Tea, Lycanthropy and Other Virtues

Chapter Eighteen

Hugh had a room in the townhouse even though he hadn't slept there since he'd been a child. Mother had been uncomfortable with it even though she'd been married to a werewolf. He couldn't blame her, in truth he was afraid to stay here too. Still, it was nice to have a place to change and rest and now that the Allens were staying maybe Hannah wouldn't want to return to Carnsley.

He fumbled with his dinner cravat.

"Allow me sir," Carlson said. The old man went about it with his consummate skill. "Looking forward to seeing Miss Allen?"

"Should I be?"

The valet looked at him nonplussed.

"Mr. Carlson, it hardly matters if I am intrigued by Miss Allen, I would not want to endanger Constance or any woman. I am not my father."

"Intrigued by Constance, sir."

"She told me to call her Constance, after I, you know, nearly ate her." The image of Miss Allen's bare legs drifted to mind. He paced away from the valet annoyed with the heat coursing through his blood and the knowing look on Carlson's face.

"If I may be so bold, a lifetime of self-imposed isolation is perhaps not the wisest course of action," Carlson said.

"Monsters deserve to be alone."

"Every man has a beast living inside him, you simply acknowledge yours. It is one's actions that make them a monster."

"And if my actions hurt her?"

"Your father was a bastard of a man and he never once hurt your mother."

"What of the pain inflicted on his children?"

"I suspect that has little to do with his being a werewolf. Hugh, if you would only accept yourself as you are, forgive yourself for your sister's accident, then you would find the wolf to be your ally."

"Her accident?" Hugh growled. "It was no accident."

"As you say sir," the valet said, the picture of stoicism.

A depth of regret replaced the wolf.

"I'm sorry—"

The valet raised his hand to stop him. "I overstepped. Besides, you will be late for dinner." He waved Hugh out the door.

Hugh exited his room to find Constance leaving her's.

"Miss Allen," he said, his heart stuttering. He had prepared himself to see her in the dining room with the rest of the household. Seeing her sooner sent his pulse ricocheting through his body.

"I thought we'd decided on Constance," she said, giving him a small smile.

There were circles under her eyes. Worry crept over him and he had to steel himself against the urge to nuzzle his face into her neck, if only to reassure himself that she was alright.

"Are you well?" She asked noting his hesitation.

"Yes, sorry. You look lovely." And she did despite the fatigue. It made his blood pound in his veins, wildness biting at the edges of who he was. "Are you well?" He asked hoarsely.

She was looking into his eyes, reaching for something. She blinked hard. "Truthfully I'm not sure. But Hannah is lovely and Simon is adjusting better than I'd hoped."

"Betrayal by those we trusted," he said, the anger he'd been trying to bury snarling just below the surface.

"Yes," she agreed. "It feels as if they have flayed me open. How could I have been so stupid?"