Chapter Eight

"And then the prince stabbed the big monster!"  The child exclaimed, full of wonder and Jenny laughed. 

"Percy, you are the monster my nephew's talking about? "

"You ain't funny, Jenny. "             

Percy made a face at her and she pretended she didn’t see it and ignored him. Oliver hadn’t told anyone he’d seen them in the study, but he’d spent the day with Percy and the kid again, so he’d hinted they should probably be more careful. He’d saved the details around the fact he wasn’t the only one who had seen them that day.

Obviously, the Lord didn’t care in any way for any of this, but Oliver suspected Thomas wouldn’t be so indifferent if he found out. And if the butler didn’t like something, that meant trouble for all of them. 

Oliver got up and said "Thank you for the dinner, Adelia. I'll be heading up. "

"Good night, Oliver." 

She said. He was talking his dinners with the rest of the servants downstairs. Most of them gathered together, with a few exceptions.

The butler, for example, but Oliver didn’t miss the man on any way.

  Jay beamed at him, "Will you show me again how to fight? Please, Oliver, please."

"I will, why not."

"No, young Sir, because my sister is coming to take you back home tomorrow, " Jenny told her nephew. "And stop bothering Oliver. "

"But I don't want to go home!”

“You have to, I ‘m not listening to your  whining. “

“Why? The other prince said I can come again"  The boy pleaded and Jenny looked at him. 

“What other prince, Jay?”

“The one with the red hair, and he gave me sweets. Oh, but he also said I shouldn’t tell you.” The kid covered its mouth with its small hand and the servants exchanged looks. Jenny said 

"Don’t you dare approach the masters, understood, kid?”

“But why not?”

“Because…”

“Whyy?”

“Because you only embarrass us. He’s a master and we are….“ 

She didn’t finish. The child's face fell and everyone moved nervously in their seats. 

“But I didn’t do anything. Why can’t I ? “

For a moment no one spoke and Oliver suddenly dreaded this whole exchange. 

“I’m sure Oliver here will show you something new next time, right?” Adelia said. “ Or Percy, maybe? The master is busy.”

Oliver felt relieved at the woman’s way of escaping the explanation. And even if it was a simple one,  the kid would have enough lessons from life that people like them couldn’t mix with royals.

And servants’ children rarely even saw the masters, let alone got the chance to speak to the Lords.

“But I still want the two princes to show me,”  Jay said “Percy can’t do it right. “

Everyone laughed. 

“Don't listen to the kid" Percy said and Jenny pointed at him “I knew you are bad at this. “

“I’m not. “

They continued teasing each other and Oliver said

"Yes, it was my pleasure, I will."

"You see, he will!" 

"Just prepare a better weapon for next time, Jay."

Oliver ruffled the boy's hair.

"I will promised! "

"Good. I should go, then."

They all wished each other goodnight and Oliver headed upstairs. He was halfway up the stairs when he saw Callum. 

The Lord was fixing the cuffs of his coat when he looked up and said surprised. 

"Mr. Abram?"

"Good evening, Sir."

Oliver was just about to continue walking up when Callum said "I was actually looking for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, are you so surprised?"

"No, I was just..."

Oliver stopped himself from saying that the Lord looked equally surprised to see him.  It seemed like Callum had just came up with the idea he had been looking for Oliver as well. Most likely he had. 

“We’re going out. “

“We? I mean, now, Sir?”

The lord was watching him, trying to suppress a smile "Change into something different, Jenny has left a suit for you in your room. I'll be back upstairs shortly."

Or he had planned that and Oliver gave up on trying to figure the man out. 

Less than half an hour later, Oliver was ready, waiting for his master in his room. There had indeed been a suit, prepared for him in the room and Jenny hadn’t mentioned anything to him at dinner. 

Callum showed up, already dressed, so Oliver could only help him with his topcoat. The Lord eyed him.

Yet, he didn’t comment on the attire and if it was fitting Oliver, so he decided he’d imagined the look the master had given him. 

They were just leaving the Lord's chambers when Callum paused and said.

"I almost forgot. Wait for me here."

He went to the room down the corridor and looked around before opening the door.

 Callum quickly disappeared inside the dark bedroom. Oliver had no idea whose it was.

 The lord returned in less than a minute, folding a bracelet with his hand.

The jewelry was silver, richly ornamented and decorated with green gemstones. Callum put the bracelet in his pocket and said.

"Let's go."

"Sir?"

"Don't worry, if anyone even notices it's gone, Thomas will think you stole it."

Oliver's slowly exhaled. "Naturally."

Callum smiled, it was one of those devilish smiles he occasionally let slip when he was pleased with himself, because of his obvious advantage and led the way.

                                    ****

The carriage arrived in front of- as Oliver had assumed to have been their destination from the very beginning - a brothel.

And it was way past the time decent people were out.

The carriage of the manor left them at one place, then Callum had waved to a hansom cab, which left them in front of 'Ella's', as far as Oliver could read from the dirty sign.

A forty-or-so-year-old woman, most likely the Madame - greeted them after a big, dark man escorted them to the parlor of the place.

"Albert!" She beamed when she saw the two of them entering "How glad I am to see you." She got up from her seat and told one of the girls sitting next to her on the sofa to go fetch drinks for the newly arrived.

The Madame was wearing heavy makeup, fake curls, and the many ribbons of her corset still could not hide most of her breasts.

Her perfume traveled in the space, as her frills moved when she came closer.

Oliver tried to suppress a sneeze. She planted a kiss on Callum's cheek and turned to Oliver.

"I see you have a companion, how rare." She outstretched her gloved hand and Oliver assumed he was expected to kiss it. A lady is a lady, even if she ran one of the lowest brothels in East London, he thought and bowed his head.

"He's so strong and manly." She told Callum.

"Ella, please meet my cousin, Gregory." Oliver glanced at Callum, who only smiled in return.

"Gregory? Odd name, but it fits." She patted Oliver on the shoulder and then squeezed his biceps "Strong and tall, I like men like him."

He tried not to flinch or pull back from the touch. 

One of the girls- dressed in even more revealing garments than the one of the Madame’s appeared with glasses.

Madame- Ella - instructed her to attend to the back room and said.

"Right. They're in the back room, you know your way. Call Liz if you need anything." She looked at Oliver then "And you, my big boy. Enjoy yourself in my, I like to call it, Chamber of Fantasies."

Oliver was starting to feel more like he was in the Chamber of who's the biggest con artist in this room.

They were led then to the back rooms. The girls left them and Oliver caught the smoke even before entering the room. When the door opened, Oliver paused.

The person behind it was a tall man, holding a cigarette. He was wearing a long black gown and his handsome face was heavily powdered, making his bright red lips stand out even more.

"Darling." He leaned and kissed Callum lightly on the lips, then turned to Oliver "And this is?"

"Gregory." Oliver provided quickly and took the man's hand in his own and tipped his head as a greeting.

He was learning fast. Callum only glanced at him and asked "Is he here?"

"He is, but keep in mind he's been losing for the past two hours and he's in a very sour mood." He took a drag and Oliver noticed the man's nails were painted in a dark color.

Kohl, Oliver guessed but had no actual idea if he was right. 

The man in the dress led them in and Oliver took up his surroundings.

There was a young man, sitting on the couch.

A woman, visibly older was sitting next to him, giggling while the man was squeezing her breasts. She unlaced the top knots of her corset and he pushed his hand deeper.

Other people were lying on cushions on the floor, some just talking, others touching lazily and Oliver hoped they wouldn't have to stay for too long. He caught the smell of cigars, but there was another scent mixed with it.

They approached the table in the corner where three men were playing cards.

For a lot of money, judging by the pile. He easily recognized that two of them were Irish by the accent and the third was Chinese- and he was visibly angry.

The man looked up from his cards and said something in Chinese. This time Oliver flinched when he heard Callum reply.

The man looked Oliver up and down and continued in English.

"Took you a while, Red."

"Xiao Zhi, I've missed you too."Callum pulled a chair and Oliver sat in the other empty seat opposite his employer.

The man with the painted lips followed and sat in Zhi's lap. He-or maybe she- smiled at Oliver.

"I didn't introduce myself, I forget my manners sometimes. Call me Ophelia."

Oliver remembered what had happened in the dressing room and the gossips about Callum's mistresses.

He dared to think Callum's tastes weren't limited to women only, or at least the companions he picked surely didn't swing only one way.

"It's a pleasure. Are you an actress?"

The man squeaked "Oh, my! Yes, I’m an artist. He's absolutely charming, my darling.."

Callum accepted the cards one of the Irish offered him and said “It runs in the family."

Ophelia looked between the two.

"We're cousins." Oliver provided.

"I'm so jealous," Ophelia said and looked back at Oliver. He tried to guess what the man's real name could be but didn't come up with anything.

"Will you come to watch me play some time?" Ophelia beamed at him. 

"He's busy." Callum cut in before Oliver could even try to think of an answer whether to accept or not. That brought Ophelia to a pout. 

"You're awfully rude, Albert, and I'd rather didn't spend any more time in your company."

She spared them one last look and got up . 

She joined the people on the floor, who were looking at different, beautifully decorated boxes.

One of the girls was showing Ophelia a gift from a customer. It was paint for lips- a very bright red colour in another small box.

Pained faces were considered vulgar and women from the upper classes never wore them- it was absolutely unthinkable.

However here, people were free to be who they were from what Oliver had seen so far.

He'd never been to a brothel like that one before, as this was still one of the better ones in East London, but he was no foreign to those scenes, even though he'd never indulged.

The girl on the floor dipped a finger in the pomade and applied some of it on Ophelia's lips.

Oliver glanced at Callum, who was watching them.

It was the only time the Lord's eyes left the table. 

Callum quickly averted his eyes when he noticed Oliver had seen the distraction