Locked

Chapter Eleven

When V arrived at dinner, Will was already there. He was sitting and swirling his glass of wine. Upon his notice of her arrival he stood, knocking the table in his haste and sending the glasses tipping precariously on their edges. Will grabbed the table abruptly to stop it from shaking. By the time he had righted himself, V was by his side, smiling and trying very hard not to laugh.

"That was not how it was supposed to go." He smiled apologetically at her. Before they sat down, he noticed the dress she had changed into for dinner. He himself was wearing a set of deep blue undershirt, dark grey straight trousers, and matching dinner vest. V was wearing a simple light blue chiffon dress. White collars accented the neckline and rounded the sleeves at her

wrists. The dress came in snugly at the waist, and then extended out again, reaching her ankles with another line of white trim. It accented her figure and swished when she walked. She wore the same plain black walking shoes from earlier. Will noticed her hair was done up in a simple braid, which she had wrapped up into a bun. She wore another of his mother's jewelled pins atop the bun – though this time he knew she'd been sure to pick a simpler pin. He liked how her hair was – not being brought up as nobility, V wasn't accustomed to how particular everyone was about appearances. He liked it, it was different.

Will hadn't realized how alike she and his mother were until he saw her in that green dress this afternoon. It had been one of his mother's favourite dresses. He remembered her wearing it often while wandering the gardens. If he'd known how alike they were, he would never have offered V the entire wardrobe. However, it was the only collection of woman's clothing he had in the

house.

They ate in silence for a while. Will couldn't remember why he had offered to have a formal dinner with her. He watched her, and when she didn't think he was looking, she sneaked glances at him.

Will cleared his throat; "How was your day?" He asked.

"I met someone today. He seems to disappear for days on end without warning." She didn't even glance up from her soup.

Will's heart fell; she was mad at him. He sighed, "Is this uncomfortable?"

"You're making it uncomfortable." She retorted.

Will rubbed his eyes; he forgot how stubborn she could be.

"I need to talk to you about that locket. Apparently someone is willing to kidnap and possibly kill for it. I need to know who." He stared at her, urging himself not to break eye contact.

V looked away. She pulled the locket off her neck, where she wore it 24/7. Taking a deep breath, she placed it on the table in front of her.

"I don't know exactly who he is," she started, "He definitely came from money – his clothes were all silk. And he had a butler or henchman or something. He had his own carriage."

Will interrupted her, "What did he look like?"

"Kind of average." V scrunched up her face, trying to remember the terrible man, "brown hair, side burns, and beady eyes. His henchman was very creepy. He wore black, his head was shaven, and he had scars running across his face. And he was very, very big."

"What else?!" Will was almost standing.

"I don't want to talk about this now!" V yelled. Will had pushed her buttons. She didn't want

to remember.

V got up to leave. She was almost at the door, when Will tried one last time. "Did he tell you his name?!" Will shouted across the room.