Ada & The French (The Woodhouse Series #2)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

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*Paris*

There was male chatter in the living area.

The carriage on the mantle of my fireplace revealed that it was still early.

I pulled myself out of bed and pulled on a robe. My red hair was open and hanging over both shoulders as I begrudgingly opened the door and was horrified by what I saw.

"Theodore!" I cried and he came from his room quickly, Florence following in just as much anger.

"Oh, you also heard the noise?" Florence scowled at Theodore, also in her nightdress.

Theodore's friends were in the sitting area, awkwardly looking away from us. "Why would you bring them here?"

"Florence Moore!" Charles Cholmendley said, standing with his arms outstretched. "To what do I owe this great pleasure?"

Florence was mad as she turned quickly. "I am not in the mood for your imbecilic comments this morning so please refrain from speaking to me otherwise I will throw you out of the window and believe when I say I will aim for you to hit your head and break your neck and I will enjoy watching..."

Charles swallowed the lump in his throat as the other men contained laughter. Florence was not in the mood and you could usually tell when she was mad, upset or stressed about something because her Scottish accent would creep out. 

"I didn't invite them..." Theodore pushed us both into my room. "They came of their own volition, to check on as they had heard of the shooting."

I pouted. "A warning would've been nice then."

"Look...we're leaving for Saint-Denis anyway so it does not matter..." He said, fixing his appearance in the mirror. 

"While we're here..." Charles started as Theodore's friends turned to me. "We know about you solving the case with the Earl of Nottingham..."

I looked at Theodore and Florence. "You do?"

"We have our ways..." Ambrose explained. "And we just want to say..."

"Keep it up!" Rupert said and I frowned. 

"Wait, what? Do you guys want me to be an investigator? Why?" 

"Because only Theodore's sister can humble him..."  Charles remarked, the three men turning to Theodore who was not impressed, Florence grinning.

"And we're leaving..." Theodore said as his friends gathered their things to go and he put on his coat and hat, looking at Florence. "She does not leave, are we clear?"

"This is an overreaction..." I scowled, crossing my arms.

"Well...Adelaide...until you learn that you cannot run after men with guns unarmed, you are not leaving this room," He said, before giving Florence a single nod and leaving.

We waited for the men to leave before we did anything else and I bathed in hot water and rose petals, reading a book to relax, before getting ready for the day.

In my hands, a scroll of paper that I walked into the sitting area to give to Florence, who was sitting with two books in front of her, writing. "Oh...what's that?"

She took it and unfurled it, revealing a sketch of a man - the gunman. "I figured I might as well."

Florence smiled, tilting her head as she put the scroll on the sofa next to her. "I know...deep down, your intentions for doing what you did were good. You have a good heart, so I don't hold it against you...and you got useful information..." She gestured to the scroll. "But it was still reckless. You are the responsibility of your brothers, Charlotte and myself till the day you marry and we don't know what we would do if something had happened to you..."