AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A huge crash emitted from the disused shop that was their goal. The locus of the commotion proved to be Matthias; the source of the noise, a caved-in roof over a large lean-to at the back of the building.
“This place is in rag order, Gamma.” Alfred’s Beta brushed his soiled hands down his coat, a thoughtless action that would normally send Alfred into a tailspin, but given Matthias’s diffident approach to clothing, it made no difference.
Sebastian nudged a pile of rotten wood with his boot. “It can’t help its reaction to a disturbance when it has gone unbothered for years.”
“What was this place used for?” Alfred walked into the main part of the long, narrow building. It was divided into several chambers, and he could make no sense of what its purpose may have been.
“The manufacture of candles.” Matthias looked up at the parts of the ceiling that remained in place. “I have an idea to resuscitate it and will get some footmen on the job. As it pleases Your Grace, of course.”
“They being my footmen and all.”
“If there are any left, as Her Grace dispatched the handiest in aid of the renovation of Arcadia,” Matthias said as he led them to the front room. The door was flanked by two dusty bay windows, and he commenced muttering about displays and arrangements.
“There are plenty remaining who are eager to learn,” Sebastian said. “And. Well, there is the sheepdog.”
“The who, now?” Matthias asked. Alfred caught his Gamma in a blush and waggled his brows at his Beta. Matthias picked up his cue. “That young lad from up north? He’s driving Coburn ’round the bend and charming himself out of all manner of tasks,” the Beta said.
Sebastian straightened his waistcoat with an excess of dignity. “I would not know.”
“Would you not?” Matthias was the worst for teasing, and he spotted an opening for relentless ribbing like an eagle spotted a hare. This trait likely came from being born second to his brother after an array of elder sisters.
The boar grumbled and retreated to tidy up the piles of detritus in the lean-to. Alfred and Matthias followed, hard on the scent.
“Tell me, this sheepdog, is he quite fit, Matthias?” Alfred asked.
“Oh yes, Alfred, Colin is fit and lithe and has the biggest brown eyes.”
“You seem to have made a point of noticing his attributes,” Sebastian mumbled.
“It is my job to notice things,” Matthias was quick to retort. “If he is not to your preference, perhaps Mr. Barrington is.”
“Oh?” Alfred hadn’t paid much attention to Felicity’s new hire apart from ensuring the stipulation in her marriage contract to secure a tutor was honored. At the meal, Barrington had prosed on about Greek culinary topics to cover for his sister, who was covering for Alwyn’s apparent lack of skill with a fork. If Mr. Barrington was in line with his Gamma’s desires, then that would be quite tidy. “Do we know for certain he would be amenable to such overtures as our beloved Sebastian may like to make?”
“Yes.” The boar Shifter sounded glum. “One can tell when another is a…confirmed bachelor.”
“The tutor is older than the sheepdog, if that is what’s stopping you in the first case.” Matthias picked carefully through a pile of glass.
“Mr. Barrington has lived all over the Continent and speaks seven languages.” Sebastian started heaving the larger beams to the side. “I have journeyed fewer than one hundred leagues in my entire life and Chef Louveauteau despairs of my retaining the rudimentary French phrases he tries to teach me.”
Alfred cleared his throat. “Sebastian, if I have learned one thing as a married man—”
“Oh, Holy Venus, not this again,” Matthias grumbled.
“—it is that differences between mates are a heady aphrodisiac and keep things fresh. And there is only one language that the two are required to speak.”
“The language of loooove,” Matthias crooned and then hollered as Sebastian caught him in a headlock. Their scuffling finished what destruction his Second had begun, and Alfred howled with laughter.
Another tranche of ceiling gave way and clattered to the floor. “Lads, enough,” Alfred ordered, and they broke it up reluctantly, neither conceding defeat. “Truly, Baz, you know we have no prejudices here. It would be rather ridiculous given the secrets we seek to keep from the human populace.” It would be the height of hypocrisy, to Alfred’s thinking. “Do you think he is your fated mate?”
“I do not know—hush, Bates, yes, yes, another thing in which Mr. Barrington may educate me.” Matthias giggled as he had when he and Alfred were pups. Sebastian sighed again. “One simply knows, is that not true? And I have never heard of thevera amorisbond between men.”
“It is common amongst my kind.”
Alfred would vow to his dying day that he did not leap out of his skin in surprise; since his jolt put a glimmer of amusement in Alwyn’s eye, he would not regret that he nearly had. Alwyn, who had joined them on silent feet, so quiet evenversipellianhearing did not detect him. Alwyn, who was speaking of his own accord.
If they could lay this at Miss Barrington’s door, then Goddess damn it, Georgie was right again. “Your kind? Who, the Welsh?”
Llewellyn did not move, but anyone familiar with felines sensed his ability to spring into action at a moment’s notice. He made a show of looking around to avoid their gazes, and they gave him the courtesy of setting about the task of hauling more timber into the growing pile.
