Gossip Girl, Vampire Edition

by pty

A vampire history about Chuck and Blair and also with a great presence of S, D, N, J and V (the original gang) as well as little E and other characters of the GG world. Might include other supernatural beings as well.

6. Chapter 6

A/N: First of all, I'm very sorry that this update took so long. If anyone still reads this, all I can say is that life happened, between my work and personal stuff. When I wanted to write I was too tired or busy, and when I had more time sometimes I lacked inspiration. I hope that this chapter compensates the long wait. I'll do my best to have another update soon, although I don't dare to promise anything, but I hope I can comply. I was able to introduce the characters I promised in the previous chapter, if you can guess where I took them from you can let me know, I will comment about that in my A/N at the end of this chapter.

I don't own GG or other TV shows or characters, if I did the show would have ended better than it did.

They reached the house just before midnight. After putting the horses in the stables, they returned to the kitchens. Fritz was going over a book by the time they arrived. Upon seeing him, the Countess, who was walking next to Ms. Rhodes, bypassed everybody and went straight to sit next to him.

"Hello sweetheart" she said in German, while giving him a sideways hug and a kiss to his right temple. "Sorry we were out for so long, but our meal took longer than expected. Were you going over your English lesson?" she said, and with other words she continued engaging him in conversation.

Vivian exchanged a look with Ms. Hudson while raising her eyebrows, somewhat impressed with the scene in front of them. However, they immediately followed Mr. Hudson and Mr. Rhodes, who had start walking again without a word to exit the kitchens. It seems Mr. Hudson and Mr. Rhodes considered prudent to retire without adding further words, and Ms. Hudson and Vivian simply followed their lead. In the meantime Ms. Rhodes, who had noticed that something was cooking, couldn't help her curiosity and went over to see what it was. Mr. Archibald, who was standing next to Mr. Bass, was momentarily distracted by her movement as well as by the departure from the kitchens of the rest of their group, but when he turned to Mr. Bass a moment later, he realized that his friend kept staring the scene of the Countess and Fritz in front of them, with something undefinable passing through his eyes while he stared at them. Mr. Archibald was going to say something to snap his friend out of this trance but Ms. Rhodes beat him to speak:

"Fritz, you used the ingredients in the kitchen to cook all this?" she said, addressing the kid in German with amazement in her voice. Fritz simply nodded affirmatively with his head.

"From the little I remember about human food, this smells amazing. It's quite impressive" Ms. Rhodes said with a smile, while gesturing to the food being cooked. The Countess smiled proudly while squeezing Fritz left shoulder affectionately.

"What did you expect, Celia? Fritz here is learning many important skills that he needs to survive, now and in the future" she said, looking at the child lovingly.

Mr. Archibald saw in this exchange the opportunity to keep things moving along.

"We are going to the drawing-room to freshen up for a while. Are you coming with us?" he said, addressing the Countess in English.

"You go ahead. I need to go over his English lesson and he needs to eat. We will join you in a while" the Countess said after looking up from the book that lay in the table in front of Fritz.

"I will go to my chambers to change and then I will return here to keep Cornelia and Fritz company while they finish" Ms. Rhodes said while approaching Mr. Archibald, briefly standing next to him and squeezing his left arm affectionately before departing the kitchens.

"Very well then. Call us if you need anything" Mr. Archibald said affably and started walking towards the kitchen's exit, hoping that Mr. Bass was right behind him. Which Mr. Bass was, not without giving one parting look towards the Countess's direction, to which she seemed oblivious. But that was only in appearance. It hadn't been her intention to ignore him, in fact she was genuinely distracted and it was only when Mr. Archibald spoke to her and she rose her head that she noticed Mr. Bass was staring at hear, and only a glance in his direction told her that had gone on for a while. She knew there was nothing that could be done about it. The atmosphere between them was bound to be tense for the next few days. She could only hope things would calm down enough to allow them to work together in what lay ahead.

Just as she had said, she and Fritz went through his English lesson thoroughly and later she made sure that he ate properly, while exchanging stories with Ms. Rhodes, who had returned to the kitchens once she changed her clothes. The Countess explained to Ms. Rhodes that, although she couldn't really eat human food because it had no taste for their kind and too much of it could be bad for them, she had made sure Fritz learnt as much as possible about cooking, so he already had an ample knowledge about the subject at his young age. It served the double purpose of keeping him healthy, which was extremely important, but also it was an excellent façade should they need to host other humans back in their house in Germany. It was easier to explain why a Countess only had one servant if the servant knew how to cook and other domestic skills so well.

In turn, Ms. Rhodes told the Countess more stories about her life in England, the customs of the time, the rules of that society.

"Which you do not always comply, I'm sure" the Countess said to tease her friend.

"If you must know, I'm behaving exceptionally well" Ms. Rhodes sniffed with faux indignation. Then she took a more serious tone to add: "There are three men in this house. I can't let them down."

There was a silent moment in which the two friends exchanged small smiles, and then Ms. Rhodes continued: "Charles and Fitz have been so kind to let Richard and me stay with them" she said, using the boys' fake names for once. The Countess couldn't help to scoff, though.

"Fitz maybe, but Charles…"

"It wasn't like that Cornelia, they both decided it. They work as a partnership, taking these kinds of decisions together, and they have integrated Richard and me into it. Nothing gets decided without being discussed between the four of us, like our moving into this house." There was a small paused, and she continued: "He's not so much like he was before."

"Yes he is…." The Countess started saying.

"There have been changes Cornelia," Ms. Rhodes insisted, "not complete changes, but there have been changes in him. And really, would you prefer that he changed entirely?"

The Countess stared silently at her friend. No, she didn't prefer that he changed to the point of becoming an entirely different person.

Ms. Rhodes, who also comprehended her friend's reasoning, finally said: "Just allow yourself the opportunity to see how things are while you are here. Whatever you want to do afterwards, I will support you."

"Thank you Celia" the Countess said, while squeezing her friends' hands among hers.

They talked a little more after that, and later helped Fritz clean up the dishes. The Countess hadn't even really changed her traveling clothes, only one cloak for another before going out of the house, but she decided that she wanted to go the drawing-room first before Fritz needed to be tucked-in into bed for the night. She didn't want him staying up all night as usual, because she knew he was tire from their journey even if the child had not mustered a single complain in all that time. She also wanted him to have as much energy as possible for the days ahead. So after they finished with everything, the Countess, Ms. Rhodes and Fritz went to the drawing-room.

Just as the Countess had hoped for, they found everybody there. Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Hudson were in the single chairs reading each one a book, Ms. Hudson was sowing in one of the sofas, Vivian next to her doing some needle work, Mr. Bass was in the third chair catching up with all the papers that he had not been able to read in his absence, and Mr. Archibald was sitting in a desk that the Countess had not noticed before, in a far corner of the room near a window, working on the accounts.

Upon their arrival, Mr. Bass looked up from his newspaper and said: "Oh, you finally arrive."

"Sorry to keep you waiting" the Countess replied, "we had a lot of things to do." She preferred to stay standing, with Fritz next to her, while Ms. Rhodes went to sit in the sofa that was empty to finish the sowing she was working on earlier in the evening.

The Countess cleared her throat before saying the following: "Everybody, I would like to formally introduce you to Fritz." To this, everybody looked up from what they were doing. In that moment, the Countess had a doubt. "I believe we can use only the fake names, right? I mean, he knows my real name, but we barely even mention it in our house…"

"We can use the fake names and only our real names for this introduction, I think that would be ok" Mr. Bass interrupted her; he could tell she was getting a bit apprehensive while talking.

The Countess looked at him for a second and then nodded with her head. "Very well. I will make the introductions in English and in German." Kneeling down next to Fritz, she spoke to him in the following terms:

"Fritz, I'm going to introduce you to everybody now, ok?" she said in German. "You already know Mr. Charles Bass over there," she said, pointing towards where he was sitting.

"My real name is Gaius" Mr. Bass said, leaning to the front while placing his elbows over his knees.

"And you also know Mr. Richard Rhodes" the Countess continued, pointing towards Mr. Rhodes.

"My real name is Lucius" Mr. Rhodes said with a kind smile.

"By now you are also familiar with my friend, Ms. Catherine Rhodes" the Countess continued, pointing towards Ms. Rhodes.

"Yes, but for your mistress, I'm also Celia" Ms. Rhodes said with her characteristic giddiness and enthusiasm.

"That gentleman you see over there," the Countess added while pointing towards Mr. Archibald, "is Mr. Fitzwilliam Archibald."

"But for my friends, I'm Numerius" Mr. Archibald said with his easy-going charm.

"Or Fitz" Ms. Rhodes added with a giggle.

"Yes, they are also calling him Fitz now" the Countess said with an eye-roll. "It's a short form for Fitzwilliam." She then turned a little towards the other three persons that were pending for introduction. "Allow me to introduce you now to Mr. Randolph Hudson," she said, pointing towards Mr. Hudson.

"I'm Decimus" Mr. Hudson introduced himself politely.

"His sister, Ms. Jane Hudson, who you surely remember" the Countess continued alluding to their first meeting with Ms. Hudson in the kitchens.

"My real name is Helvetia" Ms. Hudson kindly said.

"And that's Vivian Parker" the Countess said quickly and dismissively, turning her nose up in disdain.

"Vibiana" was what Vivian said in reply, not in an impolite or rude way, but in the calm way in which somebody states a fact. This time, she refused to acknowledge the Countess's barbs.

"Everybody, this is Fritz" the Countess announced. Fritz bowed his head in salute and everybody else did the same.

During all this time the conversation had been in German. Still kneeling down, the Countess continued speaking in that language when she turned Fritz towards her so they were facing each other to tell him:

"As you know, you should only call them by their fake names in the same way you do with me, but in private you might hear the real names in our conversations. You must not repeat them though, especially and above all not in public. Knowing those names is only for your knowledge and ours. In the same way, they live and eat like I do; at this moment the difference would be how this house works, which I already explained to you. And in the same way that happens with me, none of them shall be a danger to you. It's that understood?" she said, turning her head towards the rest of the room, in a warning tone that was clearly not addressed to Fritz but to the rest of their audience.

"Cornelia!" shocked voices could be heard among the others.

"The mere fact that you suggest something of the sort is preposterous" Ms. Hudson said, returning to her sowing.

"Cornelia you know the rules. We should not turn children, and nobody here is even fond of turning humans in the first place" Mr. Hudson said returning to his book.

"Oh come on you guys, she's only kidding" Ms. Rhodes said giggling. She was sure that her friend was only joking.

Mr. Bass merely smirked before returning to his paper. He knew that whole thing was only the Countess overprotective streak kicking in.

"Just saying" the Countess muttered, which earned her more groaning from the rest of the room, but also meant that everybody started returning to what they were doing before her arrival.

"Now I'm going to take you to your room and put you to bed" the Countess said to Fritz with a smile, and then she stood up and gave the kid her right hand to guide him to his room, which he took obediently with his left one.

"Cornelia" Mr. Hudson suddenly called to her. A doubt had suddenly sprung in his mind. "Does that child have a last name?" he asked in English, knowing that Fritz still wasn't fluid in the language.

"No, he doesn't" the Countess, who had turned slightly upon being called upon, answered with a hint of sadness in her voice that was unmistakable for everybody. She then turned around and left the drawing-room with Fritz in tow. The rest remained silent and returned to their things. Mr. Bass pursed his lips, but said nothing. Ms. Rhodes made a mental note to ask her friend more about that later.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. The Countess put Fritz into bed and they had a small conversation in German before she left the room:

"Tomorrow we will continue reviewing English, French and German too. I don't want you to get behind in German just because we are here. Let's see if we can include a bit of Mathematics as well, we'll see. I'm not entirely sure because tomorrow more visitors will arrive, and I and the others will have to spend time speaking with them."

She made a small pause, in which she seemed lost in thoughts, and then she continued: "Those new visitors are also like me. As it happens with the others downstairs, they should not represent a danger to you. They are coming here to help us."

"Are they are as old as you are, milady?" Fritz innocently asked her.

"No" the Countess replied with a small smile. "They are older than me and the others. But they are good people, and with much experience in the matter that brought us here. Depending on their advice, we might have to travel again soon, but this time inside the land. For the moment I cannot tell you much, because there are many things left to decide. As soon as I know more, we will start preparing ourselves for the next part of this journey."

"Yes, Milady" the boy obediently replied.

"As for the others, any doubt that you may have about how to move around the house or anything you need, if I'm not around you can ask Ms. Rhodes as you would ask me. She, Mr. Archibald, Mr. Bass and I grew up together. Her brother Mr. Rhodes also grew up with us, although he's a couple of years younger than the four of us. He and Mr. Archibald will also help you if you need anything. Mr. Bass would help you too, but I already explained to you why it is very important that he never enters my room or touches my things, so it is very important that you remember that all the time. I know that he knows better than to ask you anything about me but if by any chance that happens, you already know that you are not to tell him anything about our life back home. Also, Mr. Archibald is his very close friend, like me and Ms. Rhodes are friends, and as much as I'm fond of Mr. Archibald's friendship to me, I know he's a bit naïve and innocent at times, so you are also not to tell him anything, if Mr. Bass tries to get information through him. With Mr. Rhodes we won't have to worry because he's an intelligent and discrete person who avoids involving himself in other person's business."

"Yes, Milady" Fritz said.

"The best policy is to always be discrete, and not answer questions from anybody. I will answer all the questions they might have. That's why I also wanted to tell you" – they Countess said with a sigh – "that tonight I was already asked a question related to how we met. If anybody asks you, you will tell them to refer all questions to me. I already told you how my friends work in this regard. In the case of Ms. Hudson, I don't expect her to pry either, she knows better. Her brother Mr. Hudson is more curious though, a defect he has for a long as I've known him. And we need to be careful around Vivian Parker, she's not trustworthy. Perhaps someday I will tell you that story. As for tomorrow's visitors, they won't pry. I know that's not how they work."

"Yes, Milady" Fritz said, trying to suppress a yawn, to which the Countess smiled.

"Alright then, time to sleep. Hug" she said, and Fritz sat up with his arms opened to hug her, to which she corresponded by giving him a tight hug, after which she gave him a kiss in his forehead. "Good night" she finally said, and after he was lying down again she stood up from the bed, blew up the candles and locked the room like they used to do back home.

The Countess spent the next half hour in her room arranging some things, and then returned to the drawing-room. Things had not changed much from the time she left with Fritz, though Mr. Archibald was now sitting closer to Mr. Bass discussing the state of affairs in the household, occupying a place in the sofa that was also occupied by Ms. Rhodes. The Countess sat in the sofa's remaining space to make small talk with Ms. Rhodes, who finished her sowing during that time. After a while, the Countess announced she was going to retire for the evening, to which Ms. Rhodes took the opportunity to also retire from the room with the excuse of going to bed, but in reality she wanted to keep talking with the Countess, but in private. Both women left the room fast, probably to avoid hearing comments from Mr. Bass, but it wasn't necessary because this time he remained silent, although his eyes stayed with the Countess from the moment she announced she was retiring for the night to the moment she left the room.

Once they were near their rooms, Ms. Rhodes insisted to keep catching up with the Countess, to which the Countess agreed because in all truth she also wanted to speak with her friend more freely. Due to the Countess apprehension about her room, they decided that Ms. Rhodes would change first to her dressing gown and robe, so they went to Ms. Rhodes room first to keep talking while she changed. Like the Countess room, Ms. Rhodes room contained all the furniture and decorations that could be desired in those days. Ms. Rhodes explained to her friend that she had not been able to have it in her heart to part ways with the Rococo style, unlike the boys that had been more open to the Neoclassical style. Therefore they reached a compromised by which the rooms were more Rococo than Neoclassical and the main rooms downstairs were more Neoclassical than Rococo. She found herself to be more open to the new fashion trend though, because although she had loved the Rococo clothes, the Neoclassical ones were also beautiful and a relief after so many centuries of corsets. The Countess shared many of her friend's feelings in this regard, although she explained to Ms. Rhodes that she did embraced the Neoclassical style in all her house because being a woman alone with a child, she didn't want to take risks if somebody showed up at her house.

After Ms. Rhodes finished changing, they went to the Countess room and kept talking while the Countess changed to her dressing gown. At the end, Ms. Rhodes didn't have the guts to ask her friend about Fritz, so the conversation ended up with the Countess describing her house in Germany. Between that and speaking about society's changes since the last time they saw each other, they reached the first hours of dawn, at which time Ms. Rhodes retired to her room. Ms. Rhodes silently promised herself that she would ask her friend about Fritz the next night.

That day the Countess and Mr. Bass were both unable to sleep immediately in their respective beds. Mr. Bass couldn't help tossing and turning in his bed for a while. Knowing that she was so near, in the same house, was enough to drive him crazy. The temptation of going and knocking in her door was great, and yet ludicrous because it certainly couldn't be at her room's main door, not with the servants and the daylight around. It would only make sense to knock in the secret corridor's door. And yet at the end of the day, knocking on any door in her room was precisely the one thing he knew must avoid at all costs. That wouldn't bring them closer, only push them apart. And yet he couldn't help but wonder how beautiful she would look while sleeping peacefully in her bed, how it would feel to be next to her, breathing in her scent, looking at her hair, her mouth, her skin. It was maddening and part of him wanted to go mad just to see if it would all end, but part of him didn't, because he still wanted to believe this could be fixed. He still wanted to believe that there was hope for them.

The Countess wasn't much better in her room. She wasn't tossing and turning, but remained lying there with her eyes wide open for one or two hours, and even when she slept the first hours were restless. She would be living in the same place than him for the next weeks, maybe months, and she didn't know what would happen during that time. That made her anxious. She knew that he was incredibly strung out by her presence, and she was afraid of being left alone with him for too long because she didn't entirely trust herself around him. It wasn't that she didn't love him, because she still loved him, but she simply couldn't live with him. She figured that while they had been in Germany the travel preparations distracted them from their mutual tension and that would happen again here once the hunting started, but without things to do, the tension between them could be really unbearable. And she really didn't want to succumb to her primary instincts. It had happened too many times already.

When it was finally sunset and the Countess awoke, she still felt tired because of the bad sleep day, but nothing could be done about it. She got up from bed and fixed herself up for the evening. She took special care in washing her face thoroughly to try to hide her tired expression as much as possible. She decided for a light blue dress, with long sleeves, and pale grey ribbon below the bust line. She also decided to wear her hair up, parted in the middle but with all the hair collected in the back, in one of the Neoclassical hair-dos that were fashionable in those days, not as intricate as the hair-do Ms. Rhodes sported when she arrived to the house the day before but elegant enough to look proper for her public "rank". Once she decided she was ready, she took the same cloak she wore to go to the town the night before and went out of her room through the secret corridor, locking everything with key, and went to Fritz's room. She found Fritz up and ready to go out of his room too, pretty much waiting for her arrival. Satisfied with his appearance, the Countess decided to look for Ms. Rhodes next, since they needed to move to the connected rooms for her and Fritz. So they left Fritz's room, locking it too, and went looking for Ms. Rhodes in her room.

They knocked on Ms. Rhodes door for the secret corridor, and Ms. Rhodes opened after the first knock.

"Cornelia, you are here!" Ms. Rhodes gladly said, and allowed the Countess and Fritz to enter her room. "I was beginning to think I would have to go looking for you, it's already a bit late" she continued while moving around the room. She was wearing a pink dress with short and a bit puffy sleeves, her hair up too, less complicated than the night before but still a bit elaborated. She looked for a straw bonnet trimmed with pink feathers, and she took a coat in the style known as spencer coats (a short high-waist jacket).

"I also thought that you might have gone to join the others already" Ms. Rhodes finally said after she finished putting on her hat.

"I still don't know the road to the secret site through this corridor" the Countess simply said.

"Good evening sweetheart" Ms. Rhodes said with a smile, saluting Fritz in English.

"Good evening Miss." Fritz answered back also in English.

Ms. Rhodes couldn't help giggle happily seeing the boy was practicing his English.

"Shall we go now?" Ms. Rhodes asked the Countess.

"Let's go" the Countess answered with a smile.

The three of them left Ms. Rhodes's room and went through the corridor and down the stairs while the two women made small talk. Once they were reaching the bottom of the stairs that ended before the last part of the corridor that would take them to the secret site, they found that the rest of their group had already gathered.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Ms. Rhodes said happily, while finishing descending the stairs a little ahead of the Countess and Fritz.

"What took you so long?" Mr. Archibald said while walking towards Ms. Rhodes, expressing his surprise for the delay.

Mr. Bass didn't see or hear any of that. He was enthralled by the vision of the Countess walking down the few remaining steps with her pale blue gown and her hair up. She looked so divine and exquisite, delicate yet regal, the beautiful contrast of her pale blue gown and skin against her dark hair and eyes enhancing her beauty.

The Countess didn't allow herself to think about Mr. Bass looks every time she saw him, but the handsome picture he made with all his clothes was always there in the back of her mind. The Neoclassical clothes worn by the gentlemen were predominantly dark in almost all their components, except for the white shirt, white cravat and the color of the waistcoat. But this evening Mr. Bass's waistcoat was also in a blue tone, matching the Countess. Doing a quick once-over on his appearance, she noticed his tired expression and immediately figured out he also didn't have a good night sleep. For the rest of their group it probably wasn't obvious that he was tire but she knew him too well so there was no way she didn't figure it out, whether he tried to conceal it or not (truly, he went about his wake-up routine in automatic and didn't thought about concealing anything but he was so fashionably well-presented that the others were unable to notice anything unusual). The Countess couldn't help but wonder if he would be able to figure out she didn't sleep well, just as she had been able to figure out that about him.

The Countess finished descending the stairs, aware that Mr. Bass kept staring at her, completely mesmerized by her appearance, so she avoided making eye-contact with him by distracting herself with her cloak and making sure Fritz was properly wearing all his outer garments. Meanwhile, Ms. Rhodes had continued her friendly squabble with Mr. Archibald about the delay.

"It was Cornelia who got delay a little, it is normal, this is a new house for her, she also has to make sure she and Fritz are ready" she said while gesturing towards her friend, which snapped the Countess out of her thoughts. In truth Ms. Rhodes have forgotten to ask her friend why she got delayed.

"I'm sorry, I overslept some" the Countess said addressing Mr. Archibald. "I was tire from the trip and a certain blonde kept talking with me until dawn" she said the last part while narrowing her eyes towards Ms. Rhodes, who gasped in faux-indignation and swatted her friend's arm playfully.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation about the delay, but shouldn't we be arriving at the house by now?" Ms. Hudson said, to which everybody stared at her. "What? It's getting darker and I understand that we should arrive after sunset…"

"Alright" Mr. Bass said with renewed energy. Between one thing and the other he had finally snapped out of his trance. "Before we go into the house, we need to decide what we are going to do after the servants leave. Are we going to eat first or are we going to wait for Rian and Moya before going to eat?"

Everybody remained silent for a moment and Mr. Archibald finally said: "I say we wait for them first."

"I think it would be the best if we wait for them first" Mr. Rhodes said. "We don't know if they have eaten and we might have to take them to the town for a meal."

Everybody started nodding and agreeing with that and Mr. Bass finally said: "Well, that settles it then. We will wait for them. Now, all the women and Fritz can go the carriage and the rest will take the horses."

"If so, who is going to drive the carriage?" Mr. Hudson suddenly asked.

There was a beat of silence and the Countess then said: "Fritz can drive the carriage."

"He can't drive our carriage, how will that look?" Mr. Bass said.

"Well, you are not going to want him to ride a horse either" the Countess said.

"Why don't we do something?" Mr. Rhodes said. "One of us drives the carriage," he said, referring to the adult men, "and Fritz goes in the back of a horse with one of us. For example, he could ride with me."

"I can drive the carriage" Mr. Bass said. Internally, the Countess got alarmed. They both knew he wanted to drive the carriage because she was going to be in it. He wanted some form of closeness and she didn't want any of it.

"No, I can drive the carriage" Mr. Archibald said, suspecting his friend's intentions.

"No, I can drive it…" Mr. Bass continued arguing.

"Why don't we do something?" Mr. Archibald interrupted his friend. "I drive it today and you drive it tomorrow."

Mr. Bass pursed his lips, thought for a moment and finally said. "Done." The Countess let out the breath she had held.

Mr. Bass then addressed his visitors by saying: "When we arrive to the house, just follow our lead and don't say anything. That way you can watch how we deal with the servants".

They all accepted Mr. Bass's recommendation and went to take their designated transportations. The women climbed to the carriage. Mr. Bass rode a horse, Mr. Hudson another one, Mr. Rhodes a third one with Fritz behind him and Mr. Archibald drove the carriage. In this way they left the secret site and took the road to the house, all to keep the façade for the servants.

Nobody talked during that small journey. Ms. Hudson was wearing a white dress with sleeves to the elbows, a modest neckline, and a shawl in a pale tone. She was not wearing any hat or bonnet and her hair was up, pretty much the same hair-do than the day before. Vivian was wearing a dark green dress, really simple and plain, sleeves to the elbow too, and a simple bonnet. Her hair was also up. All the women were wearing the customary gloves that needed to be worn when women were out of their houses.

When they arrived to the front entrance, the house administrator and other staff members were waiting for them. Upon dismounting, Mr. Bass immediately went to talk with the administrator. Mr. Archibald stepped down from the carriage's driver seat and opened the carriage doors (this wasn't an open carriage), to then offer his hand and help each one of the women to step down. Ms. Rhodes stepped down the first one and went towards the female servants to discuss domestic affairs. The Countess, Ms. Hudson and Vivian then stepped down from the carriage, all chivalrously help by Mr. Archibald. Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Hudson and Fritz had already dismounted from the horses and Mr. Rhodes made the times of host by guiding the visitors inside the house, while giving some instructions here and there. Fritz made sure to walk behind the Countess and Vivian made sure to walk behind the Hudson brothers while keeping her eyes down. Mr. Archibald finished giving the servant's instructions about the horses and carriage and Mr. Bass kept talking with the administrator, being the last ones to go into the house.

While all the household staff finished leaving for the evening, the façade of sending Fritz to the Countess's rooms to put away her traveling clothes was use to make everything look like the innocent return of the house's masters and their guests from a day of visits. Vivian remained with the Hudson's though, although standing in a corner while the brothers were sitting. Mr. Rhodes told the servants that received them that the boy was a servant their old family friend the German countess brought with her; so the child didn't really speak English and only knew some loose words. He also said Mr. Archibald's lawyer brought his sister and the servant girl who chaperoned the miss, so the servant girl needed to stay next to her charge at all times, no exception.

It took around 15 to 20 minutes for the servants to leave the house. Once it was sure they were all gone (and Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald made sure that absolutely every single servant had left the house), they whole group gathered in one of the house saloons.

"You can go now to tell Fritz he can come downstairs" Ms. Rhodes said to the Countess.

"Actually I wanted your help in moving our things to the connected rooms while we wait for Rian and Moya" the Countess said.

"That's right, I forgot, we need to do that right away. Fitz, can you help us?" Ms. Rhodes asked Mr. Archibald.

"I have no inconvenient, but I wanted to keep scanning the road from the windows so we know when Rian and Moya are near." Mr. Archibald said. "Unless someone else watches over the road?"

"I can do it" Mr. Rhodes said. "Charles, would you like to help me?"

"Thanks, but I need to go over our accounts" Mr. Bass said, to which Mr. Archibald was going to comment, but Mr. Bass interrupted him by saying: "You were in charge all these days, now is my turn to help, and I need to update our records with the information Andrew reported to me today."

"In that case, anyone else would like to help?" Mr. Rhodes asked.

"I can do it and Vivian can too" Ms. Hudson suddenly said.

"Me?" Vivian asked surprised.

"Yes, come on, it will be fun, something new to do" Ms. Hudson said with enthusiasm.

"Actually, this is perfect, because I'm going to need your help Randolph, while Jane and Vivian help Richard." Mr. Archibald said addressing Mr. Hudson.

"Alright" Mr. Hudson said shrugging his shoulders.

"Let's go then" the Countess said, and they all parted ways going to the different places they needed to go for the moment.

Mr. Archibald and Mr. Hudson moved the Countess and Fritz trunks and suitcases from their rooms to the connected rooms. Mr. Archibald suggested leaving the façade that the old rooms were the Countess and her servant rooms for the rest of her stay, since they weren't connected, while connected rooms supposedly were for married couples. The Countess accepted this suggestion as well as the rule of leaving her laundry in that room, and Fritz laundry in the other room. The whole laundry business was something that occurred after the servants had left. After they finished installing the Countess and Fritz in their new rooms, Ms. Rhodes went to take care of her laundry and Mr. Archibald showed Mr. Hudson how to do this as well.

It was during this conversation than Mr. Archibald and Mr. Hudson started catching up themselves in past events. At one point Mr. Archibald asked Mr. Hudson: "What is all that about your sister living alone in the continent?"

Sighing, Mr. Hudson answered: "You know how she's like. At one point she decided she wanted to live on her own, make her own rules, and not listen to anybody. She finds me overprotective and she doesn't want that. It was around the 1690's. She left one day after some argument we had a few days before, and she didn't even let me know in advance what she was going to do, she just left a note. I tried looking for her to no avail, until I knew through a letter in the Brussels mail box that she was fine and well. In the 1740's I found out where she was and I went to look for her but I found her working as a seamstress and living very well out of it, and she refused to come with me anyways. I made her promise that she would write to me if she had any problem and that she would also write to me often and would always tell me where she was. Surprisingly she agreed, and we have been in contact this way ever since. When you wrote to me asking our presence I wrote to her last address instead of leaving the letter in the mail box and I explained that you were asking for our presence, and she came to meet me immediately."

"That is so unlike her" Mr. Archibald said astounded. "It doesn't sound anything like her at all."

"Come on, you know that she's always been a very driven person" Mr. Hudson said, "and she has become fiercely independent and more determined than ever. She's not entirely the Helvetia you used to know. I must admit she has managed to survive quite well without help. Naturally I still worry but I cannot deny that she is completely able to survive on her own."

"I know, it's just, now I worry too, you know? I used to take comfort in the fact that she was with you, and that wherever you guys were, you would take care of her, and now I see that she has been out there alone." Mr. Archibald said.

"Now wait a moment, are you saying that you still have feelings for her?" Mr. Hudson asked Mr. Archibald in disbelief.

"No! I don't know…" Mr. Archibald said hesitantly, to which Mr. Hudson was going to say something when Mr. Archibald cut him off. "I care about her."

"Well caring is one thing," Mr. Hudson said "but we have no other choice but to respect her decision, otherwise she will just get farther away from all of us and…"

"I know, I know" Mr. Archibald said. "And don't worry, I won't act on any of it" he said, referring to his feelings. "It wouldn't be fair to her when I don't even know… When I haven't even defined to myself what I feel about her."

"I'm trying to be supportive here" Mr. Hudson said half grumpy, "but we are talking about my little sister."

"I know, but come on," Mr. Archibald said. "Are you going to tell me you don't feel anything when you see Celia?"

"Really? Are we going to discuss Celia now?" Mr. Hudson said in disbelief.

"Almost fair enough" Mr. Archibald said. "But there is nothing going on between Celia and me. She's now my female best friend. Don't tell that to Cornelia though, because I don't know if she knows and she might be prone to kill me if she doesn't like it." Mr. Archibald said half-jokingly.

"Oh, Cornelia knows" Mr. Hudson said continuing with the joking mood. "There is nothing that you can hide from her." There was a brief silence, and Mr. Hudson added, joking again. "There is no chance that you can consider me for the male best friend place, right? That one will always belong to Gaius."

"Let's put it this way" Mr. Archibald said with a smile and putting his right arm around his friend' shoulders while they started walking towards the main staircase. "He's my male best friend, and you are my very dear friend."

While all this was happening, Mr. Rhodes, Ms. Hudson and Vivian kept checking through the windows the grounds around the house and the main road looking for the new visitors. Mr. Rhodes assigned each one of them an area to watch over. From time to time they walked around to meet and exchange a few words. An hour passed and yet the visitors had not arrived, but this wasn't yet considered a reason for alarm because there was still left a good time frame in which the visits were liable to arrive.

It was Mr. Rhodes who finally saw a few spots in the horizon. They were not coming through the main road, but from the woods and wilderness next to the house. It was night now, so when he saw them they were near the house, although they still needed to ride a bit. As they were approaching, Mr. Rhodes distinguished four riders. That's when he knew the riders had to be the visits they were expecting.

"They are here!" Mr. Rhodes called out loud, to which were soon heard the quick steps of Ms. Hudson and Vivian approaching him. As soon as they arrived next to him, Mr. Rhodes said: "I'm going to go tell the others. If you want you can stay here and keep an eye on the surroundings."

"Yes, we will do that" Vivian agreed, to which Ms. Hudson nodded.

Mr. Rhodes quickly went downstairs and went first to the drawing-room. There he found Mr. Bass.

"They are here. I just saw them ridding towards the house. The four of them have come."

"Excellent. This is exactly what I was hoping for" Mr. Bass said rising from the desk and going towards Mr. Rhodes. "Go look for Numerius while I go open the door" he said next.

Mr. Rhodes nodded and went out of the room in one direction while Mr. Bass went out in the direction that would conduct him to the house's entrance. Mr. Rhodes started looking for Mr. Archibald and finally found him leaving the library with Mr. Hudson. During the last half hour Mr. Archibald have given a tour of the main rooms to Mr. Hudson and they have ended up in the library, Mr. Archibald knowing that it was best to leave this place for last due to Mr. Hudson's love for books.

"They are here. I just told Gaius and he went to open the doors. The four of them have come."

"Really? How long ago did you see them?" Mr. Archibald said while moving towards the main entrance with Mr. Hudson also in toe.

"Like 10 minutes ago. They were ridding towards the house" Mr. Rhodes answered. "I should go tell Celia and Cornelia too. Do you know where they are?"

"Maybe in their rooms…" Mr. Hudson started saying.

"No, we passed by them and their doors were already closed. They are most likely in the kitchens, go check there" Mr. Archibald told Mr. Rhodes. "Decimus, could you come with me? They are probably going to need help with the horses and whatever luggage they carry."

"Yes, sure" Mr. Hudson said, and he and Mr. Archibald went to the main entrance while Mr. Rhodes went to the kitchens.

When Mr. Rhodes arrived to the kitchens he found that indeed his sister, the Countess and Fritz were there. After the Countess and Fritz had finish getting installed in their new rooms, they went to the kitchens with Ms. Rhodes so she could better show them where the food was and anything else Fritz might need to cook his meals. He had actually started to eat the first one of the night when Mr. Rhodes arrived.

"They are here. I already told the others. The four of them have come. They should be at the doors by now."

"We should go greet them" Ms. Rhodes said enthusiastically, going towards her brother.

The Countess nodded and leaning towards Fritz, she started saying: "Fritz, we are going to receive the new visitors that I told you about before. Stay here and finish your meal, and after you finish, start studying your lessons. I'll be back in a while and we'll see what else is pending."

"Yes, Milady" the boy said in English.

Upon hearing him, Ms. Rhodes smiled and looked at her brother, who returned her smile. The Countess went towards them and the three of them left the kitchens.

Meanwhile Mr. Bass had opened the doors and Mr. Archibald and Mr. Hudson had already joined him. The three of them waited until the four riders stopped in front of the house and their faces could be seen under the torches light, to go down the entrance's few steps and greet them.

The first two riders, who had also arrived first to the front of the house, started dismounting. The first to dismount took off his hat and appraised the three men in front of him. He was a blond man, about the same height than Mr. Bass, slightly muscular though not excessively. His blond hair was straight and with slightly short bangs over his forehead. His eyes were blue, his expression honest. He didn't seem a man of too many words, but quiet, yet at the same time he looked like someone very able to defend himself. His clothes were dark and simple, Neoclassical style but nothing too fancy.

"Long time no see" the man said, and he couldn't help a brief smile.

"I would say" Mr. Bass said amused. "How are you Rian?"

"Good. We came as fast as we could. I can't say I enjoyed the journey though, the waters in the Channel were brutal."

"He's just afraid of a little water" a woman's voice sounded behind him in a teasing tone. The second rider had dismounted and upon taking off the hat, it was clear it was a woman. The woman was tall, lean, with a beautiful face, high cheekbones, blue eyes although not has blue as her partner, long hair that was loose, with a color that was darker than Mr. Archibald's sandy blond hair but at the same time she wasn't entirely a brunette. It was basically a hair color between the hair colors of Mr. Archibald and the Countess. She had a beautiful smile and went to stand beside the blond man.

"I'm not afraid of the water, you know I happen to enjoy the water greatly" the blond man said to her. "I just don't enjoy been in a boat in the middle of a storm, with no possibility of scape."

"At least that made believable why we couldn't get out of our rooms" a third voice sounded, and the owner had just finished dismounting when it was heard. It was a male voice, and under the torches light and without the hat, which he took off next, you could see his features. His skin tone was like that one of Mr. Hudson. His hair was also black too, but more curly. His eyes were brown. He was tall and lean, not muscular although he didn't seem weak. He was wearing clothes similar to those of the blond man.

"Ha, ha, you and Moya enjoyed teasing me all the way here" the blond man said. "Even Rachel joined in at one point."

"Well, it's not that we had much more to do" a fourth voice, a female one, sounded. She had already dismounted and went to join her traveling companions. In a way, she had a certain resemblance to the Countess, but not entirely. Although pale like all of her kind, her skin tone was slightly less pale than the Countess and closer to the one of her third traveling companion. Her hair was black and straight, not brunette and in curls like the Countess. She was petite like the Countess, and some of her features were similar to the Countess features, but not all of them. It was mostly her eyes, which were brown and although not entirely doe-eye, her eyes and forehead too resembled those of the Countess. The shape of her mouth was different though, not bow-like like the Countess mouth. Also, sometimes when the Countess smiled, she had dimples, and that didn't happen when this girl smiled. Overall she was beautiful too, and she looked like a young woman very sure of herself and of who she was. She had character, which is something that could also be said about the Countess.

Before the blond man could add another replica to his traveling companions' teasing, Ms. Rhodes arrived with the Countess and her brother:

"You came! It's so good to see you all!" she gushed while going to hug the tall woman and then the petite woman. The Countess stayed slightly behind since she wasn't as forward as Ms. Rhodes, but she had a smile in her face, clearly glad to see the new visitors. Ms. Rhodes behavior prompted the men in the house to approach the blond man and the tall lean man and start shaking hands with them, thus interrupting the conversation that was beginning upon the visitor's arrival.

"It's so good to see you too, Celia" the tall woman said with a smile while Ms. Rhodes hugged the petite woman. Ms. Rhodes then was going to hug the blond man and the tall lean man, but then remembered her manners.

"Gentlemen" she greeted with a small curtsey, and she couldn't help a small smile at the end.

"Celia" the blond man greeted with a small inclination of his head that his traveling companion copied next. "It's good to see you haven't changed at all."

"It wouldn't be Celia if she changed" the tall woman said with a smile, standing slightly behind of Ms. Rhodes, while placing her hands over Ms. Rhodes shoulders and squeezing them with affection. The sound of her voice reminded Mr. Bass, Mr. Archibald, Mr. Hudson and Mr. Rhodes that they had yet to greet the female visitors.

"Ladies" Mr. Bass said while addressing the two women and bowing after the custom of the period, while Mr. Archibald, Mr. Hudson and Mr. Rhodes did the same.

"Gentlemen" the tall woman said and she and the petite woman also curtsey in reply.

It was in that moment that the Countess decided to approach the group.

"Cornelia, it's so good to see you" the tall woman said with a smile.

"It's good to see you too Moya, everyone" the Countess said with a smile and curtsey to the visitors, a greeting the four of them returned.

"I see your manners are impeccable as always" the tall woman said amused and to tease Ms. Rhodes, which worked because Ms. Rhodes glared to her playfully. The tall woman continued "Is everyone here then? Helvetia and Vibiana…?"

"They are inside the house" Mr. Rhodes interrupted. "We were watching the roads while we were waiting for you. We should go inside…"

"We need to take care of the horses first" Mr. Archibald pointed out. "Rian, how do you want to…?"

"Why don't you show us the way?" the bond man said in reply. "Moya, Rachel, if you want you can take the luggage with you and see where our chambers are."

It was finally decided between everybody that Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald would take the two men and the four horses to the stables while Mr. Hudson and Mr. Rhodes would carry the luggage, which wasn't much, while escorting the women inside the house. When this latter group reached the main hall, Ms. Hudson and Vivian were coming down from the upper floors, which caused another round of greetings and hugs between them and the new two ladies. Finally, the visitors were help to get installed in the chambers that they and their partners would occupy for the night.

After a while, the Countess left the group to go check on Fritz, who was already studying by then. Knowing that she needed to do some explanation before presenting him to the new four visitors, she sent him to his room with the excuse of going to fetch something, so he wasn't in the kitchens when Mr. Archibald, Mr. Bass and the other two men passed by the kitchens in their way from the stables. Upon seeing her, Mr. Bass couldn't resist addressing her immediately:

"Is everyone else in the drawing-room already?" he asked.

"No, Moya and Rachel are getting installed in their rooms. Perhaps you would like to see the rooms first" she added, addressing the two new visitors in this last part. "You all might want to change your clothes first…"

"Don't worry, we all have to go out soon to eat, so I don't think it will be necessary" the blond man said. "Moya and Rachel will surely unpack quickly and will be downstairs soon."

"Come on" the tall lean man suddenly said.

"What?" the blond man asked slightly baffled.

"We should go see the rooms and change off these clothes. We have been traveling for days, I'm tired" the tall man said, whining a little at the end.

"You always have quarreled with exertion" the blond man mused as a side comment.

"Well, while you gentlemen decide what to do, I'll go check where everyone else is" the Countess said and was going to turn and leave, when Mr. Bass call out to her.

"Cornelia, maybe when you see them, you could ask them to gather in the drawing-room, please?" he said. The Countess silently stared at him, so Mr. Bass cleared his throat and added "We need to start informing our visitors about the latest developments."

The Countess seemed to accept this, since she answered: "I'll let them know when I see them". She them bowed her goodbye and went outside the kitchens. She didn't immediately went upstairs though, but she remained near the kitchens until the men finally left them, and she observed as all of them went in the direction that led to the drawing-room. She then decided to wait for Fritz's return, which didn't take more than a few minutes. Once Fritz arrived, she reviewed his lessons with him, and gave him a few more lessons and homework before leaving the kitchens, not without telling him that she would go look for him in a couple of hours or so and that if he finished studying before that, he was to start cooking his next meal in the meantime.

The Countess then went straight to the drawing-room, knowing she had taken too long and that everybody would be there by now. She was right because everybody were doing small talk and finishing greeting each other when she arrived. Upon seeing her, Mr. Bass went straight to her.

"You didn't return upstairs" he said privately to her.

"Forgive me, there was something I needed to do first" the Countess answered with a sincere and slightly apologetic tone, to which Mr. Bass nodded his head, understanding immediately that this was sure something Fritz-related. He was to say something more, but he and the Countess were actually starting to fall into this tense game of looks that accompanied many of their encounters and conversations, and they would have felt entirely into it had it not been because Mr. Archibald voice interrupted all the conversations.

"Now that everyone is here, we can start explaining our visitors what we know about the task at hand" Mr. Archibald said, and whether he started talking only because it was time to start that meeting, or because he noted the intense energy that was starting to arise between his friend and the Countess, it is unknown.

The masters of the house had made sure to bring a couple of extra chairs to the room to accommodate the new visitors. The tall lean man and the petite woman sat in the sofa at the right side of the fireplace, sharing it with Ms. Hudson and Vivian. The blond man and the tall woman took single chairs each, but next to each other. Mr. Bass took a single chair too. Sited in the sofa by the left side of the fireplace were Mr. Archibald, Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Rhodes. The Countess took a single chair between that sofa and the fireplace. Mr. Hudson took a chair between the fireplace and the sofa at the right side of the fireplace.

Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald proceeded to tell the four new visitors all they knew about the current threat just as they have done the other night with the Countess, the Hudson brothers and Vivian. The four visitors listened attentively and in silence the entire explanation. The tall lean man and the petite woman were holding hands the entire explanation and eventually, the blond man and the tall woman ended up doing the same. For the four of them this was an extremely important moment.

"So, he's going by the name Xavier" the tall lean man said once Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald finished their explanation and a small moment of silent had passed afterwards. "Weird choice in name" he commented.

"It doesn't matter his choice in name" the petite woman replied back. "What matters here is that he's an imbecile who acts like he owns the world and can do whatever he feels like."

"We must go after him as soon as possible" the blond man said.

"We figured you would say that" Mr. Bass said. "What do you want to do?"

"When can we go?" the blond man asked back.

"We would need around a week to make all the arrangements and leave this house secured" Mr. Bass answered.

"A week is too much" the blond man said denying with his head.

"Five days at least" Mr. Bass replied. Since the blond man remained silent, Mr. Bass continued. "Come on Rian, you know a place like this cannot be left unattended so fast."

"Alright, five to seven days" the blond man said with a sight. "But it needs to happen as quickly as you all can arrange it."

"Can you find out the last place where he was seen?" the tall woman asked to her hosts.

"Last we heard it was near York, but I can send a messenger to ask with our contacts in the area about his whereabouts" Mr. Rhodes answered. "Don't worry, these contacts are also of our kind, and the communication system is such the messenger doesn't even have to see them."

"The messenger? Do you have a household staff for this place?" the blond man asked.

"Yes, we do" Mr. Bass replied, and then proceeded to explain about the household staff and how it worked.

"I can see you have a well-thought-of system in this house" the petite woman said when Mr. Bass finished his explanation. "It's very impressive."

"I do hope this organized system also means you have started some of the arrangements needed for our journey" the blond man added, "or that at least this will help to arrange everything quickly."

"It will be done, don't worry" Mr. Bass said. He made a small pause, and then added: "There is also the issue of your names here, or of the names by which the staff will know you, since you will be our guests for the next few days."

The four visitors looked at each other and then the blond man said: "We have talked about it, and we decided that I will be Mr. Brian Nichol during our stay here."

"And I'll be his wife, Mary Nichol" the tall woman said.

"Mary Nichol?" Ms. Rhodes asked.

"Yes. Do you find it unbecoming?" the tall woman asked.

"No. I like how it sounds. It's just that Mary is not being used that much at this moment…" Ms. Rhodes commented

"Perhaps, but it has been popular in the continent during the last century" the tall woman said.

"What about you, Ezekiel? What did you choose?" Mr. Bass asked the tall lean man, curious.

"We thought about it, and it will be Sanford Roberts" the tall lean man said.

"And I'll be his wife, Sophie Roberts" the petite woman said.

"Sanford and Sophie, they kind of rhyme, and they sound English enough" the Countess commented.

"That's what we thought" the petite woman said smartly.

"I just hope they will be convincing enough" the tall lean man said with was his natural anxiety, normal for those who knew him.

"And you? What are your names here?" the petite woman said to distract him and cut off what was surely going to be the start of a lot of rambling.

"Mr. Charles Bass" Mr. Bass introduced himself.

"Mr. Fitzwilliam Archibald" Mr. Archibald continued, to which the petite woman raised her eyebrows.

"Ms. Catherine Rhodes" Ms. Rhodes presented herself.

"Catherine" the tall woman, who we will call Mrs. Nichol from now on, said appraising the name.

"Yes. Do you like it?" Ms. Rhodes said with a smile.

"You did well" Mrs. Nichol answered with another smile.

"Mr. Richard Rhodes, her brother" Mr. Rhodes said with a smile, gesturing towards Ms. Rhodes. "We purchased this house along with Mr. Bass, our cousin from our mother's side, with whom we grew up since we were orphans at an early age, and the three of us see each other as siblings."

"And I'm a college friend of Mr. Bass in a really extended visit" Mr. Archibald said charmingly while gesturing by putting his right hand on his chest and making a small bow forward, still sitting on his seat.

"I see, that's quite a story you all have built" Mrs. Nichol said smiling. "And Cornelia?" she said, addressing the Countess.

"I'm the Countess Constanze Waldorf, of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel" the Countess proudly stated with her head held high, "and my family and their family were friends," she continued, gesturing towards the Rhodes brothers and Mr. Bass, "so I'm continuing that friendship by paying a visit."

"Like Moya said, that's some story you guys have built" the blond man, from now on Mr. Nichol, said impressed.

"What about you guys? What are your names?" the petite woman, from now on Mrs. Roberts, asked amused to the other three members of their meeting that were left pending of identifying themselves.

"I'm Mr. Randolph Hudson" Mr. Hudson said with a sigh, "I'm Mr. Archibald's attorney. Apparently Mr. Archibald here, has trouble deciding what property he wants to buy in the area and he needs my professional opinion before deciding which one."

"Ha-ha, very funny" Mr. Archibald said, while playfully glaring in Mr. Hudson's direction, to which he just shrugged his shoulders.

"And I'm Ms. Jane Hudson" Ms. Hudson continued. "I'm Mr. Hudson sister and we are also orphans by now, so I need to go with my brother everywhere."

"And I'm Vivian Parker" Vivian said, "their servant girl and Ms. Hudson's chaperone, and that's why I need to go with her everywhere too."

"That's really believable" Mrs. Roberts said impressed. "You guys thought of everything."

"I trust you all will agree that the story we will tell our servants and other humans is that you are two young couples, friends of ours that are paying us a small visit mainly to invite us to stay over with you at one of your manors" Mr. Bass said.

"That's the story you plan to tell people about us?" Mr. Nichol sputtered, perplexed.

"Yes, we have to explain somehow why after your visit we are all going to leave this house for some time" Mr. Bass reasoned.

"In that case it would be best if we say we are going to your house" the tall lean man, from now on Mr. Roberts, told the still perplexed Mr. Nichol. "In fact, instead of saying we are two couples that are friends with the owners of this house, we could say instead that Rachel and I are you and your wife's personal attendants" to this, voices immediately started to arise and speak at the same time, questions were heard, etc. "What? It would be more believe that they traveled with the servants, if they are powerful enough to invite everybody here to their manor…"

"Do forgive him, it's his nervous nature speaking" Mrs. Roberts said, while squeezing his hand with hers.

"There are several failures with your plan. We have little luggage. How are we going to say we have servants and at the same time we don't dress lavishly? If we use this plan we will be the cheapest landowners in the land" Mr. Nichol said.

"And don't even think of me loaning my clothes to Moya. We don't even have the same size in clothing" Mrs. Roberts said.

"About that, regardless of what you decide to do, I can lend you some clothes if you need to" Ms. Rhodes interrupted to say.

"Yes, but you can't loan clothes to everybody. And even if the boys lend their clothes to Rian and Ezekiel, I don't think it will be enough…" Mrs. Roberts started saying.

"Alright, it was just an idea" Mr. Roberts said while looking skywards. "We can follow the original plan; I don't have a problem with it."

"Why don't we follow the original story instead, but adding to it?" Mr. Nichol said, intriguing everybody in the process. "We can tell that Ezekiel and I are also friends of Gaius and Numerius college days, who had come with their wives to propose a business opportunity to them. And in a few days you will all announce the servants and everybody else who needs to know, that you have decided to travel with us back to our town to see what the business is about and decide whether you are going to invest in it or not."

"I like the way you think" Mr. Bass said with a smirk. "Everybody in the area knows that the Bass family's fortune surged in great part thanks to business opportunities."

"Is that what you have told people here? Business opportunities?" Mr. Hudson asked, for once slightly amused.

"You know very well, Decimus that I don't let things to chance" Mr. Bass said with sufficiency.

"That was a nice addition to the plan Rian, very good" Ms. Rhodes said while exchanging a smile with Mrs. Nichol.

"I have my moments" Mr. Nichol said with a shrug, to which Mrs. Nichol also smiled to him.

Everybody had gotten distracted enough to not notice that the Countess stared at Mr. Bass during this exchange, admired but also slightly intrigued because she knew that Mr. Bass always had a good head to get wealth, so there was a good chance that those "business opportunities" were actually partially truth.

"Alright, so we agree then, we will tell that to people" Mr. Archibald said. "It's time to think about the meal."

To this announcement, voices of approval and saying "finally" were heard, but then the Countess cleared her throat and said: "There is one last thing."

Everybody felt silent and Vivian was the one who dared to ask immediately: "And what would that be?" she said, not without certain sarcasm.

Although slightly unnerved by the fact that Vivian had dared to speak to her, the Countess decided to answer the question without arguing with her: "I need to explain to our friends that… I'm not traveling alone" she said, referring to the four new visitors.

"What do you mean you are not traveling alone? You traveled here with some of the members of the house, right?" Mrs. Nichol asked confused.

"Yes, but what I mean is… That I brought somebody from Germany with me" the Countess said with slight vacillation.

"What do you mean you brought "somebody"?" Mr. Nichol asked slightly unnerved.

There was a small pause, a bit of silence, during which the Countess gathered her courage, and then she answered. "It means that I brought a servant boy with me."

There was another pause, another bit of silence, and then Mr. Nichol asked in a hard tone: "A servant boy? You mean like a child?"

"A vampire child?" Mr. Roberts asked alarmed, staring everywhere with is usual nervousness.

"No! Not a vampire child!" the Countess said quickly. "Just… A child" she finished lamely.

There was a third moment of silence, longer than the earlier ones, and Mr. Bass was already considering saying something, when a female voice beat him to it. "You mean a child? A human child?!" Mrs. Roberts asked scandalized.

"Yes! A human child!" the Countess, who for a moment stared at her lap, answered while quickly recovering and raising her head.

"You brought a human child into this house?! Are you out of your mind?!" Mrs. Nichol said scandalized while standing up from her chair, followed quickly by Mr. Nichol who also stood up from his chair and started talking while his wife hasn't finished speaking yet, with an outraged "Have you lost your head?!"

"You don't understand!" the Countess countered quickly while also standing up from her chair, defending herself before anyone else could do so on her behalf. "This is not some capricious, random thing that I have done in a careless fit! This is not the first time that I have done it!"

Everybody remained silent for a moment. Then Mrs. Nichol spoke again. "What?" she asked in a quiet tone.

Unable to keep facing the four new visitors, the Countess turned around and leaving the entire audience behind her, she walked slowly to one of the windows in the room while talking. "It is not the first time… I've been taking in children for 300 years now."

More silence, and then Mrs. Nichol asked: "How?" she said in a tone filled with amazement and slight fear.

"It started during the Renaissance" the Countess said shrugging her shoulders, "I was alone," an involuntary memory caused the involuntary reflex of giving a sideways look to her left, the direction to which she knew Mr. Bass was sitting, but luckily for her she was giving her back to everybody so that prevented this for being noticed, "there were so many children without home..., without parents or any guardian…, so many orphans from wars or diseases. In Italy, I found a child one night" she had to take a breath at the mention of Italy. "He couldn't be older than three. Yet he was begging for money in the streets. He was starving. No brothers, sisters, parents, anything. Nobody had helped him, or maybe they couldn't, I don't even know" she put her left hand over her forehead in distress. "So I picked him up. He couldn't even properly tell me his name. So I renamed him. And I carried him with me since, until he grew up and was able to defend himself, which allowed getting him properly installed in a town."

"How do you do it?" Mr. Nichol asked, knowing that by now that had been only the first of several cases.

"I educate them" the Countess said with her voice slightly wavering at the end. "I make sure they learn all that a young and well-educated man of their time would learn. I make sure that they eat human food and are well fed. And also that they know how to defend themselves. I choose them when they are very little, yet I make sure that they are really alone. I don't want to take away a kid from his family. But I want to help at least one of those orphans. I never take more than one. I don't pick girls because as much as I would want to help them too, I know it would be far more difficult to defend us if it were a woman and a girl instead of a woman and a boy, even if it doesn't seem there is much difference at the end of the day, but people's perception counts for something. It would also be more difficult to explain a noblewoman and a servant girl. Not that is so easy to explain a noblewoman and a servant boy. Mainly I've chosen boys who were begging in the streets, who know and later can remember what is like to feel hunger and live in misery. Who know that so well, that they know that even the help of a being like me is preferable to die of hunger in the streets. But after they become adults, I do not carry them with me. I could, but…" she made a small pause, sighed, and then continued "I don't want to see them die" she said in a quiet voice. "And I could never bring myself to turn them" she said suddenly, while turning around to look directly at Mr. and Mrs. Nichol. She looked at them for a moment and then turned around again to face the window. "They deserve to have a life, the life we couldn't have. And I raised them, I couldn't harm them either. So I make sure that they can make a living, have prospects of a good marriage, a respectable life. And I left them installed somewhere, where they can live their lives. And I move on" she finished.

The room felt silent yet again for a while. Finally Ms. Rhodes quickly stood up, and walked to her friend until she stopped just behind her left shoulder.

"Cornelia…. I think it is time our friends meet Fritz" Ms. Rhodes said in a quiet tone.

The Countess didn't say anything immediately. She stared out the window for a moment, until she was able to nod her head first, and then turned around to say to her friend: "Yes, let's go fetch him."

Ms. Rhodes took her friend left hand and they both left the room without more words. Mr. Nichol, who had remained standing all this time, turned to Mr. Bass, who had remained sitting, immobile and staring ahead, deep in thought.

"This is very dangerous" Mr. Nichol said.

"I know" Mr. Bass replied, raising his eyes to stare at Mr. Nichol.

"If word of this gets out… If one of those boys talks…" Mr. Nichol continued.

"They won't" Mr. Bass said calmly.

"How do you know?" Mr. Nichol asked.

"Because if they had, if would have happened already" Mr. Bass said firmly.

"And what about the blood? What happens if she has the thirst because she hasn't been able to eat for whatever reason?" Mr. Nichol asked, still refusing to concede an agreement to this matter.

"She refuses to sleep in the same rooms as the boys" Mr. Bass said in a flat tone. "They have instructions if things get out of control for whatever reason, including leaving her behind and run away for their lives if there is no other choice. And she would defend them with her life if she had to. She made it as much clear to us the other night. If one of us, or one of our kind, dares to touch one hair in that child' head," he said, now referring to Fritz, "Cornelia will kill that person. Of that you can be sure."

"You knew about this" Mr. Nichol said in an accusing tone.

"Yes" Mr. Bass simply replied. "We all knew about it by now. And before you ask me if I didn't try to dissuade her," he said when he saw that not only Mr. Nichol, but Mr. Roberts too, were going to speak, "I tried to find out as much as I could about how she was going to do this the first time I knew about it. Then I saw she had everything under control and I didn't worry about it. Right now, she brought that child with her because she had no one else to leave him with. And she wasn't going to leave him to fend for himself, all alone. Not after she saved him in the first place."

Mr. Nichol wanted to say something more, but in that moment Ms. Rhodes and the Countess returned with Fritz.

Everybody in the room remained silent as soon as they appeared. When the Countess started her explanation, the Rhodes and Hudson brothers, Vivian, Mr. Archibald, not even Mr. Bass had a clue that it would be about Fritz. Mr. Bass regretted not thinking earlier about talking with the Countess what was the correct way to explain Fritz' presence to the visitors. Now nobody dared to predict how this presentation would go.

"Fritz, I'm going to introduce you to the new visitors now" the Countess said in German to the child. She was standing right behind him, and she leaned down to speak near his left ear while staring ahead to the rest of their audience, slightly smiling more to the child's benefit than for the others. Ms. Rhodes was standing to her friend's left side, slightly behind.

"That gentleman you see standing there, is Rian" the Countess said, "but you need to call him Mr. Brian Nichol" she continued, knowing from Mr. Nichol and the other three incredulous expressions that they were unable to introduce themselves in that moment and that she would have to do all the introductions to move this along. "The lady you see standing next to him, is Moya, and you need to call her Mrs. Mary Nichol" the Countess continued. By this point Mrs. Nichol was with her mouth open in shock.

"The gentlemen you see over there" the Countess said while turning herself and Fritz slightly in the Robert's direction, "is Ezekiel, and you will call him Mr. Sandford Roberts. And the lady sitting next to him is Rachel and you will call her Mrs. Sophie Roberts" the Countess said, all the while speaking in German.

"Everybody, this is Fritz" she finished, and upon hearing this, the boy bowed to greet the four new persons he was being introduce too. Four persons that were too shocked to return his salute.

The room felt silent for what it felt like an eternity, but were only a few seconds. A pin could have been heard. Then Mrs. Roberts thought: "This is so ridiculous."

"Come here child" she said suddenly, addressing Fritz in German.

Surprised in such way, the Countess couldn't immediately let go of Fritz (during her introductions she had placed her hands on his shoulders) nor he dared to move in Mrs. Roberts direction.

"Come here" Mrs. Roberts insisted, and opened her arms to welcome the child.

Reluctantly, the Countess let go of Fritz's shoulders, and when he turned his head towards her, she answered his unspoken question. "It's alright" she said, sounding more confident than what she really felt like.

The boy walked towards Mrs. Roberts, who once he reached her, took him in her arms and sat him on her lap, like a mother would with a child. On the other hand, her freaked out husband Mr. Roberts tried to slide himself a bit away from them, but he couldn't put much distance because sitting next to him in the sofa where Vivian and Ms. Hudson. The Nichols were staring the scene in disbelief.

"It's alright" Mrs. Roberts said to try and calm Fritz, thinking that it couldn't be easy for him to be so close to a strange person. "We don't have among our costumes to feed on children" she said. In that moment she thought that by saying this she could joke her way around the situation like her husband was able to do, but later she realized that without knowing so, she was putting a test to the child to see how he would react. And in part she realized about this, because to her surprise Fritz remained unfazed by what she said.

Before the Countess and Ms. Rhodes could voice their shock and sort of outrage like they were about to do, Mrs. Nichol beat them to talk.

"Rachel that was unnecessary "she started," but look, he's not disturbed by any of it" she added, now with amazement in her voice. She then walked a few steps and crouched down next to where Mrs. Robert was sitting with Fritz still in her lap. "He's not scared at all" she said, still amazed. Mrs. Nichol then delicately put her left hand over Fritz right arm and very carefully made him leave Mrs. Roberts lap and stand right in front of her instead (she was still crouching down).

"What's your name?" she asked him in German, forgetting that the Countess had already introduced him by name.

"Fritz" the child replied.

"How old are you?" she then asked.

"I think I have eight" was his reply.

"You think you have eight?" Mrs. Nichol asked perplexed.

"My mother told me I was four years and then she died a while after that. I don't know the exact date I was born."

"How long ago you work for your mistress?" Mrs. Nichol asked in a serious tone.

"Since I was five. Or four. I'm not really sure, I don't remember it very well."

"Do you remember something before that? Besides your mother?"

"Only that I was very hungry. And cold. And then I wasn't anymore."

"What happened to your family?"

"They died. They said the plague took them."

"Whose they? The people in the town where you lived?"

Fritz shrugged his shoulders.

"That's why they didn't take you in?"

The child shrugged his shoulders again.

"Moya…" the Countess said quietly. She wanted to stop the questions for the time being, for Fritz's sake.

"Alright. It's fine" Mrs. Nichol said. "Now you are with your mistress, and she will take care of you. She protects you and she will make sure that nothing wrong happens to you" she said, staring straight to the boy's eyes. "You can go to her now, go on" she said smiling, and nodding in the Countess direction, encouraging Fritz to go towards the Countess. The boy nodded and turning around walked silently towards the Countess until he reached her. Upon having him in front of her, the Countess immediately put her right hand over his left shoulder and brought the boy as closer to her as possible, in a motherly/protective way.

Meanwhile Mrs. Nichol stood up and spoke to the Countess again.

"Can I ask you something in English?" Mrs. Nichol said in that language.

"If you say it by him, he's learning the language, but doesn't know that much yet, so you can ask" the Countess answered, referring to Fritz.

"Did his family really died of the plague?" Mrs. Nichol asked, curious.

"The villagers thought that, but you know how it is. They think is the plague when it can really be something completely different. I don't think it was the plague. I thought it was smallpox, but I asked as much as I could after I found him and it doesn't seem it was that. Other people died in the village as well, not only his family. I think it could have been bad food or water, but it's hard to tell."

"His family…?"

"He doesn't remember much about his father, and it seems the father perished first. The mother probably caught the sickness because she tried to nurse her husband. He remembers some older and younger siblings, some as younger as less than one year, but he doesn't remember much and from what I heard they did existed, but didn't make it. Some died shortly before the mother and others afterwards. When I found him he was sick too, but he was strong enough to beg for food. I couldn't find out much more, it was mostly a peasant's village, and I don't really know if he had a last name and he doesn't remember either."

"Alright, I think it was enough for one night" Mr. Bass said while standing up, deciding to intervene to put an end to the conversation, for the Countess's sake. "It's getting late and we haven't eaten yet. This has taken longer than expected."

"Yes, I think is best if Fritz returns to the kitchens to finish his tasks before going to bed" Ms. Rhodes said, catching up with was Mr. Bass was trying to do. Involuntarily and in a way less agreeable than she would have like, she had found out what she had wanted to know about how her friend found Fritz.

"Just so you know, I still think you are taking a great risk here by doing this" Mr. Nichol said in all seriousness, addressing the Countess.

"Well, don't you worry about it" the Countess said, and suddenly she lifted Fritz so she could carry him up in her arms. "Fritz and I have taken care of each other very well so far, and nothing bad shall happen to us. We make sure of it" she finished and kissed the boy's check with affection.

"Yes, clearly Cornelia has taken as many precautions as possible" Mrs. Nichol said while gesturing towards the Countess and Fritz. "Nothing bad will happen to them."

"Aren't you afraid those boys become the mean by which someone uncovers the truth about you?" Mr. Nichol asked in disbelief.

"That will not happen" the Countess replied.

"Why?" Mr. Nichol asked.

"Because at the end of the day, they know that when no one else was around, I was there" the Countess simply said.

Everybody remained quiet and Ms. Rhodes decided to hurry up their exit.

"Come on, let's go" she whispered to the Countess. Walking side by side, they both turned around and left the room with Fritz still being carried by the Countess.

Mr. Bass, who during all this scene had worried about the Countess but was also very proud of her and of the way she had handled everything, decided to speak again: "Now, if no one else has any more questions, we will show you to the stables where we can take the horses and go to the town for our meal" he finished charmingly and perhaps, a little smugly.

Both Mr. Nichol with Mrs. Nichol and Mr. Roberts with Mrs. Roberts exchanged looks between them, silently consulting each other, before nodding their consent to the rest of the room, and with this signal everybody proceeded to make their way to the kitchens than then would lead them to the stables.

A/N: In case you couldn't guess, the new visitors are the Fab-Four of... "The O.C." Yes, I'm borrowing Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer for this story, in what it's going to be a guest appearance, somewhat extended. This was long planed before real life events (Leighton and Adam's engagement, for which we are all happy I'm sure), and please, no weird Dair ellipsis like some people have done in other places using Blair and Seth, we are not having that here just like we are not having Dair here. For further clarification (if you saw The O.C. you will see from where I took several names and last names):

Ryan is Rian and at this moment he is Mr. Brian Nichol.

Marissa is Moya and at this moment she is Mrs. Mary Nichol.

Seth is Ezekiel and at this moment he is Mr. Sandford Roberts.

Summer is Rachel and at this moment she is Mrs. Sophie Roberts.