Part 18 – Changes
Somewhere in England – Same Evening
The night was chilly. It was already fall and the temperature announced that it would soon be winter. The leaves were falling from the trees, being pulled into all directions by the wind, and then gathered at the side of the road.
Lady Katya Derevko pulled her cape higher into her face to shield herself from the sharp breeze that stung her skin. She wondered what could be so urgent that the messenger had insisted she visit Arvin Sloane right away. Hopefully it was something important, otherwise she would be really angry.
It was totally unlike Arvin to call her out of bed in the middle of the night. Well, not totally unlike, she thought and remembered two nights ago when he had visited her in the middle of the night just to make love to her.
Lady Katya Derevko was not, nor had she ever been one of those women who longed for the love of a man, but somehow Lord Sloane had warmed her heart. Not only was he passionate when it came to the bedroom, he was equal to her and able to fulfill her deepest needs. Even if he was one of the powerful rebel leaders, she didn't consider him as a threat to her.
She started to run, wanting nothing more that to get out of this weather as soon as possible.
When she had reached the house, she knocked at the door impatiently, stepping from one foot to the other while waiting for the maid to open up.
Two minutes later the door opened just a crack and the grumpy face of an old woman peered outside through the opening. When she recognized Katya, she opened the door wider.
"Milady, the lord is already waiting for you. Come in please."
Katya thanked her and gave her cape to the servant. "Is he in his study?" she then asked, and the nod of the old woman was enough for her.
Rubbing her arms to warm herself up, she went along the small corridor and knocked at the door of the study. Without waiting for an answer, she entered the room.
Arvin Sloane looked up from his desk and leaned back in his chair when he saw her.
"Katya!" he said smiling and got up. He went to the woman and placed a deep kiss on her lips.
"Arvin," she replied, her hands lying on his chest. "Why did you want to talk to me?"
He sighed and smiled, playing with the scarf she was wearing. "Let us take a slow walk." He suggested. Katya cocked her head slightly.
"Now? It's cold outside and..." she started to contradict, but Arvin laid his arm around her waist.
"I will warm you up." He whispered flirtatiously into her ear, knowing that she enjoyed if he came up with new ideas to love her, and Katya smiled.
"Well, in that case."
They left the room and ordered the servants to bring them their coats. Katya wrapped herself deeply in her cape and silently admired Arvin for still wearing his thin summer coat.
Then they left the house. For some time, they just walked side by side, both silent, until Katya finally asked why he had called her so urgently to his house. They had almost passed through the whole city by now and were going over the bridge that crossed the river.
Arvin kept looking somewhere in the distance. "I met your sister tonight," he announced. Katya froze for a split second, but was immediately under control again.
"Did you?"
"Yes," he said, now piercing her with his eyes. "She married Jack Bristow, because they love each other, didn't she?"
"Yes," Katya said, as if it wasn't important at all. She had not expected Sloane to meet with Irina. Silently, Katya wished that her younger sister hadn't blown her cover by any thoughtless outburst of her temper. Of the three girls, Irina had always been most like their mother. Katya, who was the only sister who still had a vivid memory of Tatyana Derevko, remembered her mother always to be reasonable and reliable. But once her fury was ignited, even their father had not dared to go near her. To tease his wife, he had always attributed her outbursts the heritage of her Russian ancestors.
Katya closed her eyes for a moment. Irina hated Jack Bristow. Though she wasn't sure how Jack felt towards her sister, Katya knew that no man would accept constant outbursts of temper without at some point starting to get furious himself.
The more she thought about it, the less she doubted that Irina and Jack had not at all acted like a happily married couple. The next words from Arvin Sloane confirmed her fear.
"Well, that is interesting, because when I met her tonight, she seemed desperately in search of certain amusements." His voice was dripping with sarcasm now, making it clear that he didn't believe one single word of what Katya said.
"What did you do?" the woman gasped, trying to hide her shock behind a facade of indifference. "Did you hurt her?"
"No... no, I was just having a little fun with her – until Bristow found us. I guess he is the one who might have killed her."
"What?" Katya whispered almost soundlessly, and then realized that she had lost her countenance. "I... I don't understand why you are telling me all this..."
"Because, my dear, after seeing your sister tonight, I believe that you were lying to me about her. Couldn't it be that your sister is more the prisoner of Bristow? I observed them the whole evening. He was clearly giving her orders and threatened her – although they tried to make it look like they were a couple totally in love. I have known Bristow since he was a boy – he can't fool me."
"Arvin I have no idea what you're..." she shrieked when he grabbed her harshly.
"Don't lie to me, you little whore. What kind of game are you playing here? Are you working for Bristow? To buy your sister's freedom? Don't look at me so shocked. I am not stupid, and I have sources! They told me how Irina and Bristow met... and shortly afterwards you want to get contact to higher ranking officers of our group. You were trying to sell us..."
"No!" she yelled, panicked, into his face. "I swear I had no idea. I am not trying to sell you..."
"Did you tell your sister that you were having contact with me?"
"NO! Arvin, I did not try to betray you!"
He looked at her lips and shook his head. "I know you are lying... but that doesn't even matter anymore. Do you know why? Because you actually did a great favor to us. Your sister is in a perfect position. You will never be able to tell anybody who you met, so everything is just fine..."
"Wha..." Katya started, then her eyes grew wide when she felt the cold steel of a knife being bored into her stomach. She gasped for breath in shock, panicked when she felt the stitching pain rush through her body. Every breath suddenly was as if she breathed in needles instead of air.
Desperately, she tried to hold on to Arvin Sloane, but he pushed her against the edge of the bridge, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Goodbye, Lady Katya. You were a very amusing pastime. It's a pity. I doubt I will ever get a whore again who fulfills her duties as well as you do." With these words, he threw her over the edge without much of an effort. Katya's body fell onto the water's surface like a stone, and she sank almost immediately into the icy water. Arvin Sloane smiled contentedly. The current would take her body to the sea, and she would never be found again.
Now it was time to start with phase two...
Next morning – Manor of Lord Bristow
On first waking, Irina had no idea where she was. The bright daylight shone into her face, and she blinked against it. It didn't take her long to fully wake up. She was still sitting in the armchair in which she had fallen asleep yesterday evening after...
Within a few seconds, she stood upright and ran to the door. When she found it still locked, she cursed silently and started to beat against the thick wood.
"I am hungry! And I want a bath!" she yelled when nobody reacted to her pounding. For another three minutes nothing at all happened. Then the door was opened carefully. Irina was just about to yell at Jack when she found James entering the room, followed by Sarah and three female servants who carried a tub and buckets with hot water.
Sarah started her daily duties by cleaning the room and putting out a dress for Irina. In the meantime, James remained standing in the doorframe like a guard.
"What is going on here?" Irina snapped angrily. "Why did nobody wake me and where is Jack?"
James lowered his head apologetically. "Lord Bristow asked me to bring you his apologies. He had to leave early this morning, but didn't want to wake you up. He asked me to give you this..." The butler handed her some books with a red rose lying on them. Irina looked at the tablet with the books and then at James.
"Is he trying to make fun of me? He is giving me a rose?" she ranted, and James shifted uncomfortably.
"Yes, Milady."
"But I am not allowed to leave this room, otherwise you wouldn't stand in the doorframe like a statue!" she stated correctly. James nodded simply with his usually impassive face.
"The lord said, that he was sorry for not being able to this discuss with you and he asked you to wait until tomorrow."
"That's what he said?" Irina snapped and James shrugged his shoulders.
"No, actually he said: I am not going to let her move freely when I am out of the house for a whole day. I am not very fond of having to search my whole land for that woman to catch her again." The butler put the tablet onto a small table and gave Irina the hint of a smile. "I am sorry, but you shouldn't take it so seriously. After all you can relax one day in your room."
"I don't want to relax!" Irina replied and took a deep breath. The servants were not responsible for her situation – they were just carrying out orders. So, Irina sat down patiently, while Sarah started to work on her hair. In the meanwhile, the other servants continued to bring buckets of water and fill the tub. When the tub was full, they left the room. James looked at Sarah and smiled slightly.
"Just knock at the door when you are finished here. I will have the cook prepare a breakfast for milady."
With these words, he closed the door to Irina's room and locked it. Irina inhaled deeply, her eyes sparkling with fury. Sarah looked at her insecurely and then at the tub.
"Milady, do you want to take a bath?" she asked shyly, and Irina nodded.
"Yes..." she said simply. Sarah helped her to pull off her night robe and then step into the hot water. Irina leaned back and closed her eyes, just listening to the sound of Sarah collecting soap and lotions and her other bathing supplies. She dove under water for a moment to free her mind. How could Jack be so rude and lock her in this room after everything they had shared last night? She didn't want to run away – but if he treated her like this, she felt really tempted to do so, just to show him that he didn't have power over her.
When she surfaced, she looked into the worried eyes of Sarah.
"I thought you were drowning." The young maid sighed relieved, and Irina had to chuckle with amusement.
"I don't drown that easily, Sarah..." she said kindly while the girl started to wash her hair.
For a moment they fell into silence, until Sarah cleared her throat nervously. "I didn't even thank you for what you did last night for August and me."
Irina didn't say anything, and Sarah continued.
"I was really afraid that Mrs. Tribbiani would kill me. I know it wasn't right what we did, but I promise it won't ever happen again, Milady."
"Sarah," Irina started. "I don't know how Mrs. Tribbiani leads this household, but in the household of my family, we don't see things so strictly. I never learned to have a strict separation from the servants. We used to even have dinner with them."
"Wow.." Sarah exclaimed fascinated. "The lords and ladies with the servants?"
"Well, we weren't that many. Just my sisters and me, our maid, a cook and one servant. However, what I meant was, that you don't need to apologize for what you've done. After all, it was your privacy. I noticed that Lord Bristow handles things differently here."
"No, the lord is fine actually. Mrs. Tribbiani is the dragon. Lord Bristow never interferes with her rules. He trusts her, but she is really strict."
"Why don't you go to him then, if you have problems?"
"Because Mrs. Tribbiani forbid us to ever bother the lord with our problems. She says she is responsible for us, and if she learns that somebody went to the lord, she would dismiss that person at once. Well, except for James. James is the only one whom she respects. They hate each other." Sarah giggled and started to wash the foam carefully out of Irina's hair.
"Do they?" the woman asked amused. "Why do they hate each other?"
"Because James doesn't acknowledge her as the mistress, and he doesn't obey her orders. He just does what he thinks is right. And she is so angry at him, because she knows that he may do what he wants. Lord Bristow was always confident with how he fulfilled his tasks. They have known each other since the lord was a boy.
James sees Mrs. Tribbiani only as a dragon who wants to show her power to others. He doesn't take her seriously – and I think that outrages her the most." Again the girl gave a giggle, and Irina had to smile.
Some time passed in silenced while Irina washed herself, and Sarah prepared the towels.
When the maid fetched the buckets with the clear water to wash the rest of the foam out of Irina's hair, she started to chitchat again. Irina closed her eyes just listening to her, and asking questions from time to time.
Sarah lifted the heavy bucket and carefully emptied it over Irina's head. When she put it down on the ground and started to squeeze the water out of her mistress' long hair, her eyes were suddenly caught by the red mark on her neck.
"You love him, don't you?" she asked out of the blue, covering her mouth with her hands at the same time. "I'm sorry, Milady, that's not a question a maid should ask."
Irina looked at her and noticed that Sarah's eyes were lying on her neck. By looking in the mirror, Irina understood why, and slightly embarrassed, she covered the red mark on her skin with her hand. For a moment, she stared at her reflection, totally lost in thoughts. What was happening with her? Why did her heart seem to jump if somebody spoke about Jack?
"We are married..." she finally replied, as if it was the answer to the question Sarah had asked.
"Well, it is really not fair that he locks you up inside here, but maybe, Milady, you should see it this way: he is just afraid that you will run away, because you mean so much to him." Sarah helped her to get out of the tub and wrapped her in a large towel then. "I mean, the lord has never acted like that before."
Irina sighed and smiled at Sarah. "It's not that easy," she said. "He doesn't love me. He just doesn't trust me, that's all."
Sarah smiled, while she carefully started to dry Irina's hair. "Who knows... you know, men behave strangely sometimes when they are in love."
Irina looked at her maid in the mirror, eyeing her thoughtfully. Could it be that Jack was just so rude and mean because he loved her? No, that was ridiculous. On the other hand... No! Irina discarded the thought quickly. She shouldn't even start to hope that Jack loved her. Whether he had feelings for her or not, she would have to leave him in three months and then she would never ever see him again. So actually, feelings were irrelevant.
The rest of the time passed in silence between the two women. When Sarah was finished dressing Irina and doing her hair, she knocked at the door. Immediately, James opened it, and two servants started to empty the tub and carry the water away, while others came in with a rich breakfast.
Jack was sitting in the empty pub in the country and looked out of the window impatiently. For the fourth time he negated the servant's question of whether he wished to drink something. He handed her a silver coin, with the request to not disturb him anymore.
Worried, he looked at the large clock that was standing at the wall on the other side of the room. His contact was already ten minutes late, and the message he had received this morning sounded rather serious. He was already thinking about searching for the man, when the heavy wooden door opened with a squeak, and a man with a dark coat entered. He shook the raindrops off his coat without caring that he was ruining the floor, then he scanned the room and moved towards Jack in the corner.
He saluted, and Jack signaled him to sit down, smiling apologetically at the young servant who shot them confused looks.
"I hope it is important," Jack hissed in a leveled voice. "Otherwise, there is no reason for you to leave Lady Katya out of your sight."
"Sir, I kind of already did. I don't know how to say this, but... um... I lost her two days ago."
"What?" Jack asked louder now, his hands slamming to the table. "What do you mean by 'you lost her'? How can you lose her?"
"It was in London. I think, she suspected that she was being followed. However, she seemed to be a professional at losing somebody."
"Of course she is a professional. I told you to watch her and never take your eyes off her! I can't believe that task was too hard for one of my best soldiers." Jack ranted and took a deep breath, then he realized that the other guests in the pub were eyeing him suspiciously. For a moment, he looked out of the window thinking about what to do next. He was really worried now – worried for Lady Katya's life. He knew Irina would never forgive him if something happened to her.
"Go back to London," he finally ordered, "Search for her. She has to be somewhere. I want you to turn every stone until you have found her – but discreetly, understood? As soon as you have found her, extract her. Bring her to me. I don't care for that damned list anymore."
"But Sir..."
"Just do as I told you to! I sent her out, because I thought that I had skilled men to protect her – which is obviously not the case. I am not giving a woman such a dangerous mission if there is nobody to protect her. She is my sister-in-law, so bring her back to me as soon as you found her!" Jack repeated his order menacingly. "And I am warning you: another mistake and you will spend the rest of your life taking care of the potatoes in the kitchen."
"Yes, Sir!" The man said and saluted again. Then he turned and wanted to leave, but stopped, remembering something. "Milord, before I forget, didn't you say you wanted to know something about the Derevko family?"
Now he had Jack's full attention. "Yes!"
"Well, I was talking to some elder officers in London about your – um – 'wife' and her family. Apparently her mother died around twenty-five years ago. When I asked how, they were all awfully silent, so I started to do further research. A friend of mine told me that his father might know something, so he will ask him about the circumstances – only if you're interested of course."
"Yes!" Jack emphasized, "Thank you. Now please, find Lady Katya!"
The soldier hurried to leave the pub. Jack sighed and watched him leave through the window. The thought of Lady Katya having to deal with higher ranking gangsters was nothing that calmed him down. Although she seemed to be quite independent and able to defend herself – just as Irina was – there were men out there who were more dangerous. He just prayed that she was alright, and that his soldier would soon bring her back to his manor.
Maybe she could already give him some names, then he could do the rest of the work. He just didn't know what to do with Irina. It was his decision to pull Katya back, so technically she had fulfilled her part of the contract – which meant that he would be forced to allow Irina to leave. And if she left, he knew, he would lose her. There was nothing he could do...
Jack gave a deep sigh. What an irony, he thought. At court, there were dozens of women who threw themselves onto him whenever he entered a room. Just one clapping of his hands, and he could marry any one of those women he wanted. Yet, he wanted Irina – probably the only woman who did not want him.
Well, why should she want him? Up to now, he had not treated her with his best manners – she on the contrary hadn't behaved ladylike either. Jack reflected for a moment, then an idea came to his mind. She had learned to have to defend herself, she had always had to do so, otherwise she would not have survived in the world of criminals in which she had lived. But behavior such as she had shown yesterday evening at the party – James had told him about the servant's incident – proved, that she had a noble education and knew how to behave, at least if she wanted to. Maybe if he started to treat her differently, she would stop being so hostile. Yes, maybe if he started to court her, as it was tradition, she would start reacting like a young lady. In her opinion, the only enemy in his manor was him. And there was absolutely no need for them to fight each other...