Jonathan Barrett Gentleman Vampire Read Online Free Page B

hastily replaced the glasses and wine bottle in the cupboard. The answer to my plaintive question entered the doorway just as we shut everything and turned innocent faces toward her.
    Mother.
    She wasn’t fooled by our pose. “What are you two doing?” she demanded.
    “Only talking, Mother,” said Elizabeth.
    Mother sniffed, either in disbelief or disdain. Fortunately she was too far away to pick up any scent of the wine. She cast an unfriendly eye upon me. “And where were you all day? Mrs. Nooth placed a perfectly good meal on the table and your portion went to waste.”
    With as many servants as we had, I doubted that. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
    “You’ll tender your apologies to Mrs. Nooth. She was very offended.”
    And very forgiving. And in the kitchen. With more food. “Indeed, Mother? I shall go immediately and make amends.”
    She’d heard me but had not listened. “Where were you, Jonathan?”
    “Inspecting the fields,” I answered easily. It was mostly true, but I resented that this woman was turning me into a liar.
    “Never mind such things. You’ve far more important duties before you than farming. From now on leave menial work to those men who have been hired for it.”
    “Yes, Mother.” My head spun with that peculiar weighty disorientation that I associated with intoxication. With each passing minute the wine soaked in more deeply, increasing its effect, but I was careful not to let it show.
    “As long as you’re here I want to continue our talk about your education. Elizabeth, you are excused.”
    From where I stood, I saw the flash of anger in my sister’s eyes at being dismissed as though she were one of the servants. Her mouth tightened and her chin lifted, but she said nothing, nothing at all, quite loudly, all the way out the door.
    Mother did not ignore her so much as simply not notice. Her attention was entirely fixed upon me. She crossed the room to the chair she’d claimed next to Father’s desk and arranged herself. I was not invited to sit, nor did I ask to do so. It might unnecessarily prolong the interview. Though still hungry, that was outweighed by my need to hear her out and gain information in order to present a logical argument against it later. To Father. I knew better than to contend with his wife, who was partial to only her own unique logic and no one else’s.
    She produced her ivory scratching stick from somewhere and tapped it lightly against the palm of one hand. “And now, Jonathan,” she announced importantly, “we will plan out what you are going to do once you get to Cambridge.” She paused to poke vigorously at a spot above the nape of her neck with the stick. My teeth went on edge.
    Never, never in all my life was I so glad to be drunk.

CHAPTER TWO

    Some twenty minutes later, Mother generously excused me, by which time I’d developed a pressing need to rid myself of the wine. A good deal of it remained behind in my head, though, for it was aching badly. The pain so interfered with my thinking that afterward I couldn’t decide whether to visit the kitchen or retreat in misery to my room to sleep it away.
    Jericho resolved things when he emerged from the hall leading to the kitchen carrying a covered tray.
    “Is that for me?” I asked hopefully in response to his smile of greeting.
    “Miss Elizabeth suggested it,” he said. “Something to see you through until supper.”
    “Then God bless her for being the dearest, sweetest sister anyone ever had. Where is she?”
    “Out taking a ride of her own.”
    “Yes. Since Mother came back the horses are getting more than their share of exercise. Come, put that down somewhere.”
    “I would suggest that you take it in your sitting room. To avoid interruptions,” he added significantly
    I glanced uneasily back at the library and indicated that he should lead the way upstairs. Somehow I was able to follow, leaning heavily on the rail and gulping frequently. Hot in the face and dizzy, I staggered the