Winterly (Dark Creatures Book 1), стр. 25
If she was not still so cowed by his lordship, Milli would have kissed her hand to him. If only Mr. Valko had felt the inclination to intervene on her behalf.
“Well…I…that is to say…” Uncle Haywood mopped his brow with his handkerchief. “My niece seems to have grown morbid during her stay in London.” Her uncle then turned back to Milli; it was presumably far easier to bend a fell gaze at her than at his disquieting host. “You do realize what killed the cat, Millicent?”
“The dog?” said Emma suddenly, earning herself a dark look. The majority of their dinner companions, however, were much diverted by Emma’s impertinence.
“No, Emmaline. Curiosity, in fact, killed the cat.” That awful color was back in his neck. Uncle Haywood was manifestly restraining his spleen, but Milli could see how powerful was his desire to give them both a good tongue lashing.
Milli knew that he would be wroth with both his nieces for the next fortnight at the very least. Perhaps the rest of the season. She only hoped he would not take it into his head to pack them off back to the countryside. Mama would be most upset if Milli returned without a single eligible proposal of marriage. Perhaps it behooved her therefore to behave herself here on out; would that her sister felt obliged to do the same.
“Curiosity,” Uncle Haywood continued, “ought to be a deadly sin.”
“Then it is my favorite cardinal sin,” said Lord Winterly, raising his glass to Milli before flashing a very toothy smile at Emma.
“I thought it was pride?” said Mr. Grimm. It was the first time Milli could remember him speaking. His remark was so unexpected that at first no one stirred from their shock. Well, all except Mr. Black whose abrupt bark of laughter was almost just as surprising. That gentleman was slapping his friend warmly on the shoulder, but Mr. Grimm’s expression, despite the hearty slaps, remained impenetrable.
“You mean lust,” said Mr. Valko under his breath. It was not, of course, loud enough to hear above the laughter (no one but she ought to have heard it), but the comment somehow elicited what sounded to Milli like a firm kick beneath the table. So it had not escaped Victoria’s keen ears. The hostess bestowed upon him a keen-edged smile, whereupon Mr. Valko grimaced unrepentantly at her.
Mr. Haywood, meanwhile, deaf as ever, was unaware that the topic had digressed. Thus he went on to say to Victoria, “I have no opinion of young ladies who take an unhealthful interest in death.” His eyes narrowed. “Especially not those that are determined to misappropriate The Times for the purpose of slaying spiders.”
“It was a fly not a spider!” Milli thought it prudent to recall the minutiae of her lie. It lent such veracity. She gave an involuntary shiver at the very thought of seeing a spider, let alone braining one. “I detest spiders.”
“Especially vile white spiders,” said Emma, mirroring her disgust.
Much to Milli’s dismay, Mr. Valko appeared struck by Emma’s comment. Indeed, the entire room seemed affected, for everyone became oddly still. Why did Emma always attract their interest without even trying? It was devilish unfair!
“Yes, the white spider.” Lord Winterly’s fingers drummed along his crystal stem, wine still untouched, as the silence stretched. “And venomous withal.”
Milli bit her lip, uncertain. “Are we to suppose that English spiders, in addition to being as hideous as their foreign counterparts, are venomous too?” She snuck a peek at Mr. Valko, hoping her question was not a puerile one.
Lord Winterly gave a succinct nod.
“Bless me!” said Milli. “I wonder which of the venomous beasts I am to fear most?”
“The cardinal spider.” This from Mr. Valko who, consequently, earned himself some scathing looks, especially from the terrifying head of the table. It was all becoming very strange.
“Some venoms,” said Lord Winterly, “attack the flesh, and others the heart.” He then caught Emma in that steady black gaze. “And then there is that particular kind which preys upon the blood.”
The dining room was intolerably quiet after that. It was really all most unsettling, so Milli broke the strange spell with a cheerful laugh, if somewhat forced. After which she said, “Then it is a famous good thing the beast’s venomous little head is now smeared across The Times!” She gave her uncle a self-satisfied nod.
“I thought,” said Lord Winterly, “it was a fly you killed?”
Blast and blast!
Milli could not believe where the time had got to, for it was nigh midnight and they had only just sat down to coffee in the drawing room. Would that this night would never end!
It was with reluctance that she’d parted from Mr. Valko’s side so that Victoria could lead the ladies from the dining room, small though their number was. Now that she was no longer distracted by Valko’s strange beauty, she could attend the call of nature.
After being shown the way to the water closet by one of the dreadful servants, Milli was delighted to find that Winterly House had installed an honest-to-God flushing lavatory. A marvelous thing! It was such a divertissement that she could not forbear flushing it again. And again. Next she tarried in the powder room, tucking stray strands of hair back into place and inspecting her teeth for bits of fowl, lest Mr. Valko spy her looking less than perfect. Color was wanting from her cheeks, so she pinched them till they glowed.
When she emerged, it was to see Lord Winterly disappearing into the library. The door was shut firmly behind him. Milli tiptoed past it, fearful of disturbing that esteemed gentleman. But she soon discovered that she was being overly cautious, for she could hear him talking to someone within. Nevertheless, Milli quietly hied herself back to the drawing room, her excitement sending more heat