Part 16 – Amusements
Next evening – The Party
Irina let herself sink onto the couch in one of the smaller rooms connected to the ballroom which were meant to give the dancers some privacy and a room to rest and escape the mass of people.
Although only very few guests had arrived by now, she already felt annoyed by this play they were performing. She had to play the loving wife. Even worse, she had to hold all those annoying, boring conversations she had always spent her time to avoid.
Her mood was bad to say the least. Jack had paraded her from one guest to another, obviously enjoying her resistance.
Irina leaned her head back and stared at the beautifully decorated ceiling, then out of the window into the dark night. In every single rest room there was a door into the garden. She was just playing with the thought of escaping into the garden, when the curtain to her parlor was pulled back carefully.
"Irina?" Jack peeked inside and, when he saw her, came in.
"What?" Irina snapped annoyed and jumped up. Jack raised his eyebrows in amusement.
"Why the aggressive tone?" he teased, and Irina cocked her head, her eyes signifying that she was ready to kill him.
"Why the tone? Because I hate this!"
"What?"
"The party, those people out there who think we're married... you!" She turned and went to the window, leaning her forehead against the cool glass. "It's only been half an hour, and I could already kill them all. So what do you want? Skip the part where you annoy or tease me, and just get straight to the point!"
Jack chuckled and shook his head. "Well, actually I was simply worried, because you had disappeared. You would not be the first woman who loses consciousness in one of those tight corsets due to being unable to breathe." He was serious, and Irina turned in surprise.
"Oh... well, I'm not wearing one... otherwise, I probably would have already killed someone." She murmured. Jack just stared at her, then at her slender waist.
"You're not..." he started, unable to believe her words.
"No, as Katya always says…If you keep your body in shape and don't eat too much you do not have to wear supports to shape your body." Of course, she had noticed his stare and turned again to hide her amused smile. "So, was there something else?"
"No. No... except that you should come out again soon." He looked again at her perfectly shaped body, then shook his head and left before the sight of her got him into trouble again.
Irina watched him leave through the curtains and sighed. After she had straightened out her dress, she followed her husband outside into the ballroom. Immediately, she was surrounded by two ladies he hadn't met before.
"Lady Bristow, what a delightful pleasure to finally meet you! You husband told us you were a beauty, but he was clearly understating your appearance," a younger woman with a high voice said. Irina gave her a forced smile when she continued chattering about the present people and whom she liked – or disliked. "Tell me, Milady, I have never before heard of your family. Are you one of the fallen nobles?"
"Not quite." Irina replied, not even bothering to hide the annoyed tone from her voice. "We were just staying out of public."
"Excuse me," the other, taller woman now asked. She seemed to be more reasonable and – as well as Irina – annoyed by the younger woman. "Are you related to Lady Katya Derevko?"
"Yes," Irina smiled at her surprised. "She is my sister."
"Oh my god... then it's true! Don't you remember? We met in London some years ago. Your sister told me it was your first season! We used to guess which men would go for which women!"
Irina's face lightened up at this information. "Yes, I remember... wait... Lady Lynne, right?"
"Yes! I was so disappointed when you and your sister left so suddenly... how long has it been now?"
"Ten years." Irina said. She remembered that year – the experiences in London had changed her attitude towards men.
"I remember, you had a crush for the Duke." Lynne laughed. "I was so sorry when I heard about his riding accident. Poor man... unable to walk for the rest of his life. But I guess for you it was luck. Tell me, how did you and Lord Bristow get to know each other?"
"Oh... um..." Irina smiled friendly from one woman to the other. "It was a coincidence... in the woods."
"How romantic..." Lynne swooned, but the younger woman shook her head.
"In the woods? I would have pictured it was at a glorious party – some event of the queen."
Before Irina could answer, Jack stepped to them. "Excuse me, ladies, may I just steal my wife for a moment?"
He pulled Irina away from the women into a corner, ignoring her slight resistance.
"What is it?" she finally hissed when the other guests couldn't hear them anymore.
"I just wanted to remind you of our deal."
"What, are you afraid that I might ask one of them for help, since my husband is holding me prisoner in this house? Don't worry, as you have said, nobody would believe me anyway," she replied sarcastically, and Jack pulled her closer to bring his lips to her ear, which looked like a tender gesture for outsiders.
"Irina, you don't know the meaning of being held prisoner yet. We can easily change that."
"Another one of those threats. Seriously, this is getting boring." With these words, she broke free, turned and went away. Jack looked after her, shaking his head slightly, before his attention was pulled back to some of his friends from court.
As time went by, more and more visitors came to attend the party. Irina was surprised by the number of court members who were present, but she played her role as best as she could. Despite the fact that she wasn't afraid of Jack's threats, she was not in the mood to fight with him again tonight.
When the dancing started, she absolved the first dance with Jack – but only because that she knew she was expected to do so.
"Why are you keeping such a formal distance?" he eventually teased her when the other couples had also started dancing and turned their attention away from them. He pulled Irina closer.
"Because I might step on your foot otherwise – 'accidentally' of course," she replied, bringing back the distance. Jack chuckled, then his face became serious.
"Have I already told you how breathtakingly beautiful you're looking tonight?" He meant what he said, and Irina had not been prepared for that compliment. She just stared at him, forgetting about all manners. "I like your dress... it suits you..." he continued.
"Excuse me," Irina finally managed to say. "Why are you being so nice?"
"Because I'm trying to make this evening at least a little nice for both of us," he replied with an amused smile, his voice low, so that only she could hear. "Besides, I have never hidden how absolutely beautiful and attractive I think you are. Of course, the last times I showed it to you in a more passionate way."
The music stopped – just in the right moment, as Irina found. She broke free from Jack and turned. If he didn't know better, he would have said Irina was almost fleeing from him.
That was indeed the case. Irina felt dizzy and unable to stand on her legs. She disappeared in a free room and let herself sink to the couch. Her heart was racing, and she had the feeling of losing consciousness every moment. Why did Jack's words mean so much to her? Why did they seem to her as if they were the most beautiful words she had ever heard?
Her thoughts were soon torn away from Jack when James came to her, his face pale.
"Madam we have... um... kind of a situation, I think," he stopped, obviously thinking about how to form the words best.
"What is it?" Irina finally asked impatiently when the old man stuttered incoherently, unable to find words.
"Well... um..." They could hear yells from the service tract, and Irina didn't ask more questions. She hurried to follow James before any of the guests noticed the ado. She knew misbehavior from the servant's part was always a subject to gossip about and would put a bad light to the owner of the household.
"What is going on here?" Irina yelled angrily when she went through the service entry into the corridor to the kitchen and food storage room. Mrs. Tribbiani was standing in the middle of the corridor, holding a crying Sarah and a frightened boy. Irina witnessed her slapping the boy and hurried to interfere. "Hey!"
Her yell was too loud not to be overheard and even Mrs. Tribbiani froze for a moment. When she saw Irina she raised her eyebrows unwillingly.
"Aren't you supposed to play a role in there?" she asked sharply, and Irina raised her chin, her eyes narrowing in upcoming aggression at the tone of the housekeeper. "Did you bring her here?" Mrs. Tribbiani snapped at James.
"What happened?" Irina repeated her question more sharply now and looked at her young maid, whose eyes were filled with tears.
"I'm sorry Milady!" she stammered over and over again, obviously scared to death. Her cheek was red, and it didn't take Irina much of an effort to guess that the housekeeper had beaten her as well.
"Let go of them," she ordered the elder women, who scoffed ironically.
"Go back to the ball where you belong, otherwise I'll talk a word with Mr. Bristow. I'm sure he won't be amused if he finds that his 'wife'," the way she pronounced the word "wife" made it clear that she knew the whole story, "interferes with the business of his servants. You have nothing to do with it, so if you do not want any trouble, leave!"
Irina folded her arms. James took a few steps back, preparing to go for Jack if the situation got out of control.
"Mrs. Tribbiani," Irina started dangerously quiet. "I do not think that you fully understand..."
"Missy, I don't think you understand. As long as you're in this house, I'm the head of this household, and as far as I know, your marriage is nothing more than a means to an end. That makes you an employee of Jack Bristow, just as all the other servants are. Now move your ass back into that ballroom and do what you're here to do."
Irina raged inside. She grabbed the sleeves of the woman and pulled her closer towards her. "As long as I am the wife of Lord Bristow – whether that's fake or not shouldn't be your concern – you are working for me, not the other way around. So if I tell you to let go of my personal maid, this is what you will do – no discussion and no objections. If you have a problem with that, feel free to talk to my husband and complain." For a moment their eyes fought a silent battle, then Mrs. Tribbiani pushed Sarah away from her and went passed Irina.
"Be sure, Missy, I will do exactly that."
Irina looked after her. James shot her an admiring look, but Irina didn't even notice. She bent down to help Sarah up to her knees. The girl was still sobbing and shielding her face, obviously expecting more beats. But Irina pulled her hand away from her face and looked into her eyes.
"What happened?" she asked softly. When the girl didn't answer, she smoothed some hair out of her face. "Did you steal? You can tell me, I promise, I won't hurt you."
"No..." the girl burst out panicked. "I did not steal! I never stole."
Irina looked helplessly at James, and the butler came closer.
"A cook found them in the stable in a very compromising position..." he explained softly, and Sarah sobbed again. Irina's eyes widened.
"That's what this whole scene was all about?" she asked with disbelief and looked at Sarah, then at the boy, who stood frightened at the other wall. "Come here... what's your name?"
"August, Milady." He bowed, and Sarah burst out into tears again.
"I love him! We want to marry... please don't send him away... please!"
Irina calmed her down softly. "Shh, nobody is being sent away... go to your rooms to calm down and wash your faces."
"Um, Madam..." James started, but Irina looked up.
"You don't seriously want to tell me that Jack is going to punish them for doing what all lovers do!" she said.
"Mrs. Tribbiani has some rules established in the household, and Lord Bristow never interferes. He wants her to do her job, and I think it might cause trouble if you..."
"Sarah is my personal maid. It is custom that a maid's mistress is the lady she is serving. That lady stands above all the other higher servants in the household. If Mr. Bristow has a problem with that, he can talk to me about it... or yell at me for that matter." She replied harshly. "And you two..." she added to Sarah and August. "...wash your faces, but be careful to not run into Mrs. Tribbiani. We will talk about the incident tomorrow." She touched Sarah's cheek in a reassuring gesture and nodded at August, then turned to go back into the ballroom.
After she had went through the curtains that separated the corridor from the room, she scanned the room. Most of the couples were dancing on the floor – obviously enjoying the evening.
Irina had never been the hostess for a ball like this herself, still her father had taught her and her sisters how to behave perfectly on an occasion like this.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on Jack who was dancing with a young, blonde woman on the floor, obviously enjoying her company. Irina's eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms when she observed the younger lady. It was obvious that she was throwing herself at Jack – who was not at all looking as if he felt bothered.
Irina growled to herself, her mood immediately ruined – although she didn't quite understand why.
Well, she thought, if he can flirt and have fun, so can I. So she went to a man who was looking a little younger than she was.
"Are you enjoying the party?" she asked, looking him intently into the eyes.
"Yes, very much, thank you..." he smiled, turning slightly towards her. They continued to chatter about this and that – unimportant things that mainly intended on learning whether the other person was willing to have a conversation. Finally, the man held his hand out to Irina. "Would you like to dance with me?"
She smiled brightly and took his hand. "I'd love to do so..."
They went onto the floor, then turned towards each other. Formally, they started to dance to the music, but soon their distance faded, and the conversation became lighter.
"Your husband can be proud to have such a delightfully beautiful and charming woman by his side." The man, who had presented himself to Irina as Lord Dunsworth, murmured, staring into her eyes intently. Irina smiled slightly.
"Thank you very much..."
She caught glimpse of Jack watching her. Obviously, he had enough of the younger blonde girl and was standing at the side now. His glance towards her showed that he was close to making a scene right here. Irina returned his look challengingly and brought her body a few inches closer to that of her dance partner.
Jack smiled at her coldly, then at the woman who came towards him. They seemed to know each other – Irina could tell that from the intimate way they greeted each other. She observed Jack whispering something into the woman's ear – which was followed by a giggling of her.
Cheap whore, Irina thought furiously.
"...why you should definitely attend the ball next month in London. Wouldn't you like that?"
Pause... only then Irina realized that her dance partner had asked her a question – and obviously been talking to her the whole time.
"Um..." she said, looking back at the man. "I... um... sure." Hopefully she hadn't agreed to an important thing.
"Great, then I will have your name put on the list. I know some of the servants pretty well..."
Irina's attention was again pulled away to the still chattering couple in the corner of the room. She felt sick when she observed their little conversation. She refused to admit to herself that she was jealous – no, that was just not the case! The point was, that Jack was flirting with a woman and didn't even look at his 'wife'.
Finally she loosened from Lord Dunsworth and gave him a weak smile.
"Milord, would you excuse me please?" She bowed slightly, then went – probably a little too quickly to appear relaxed – to the corner where Jack stood.
"Honey," she greeted him, smiling at the younger woman – yet the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Possessively, she laid her arm around Jack's waist. The girl gave Irina a forced smile, and then looked at Jack.
"I guess... I will still see you later then?"
"Definitely," he promised with a smile. Irina stared at him in disbelief and when the girl was out of reach, she loosened from him, her eyes sparkling with rage.
"Arranging for a little date tonight?" she hissed, and Jack looked at her challengingly.
"What about Lord Dunsworth? Looking for a little adventure?" he countered, and Irina scoffed ironically, but didn't say anything.
"You knew the rule." Jack said. "No flirting. It's absolutely inappropriate for you to go for another man – especially so soon after our marriage."
"Ah, now I see. You get to have fun, but I am not allowed to?" Irina snapped and laughed bitterly. "But, you know, there are dozens of men here who would carry me on their hands just for one night."
"Yeah, I bet there are! But here are also dozens of women who would give their whole possession away for just one night," he hissed, "and since my wife isn't very cooperative concerning sleeping arrangements, you can't blame me for searching elsewhere."
"Yeah, and since my husband is a stupid bastard, you can't blame me for flirting with others." She countered and turned to leave, but Jack grabbed her wrist and bent to her ear.
"I'm warning you. Don't take it too far. I am accepting your little flirtations only because I have to admit I didn't show my best manners during these last days. But there is a borderline you should rather not cross." His tone was dangerous, but Irina broke free and went away without even looking one more time at him.
If he thought she felt threatened now, he was wrong. On the contrary – she was furious that he was still thinking he could give her orders of any kind. She would show him how far she would go...
Jack followed Irina with his eyes and sighed. He was sure their little war for tonight had only begun. Just when he was about to follow her and ease the situation a little, a man went towards him.
"Jack!"
The addressed turned his head and his face lightened up. "Arvin! When was the last time that we met?"
"It was last season in London I think. How have you been? I mean, besides getting married to an attractive woman?" The gray-haired gentleman was a little older than Jack, but that had never bothered him. Jack knew him as his confidant at court. The two men had known each other since Jack had been a boy. Arvin had already served in the army.
"Great, thank you! I heard you were hurt in the last battle against rebels?"
"Yes, but it was nothing bad – after all we managed to beat them. The southern coastline is clean now... I heard you had a failure a few weeks ago with your setup. The contact you were supposed to meet tricked you?" Arvin Sloane took a sip of wine from his glass, and Jack tilted his head slightly.
"Well, kind of, yes. But we already have a new trace. Every good soldier has to live with failures from time to time..."
"How true..." Sloane replied and smiled. If Jack had looked at him, he had seen that the man's smile didn't reach his eyes, but his attention was drawn back to the other corner of the room, where Irina was chitchatting with a woman he knew as Lady Lynne. Jack knew her husband from court - Lord Victor Greenville, a very honorable man. "Your wife seems to be a very tempered woman – how did you meet her?"
"Coincidence." Jack replied evasively, and Sloane smiled.
"I've heard she is the daughter of Sergeji Derevko?"
Now he had Jack's full attention. "Really? Do you know her father?"
"I did... once. Her father is dead. He was killed some years ago in a revolt. As far as I know, he was involved with rebels somehow."
Jack looked at his friend thoughtfully, "Sergeji Derevko... that name sounds familiar to me somehow..."
"Maybe you heard of it back then. It must have been ten or eleven years ago. If you want, I can do a little research for you," Arvin took another sip of his wine and smiled friendly.
"I already have some people working for me, but if you find out something, I'd be really grateful. Nobody has been able able to find something so far... I am actually starting to wonder what the secret is that the name of this family is kept so close." Jack murmured, and watched his wife again. "Arvin, would you excuse me now? We'll surely talk later, but I have to speak with some other people first."
"Of course," the man replied courteously. Jack went away, and so he missed how the smile faded away from Sloane's face and he looked after Jack coldly. He hadn't expected him to do research about Irina's family. Well, maybe they could use that little detail to their advantage. He would have to take care of this. For now he wanted to meet Irina Derevko himself – after all he had heard so much about her...