks a bit like a seagull,
so I thought you might like it.’

‘
Ben, I love it. It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever bought
me. You are such a great brother. But you shouldn’t’ve spent your
money on me.’ She stood up and flung her arms around him, kissing
his cheek till he pushed her away.

‘
Alright, Maddy, it’s not
that
great.’

‘
Yes it is. I’m going to put it on and I’ll wear it every day,
forever.’

‘
Aaah, Ben,’ Angie said. ‘You’re such a thoughtful boy. You’ll
make someone a lovely husband one day.’

Ben blushed
and sat down at the table.

‘
Are we eating or what?’ Trevor said. ‘I mean it’s lovely and
all that, but our breakfast’s getting cold.’

‘
I’ll dish up,’ Angie said. ‘Sit back down, Maddy. You can
open the rest of your presents after brekkie.’

Maddy still
had to go to work, even on her birthday, but she hadn’t expected
anything otherwise. She opened Angie and Trevor’s presents which
turned out to be some fairly awful perfume and a box of
chocolates.

‘
Sorry it’s nothing more exciting, love, but you know we’re a
bit strapped at the moment. We’ll get you something better when
Trevor’s back at work again.’