Brant looked at the woman that he now held lightly in his arms. Her lips were still wet and reddened from his kiss, tempting him as he had never been tempted before. He knew he should fight his desire for her. Not only was she a baroness with a very large family, most of it male, but there was an innocence about her that told him her short marriage had not taught her much nor had she indulged herself with any man since then. He was a man with a mother who thought nothing of selling innocent children into the flesh trade, a lot of dependents including what could be a vast horde of illegitimate siblings, and a reputation as a drinker, gambler, and womanizer.
Before he could think of what to say, or give in to temptation and try to kiss her again, the boys returned. Each one eyed him with blatant suspicion but Olympia soon diverted their attention from him and how close he was to the woman they felt a need to protect. Brant hastily poured himself more coffee as everyone retook their seats.
“I think we need to get out there and hunt for the maid’s brother and my brothers,” said Thomas. “We have been looking,” he hastily added with a glance at Brant, “but mostly for information on what Lady Mallam is about.”
“Well, to be fair,” said Olympia, “we are now quite certain that Lady Mallam is behind the matter of the children going missing. Finding out who she is dealing with could lead us to the children.”
“I know, but I am thinking we need to do both so as to hurry things along. Bad things could be happening to the ones taken away.”
Brant had no doubt that very bad things were happening to the ones his mother had spirited away. “Perhaps I should go and talk with my mother,” he said even as he realized it would be a waste of his time.
“I think you know that will do no good,” said Olympia, sympathy softening her tone. “She will do her best to either not speak to you at all or lie. We only know of her part in the last incident because a ghost spoke to Penelope.”
“I pray we do not find any ghosts this time.”
“As do we all. Howbeit, I think Thomas is right. We all need to push harder and look in more directions. Now the most important thing is to find those children.”
Brant nodded. “You are right. Whatever we discover about my mother or Minden will just be an added benefit to finally putting an end to her crimes.”
“You also need to speak to a solicitor. My cousin Andras Vaughn could help there and there will be no need to fear he might be compromised by whatever power your mother might bring to bear against him. Doubt there is anything she could use to bring Andras to heel as he is a surprisingly well-behaved man.” She was pleased to see the brief smile on Brant’s face. “He could begin to look into how you might regain full control of your own household.”
“And how would he do that?”
“By finding out how your mother got the power to push you aside as head of the household. That is very unusual. In truth, considering the sort of men who retain complete control of their households despite their various deprivations, I would say it is a near miracle.”
Artemis nodded. “To give power to a woman when there is a man holding the title is unheard of.”
“She got it and I know it is because she found men she could force to do her bidding,” Brant said. “Mother always did like to ferret out people’s darkest secrets. I have no doubt that blackmail and, perhaps, some bribery was used. I need to find out who she holds in her power.”
“Then that is what we will do,” said Olympia. “Look for signs of the lost children, find out who was bent to your mother’s will and why, and get Andras to talk to you and start to use his magic to dig up all the ugly truth. And, of course, keep Minden from getting his filthy hands on young Agatha.”
It was only a short time before everyone but her was gone. Olympia slumped back in her chair as she tried to put her thoughts into order. Brant and Thomas were off to meet with Andras. Her young boys, carefully culled from all the poor boys on the street, were off to try and find out where the missing children may have been taken, and her nephews were off to see what they could discover about Minden. Now all she had to do was decide what society event she could attend that would give her the best chance of getting some information.
“I would rather be out on the streets with the boys,” she grumbled as she looked through the scattered remains of breakfast to see if there was anything left to eat.
“Do not even think of joining them on that quest,” said Enid as she walked up to the table and began to collect up the dishes.
Olympia stood up to help her only to be waved back into her seat. “Do you lurk outside the door waiting for me to talk to myself so that you can leap in with an answer?”
“But of course. It is my favorite game. Either that or you talk to yourself far too much.”
“I suspect it is the latter. And roaming the streets with the boys would be far, far preferable to dragging myself to some boring society event just so I can wade through bushels of useless gossip in the hope of finding some useful snippet.”
“True, but the boys cannot do it nor, it appears, can the earl.”
“How can a mother destroy the reputation of her own child?”
“How can a woman sell children into a life of pure hell?”