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Chapter Twenty-One
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"You have a marvelous mansion, Lord Tennyson, " one of the ladies smiled at his father. "Very sad Lady Charlotte could not be joining us during these past few days, they've been most entertaining."
"I apologize on her behalf she couldn't be here. "
"Why? Is the lady well?" someone else asked.
"She's better now, Lady Anna. Thank you. I believe it was the seasonal indisposition ladies sometimes suffer from when autumn approaches "
"How inconvenient." The lady put her hand over her chest "Very unpleasant. Please, send her my regards, I am looking forward to seeing her next time."
"I will let her know you asked after her, very kind of you. She would've loved to see you. Although my beloved wife has never been much fond of hunting, she would've enjoyed the rest of the activities."
Callum glanced at the servant and the man refilled his glass. He looked back at his plate and stabbed the bigger piece of meat in it
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Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Two
The guests finished their meals shortly after and it was time for them to retreat.Callum passed by the tray where the staff kept the decanters and filled his glass with brandy.He went out into the hallway just as Liam was coming out from one of the rooms. His brother eyed the glass."Are you all right?"Callum nodded "Perfectly fine.""Last time Edward said that he disappeared for days.""Well, I'm still here." He headed for the stairs and Liam caught up with him."I spoke to Henriette."Callum looked around but didn't hear anything or see anyone. That of course didn't always mean no one was around, but he still went on."And? What did she say?"He sat down on the stairs.Liam looked stunned."You want to talk here? We can't just sit on the stairs.""Why not?""What if someone passes by and sees us?""Then tell them I fell."Liam shook his head and sat down next to
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Three
Oliver went through the pages of the book quickly, then put it back. He pulled the next one on the shelf. Nothing. He put it back in its place and opted for a third one when he heard someone coming in. There was a short young man with mousy hair, carrying a pile of documents standing at the entrance. "Uh... pardon me, I was looking for Lord Tennyson." "Hello." " I was told by the staff he'd be here. This is his study, or am I wrong?" "No, you're at the right place. He just went out." Oliver put the book back and wiped his hands in his pants. He gestured at the shelf. "The Lord asked me to deliver something to him." "From the library?" "I...” The man was standing there, expectant and Oliver said. “All right, you caught me." He lifted his hands in surrender. "I was checking the books. He has an amazing collection." The man's eyes searched the spines of the books "Oh, yes. Yes, he does indee
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Four
As soon as they they were out, Callum relaxed heavily on Oliver. “I will...I will most probably need help not only undressing. “ Oliver took his arm and draped it over his shoulders. “What happened? Lean on me. “ The Lord did and Oliver felt his body sag against his. The next thing that he felt was the strong copper smell and he clenched his jaw. He had been right, then. “Do you think you can take the stairs. “ Oliver looked at him and from that close he saw Callum’s hair was wet in the roots. His pale lips were pressed hard together, but he said. “Yes, I think I can. “ “We need to call the doctor, Cal. “ He felt the Lord suddenly stiffen and it looked like he’d gathered all his strength left when he growled. “Don’t you dare. “ “We have to. ” “No. “ Callum cut short and clenched his hand around Oliver. “I don’t know how bad it is.” “It’s not. No
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty- Five
“You can’t kill the stone by gazing at it. “Oliver turned, although he’d recognized the voice and her steps even before seeing her. Della sat down next to him.“I could try. ““Is the master all right?” she said serious.He was just about to say “Yes, “ or something that was supposed to be said in that moment, but he just admitted.“I really don’t know. “Della put her hands in her lap and said “ I think he doesn’t either. “Oliver laughed “It seems he does, it’s just bad for him. ““No, I don’t mean that. ““Then what?”She looked ahead.They were sitting at the small lake of the manor. The one in which Callum had been swimming and Oliver had jumped after him without even thinking.He had started coming here in the past few days when he wanted to just stay
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Six
It was so quiet, he could hear the clock's hands moving, the only thing breaking the complete silence. Oliver was in his nightshirt, reading the book he'd taken from Tennyson's study. He'd never read Dickens before, but he was sure that wasn't the real reason why he couldn't really follow the narrative, the words and letters in front of him were only black spots on the white paper, making no sense whatsoever , as his mind kept drifting to what had happened earlier today. That, and the fact he hadn’t seen Callum in a while was making things everything but make sense. The only person that had come talk to him that day was Della. Neither Adellia, or Jenny and Percy had inquired after the night Callum had gotten home and Oliver decided they’d probably assumed he had just been drunk. Oliver was beginning to hate the fact how everyone dismissed everything that happened to the Lord because of his habit. It was soo
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Seven
It had been raining the whole day yesterday, but it had stopped earlier today and Oliver decided to take advantage of the relatively good weather.He occasionally helped inside, especially during the past few days, but he knew he needed actual physical work.It was bearable the first days, staying inside- but as time passed, he knew he'll need to move around more.In the army, they'd been on foot for days. After the army- even worse.Sitting in one place could only work for that long. H ealso didn’t know he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened that night.Oliver had changed into an old shirt and a coat, with the idea of finding something to do in the mansion's yard.He found Percy grooming one of the big black mares in the stables."You need help with that?" Oliver pointed to the next horse, approaching the young man."Nay, there aint much to be done. " Percy smiled a toothy grin. "But you can keep m
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Eight
"I found a spider. " Jenny announced and sat heavily on the chair, pulling it closer to the dinner table. "There are spiders the size of cats in here!""If you cleaned better, we wouldn't have them, " Percy said and she tore a piece from the bread near her and threw it at him.He caught it and ate it."Hey, that was mine, " Della complained, and Adelia scolded them "No shouting, eat your meals, come on."Oliver gave Della some of his and she smiled briefly before muttering a "thank you “.They were just finishing with their dinner when Thomas appeared and told Oliver he needed to be upstairs. The butler never ate with them, which was both to their relief and annoyance, as the man mostly thought of himself highly enough not to share his meal time with the rest of the servants.Oliver gave the ot
Gentleman Code Chapter Twenty Nine
"Then suddenly, this chap jumps out of nowhere and hits me." "You? But why you?" "Beats me, I think they mistook Callum for a girl back then and didn't want to hit a lady." "They did not," Callum muttered grumpily. The three of them laughed and Oliver poured more gin for each. There were different glasses, scattered all over the table and he wasn't sure which was whose anymore. After they’d told everyone in the manor they were going on a short visit in the countryside, they had left for Kent the same day at noon and Xiao was waiting for them there in a small inn in the evening. "It tastes awful, almost worse than the food," Xiao said, tasting the alcohol. The food they'd brought them was, indeed, quite bad but neither of them had voiced any protest. Oliver had long ago learned not to be picky about his meals. It literally never mattered what he had, as long as it was food and he could have
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Gentleman Code Author's Note
A divine move is one that is non-obvious and it balances strategy and tactics to turn a losing game into a winning play.It comes from the神の一手Kami no Itte, meaning "move of God" or "Godly move".It is used in teaching as a motivation to look again at positions in games and consider not just the obvious moves but the less apparent and more innovative ones as well.A divine move is singular-they are of such a rarity that a full-time Go player might play a single such move in a lifetime.When I began Callum and Oliver's journey, I had already decided on the title. It was supposed to be The Lord’s Divine Move.However, the more I wrote, the more I realized it wasn't only Callum's, but Oliver's chance to change the turn of events and break the chains, binding him to his past.It’s a story of two people, constantl
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty- Seven
This takes place after Xiao and Henriette’s first meeting in chapter 37 The smoke is lazily curling in a spiral around his long, gentle fingers. Then it’s wrapping them in its blue cloud only to dissolve into the air a few seconds later when he exhales and his breath destroys the dancing shapes. It vanishes. The way he always does, always coming and going. He looks troubled and fails to conceal it this time. I can’t tell why. And normally I’m very good at telling what’s going on in someone’s head. He looks at me and it’s like he wants to ask me something, but doesn’t know how to turn his thoughts into words and voice them. One of Ella’s girls sits next to Xiao and runs her hand over his back. He ignores her and looks back at the table. Albert and him have been playing for the past half an hour in silence and it’s one of the rare cases they seem to be completely lost to just everyth
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty Six
Oliver came back to the manor late. After Nathaniel and him had split, Oliver took a carriage back to Central London, and then walked blindly around the city. This was happening. They had had an agreement and Oliver wasn't going to just go on another mission after that. He'd been waiting for this for years. For the chance to get out of this, to repay his debt to Nathaniel and just be done with it. Forever. To be free. And maybe even speak to Callum and explain everything. Oliver wasn't just going to let go. He was going to find whatever he needed to finish his job here, even if it was the last thing he was going to do. Once he was back in his room in Fernsby's, he took his coat off and changed. The cloth was soaked with the heavy smell of cigarettes and cheap food from the places he'd stopped at, so he hung his clothes by to the opened window. Tennyson was supposed to be leaving early tomor
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty Five
Oliver’s hand shot immediately to the knife lying next to the letters. He grabbed it and jammed it into the wooden table."What next time?"Nathaniel didn't even flinch and Oliver hissed, tightening his hold around the handle.“You know perfectly well what I mean.” The man said, hit tone borderline sympathetic. That made Oliver’s blood boil even more and he said, all emotion gone from his voice."You said this will be my last mission,""What did you exactly think- that you'd leave everything and start a normal life?"Oliver’s mind went blank.“No…”“Oliver, look...”"No…You were never actually planning on letting me go, did you?" He said, surrendering whatever plans he’d been holding on to. Nathaniel placed his palms on the table and began speaking.Oliver knew what was following, his boss always did that when he was about
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty Four
"Did you have to explain anything before you came here?" "I just told them it's my day off." "Do valets have days off?" "They do now." "Well, I guess you know better. You're supposed to be one, after all." "Yeah, one who doesn't know how to fold shirts properly. " Nathaniel moved to the window and closed the curtains. "I don't want to know how that goes. But I see you’ve been walking around freely, so maybe you didn’t really have to explain and they trust you." The cloth was torn at places, but it was probably better than nothing. “I didn’t.” The room was facing another old, crumbling building. Everything here in the so-called Darkest- London was in the poorest possible state. They were in one of the Whitechapel's workhouses and the place was brimming with sounds coming from the other rooms and the people inhabiting them. It was still the sa
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty Three
Oliver was standing in front of the shelves in the family library. He sometimes thought it was enough to just spend time there, surrounded by some of the rarest editions of books. He was trying not to think about what had happened last night, so he'd come here. He hadn’t seen Callum in a day. Again. He turned his attention back to the rows in front of him. Oliver had begun understanding why Callum preferred it here. It was different from the one Tennyson had in his study not only by size. The collections here were much more different and wondered how many years it had taken to gather them, how many generations of noblemen had held them in their hands. A great number of them were on political topics, but Oliver found with a surprise the collection contained various other types of stories in other genres. The books were prevailingly in English, but some were in German and French.
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty Two
The sound of the music traveled in the quiet of the night. Callum put on a robe over his nightshirt and headed for the drawing-room. It was was past midnight and the entire manor was asleep. Besides his brother, obviously. He could never mistake the sound of his melody. Callum stood at the entrance and watched Liam play. Every time his brother was behind the piano, it was like he stopped being human for as long as the piece he was playing was going on. Liam was also in a nightshirt, although Callum was sure he hadn't even tried to sleep before coming here. Liam looked up from the keys and stopped immediately, startled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I'd wake someone up. " "You didn't. I wasn't sleeping either. " Callum moved closer and took one of the nearest chairs and put it next to his brothers'. "I don't want to interrupt you." "You aren't. I should stop anyway. What time is it?"
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty One
Callum was in the sofa in the smaller library. It was the one Oliver occasionally found him in the evening, and not in his study. The Lord had said studies made him feel anxious for no reason and "Something that Liam prefers." Oliver had laughed then, but seeing him now, he thought the room indeed was more fitting to him. Callum was lying down on the small sofa, drowsing. He'd rested his head on his outstretched hand and it was dangling over the armrest.Oliver wanted to kiss the inside of his wrist, but he knew he can’t. Callum looked almost peaceful. Somehow warmer. Oliver walked in with a candle, but put it off when he saw the fire was still burning, its light drawing dancing shadows over Cal's face. Cian had curled in a ball close to the fire and the animal was most likely asleep too. At Oliver's approach, the dog only opened one eye and closed it back again. Oliver knelt in front of the ch
Gentleman Code Chapter Forty
"It's such false piety, " the priest said, exaggerating his pittance and the sad tone of his voice and Liam exchanged a look with his brother.Callum was trying to suppress a smile and was failing miserably."Women, " the priest waved a hand around "are using their charms to make people buy their...whatever they've made.... ""But it is for a good cause, Father Clarke." Liam said and the old man shook his head."You really think so, my dear boy?"“It is for charity, Father. Why wouldn’t it be a good thing?”The man produced a grumpy humph, which that time brought Callum to the laughter he could no longer suppress.Liam had to admit the women helping his mother organize the bazzar had done a great job in such a short time.They had started the tradition of organizing events of the sort every year.And even though it was still something new among the society, people reacted very w
