"Your aunt and your cousin did not appear to be pleased with our news," Phillip said after they had been dancing for a moment and there were others on the floor.
"I believe you simply took them by surprise with your announcement. They expressed their overwhelming emotion after you took your leave. "
"I thought perhaps they would have wanted to attend tonight to celebrate with us. I am disappointed that they did not accept the invitation to join us here at St. Heath's Row. "
"Aunt Eustacia does not move about Society all that much anymore," Victoria replied. "She has come here from Italy in only the last four years, and she does not know very many people. And Max… he chooses not to attend functions such as these. Just as you did… until recently. "
"I cannot fault your cousin for that; although had I known I would have found you, I am certain I would have made an effort to fend off the matchmakers much sooner. "
"A lovely thought, Phillip, but I cannot agree. You know that I have moved very little in Society for the last two years, since I have been in mourning for my grandfather and father. If you had indeed bestirred yourself to move about thus, I fear I would have lost you before I found you. "
"Never. Victoria, there would have been no one but you for me. " He sighed, smiled, and continued, "I fear it is time that I make another confession. "
As she had the first time, she raised an eyebrow. "Another one?"
"Another one. My last, Victoria, so enjoy it. " He tipped his head and looked down at her. "The reason I chose to put myself at the mercy of Society this year is because I knew you had finally ended your mourning and were to come out. I wanted to meet the young girl I'd known long ago and see if she had grown into the woman she promised to be. She had; and I fell in love with her. "
When he looked at her like that, with his shining blue eyes so steady and sure, she felt as though nothing would ever be so certain as Phillip and his presence. As if the reality of vampires and Lilith and the Book of Antwartha didn't have to exist in a world that Phillip and she lived in.
But of course, it could not be. She already knew those evils existed. She had already fought them—and fought them successfully.
While she couldn't leave them behind, couldn't be hypnotized out of them as her mother had been, Victoria knew she could survive the split world as long as she had Phillip waiting for her on the other side.
"Max, I don't recall the last time I saw you so disturbed. "
"Disturbed? That's much too polite a word to describe the way I'm feeling," he snapped at Eustacia. He'd been stewing about it since yesterday, when Rockley had blithely announced the news at Grantworth House.
"Victoria cannot marry—and a marquess, no less! What has addled her brain?"
"I don't disagree with your sentiment, Max, but the fact remains that there is no law against a Venator marrying anyone, marquess or no. "
"No law but common sense. Of which she apparently possesses none. "
Eustacia had not moved from her chair; but despite her calm, measured words, he saw the concern in her ageless face. She might not rail and stalk as he did, but as she said, she was no more pleased than he was.
"We have the Book of Antwartha," he continued. "And I will admit that she played a much larger role in its recovery than I had expected… but she likely believes that all threat is now abolished, since we have the book, and she does not have to play at being Venator any longer. " He flicked his finger over the sleek black stake he'd just slipped from his favorite hidden pocket.
"It is no more than I suspected when she was first called—she would find it exciting and exhilarating for a time, and then become bored with it," he continued. "And then she would want to return to her simple world of poetry-spouting beaux and pink furbelows and dance cards. This is precisely why women should not be Venators. Present company excepted, of course, Eustacia, as you always are the exception that proves the rule. " He gave a short bow, for he recognized the beginnings of fire in her onyx eyes.
"Victoria has given no indication that she believes the threat is over, Max; you must admit you are being unfair. She did save your life during the process of getting the Book of Antwartha; and although it would have been preferable for the two of you to stop trying to cut the other out and work in tandem, you did indeed work together and succeeded. Brilliantly. "
"That is my point exactly, Eustacia. Just as she is beginning to show the skill of a truly gifted Venator—and yes, I'll freely admit that she has the potential to be as good as you or I—she is going to be entering into a marriage! Where she will need to account for her every moment to the marquess, and where she will have greater strictures and parameters placed on her life. Not to mention the distraction of being In Love. Have you seen how love-sopped people look at each other? And at no one else, and nothing around them? We cannot afford another near miss like we had two nights ago. "
"You said as much to Victoria yesterday when she—or rather, the marquess—told us they were getting married," Eustacia reminded him with a calmness he did not understand. "But, Max"—she spoke louder, raising her voice for the first time and stepping over his arguments—"I cannot and will not order her not to marry. It is her decision and I have to let her make it. Although I do share the same concerns as you, I know that I must step aside and let her do as she will. We all have that freedom, as Venators, and she is not the first to love and want to marry. Some of us love, but do not marry," she added, giving a bare glance toward the door through which Kritanu was due to come at any moment.
"And the truth is, Max, perhaps she will succeed where we do not expect her to. Perhaps Victoria needs that balance of the light with the dark; the ordinary with the horrific unordinary. Perhaps that will make her stronger, more adept… just as your own grief and anger feed your strength. "
"I can't agree with you, Eustacia. The life of a Venator is like that of a priest—we are called and we are solitary. And we must remain so in order to fulfill our destiny. "
"And what of me, then, Max? Have I not fulfilled my destiny because I am not alone?" Eustacia asked gently, as if she suddenly understood what was at the core of his disheartenment.
Max recognized an unanswerable question when he heard one, and swiftly changed the subject. "Victoria recognized Sebastian Vioget. How does she know who he is?"
Eustacia lifted an eyebrow. "That is interesting. My assumption would be that wherever and however she learned about the book and its protection was where and how she learned who Sebastian Vioget is. And it concerns me that he was there at Redfield Manor. "
"It concerns me that he would have allowed me to pick up the book," Max replied with sarcasm. "He was nearly salivating at the thought. "
"It's too bad you cannot see to form an alliance with him. It might be to our benefit. Perhaps that is something Victoria should consider. " Before Max could speak, Eustacia brought up another unpleasant topic. "How is your neck?"