The apple, as they say, had not fallen far from that tree, a tree that went back to the time of William the Conqueror with an assortment of noblemen and thieves along the way.
I, too, had declared that I would never wed…
Then, there was Brodie.
He could be stubborn, from the streets as they say, not at all the sort of man a proper young woman might choose. But despite his rough edges and curses when he was angry, his loyalty went soul deep. He was also the most honorable man I had ever met, I thought, looking across at him now.
And he was devilishly handsome with those dark eyes that looked at me in a certain way… when he wasn’t angry with me over something. That certain way reminded me of our very first unexpected encounter some years before, then again when he had helped in the matter of finding my sister in that first inquiry case.
Then there was that other thing…
It was something my aunt, of all people, had told me. He made my toes curl… with just that look in those dark eyes, and what usually followed.
So, there it was, all of my well-intentioned plans out the window so to speak— married, very well married, thank you, even though there were still parts of this that Brodie and I were still figuring out; much like a murder case to be investigated.
And there was the role of parent, that seemed very much to be an arrangement with the whole family, including my sister who had recently declared that Lily’s manners were atrocious, and was determined that she needed some refinement. That included music and voice lessons.
I thought that might be taking things a bit far, but had decided to withhold any judgment in that regard. Lily certainly didn’t seem the refined, musical sort. But then what did I know about raising a half-grown young woman, other than having once been one.
For all those reasons, Lily spent a great deal of time at Sussex Square. She had my old room, and the sword room— a girl after my own heart on that.
For his part, Brodie had not hesitated at the arrangement. He had merely cautioned that she was not a child, but a young woman very nearly grown, who had the sort of life experiences that others had not.
But the truth was, that so far he made a wonderful father figure— stern when he had to be, indulgent in ways he never had experienced as a child himself, and supportive of me— while juggling inquiry cases and new work for the Agency.
As for today, my sister, Lenore, had sent round a message that Lily was to give a music recital for the family this afternoon.
So here we were, Brodie and I, navigating this new aspect of our relationship, and attending Lily’s first recital.
Upon our arrival and greeting by my aunt’s head butler, Mr. Symons, we discovered that a “small family affair” included several of my aunt’s close acquaintances, those she usually invited for cards or tarot readings.
My sister, Linnie, met us at the entrance to the grand salon.
“Mikaela, Mr. Brodie, I am so glad that you’re here,” she greeted us. “Lily has been doing marvelous with her lessons and I thought this would be a way of rewarding her.”
I wasn’t certain about the reward part of that comment. The day before Lily had taken me aside and asked if there was something else she might do besides the “stinkin’ music lessons.”
“What am I supposed to do with music lessons?” she had asked.
She most certainly wasn’t shy expressing an opinion.
It seemed that Linnie’s opinions of Lily’s enthusiasm for music and voice lessons might be a bit different than hers. And given her outright dislike, I didn’t bother to mention that refined skills such as music were often expected of a young woman in anticipation of marriage.
“I’m a-feared that I’ll go mush-headed with all the music, and voice lessons,” Lily had bemoaned, reminiscent of myself at her age.
“It’s boring!”
At her age, I had tried and succeeded at doing anything other than those boring lessons myself, which accounted for the fact that I much preferred music hall or stage performances by my friend, Templeton, over operas and concerts.
I had persuaded Lily to keep up with the lessons a little longer and here we were. She had been encouraged that it might only be for a little while longer, however looking over at her now seated at the piano, she looked absolutely miserable.
“Mr. Adams says that she does show promise,” Linnie continued, as we gave our coats and umbrellas to Mr. Symons.
Promise?
I exchanged a look with Brodie. He refused to respond to my sister on that one and I was inclined to agree.
I glanced about the music room, then at Lily.
