Infernal Vices (Resurrectionist #3)

CHAPTER 31

THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS

The household seemed to be up and about with the dawn chorus. I tried to sleep past six o’clock but plans for the Easter Ball were well underway downstairs and once awake I could not rest. Sebastian was lightly snoring beside me and so I watched him sleep for a while, marveling at the fact he was here, and mine, before my insistent elderly bladder made me leave the comfort of our warm bed and venture to the bathroom.

Sebastian had stopped at his daughter’s room before we retired to bed and explained what we needed from her. She had done a wonderful job at becoming a distraction for Leopold and it seemed Leo enjoyed Nissa’s company a great deal—so much so that he had been spending time with her instead of Blake. This, in turn made the American snappy and vindictive. I hoped that Nissa’s friendship had taken the shine off Leopold’s na?ve affections for Blake.

We breakfasted as per usual and then attended the Easter Sunday service at the village church. Guests then retired to their rooms or to the garden terrace while preparations were ongoing for tonight’s ball.

I strode through the Italian garden and down the pathway towards the pond. There I heard laughter before I saw Nissa, Leo, and Fairfax at the water’s edge feeding bread to a brood of fluffy yellow ducklings.

“Ah, there you are Leo,” I said brightly as I approached. The young German Baron turned and smiled widely. Gods, here in nature with the spring sunshine upon his face he was so effeminately pretty he could have been a water nymph. I noted that his long blond hair was tied back with a pink ribbon that matched Nissa’s. I must confess the Baron was far more amiable in her company, than under the influence of whatever drugging substances he enjoyed when in the sole charge of Blake and Cavendish.

“Ah, Benedict, my brother. I have been meaning to get you alone,” he said enthusiastically in his softly accented voice.

“Good. I too would like to talk. Can I possibly drag you away from your little ducklings?”

Leo laughed coquettishly and brushed breadcrumbs from his hands. Then he climbed up the bank to greet me. Fairfax and Nissa shared a knowing look and I gave a curt nod.

“Come, I’d like to have a look at this splendid summerhouse,” I suggested. Leopold linked my arm like a child and we set off. Fairfax and Nissa kept pace a few steps behind us .

“I have been meaning to thank you—” the young man began. “—for enabling my return to London, and for the introduction to Princess Nissa. I was so cross with my father for the ridiculous rules set for my return. I initially thought that it would be frustrating to spend so much time with a strange girl when you know I favour older men, but Nissa and I have become friends and I very much enjoy the time we spend together.”

“That is good to hear. I can understand how unmoored one can feel when in a new country with few friends.”

“My first time in England was quite freeing, actually. Father had not permitted me to travel before. I was made to study all of the time so that I would be ready to take over the family estate. I was not permitted any fun. But…I suppose I did overdo things a little when I came to London.” He laughed, it was a light, self-mocking sound, and then he paused for a moment before saying, “Did you know Nissa is a wonderful dancer? She has taught me a dance from India, and her Bartitsu martial art from the Orient,” he added excitedly. “She said she knows a Chinaman who teaches the art and she can take me to classes in London.”

“That does sound wonderful.” We rounded the pond and began on a pathway towards the summerhouse. It was built in the Neo-classical style displaying the facade of a miniature Greek temple. We mounted the ivory steps and opened the door. Inside was a square room with timber benches set along three walls. Two armchairs, each draped with a blanket over the arm sat in the center of the bare flagstone floor. Between the armchairs there was a lantern with a box of matches and a pile of books. It was immediately far cooler inside than outside and I understood the need for a blanket.

“Ah! I think we have discovered the hiding place of Martha and Alice,” I suggested with a grin. “Unless Benjamin has taken to reading—” I picked up the first book and browsed the author name, “Christina Rosetti!” I laughed.

“Oh, I have read her Goblin Market poem, she is a wonderful writer,” Leo insisted and I found myself chagrined.

We left the doors open and each took a seat as Fairfax and Nissa sat outside on the steps and enjoyed the view across the pond and up to Seabourn Abbey.

“I wanted to talk to you about tonight.”

“Oh, yes, the final ritual. I cannot wait. It is so very exciting,” Leo said full of enthusiasm.

“I wanted to ensure you fully understood what is to happen.”

“Of course I understand!” He looked down his aristocratic nose at me as if I was mad. “I am a sacred vessel. Lawrence and I will use the Greek prick and be together forever.”

Oh dear, this was going to be more difficult than I expected. It was like speaking with a child.

“How do you think that will happen?”

“It is in the red book. Did you see those filthy illustrations?” he chuckled.

I took in a calming lungful of spring air and asked, “Did you actually read the ritual or just look at the pictures?”

Leopold pouted and he glared at me haughtily. “What is this all about? Why are you being mean?”

“Did you read the book?”

“I…um lost it,” he admitted petulantly. “I never had a chance to read the ritual, but all of the brothers have a copy, you have a copy…will you lend your book to me? Please Brother Benedict. Lawrence will be mad if he finds out I lost mine.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. I knew that Sebastian found Leo’s copy of the book when we swapped his garments for a dress to smuggle him out of the last Cavendish Ball. It appeared I was going to need to spell out exactly what would occur during the ritual and hope that Leopold would not bolt even though that is exactly what he should do !

“You know that Nissa is your friend, yes? We are all your friends and have your best interest at heart,” I gentled.

“What are you talking about?” the young man scowled. I removed my red book from my pocket and leafed through the fine pages as I said,

“The ritual is untested in our times. We don’t know if it even works. The translation from Archaic Greek was made and copied for our book. I don’t know if you are aware, but the Archaic Greek alphabet varied by locale. So, if this scroll was read by a learned scholar from a particular area the translation would differ in meaning. But, for the Island of Agea, where the Staff and scroll were found, the words in the ritual mean, that for the power in the Staff of Asklepios to be awakened, ‘ The bull and goat must know love, sacrifice love and life to beget life evermore .’ Do you understand Leo? This is most important,” I said with the sullen seriousness of a priest.

Leopold looked stricken then, wilting a little but said nothing in reply, so I carried on.

“I understand it to mean that to awaken the power of the Staff during the ritual; those using it must be in love—”

”We are, I love Lawrence, I do!” Leo insisted. I held a hand up to silence him, and then continued .

“—And they must know true death to be reborn.” I paused for a beat before revealing the awful truth. “To enact the ritual spelled out in the scroll you will both need to actually die to be reborn, Leo. This is the fate Lawrence has planned for you both.”

“Y…yes… I know,” he said weakly. “I am the sacred vessel. I am the key to immortality. I will pass through the veil with my lover and we will return to tell what is on the other side,“ he continued with false bravado. Then in a trembling voice added, “He said we will be Gods amongst men. We will be famous for returning, resurrected like Christ, and we will be granted life eternal. We will tour the world and preach of what we saw. It will be glorious.” His lips trembled as he spoke.

It was then that Nissa and Fairfax stood up and came into the summerhouse. Nissa lowered to her knees in front of Leo and took his pale trembling hands in hers.

“Sweetheart, I know everything, you need not be afraid,” she said as a tear fell from Leopold’s eye.

“I…I don’t want to die,” the boy whispered. “But I promised Lawrence. I told him I love him. I am the vessel, a gift from the Gods. Lawrence said he has searched for years to find me.”

I rather felt sorry for the boy, for he had been seduced by Blake’s affections and pulled into events he truly did not understand .

“Blake has a gift of telling men what they want to hear,” Fairfax said as he stood by my side.

“But he loves me. He tells me all the time how he loves me,” Leo insisted. “He would never harm me.”

“I’d like to show you something,” Nissa said and then turned to Fairfax, who eased his hand inside his jacket and removed a folded piece of paper. He passed it to Nissa, who unfolded it and showed the page to Leo. I gasped when I realized what it was—the photograph I had taken from the Parisian brothel book.

“Do you remember me telling you about my father and how we were recently acquainted? He did not know I lived, and I did not know he survived the sea journey from Bombay to Southampton. This is a photograph of my father with a man named Nathaniel Everett. It was taken in Paris when father was eighteen.” Nissa showed the photo to Leo.

“But…how can this be? That man with your father is my Lawrence, younger, but…it is. Why was he using another name?”

“Nathaniel Everett is also a false name. He has used many false names over the years.”

Leopold’s complexion was ashen. “What happened to your father?”

“He was Everett’s favourite, until he tired of him. Then he drugged him and set him up to be sold into prostitution and photographed with other men. My father was astute, smarter than his abuser and he realized his drinks were doctored with a drug that made him pliant to his master’s whims. He stopped drinking what he was offered, and finally he escaped,” Nissa explained softly.

“So, now you understand what is at stake here, Leo. Nobody knows if the Staff is actually magical or if stories of its healing properties are the stuff of fables. Blake is not the man you think he is, no matter how much you believe you love him, he is not to be trusted. You are not his first special boy, and you will not be his last,“ Fairfax stated.

“LIES! This cannot be true. This is lies. Why are you lying to me? Lawrence would never put me in danger. He loves me. I am his vessel. You are jealous, that is it. You want to use the Staff for your own means…just like that dolt with the limp prick, Ardmillan.” Leo spat maliciously. He snatched his hands back from Nissa and stood. “We’ll just have to see what Lawrence says about all of this!”

I panicked then and stood too but before Leo could rush out of the summerhouse Charles Ashe and Jack Dancer stood in the doorway…And Charles held the dossier.

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