The Secrets of Wolverton Manor (paranormal shifters and vampires) (Victorian Werewolves and Immortals) by Carina Wilder Page B

Drake did not.
    “Edmund, remember your position. Don’t you ever go and do anything I wouldn’t do. And never underestimate the strength of the family of the house. They are a powerful lot, and could take you down faster than a herd of elephants.”
    “Oh, I can’t imagine that I’d ever do anything you wouldn’t, Mrs. Drake,” said Edmund, thinking about the young man he was to tend to that afternoon and wondering if the cook would ‘do’ him. “Don’t you worry your lovely head. But you know, it’s an odd thing, trying to live this life where we go out and find victims at night, and yet pretend that everything is normal in this place. It seems to me like a scandal waiting to happen. There’s a good deal of risk involved for all of us when we run off, looking for blood.”
    “There ’s no real risk of scandal,” said Alice. “No one would believe it if the rumour began to spread. Not like someone eloping with the gardener. People love to devour those rumours like beef. But blood-suckers living under stairs? Not likely a tale that would go very far. You know that most consider vamp—I mean our kind---a myth.”
    “Speaking of all of that , did you have any luck last night, Edmund?” asked the cook.
    “I had enough,” said the footman, smiling. “Found an old codger living on his own and I left him unconscious but alive. He had so many wrinkles that no one will ever find the puncture wounds.”
    “Good lad. The old ones are the best sort. Even if they go rambling about a stranger breaking into their homes, the townsfolk just assume they’ve gone mad.”
    “Yes, always best to go for those sorts, but one of these days I would so love to sink my teeth into some young flesh,” said Edmund. “And close by. It’s an ordeal, having to run off to neighbouring towns when Dunston is so close at hand.”
    “You know we can’t take the risk of any incident being traced back to this house,” said Mrs. Drake. “Now off with you, young thing. Get working. I hear that there are some handsome young ladies coming today.”
    “I’m far more interested in the handsome young gentlemen, ” thought Edmund, who grabbed another scone before either woman could stop him and darted out of the room.

Chapter Two : Ida
     
     
    Ida pulled the brush gently through Lady Victoria’s thick head of hair, humming as she did so. This daily ritual was pleasant and relaxing for them both, and her mistress had always been kind in spite of Ida’s social inferiority, which would make many aristocrats treat her like a gutter snipe. But not the Lady; she regarded Ida almost as a friend, and certainly as a confidante. Ida probably knew more about Victoria than anyone on the planet, and there was a tight bond between them in spite of their apparent incompatibility.
    “Ida,” Lady Victoria asked as her maid pulled her hair back and began to style it, “Sometimes I wonder: are you quite happy?”
    “Yes, my lady. That is to say, I’m not unhappy.”
    “But you are, what? Over a century old by now? And forgive me for saying so, but you’re alone, aren’t you?”
    “That depends, I suppose, on your definition of ‘alone,’ doesn’t it, my lady?” smiled Ida.
    Lady Victoria laughed. “Yes, I suppose it does. In some ways you’re very likely never alone. Papa does like to keep a large staff.”
    “And I’m glad of it,” said Ida. “There are fifty of us below stairs, and it does keep life interesting, between that, hunting , and keeping an eye on your family.”
    “Yes, we are a rather unusual household, aren’t we? Who ever heard of your kind and ours living under one roof? What do you suppose might happen if we were ever found out?”
    “We wouldn’t be, my lady. But I reckon if we were, there would be a high price to pay.”
    “For us or for whomever discovered our secrets? That’s the real question,” said Lady Victoria pensively as Ida tightened her corset. “I don’t suppose any of us would allow an